My Passion With Adrian Czajkowski

You may not be familiar with the insect kinden or the world of the Lowlands, but for as long as I can remember, these extraordinary places and characters have taken up a large proportion of my thoughts – and in fact my life.

Under my pseudonym, Adrian Tchaikovsky, I am a writer of epic fantasy novels and now the very proud author of many published books – a fact that I still can’t quite believe.

I’ve been writing since I was 18 years old and submitting books for publication for almost as long.

Seeing my first novel, Empire in Black and Gold, in print was the best feeling in the world.

I’d been working towards that single goal for so many years and since then, everything has snowballed and taken on a life of its own.

I’m often asked how I fit the writing around my day to day life and job as a legal executive at Blacks Solicitors, but I find that late evenings are actually the time when my creative juices are flowing fastest and I can get my teeth stuck into my latest creation.

It’s hard to describe the unparalleled freedom that writing gives; you can take your world, plot and characters in any direction you like.

Particularly in the fantasy genre, there’s very little convention or restriction so I can literally let my mind run away with me and sometimes I simply can’t type fast enough for my imagination.

Without giving away too many secrets, the next series of books is likely to be set in an alternate Napoleonic/1800s era – think Jane Austen meets Bernard Cornwell with a bit of magic thrown in – you can see the field is wide open.

I take inspiration from everything, but a great source is the war reenactments that I’m regularly involved in.

Our modern world is so far removed from the epic combats of history and so taking part in large battles is a first-hand tutorial for writing fight scenes in my books, not to mention an awful lot of fun.

People often try to draw connections between my degree in zoology and psychology and the insect kinden species in the books, but in truth I’ve just always been fascinated by insects which led both my studies and writing.

I also often draw aspects of real acquaintances into my characters, but I can safely say that you won’t find any of my Blacks’ colleagues (or clients) in there.

Writing and having a novel published is certainly a great deal of hard work and not a little luck, so I’m honoured that I’ve been lucky enough to achieve this.

It’s taken a lot of determination, and I certainly won’t be resting on my laurels yet; after all the insect kinden have plenty more stories to tell.

You can find out more about Adrian’s books and writing at www.shadowsoftheapt.com