Same old books keeping you down? Are you stuck in a reading rut and looking for a ladder out? In this interview, we are speaking with Dennis Humphreys, whose book The Transit of Venus is celebrating one-year of publication next month.

Dennis’ book is a mighty work of individualism, inspired by great romances, journeys of extraordinary achievement and by the inner workings of the publication and writing industries. Trying to nail the genre and mood of this book down is truly difficult and much like the titular transit, books like these do not come round very often – so grab your copy now!

We spoke with Dennis about his writing process, picking up the pen as a recently retired lawyer and crafting the meta-textual and interweaving narrative of his book.

The Transit of Venus is a truly enthralling and unique read, blending romance and a little dash of fantasy. However, we’d love to know which other novels inspired your writing!

My writing career started late in life and began when I won a writing competition with a short ghost story (set in France) in a French language magazine for Angophones. I then worked this up into a novel, working originally in French, but went on to finish the work in English. After that I wrote another romantic story again set in France.

In this process, I ended up writing about characters I liked, even if they had faults. I hoped that my readers would also like them. I came to realise that an author has tremendous power over his characters. He creates them, decides what will happen to them. He can make them happy or sad, succeed or fail. I then asked myself what might happen if one of these characters did not like their way of life and wanted to change the direction of the story - I cannot say more without spoiling the story.

I do not normally read fantasy novels, but recently, I much enjoyed The Humans, by Matt Haig. It is set in Cambridge and is about a math professor, who has just solved the Reimann Hypothesis. This would be very beneficial to the progress of mankind, but an alien civilisation on another planet becomes anxious and does not want mankind to benefit from this advancement and so sends down an alien to impersonate the professor.

It made me think that you can write in a novel about events which may not normally seem plausible. I have a vague recollection that years ago, I saw on TV, the play Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello. Characters can have a real independent existence of their own. Like many of my generation I was a fan of The Goon Show. The Goons did a show called “Six Charlies in Search of an Author”. I remember that in that episode each goon in turn took charge of the typewriter and wrote text very favourable to himself and detrimental to the others. Whoever had the typewriter had the power. The same power is held by all authors, unless a character can do something about it.

Another element of Venus is it’s metatextual approach to storytelling, being a narrative where an author writes his own novel inside the fictional writing of your own creation. Was there any difficulty or challenges you overcame in constructing this structure?

This was, at times, a nightmare. It was easy enough to make it clear what was the fictional world and what was the real one, but when they merged, it became difficult - particularly when someone had to be in both words at the same time. Again, I cannot say more without spoiling the book. Explanations are given in my sequel to the Transit of Venus.

With a title like The Transit of Venus, readers may presume that your book is a science fiction book. Therefore, our question to you is why did you settle on this title?

I have been an active amateur astronomer for many years. About every 100 years, the planet Venus passes directly between the Earth and the Sun and can been seen as a small black disc passing across the Sun’s surface. In 2004, I assisted in photographing the transit using the 19inch telescope at our observatory in Torquay. This was a very memorable event.

Venus was the Roman goddess of love, and my story was about a beautiful young woman and her amorous exploits. So, I saw the title as apt for the story I wanted to tell.

As a recently retired lawyer, you now have the time to spend writing and crafting the narratives you’ve dreamed of for a long time. What else has driven you to pick up your pen and begin writing now?

Lockdown had an impact on me, as it did on many others. Staying at home, I needed to find creative things to do, which included writing fiction. I also lost my wife in 2022, after 52 years of marriage. Continuing writing gave focus and purpose to my new life.

Continuing on from our previous question, you’ve previously shared with us that more works are on the way – both fiction and non-fiction. What can you share with us about their themes and topics?

I have written an historical novel set in the 5th century, in the age of King Arthur - the history of this century is very sketchy. It is set in Britain and Brittany in the decades when the Roman legions had left Britain to its own devices and when the country was being invaded by the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. It traces the story of fictional British families who escaped to Brittany to create a new life there. Several historical characters appear or a referred to in the narrative.

I have been struggling with a whodunit about a murder in a professional football team – it’s called Bodies in the Box. This may be one to grapple with in the wet days in early winter.

I would love to write a historical novel about the Saxon King Athelstan and the Battle of Brunanburgh 937CE, one of the most important battles in British history, but one which few have heard of. I would need to do a lot of revision and research, burning the midnight oil.

I would like to write some short stories, with magical elements in them. The ideas are there, but the hard work remains to be done.

The Transit of Venus is available now in paperback and on the Kindle Store.