Books / Antony Curtis
Henleaze author Antony Curtis on genre-hopping, dreams and family
An author from Henleaze has brought together his experiences of serving in the military, winning European Taekwondo medals and working in the UK education system to become a successful author with four published books.
Antony Curtis, who was born in Knowle West, published his debut novel in July 2022 called The Black Path – sold as a “pulse-pounding” story where Curtis takes readers on “a relentless ride through the shadowy underbelly of Bristol”.
Since then he has gone on to publish three more books, covering genres from thriller and science fiction to education and behaviour.
is needed now More than ever
But his literary career is a far cry from his teenage years when he dropped out of school at 16 to join the Royal Marines and later fell in love with the sport of Taequondo and completed “all over the world”.
It wasn’t until he set up a club at his former school, Merrywood Boys School, now closed, to teach children how to read and write that he first forayed into the magic of words and spent years after teaching, eventually becoming an assistant headteacher.
View this post on Instagram
The inspiration for the Curtis first piece of fiction came from a feeling of contemplation on a recent holiday. “I got to a point where I was looking back and looking for meaning in life, thinking how did I get here?” he told Bristol24/7.
Armed with a notepad, Curtis embarked on a “transformative” process of chronicling his earliest memories.”After I’d written about five or six memories, I thought: ‘This is more like an origin story of a character’. It tells you how this person evolved into the person you are now.”
The novel seamlessly interweaves real memories into its narrative, creating a main character, Tom, whose evolution mirrors Curtis’ own.
The idea for Souk Daddy, Curtis’s second novel, was almost entirely based on a dream. He explained: “The whole dream was the story of the book, including the twists and turns, characters, and even the name of the book.”
Set in 2037, the futuristic thriller explores the lives of five children in juvenile prison facing a dire transfer. Curtis said he aimed to craft a tale of survival, parental instincts and intricate character dynamics.
For Curtis, the role of developing characters is “paramount” in his writing process. “The characters are the things that tell the story,” he said. He often uses a method inspired by Stephen King, placing characters into situations and chronicling their responses. “I’m discovering the story as I’m writing,” he explained.
The Exchange, originally envisioned as a standalone, transformed into a trilogy set in a post-apocalyptic landscape.
Delving into a technology allowing individuals to jump into other bodies, the narrative delves into themes of control and power structures. Curtis draws parallels to present-day corporate influence on governments, grounding the futuristic elements in stark realities.
He said: “The power is in the corporations and how they control the government. So I bought that into the future but bypassed the MP process so in the future the corporations are the MPs and governments.”
View this post on Instagram
As a father of five, Curtis finds inspiration in his family dynamic as well as drawing draws on the determination cultivated during his single-parenting years to balance writing with the rest of his life.
He said: “My kids influence who I am, and they’re amazing themselves, which helps.”
Antony Curtis’s recent venture into non-fiction with Behavioural Language Scripts for the Classroom is a testament to his background as a behaviour specialist.
Rooted in a dissertation for his education and behaviour degree, the book delves into the transformative power of language in shaping behaviour.
With his third novel released and more in the pipeline, Curtis said he plans to explore even more genres, from romantic sci-fi to whodunnit and superhero tales.
For more information about Curtis and where to buy his books, visit www.antony-curtis.com
Main photo: Antony Curtis
Read next:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
