Hello Andreas, how awesome that we get to ask you a few questions, thanks in advance for answering them! Let’s get started:
Who is Andreas Gruber? Tell us a little about yourself: what do you like and what don’t you like? What are your hobbies? What is something no one really knows about you?
I am 57 years old, was born in Vienna, have studied business economics and worked for 25 years in big companies as a financial controller, but I always wanted to be a fiction writer. So I started to write horror and science-fiction stories nearly 30 years ago, quit my office job 15 years ago and have been a fulltime writer since then.
I am married, have two kids, live in a small village south of Vienna. I like heavy metal music, the near of water (sea, lake, river), movies, tv-series, comics, books and radio plays because I am generally spoken a Pop-culture Genre Nerd.
What I don´t like are stupid people, lies and jealousy.
What does a normal day look like for you?
In the life of a writer, there don´t exist any normal days, because every day is different. But normally, when no surprises arise, I get up at 6.30 o´clock, make my workout, prepare breakfast and then I write till 3 pm. Then two hours of workout (hometrainer, while watching tv-series), lunch and then I make the bureaucratic works till 7.30 pm. Afterwards there is free time and family time. Saturdays I work only till 1 o´clock. Not longer! Otherwise my wife will kill me, but as I always say: happy wife, happy life.
Now we know a little more about you, let’s talk about your books! On 15 April of this year, the third part in the trilogy starring Nemez & Sneijder was released. A trilogy full of gruesome crimes and exciting storylines.
How did the series come about? Where did you get your inspiration for the books and for the characters?
The Sneijder & Nemez series is one of four different thriller series for adults. And for this serie I wanted to create a very special person, who investigates. A person, who smokes joints, who is gay, who steals books, who has cluster headaches, who hates plants, who is a misanthrope. But who also is a genius. To create this person, I needed a lot of time. Where do I get the ideas from? From everywhere: books, movies, comics, newspapers, music, documentations and discussions with friends. For more than 20 years, I collect ideas. And for every new book, I try to combine a lot of these ideas, to create something completely new. So, Maarten S. Sneijder was created very carefully at my desk.
How did you come up with the ideas for the heinous and horrible crimes Nemez & Sneijder face?
Do you think they are horrible? Really? Well, concerning this topic, I try to create something completely new. I try to find brutally and originally new ways of dying. But they should not exist only to shock my readers, they also have to fit to the evil characters and to the plot of the story. Otherwise it would only be a senseless splatter. So, every murder has a deeper meaning to the story, and nothing has been written accidentally.
Do Nemez & Sneijder look like you when it comes to parts of their character? Or maybe someone close to you? Where did they get their character traits from?
From a lot of people, I know. Maarten Sneijder … oh, sorry … Maarten S. Sneijder is a combination of more than then people, I know. And the words he speaks are from a lot of different friends of mine. So, Sneijder is a combination of my surroundings, in which I live.
In relation to Sneijder, Sabine Nemez is a very normal person, but Sneijder needs her. Otherwise he would get completely insane with all his problems, for example the method of visionary seeing, he is using and which gets stronger from book to book. And Sabine is the only one, who can handle Sneijder.
Maarten S. Sneijder is a very special character. As a reader, he gives you the creeps on one hand, and on the other you feel a kind of sympathy for him. What is the reason you created such a special personality? What was it like to see him appear before your mind’s eye?
The challenge for me was, to create an asshole, an egoistic person, who thinks he knows everything, who hates people, who mortifies people …. but (!) on the other side is sympathetic, so that the readers will love him and his method of solving murder puzzles.
I didn´t know till my third book, if I was successful in this challenge. But suddenly the visitors of my book presentations came to me after the show and told me, that they wanted to read more about Sneijder. And then I checked, that I am not the only person, who likes this asshole Sneijder.
By the way: The name Maarten S. Sneijder is a combination of Maarten Stekelenburg and Wesley Sneijder. I only had to look into my panini sticker-album of the older european and world football Cups and checked the football-team of the Netherlands. Really!
And in part four of the series, Sneijder gets a new boss. The new president of the German “Bundeskriminalamt” is called Dirk van Nistelrooy.
No joke!
How do you start a new book? Do you just sit down and begin, or does it take a while before you put an idea into words? What does your writing process look like? Do you plan everything in advance, or do you see where the story takes you and let your characters lead the way?
If I would let my characters lead the way, they would be all dead after 50 pages. So, I have to invest al lot of time in planning the plot. This work takes about one to two months, and the so called exposé – the content of the book with all characters, locations, chapters and sub-plots – has about 100 pages.
Only after that – when the plot is plausible and consistent – I start to write. Otherwise I would end in a complete chaos and nothing would fit together.
On 15 April, Apotheosis, was published: the third, and therefore final, volume in the trilogy featuring Nemez & Sneijder. But there are already sequels in German with Sneijder, which is totally fun, because the way this book was concluded raises a lot of follow-up questions.
Haha, I think I can solve the mystery: The first three books are the first trilogy, in which Dietrich Hess is the president of the BKA. In the second trilogy, books 4 to 6, Dirk van Nistelrooy is the president. And in the final trilogy, books 7 to 9, Friedrich Drohmeier is the next boss of Sneijder. But although I call them “trilogy”, every book has its own completed story.
So nobody has to read 3 books, you can start with book 4 or 5, if you like the story of the book.
So the most pressing question is: will the other books featuring Sabine and Maarten also be translated into Dutch? Is there any idea when and if we can expect part 4?
Well, the answer to this question doesn´t depend on me. I am the last person on earth, who says: “Godverdomme, nee! They must not be translated into Dutch!”
In reality it depends on the Dutch readers. If they like the books, if they want more, maybe the dutch publishing house will buy the translation rights of the next books.
At the moment I am plotting the story of part 9.
I saw that the books were also filmed, did you have any influence on the script and/or cast? Do the chosen actors fit your image of the characters? What is your opinion of the film/series?
Since I have sold the filming rights, I have no influence on the stuff. But Constantin Film, who made the two movies, showed me the script, and I liked it very much. You know, I am a movie nerd. And I know, that the script writer has to td the hell-job of shorten the story of 500 or 600 pages to a 90 minutes film. And I am sure, she did a great job.
I like Raymond Thiry as Maarten S. Sneijder very much and Josephine Preuss, a German film actress, who plays the role of Sabine Nemez.
The two films are great, but you have to watch and listen to every detail, because the film-plot is so intense. If you go to the toilet for 3 minutes or go to the kitchen for 2 minutes during the film, you will have a lot of questions, haha.
Raymond Thiry is a Dutch actor (a good one!), was a Dutchman deliberately chosen for the lead role of Sneijder? Why was he chosen?
I like Raymond Thiry very much. He is a great actor. I like his performance in the crime-action movie “Black Out” (2012), which I have seen in the german translation many many years ago.
And as I heard, that he will play the role of Maarten S. Sneijder, I thought, this is perfect.
His look and outfit is a little bit different to the description in my books, but that’s okay. Much more important is the fact, that he can smoke a joint the way Sneijder does, haha.
And he has been chosen by the studio, because he looks so cool. That’s it!
Can the film/series be seen in the Netherlands? Or, now that the books are published in the Netherlands, would it be available in the Netherlands soon? I am very curious about the film and how Raymond plays the role of Sneijder.
It is very complicated to see the series in Germany. Why? Because unfortunately there are very less possibilites. For example the streaming channel JOYN has the films. And sometimes they were repeated in the pay-tv-channel SAT.1 emotions.
Why?
I don´t know. Ask the studio bosses! Or send Sneijder and this team to them, to ask the questions …
So, now for some quick questions!
Sun or snow?
Both
Walking or cycling?
Both, what I hate is: Jogging
Reading or writing?
Both
Series or standalone?
Series
Coffee or tea?
Coffee
Thriller or horror?
Horror
Nemez or Sneijder?
If there is a house burning, and I have to save only one person, I would save Nemez. She is young and brilliant. And she will find a way, to save Sneijder.
And last but not least, what can we wake you up for?
For a book presentation in the Netherlands.
