G.M. Nair is the author of a sci-fi comedy novel, Ducket & Dyer: Dicks For Hire. Below he answers my questions about his writing career and his hopes for the future. Check out my interview with G.M. Nair, and be sure to click on the links to his books and social media!
About the book and author
Name/Pen Name: Ganesh Nair/G.M. Nair
Author links (links will open in a new tab)
Genre: Sci-Fi/Comedy/Mystery
Duckett & Dyer: Dicks for Hire plot summary
Two friends on the outs are forced to open a PI firm despite their clashing personalities. They quickly find themselves in over their heads with missing persons and a pesky hole in the fabric of space-time that just makes things worse. They certainly aren’t detectives, but the universe thinks they are, and it might just destroy itself if they don’t play along.
Book excerpt
Michael fiddled around in his pocket for his keys as Stephanie juggled her bounty of breadsticks, shoving some in pockets and others under armpits. Without a word, he pushed the lobby door open, careful not to dislodge the panes of glass that were being held in place only by duct tape and the general stickiness of the building. A dank musk—overpowering the smell of the breadsticks—flowed out of the rarely cleaned lobby. It was a lobby in name only and was more of a short causeway paved with mismatched bathroom tiling and lit by the efforts of a single dwindling bulb hanging from a loose wire.
Stephanie lagged behind Michael as he made the pilgrimage up the five flights of stairs. By the time he began to unlock their apartment door, Michael had had enough time to package up his irritation and exhale it all out in a long sigh. Maybe tomorrow would be better.
“Holy hell!” was the appropriate response to seeing a hulking, bear-like, Greek man taking up most of the space in your living room, while brandishing a menacing length of pipe. Michael delivered the line exceptionally well. Stephanie’s breadsticks landed on the floor with soft thuds.
“Where is my rent?” The man slammed the pipe into the living room wall, leaving a massive dent and showering the room with paint chips and dust that Michael hoped wasn’t poisonous.
“Mr. uh . . . Dupopopolous?” That wasn’t his name. But that wasn’t what Michael was confused about at the moment. His landlord wasn’t usually this angry. Annoyed, sure, but never angry.
“The rent!” His chest, and its thicket of midnight black hair, heaved rhythmically coinciding with blasts of hot air escaping from his flared nostrils, each with their own associated thickets.
Review excerpts
See What “People” Are “Saying”:
“Who are you? How did you get into my office?” – Neil Gaiman, if asked about this book, probably
“I can’t stop laughing!” – Victim of Papuan Laughing Sickness (Deceased)
“Duckett & Dyer has a tremendous energy to it. When released, it will warm your body and perhaps even your soul.” – International Journal of Burning Things In A Fireplace
“A long written or printed literary composition.” – Webster’s Dictionary Definition of ‘book’
“Duckett & Dyer is the funniest thing I’ve ever read.” – A woman who has never read anything before
What’s the best review/compliment that you’ve received about your book?
The best review I have gotten was via Netgalley, and it stated that my book was “SF/fantasy by someone who seems to be a fan of the genre.” This struck a real chord with me, because the rest of the review – which gave praise to the pacing of the humor, the breaking of tropes, and the structure of the narrative (really very nice all around) – made it clear that this was someone that 100% was picking up exactly what I had intended to put down while writing the book. It was just really amazing to feel that I had got my vision across to at least one person.
Runner-ups include a review that called Duckett & Dyer “one extremely bizarre masterpiece” and another reviewer who called it “the weirdest book I’ve read to date.” I love hearing that kind of stuff.
What famous books can you compare to your own?
I think the most obvious parallel is to Douglas Adams’ lesser known series Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, as both that series and my own follow the humorous exploits of less-than-competent detectives. I like to think Duckett & Dyer differs mainly due to the style of comedy – which is a bit more character driven due to the constant character bickering.
What is a fun or strange source of inspiration that ended up in your book?
I was standing in line waiting to return a cable modem – which is an activity so infuriating and mundane that you know I can’t have just made it up. In the waiting area, they opted to provide a list of people currently being served by their representatives, and about three names ahead of me was someone named ‘Dorabell’. I chuckled to myself when I had a fairly mean thought:
“Did your parents misspell ‘adorable’ or ‘doorbell’?”
That line and the name made it into the book. So, apologies to the real Dorabell.
How long did it take to write your book from the day you got the idea to write it to the day you published it?
This is a hard one because Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire is a project that went through many iterations. It started off as an idea for a webcomic about a singular incompetent detective titled ‘You’re A Mystery Michael Dyer’, before I quickly decided a double-act was better and added a sidekick by the alliterative name of Duckett. When I came up with the rhyming subtitle ‘Dicks For Hire’, I knew I had to see this amazing idea out the fruition quickly.
That was in 2008.
Flash forward to my post-college years, when I plucked the idea out of my head again and decided to put it into novel form, because it wouldn’t require me learning how to draw. Over the next four years I struggled with drafts and redrafts until a final version clicked in 2018. A few polishing edits later and I self-published in 2019…so, it’s been a decade.
What is your day job? How, in any way, does it relate to your life as a writer?
I am an Aviation and Aerospace Consultant. It makes use of my degrees (in aerospace engineering), and it pays the bills. But it’s not very creative, which I really do appreciate. Because if I had a job that required me to use my creativity during the day, I’d be so tapped out that I wouldn’t want to do any of my own projects outside of work. Also, did I mention it pays the bills?
Who is on your Mt. Rushmore of all time great writers?
Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke basically defined science fiction for me, while Douglas Adams, of course, provided the shot of humor I so desperately desired. My final choice is a bit more modern: Jonathan Hickman – a comic book writer who has made his mark by weaving incredibly intricate and expansive narratives with a million moving pieces.
How do you autograph your books?
If possible, I try to write a personalized message. Something funny, usually. I also sign every book “Love, G.M. Nair”, because we could all use a little more love.
Honestly, probably Shakespeare. Because it would be downright hilarious for him to see how far popular writing has fallen. Also, I’d probably have to teach him a lot of the new words, and how often do you get to school Shakespeare?
You are transported inside your book for one day. What role do you play? How do you alter the events of the story?
I would probably be one of the innocent bystanders that gets offed during the final chapters of the book. I never really get to do anything exciting in real life, so I’d probably be relegated to the status of background character in my book, too. I’d just be a guy who’s trying to go to work at his accounting factory, and gets blasted into oblivion.
You’re offered a contract to rewrite your book in another genre. Which genre do you choose and why?
It’s already a sci-fi/comedy/mystery, so it’d be difficult to switch to a single genre, but if I had to, I’d go psychological thriller because there’s a lot of intense stuff that goes on in the book that would cause any normal person to either lose their sanity or question their place in existence. But since it’s a comedy, I brush all that off with a few fart jokes.
Your book becomes a best seller. What do you do next?
Write the second book, duh. And then the third. And so one. There’s gold in them there hills and I’d be a fool not to mine it! A fool, I tells ya!
Would you rather own your own book store or your own publishing house, and what would you sell or publish?
Owning a bookstore has always been a particular dream of mine, so I’d have to go with that. I’d really enjoy catering to the nerd demographic with Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, and Adventure books. Maybe throw some comic books in there, too. It’d be a geekstravaganza.
Buy it!
Buy a copy of Duckett & Dyer: Dicks for Hire here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.
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I’m so glad I came upon your website. I love this review on G.M. Nair’s sci-fy book. I too just became a published author on Amazon and am excited to see other Indie Authors book reviews etc. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading, and good luck with your writing!
That was a really interesting interview. I am always looking to get diverse book recommendations and hence will check out this sci-fi and looking forward to your future posts too!