Joey Batey was raised in the North East of England and read Modern and Medieval Languages at the University of Cambridge. He has worked as an actor and musician and is best known for his role in flagship Netflix show The Witcher. Joey produces music with his alt-folk group The Amazing Devil. It’s Not A Cult is his first novel.

Welcome to the Hive, Joey! It’s a pleasure to have you here!

Firstly I’d like to congratulate you on your debut, It’s Not A Cult! Can you describe your book to us in five words?

Thank you so much for having me, it means so much. If I had to describe my book in five words I would say ‘I don’t know. Send help’.

Your book features fictional Northern gods called the Solkats. What inspired you to create these mischievous and often rather creepy gods? Was their concept drawn from any particular folklore? 

The Solkats were creatures I invented in my youth that helped me understand the world. I often used to talk to them in times of solitude and began writing about them very young. It was only many years later that I saw in them what now features in the novel. A childlike view of a complicated and increasingly darkening world. Their presence in the book draws from everything from Basquiat to the petroglyphs created by the Ancestral Pueblo peoples of New Mexico, and countless other influences. They’ve been realised by my dear friend Madeleine Hyland, who kindly produced the playful and haunting images that feature in the book.

Al, Melusine and Callum are such fantastic characters, especially Al who views the world through a camera lens. How did you find crafting their characters? Did they go through many alterations through the editing process?

The characters happily have been in my head since I was about nineteen, and I was intent on writing this novel but only when the time came. I ended up writing other books over the years and perhaps was a little afraid of getting this one right. But writing these characters involved a lot of talking out loud to myself and many days wandering my local park, having entire conversations with them, trying to enjoy every flaw and every joke they came up with. Much to the confusion of my neighbours, I should imagine.

They didn’t exactly come into my life fully formed, and the drafting process changed them quietly. But their cores were there from the beginning. You can’t start a book without being in love with everyone on the page in some way.

One of the most prominent themes throughout It’s Not A Cult is the dangers of fandoms and social media. When writing about this theme did you draw from any personal experiences? 

I’m not on social media, so mercifully I’ve been spared from the harsher side of that. But I’ve experienced real life hardship and real violence as a result of being even minorly in the public eye, and certainly far less than others. I didn’t set out to examine my own personal relationship with fandom and hyper-fixation but I guess it bled into the book in some small way. I was more interested in asking the question. What would happen if people – influenced by faith or belief or each other – became organised? What would happen if the threat of that danger became more than words? Many others have experienced what that’s like in increasingly terrifying ways. That to me is the only reason this book is even remotely associated with the word ‘horror’.

Which do you feel has been your most nerve-wracking moment in your career—your first acting role, your first live gig or the release of this debut novel? 

I hate to admit it, but I am coming to terms with the fact that I am an inherently nervous person. What I’ve tried to learn is that nervousness is just a misalignment. It is the fear that reality will not align with what you have imagined might happen. Which, to imaginative people, becomes a constant battle. To distinguish what happens with what you hope will happen is to find peace. A peace that can actually be quite weird and maddening for creative folks.

I have been particularly nervous, to be truthful, about this book. In acting, it’s easy to hide behind others, behind their work or contributions towards the project. With The Amazing Devil, or with my writing, it can be a little more exposing. But I’m trying to recognise any misalignment I might have about it. And replace any nervousness with quiet, but hopeful, resignation. If it provides escape, entertainment, thought or comfort for someone, then that will be a happy thing for me.

Finally, what is the one thing you hope readers take away from your writing?

The receipt?

Thank you so much for joining us today!

It’s Not A Cult is out today! You can order your copy on Bookshop.org