I could say that this survey, or rather this psychological test to the soul of the writer Rhys Hughes (soul directly located on the left side of his mustache in the months when it is left to grow wildly, in the days when the mustache is roughly trimmed Rhys stays soulless, able to climb cliffs and astonishingly, also, capable to write stories) comes directly from within the mists that surround the coast of Swansea via royal mail, but this is not true – these evil questions come out of a partially fruit gnawed by Zwicky Fingers that fell to my chest when I read one of the bat’s adventures.

So I do not know if these questions are from the past, from the present or from future. I only know that the answers are unreal. Who could answer these temporal questions would be Madame Ligeia or Madame Berenice.

But who is Rhys Hughes? I know it’s a gladiator of words that is seen with some irregularity in Swansea Bay chating with the CEO of Litle Inc about the advantages and disadvantages of hiring goblins for household work.

rhys hughes the gladiator

Let us move to the questions that will surely increase the mystery about the writer who calls himself Rhys Hughes.

1. I already have notice that you like to climb and you publish many photos of your activity on social networks. Are you aware that these photos do not show your best side? What are you gonna do about it?
I don’t care whether a photo shows my ‘best side’ or not. I love the mountains and I love climbing. If I look clumsy doing so, too bad. The lover will always look small when compared to the object of his affections, if the object of his affections is 300 metres high. That’s inevitable. I have only returned to climbing recently after a break of 12 years. As I slowly get better at it, I hope to look better; but even if I don’t that doesn’t matter at all. Beauty and the Beast is the legend, not Beauty and the Beauty. There always must be contrast. So the answer is that I intend to do nothing about it…

2. In these climbs how many stories you find in holes?
Since I returned to climbing as a hobby, I have written many stories about climbers or stories set in the mountains; so I guess I do find them on the rockface or on the summits of cliffs. I am going to make an estimate that 33% of the stories I have written in the past year have been about climbing or featured climbing scenes…

3. I only found two pictures of you in “intellectual” poses, such as scratching the chin, which are curiously in editions of books in Portuguese. It was the butterfly stage? Because now you are in the gladiator stage.
An intellectual pose is just that: a pose. Any kind of pose is a pose. I don’t think an intellectual pose is superior in any way to the gladiator pose, or to any other kind of pose. The greatest intellectual pose of all is the blank screen of a supercomputer. Do we really wish to emulate that? In fact, if I had to pick a pose that is the best objectively: I would say that the pose of the joker, the clown, the jester is the wisest of all. As for the photos taken in Portugal: most of them were arranged by my publisher, who is much more concerned with image than I was. I just did what he told me to do.

4. It is easier for you to write short stories because it’s your preferred style or is it because you are afraid that from one certain point you’re going to forget the name of the characters?
Short stories are faster and yes, they do require less memory and organisation, so maybe they are a more lazy way of writing. I do often forget the names of my characters, as a matter of fact, ut that’s because my characters aren’t real characters; they are just chess pieces to be used to develop the idea of the story. There are only ever two characters in any of my books and stories: the author and the reader…

5. Did you lost at some point in the middle of the road? And then when you find The Tavern?
I am always lost. That’s how I live my life. Permanently lost. Sometimes I get lost; but because I am already lost, when I get lost it means I have found the road. Then I usually wander off the road again and return to being lost. It’s not a bad way to proceed. I only ever find a tavern by pur chance. It’s luck, not design, that guides me on my travels.

6. What else can we expect this year out of your craziness head?
You can expect many things, but mainly I plan on finishing a novel I started writing in 1994. I have been planning to finish this novel for a long time but I really do need to get it done now…