Can you tell us
a little bit about yourself?
1.
What
do you do when you are not writing?
First
I would like to say thank you for having me on your site, it’s a pleasure to be
here. When not writing, I’m like anyone else. I love spending time with my
family, reading, listening to music. My secret vice though is singing on
Karaoke, don’t tell anyone though or I’ll have to send the boy’s round.
2.
Do
you have a day job as well?
No,
I’m a house husband at the moment, so this gives me plenty of time to write.
3.
When
did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?
I
first began as a teenager, I won a competition in school, and that’s what got
me hooked. Life kind of got in the way until a couple of years ago when I
decided to take it up again.
4.
How
did you choose the genre you write on?
I
think the genre kind of chose me, I guess because of the books I enjoy reading
as well.
5.
Where
did you get your ideas from?
I
could say the voices in my head gave me my ideas but they stopped talking a
long time ago...only joking. I wanted a hero that was tough but human also,
with human foibles etc. That’s how my main character, Jimmy Dalton came to be,
he is an ex soldier from a gang land back ground, but he’s also damaged by his
experiences. He has the skills to get the job done but he sure isn’t happy
about what he has to do.
6.
Do
you ever experience writer’s block?
Not
so far, I think if you have the story in your head or fully realised down on
paper you should be okay.
7.
Do
you work with an outline or just write?
I
have the basics of the story in my head, then I let the story take me where it
wants to go, I did try planning it out but for me this did not work.
8.
Is
there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either by
growing up or as an adult?
During
my youth, I read a lot of pulp fiction, especially The Destroyer Series by
Warren Murphy, and Richard Sapir, Robert Ludlums Bourne books, long before they
became celluloid hits. I also guess the ones that had the most effect on me
were by Eric Van Lusbader, and Marc Olden. These featured an East meets West
scenario, with lots of Martial Arts action, this led to my love for the Martial
Arts and Eastern philosophy. I spent about fifteen years training in various
arts before I was hit by a car and could not train anymore because of damaged
knees.
9.
Can you tell me about your challenges in
getting your first book published?
The
only real challenges I faced was in getting the formatting correct, and the
appropriate cover, then marketing, biggest challenge of all.
10.
If you had to go back and do it all over, is
there any aspect of your novel or getting it published that you would change?
I
think the only thing I would change is learning as much as I could about the
self-publishing industry before putting my first book out, but if ifs and ands
were pots and pans there would be no need of tinkers, as my Nana used to say.
We live and learn, and move on.
11.
How do you market your work? What avenues have
you found to work best for your genre?
I
don’t think there is any one avenue that works best, Facebook, Twitter, I use
them both plus my own blogspot. No idea which works best, sales have happened
when I have not marketed and other times when I have, I have had no sales. Go
figure.
12.
Have you written a book you love that you have
not been able to get published?
Not
yet but I am sure there will be one in the future.
13.
Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
My
next book will be the sequel to Jericho Blues, which I have just published, it
will be called Jericho Blues-Hour of the Wolf.
14.
Is anything in your book based on real life
experiences or purely all imagination?
It’s
all imagination, although there are some people out there who claim they have
experienced some of the events in Jericho Blues.
15.
What was your favourite chapter (or part) to
write and why?
That’s
a hard one, i have no favorites, I loved them all.
16.
How did you come up with the title?
In
Jericho Blues an elite group of families who have been ruling the world from
behind the scenes step out of the shadows and bring down society as we know it
just like Joshua brought down the walls of Jericho in the Bible.
17.
What project are you working on now?
I’m
working on Hour of the Wolf, and a novel called Drakesh, which is a horror.
18.
Will you have a new book coming out soon?
It
will be another couple of months before my next release.
19.
Are there certain characters you would like to
go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?
There
are no characters, except maybe Paulie from Homecoming Blues, but I killed him
off, as for themes and ideas, wherever my muse takes me I shall follow.
20.
What has been the toughest criticism given to
you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
I’ve
had a couple of bad reviews, but I don’t let them bother me, as far as I’m
concerned all reviews are good, best compliment was my character, Jimmy Dalton
being likened to Jack Reacher if he had come from a British working class
background.
21.
Do you have any advice to give to aspiring
writers?
Write,
write, write, read, read, read. Never give up on what you do, develop a thick
skin because some people will hate what you do, while others will love it, and
always be open to advice. You never stop learning in this game, never think you
know it all, because you don’t and probably never will, learn the rules then
know when to break them.
22.
Is
there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?
All
those who have read my work i would say a big thank you, and you shall get your
rewards in heaven, peace out.
Thank you Andrew for being here on this site and it has been a pleasure to get to know you as well especially as an author. I for one will be waiting for your follow up to Jericho Blues as I have read it and could not put it down either.
Thank you for having me over, the pleasure is all mine.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome Andrew and keep writing away I certainly am stuck on your books now !
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