Interview with Me

Interview with the author

Q I know that this is your first published novel but have you written anything that hasn't been published previously?

A this is actually my third attempt at writing a novel but the first I have successfully completed.

Q what happened to the first two?

A in short I didn't finish them.

Q why what happened?

A there were two different reasons really. The first book one misplaced word was a bit too complicated for the skills that I had at the time. It was all about perception and I was trying to give make the reader question some of their own thought processes. With a big game changer at the end. If I can explain by reminding people of what they thought at the end of the sixth sense then without spoiling, I wanted to similarly say " I never said that, you just thought I did" added to that as with prisoners I had a parallel story. In the end it all got a bit preachy. I like the idea of challenging perceptions and I have tried to bring some of those themes into this novel, but they are I hope a bit subtler.

Q so what happened to the second book?

A that was actually the complete opposite. I started it with the intention of learning skills to help me go back to project one better prepared. It was a nice simple quest called "take one pass it on" , straight forward; not too many complication, a to b, with a kind of love story thrown in. The trouble was half way through I realised I was pretty bored writing it. I certainly didn't love it or feel attached to it. It was just something I was doing. It wasn't that it was terrible or anything and the characters certainly took on their own identity. So one day I just stopped, put it in a drawer and prisoners was born.

Q so why do you think you finished this and not the previous attempts?

A I guess it was just that the story grabbed me. It was a happy medium with enough complexity to keep me interested but simple enough to avoid getting lost. I hope that the readers will find this works for them as well . The fact that my beta readers finished it so quickly gave me confidence that it worked. Ironically "take one pass it on" and "prisonersfdj" were supposed to help me revisit "one miss place word" but I think the reverse happened. My first two attempts actually helped me with the third. I learnt so much about the whole process; from research, through characterisation, plot and generally organising my thought processes. So that when it came down to the writing of "prisonersfdj" I finished it in virtually no time at all . Everything was so clear and the bits that weren't just came as I started to write. The most important piece of information that I think I have ever read on the subject said "just write" don't get hung up on getting it perfect but keep a momentum and a flow. I'm not sure I could write anything that took years, if I was reading a book and it was taking me that long I would suggest quite rightly that it hadn't captivated my imagination. I don't see why writing should be any more I will post the second half of the interview tomorrow