Interview With Author B.P. Reilly
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m B.P. Reilly, an independent author that writes for fun. I always have more ideas than time, but it’s a genuine pleasure to share stories with the world, and so that’s what I do.
I’ve published a large number of short stories on all corners of the internet, usually in different forms of the action genre, but I have one full-length novel to my name, which I’ll talk about more below. I’ve also published a large amount of nonfiction under another name!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is a medical mystery crime thriller novel, *The Fairlight Legacy*, which centers around a young doctor unraveling the mystery behind her family’s framing and murder. The initial form of this story came years ago in the form of a TV script I submitted, which was a much darker and more action-oriented tale of betrayal with no doctors involved. The initial concept took a much more concrete form when, last year, I watched the Chinese drama 新醉打金枝, or “Love with Princess”, which features a medieval doctor-detective character whose family was also framed and murdered. Unfortunately, they didn’t do much with this plot point, so I wanted to tackle it and try to do better! This version was originally going to be much more action-oriented and grim. The final step came when I watched the Japanese drama *Ameku MD: Doctor Detective,* which featured an eccentric young doctor without much physical ability who manages to get through dangerous situations on pure mental power alone. The way this character was written inspired me to dial back the action segments of my story, and force myself out of my usual comfort zone by writing a character who would have to do more than fight their way to a solution.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I practice an extremely heavy form of outline writing! I’ll start with a basic outline of how I want a story to go, and then I’ll write increasingly more detailed outlines until, eventually, I have a full book!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle remains my absolute favorite mystery writer of all time, and all of his work on Sherlock Holmes inspired me throughout this more mystery-related work. However, on the thriller side, I lean much more towards Tom Clancy’s more technical writing and direct pacing. Beyond inspiration of the writing itself, my writing idols are Andy Weir and Will Wight, two self-publishing legends who managed to share their work with a larger stage!
What are you working on now?
I’m between projects at the moment, focusing on my primary job (and doing a fair bit of nonfiction writing through it), but I have several ideas for future projects, both within the Fairlight universe and beyond!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Do you have any advice for new authors?
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
What are you reading now?
I’m currently right in the midst of three different franchises: a re-read of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher books, a full read through all of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan books, and a foray through the Halo novels!
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m not sure, and I think that’s a beautiful thing! I wasn’t sure that *The Fairlight Legacy* would ever reach publication when writing it. I’ve written so many short stories in the past, but could never sustain the time and energy to complete a full length novel. It was a very happy set of circumstances that let me complete *The Fairlight Legacy* in its final form. But should the circumstances present themselves again, I know that I have plenty more stories to tell.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
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