Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi my name is Bob Sharp, I would love to tell you about all the books I’ve written but I can’t, I have only just completed my first. And I’m really rather proud of it. I came to writing late in life although I suspect the talent was always there. I remember at school being the one whose essays were always read out. However I was really a dreadful student and spent the fisrt few years of my adulthood floating from one job to another. A period of my life that has only good memories.
A bit later I decided I’d better do something more meaningful and returned to education and studied IT. I won’t bore anyone with the details.
After writing a few short stories I decided to tackle a novel.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The title of my novel is Alfred Jones and Son, Bros. it is a darkly comic fantasy tale of an inbred family of immortal travelling undertakers and soul traders. I was already struggling with expanding a short story into a novel when – and this is absolutely true- on a dark a stormy West of Scotland road I was driving home, squinting through the rain, on one side of me was a stormy sea-loch and on the other steep forested hillside. As I drove along I spied a crude hand painted sign that pointed into the forest and said simply Jones Bros. And so the seed was sown.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know, I don’t know what constitutes normal writing habits. Maybe all my writing habits are unusual, but I’m sure everyone continuously juggles skulls while writing.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Loads, too many to list but I will list a few. I remember reading my first ‘grown-up’ book, it was one of my father’s and it was by Wilbur Smith and it was called The Sound of Thunder. I suppose I was eleven or twelve and I was blown away by it, I never returned to Enid Blyton after that. Into adulthood I was/am a huge Iain Banks fan and his sci-fi alter-ego Iain M Banks. I am currently reading a lot of Carl Hiassen and enjoying his work very much.
What are you working on now?
A sequel to Alfred Jones and Son, Bros. once again inspired by a road sign. Without giving too much away this time it was a bright sunny Spanish spring day, and some lockdown restrictions had been lifted allowing me to go out for a walk, as it happened I was just working through a plot line for the new Alfred novel when I saw it. In spanish it said ‘Domingo y Hijo’s’, by the time I got home I’d dropped the plot I was working on and started building a new one based on the sign. I won’t do the translation here but if you’re interested it will give a clue as to where I’m heading.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
It is something I’m currently learning. It’s a minefield, while I didn’t expect to stick it up on amazon and sit back while the royalties rolled in, I didn’t realise just how complex trying to sell a novel can be. Perhaps in a few months time I would be better placed to answer, or alternatively I may just be wreck gibbering away in the corner.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write every day you possibly can, I have a love/hate relationship with writing, actually sitting down and starting is always something I was good at putting off. But if you want to finish you need to be immersed in your project.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t eat yellow snow.
What are you reading now?
An author I discovered called Tim Dorsey, the book is called When elves attack.
What’s next for you as a writer?
At the moment it’s a mix of wrting the next novel and publicising the first. It’s a bit of a balancing act as I’m having to put a lot of effort into just learning the mechanics of selling.
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?
A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson. Probably my favourite non-fiction writer, I love the gentle humour in his books and for a geek this book is full of so many mind blowing facts. I don’t know how often I’ve read it.
I would need to have an Iain M Banks Culture novel with me, forced to pick one and without referring to my bookshelf I would say ‘Player of games’
I would need to have a copy of Harper Lee’s To kill a mockingbird. I just love this book, not really my usual thing but it is just a beautifully written book which addresses a really difficult issue.
Author Websites and Profiles
Bob Sharp Website
Bob Sharp Amazon Profile