Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a Police Sergeant with 24 years frontline service and Cameron Bell is not my real name. I am married to my first love and have two teenage children. I have a docile whippet called Blue. I have written two novels featuring tenacious, no-nonsense Police Sergeant Will Cutter – “The Dead & The Drowning” and “When The Night Is Dark”.
Prior to writing novels, I designed and published tabletop fantasy role playing games. I had a company called Cold Blooded Games, which I used to publish “Dog Town” a rpg set in crime-ridden 1970’s New York.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“When The Night Is Dark”. I wanted to write a second Will Cutter book and I have always been attracted to harrowing and obsessive search stories. Movies like 8mm with Nicholas Cage and the BBC series “The Missing” where the hero unravels or turns vigilante. I also interested in ideas of justice, self-sacrifice and friendship. I set it in Ibiza because I am fascinated by the dark side of the party – the underbelly of a good time. I wanted to bring these themes together in a fast-paced, action-packed crime mystery.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t write at a desk. I write sitting on my La-Z-Boy with a keyboard on my lap and the computer hooked up to the TV. I use Google Drive, so I write on my phone quite a bit when enjoying a beer in the hot tub.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Dennis Lehane, Robert B. Parker, Raymond Chandler, Edward Bunker. I like gritty, hard-boiled crime fiction particularly if written from the first person perspective.
What are you working on now?
The third novel in the Will Cutter series. It is called “Split Face” and is set in Port Talbot. It concerns the hunt for a serial rapist that disfigures his victims.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m the wrong person to ask as I am fumbling around trying to figure the marketing side of being an independent author. Amazon giveaways through the KDP program have worked the best so far, but have not translated into reviews.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t procrastinate over plot. Take an idea and run with it. I’ve written two novels and I have discovered the story as I have written it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You can’t revise a blank page or bad writing is better than no writing.
What are you reading now?
“God Save The Child” by Robert B. Parker.
What’s next for you as a writer?
To continue writing as a hobby. If you put pressure on yourself to succeed you diminish the enjoyment of writing and end up moving away from why you started writing in the first place. To write my third book quicker than my second book which took 17 months. To understand book marketing better that I do now (I can only improve on that front)
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?
“Shogun” by James Clavell.
“No Beast So Fierce” by Edward Bunker.
“Oxford English Dictionary” because I would be lost without words.
Author Websites and Profiles
Cameron Bell Website
Cameron Bell Amazon Profile
Cameron Bell’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile