Charlie King

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Charlie King from London, England. I have always liked to write in some manner since an early age and felt there was always a book in me, whether it was any good or not is another story.
I have been writing for five years now starting with my self-published works, The Lyons Orphanage and The Lyons Legacy, before having my latest book, Lizzie’s Dream Journal, taken on by a publisher.
I currently work as a legal assistant as a Law firm so I find it makes a good balance between the creativity of writing and the more matter-of-fact work I do as my day job. When I’m not writing (or reading), I’m usually watching television and playing video games to unwind; I’m very much an indoors-y person, pandemic or not.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Lizzie’s Dream Journal, a story about a girl who writes stories in a journal which then become people’s dreams. My story ideas, whether they go anywhere or not, are usually inspired by things that are unexplained in the world and I like to write a story that might explain them. Like dreams for instance, nobody really understands why they happen and why everything is so random and so the explanation that someone is creating these dreams through writing makes an interesting story to tell.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure if it is unusual exactly but I can only seem to write lots or nothing at all. Unless I’m forced to by being interrupted, I usually find that even if I plan to write a couple of pages then I will keep going. If I struggle to even begin writing the first page, I usually won’t get anywhere at all.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Not so much in writing style or content, particularly as Lizzie’s Dream Journal is a children’s book, but George R R Martin and the Game of Thrones series have influenced me. This is because there is nothing black and white about the characters; one minute you hate them, the next you empathise with them entirely. While this doesn’t work for a children’s book, I still take the ideas of the heroes being flawed and selfish at times while the villain, who may genuinely be bad, shows some sign of compassion and understanding.

What are you working on now?
At the moment, I have tentatively started a sequel to Lizzie’s Dream Journal. I do not have words down on a page in terms of writing the book but I do have the basic story set up and the structure of the book and chapters. I also have a couple of ideas in my head for other stories but these ideas haven’t been developed into something tangible yet.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
In terms of children’s books, contacting local schools is the best way to promote the book as you can ensure it is reaching your target audience and the teachers are more than happy to host.
Otherwise, I feel like Twitter is the best way to promote, perhaps not directly, as your posts are generally more open to being seen by strangers but it also allows you to build up a base of bloggers and writers to converse with, share advice and maybe take a peek at my book.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t put any pressure on yourself to write. Having a plan to write a certain amount each day can be helpful but if you don’t for a day, a week, a month, don’t worry about it. If you don’t have a deadline to reach, simply write when you feel it is right. If you’re forcing yourself to write when you’re not enjoying it or the ideas aren’t flowing, you probably won’t be too happy with the end product.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I have heard is to just keep on writing. If you’re an author waiting for a publisher to take your story or you’ve been published through any route but have few sales, try and take your focus off of it. There’s no point stopping everything you’re doing waiting for one thing to take off, just keep on doing it and maybe one book will hit big and it will draw people to your previous work.

What are you reading now?
I am currently in the middle of a classics phase with the good and the bad. On the good side, I finished novels like Dracula and Little Women and on the bad side you have books like Wuthering Heights.
At the moment, I am reading Treasure Island but haven’t read enough of it to form an opinion.

What’s next for you as a writer?
My first step was to write a book. The second was to publish a book. The third was to have a book taken on by a publisher. Now I have reached those goals, I won’t stop there and be content with it. Now I want to write multiple books at a time, I want to build relationships in the writing community and grow a small fanbase of people just waiting on my next work.

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?
Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban- I would take all the books if I could but this one was clearly the best. Escapism from the real world might be needed on a desert island.

Little Women- The fact I liked this book so much shocked even me but there’s something about it that just stays with me. Opposite of above, this would make you miss the more mundane things about the real world.
Frankenstein- I had a lot of required reading at school and this is the first one that comes to mind in terms of ones I enjoyed reading and has a powerful message.
1984- The actual story of this isn’t really up to much but the background of the world is an interesting concept and reading this over and over again would give a lot of food for thought.

Author Websites and Profiles
Charlie King Website
Charlie King Amazon Profile

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Goodreads Profile
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