Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an award-winning writer of books and screenplays, and a TV and film director and producer. I have worked for major broadcasters and studios on a wide variety of successful projects in the US, UK, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East.
When I was young, a man behind a big desk who called himself a ‘Career Specialist’ fell about laughing when I told him I wanted to tell stories. The ‘Expert’ had other plans. “You should be an engineer, that’s what you should be,” he said. I ignored his advice and embarked upon a very different life.
Kill Code: A Dystopian Science Fiction Novel is my latest book-the first in an exciting new dystopian science fiction series set in a world facing climate catastrophe where nothing is what it seems.
Fans of fantasy adventure books like ‘The Hunger Games’, ‘The 5th Wave’, and ‘Divergent’ will be captivated by ‘Kill Code’.
Besides ‘Kill Code’, I also wrote ‘Scary Lizzy’ – a novel about an eight year old girl, Sarah Wilde, who befriends an African child ghost – and the teen action adventure book, ‘The Boy Next Door ‘ – or what happens when a teenage girl has a crush on her next-door neighbor, who isn’t all he seems. And I co-wrote ‘Art Pengriffin and The Curse of The Four’ – a young adult fantasy adventure about a teenage boy who discovers his father was Merlin the Magician. It was a Kindle Book Review Awards Semi-Finalist.
When I’m not writing, lazing on the beach, drinking coffee, reading, or going to the movies, I love to travel – anywhere, and anytime I have any spare cash.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Kill Code: A Dystopian Science Fiction Novel, and although set a few years in the future I was inspired to write it because of what I see going on around us – climate change, environmental destruction, and the vast inequality of wealth. But I didn’t want to create a dry lecturing tome, which is why I put these elements into a story which is full of adventure and action, and numerous twists and turns to hold even the most jaded reader’s attention.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I guess I’m like many writers in being particular about the chair I use, and it’s position in a room. I arrange it so I can look out the window – which inspires me as I see the world going by, but can be a major distraction. These aren’t really unusual writing habits but they are my own idiosyncrasies. Maybe I should develop a few unusual writing habits though. Hanging upside down like a bat and typing away on my laptop would be something I might try one day.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
As a kid, I read sci-fi books all the time. The novel Planet of the Apes (Pierre Boulle), which explored many of the themes that are still so relevant today particularly affected me. Since then I have read most of the master’s of sci-fi—Ray Bradbury, H. G. Wells, John Wyndham, etc. and more recently, Sabrina Vourvoulias’s (Ink), Emily St. John Mandel (Station Eleven) and the extraordinary Hav by Jan Morris. I love reading crime and thriller novels too, and the surprising twists and turns the principal characters go through when the genre is written by brilliant authors like the late Elmore Leonard, James Patterson, and Gillian Flynn. We often dismiss crime books as ‘pulp fiction’ but I find they can supply far more insight into people and their actions than so-called literary novels. I’m hoping eventually to write a series in this genre, but it’s a daunting task when you look at what’s out there already.
What are you working on now?
I’m looking to get more reviews for Kill Code, so if anyone out there can help with that, thank you! I’ve also started writing the second book in the trilogy, and I’m hoping to get it out by the end of the year.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think getting good reviews does work since it reassures people that the book is worth a read. I like this website of course and the fact that it’s linked to so many others. Bookbub too seems to work, though you have to be a plutocrat to afford to advertise on it!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing is like riding a bike. At first, it seems impossible to do, but as you practice more and more you surprise yourself and get better and better at it. But it is hard work and really takes enormous effort. You have to want to write more than anything in the world. If you have that desire then my advice to budding writers is “Just Do It.”
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I was ever given was when I was told at school by a career adviser that I should become an engineer. He laughed when I said I wanted to write, and his negatively spurred me on.
What are you reading now?
I’m just finishing a book called The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It’s totally unlike anything I usually read, but it’s a simple, inspirational novel.
What’s next for you as a writer?
There’s only one thing I want to do as a writer and that is be better at it, which means writing more!
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?
That’s difficult to say since I wouldn’t want to bring any books I have already read yet – with the impossible exception of Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. It’s an amazing book.
Author Websites and Profiles
Clive Fleury Website
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