Interview With Author David Fraser
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an English born author and artist who now lives in the United States.
My high school years were spent at Sidcot School, a Quaker boarding school located in the beautiful Somerset hills. From there I progressed to Exeter University, also in England’s southwest, where I studied science, before moving on to Oxford University to earn an MA in theology.
My early career was as a church pastor in rural England and then in the busy city of Coventry. Experience of helping people deal with life’s challenges helps me create realistic characters creates in my novels.
After ten years in the ministry I made a career switch and joined a management consultancy in Manchester, where I developed an aptitude for business, helping clients to plan and finance the growth of their companies. My success in this field was profiled in major national newspapers and led to the creation of my own company. Before long I was traveling repeatedly between the UK and the USA, helping American companies to do business in Europe.
Eventually, I tired of constant travel and settle down in Houston, Texas, where I am now retired and living with my artist wife, Sara. I divide my time between writing novels, creating unusual works of photographic art (see www.SceneByOz.com) and traveling to Europe.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Portrait Painter, a fictional tale about an artist.
I am fascinated by the idea of predestination, that life is a sequence of cause-and-effect events, which means we all travel unavoidable fates. If we had unlimited intelligence we would be able to see the myriad patterns of human behavior, and predict the outcomes.
To explore this theme, I have created a principal character who, by studying the faces of his subjects, sometimes has glimpses into their future lives, seeing events and outcomes of which they are not yet aware. Through a series of encounters and adventures, I explore the effect that having this gift has on his life.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do not start with an outline. I find that my characters self-develop and take over. I allow the story to go where they, and their events, direct.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Nevil Shute, James Michener, Laurie Lee, and a host of thriller and mystery writers from Agatha Christie to John Grisham.
What are you working on now?
A sequel to The Portrait Painter
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am new to the game. My website is fraseroz.com.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Enjoy the creative process or quit! Don't count on making money.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Faulkner on Hemingway: “He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.” Hemingway:
My goal is to write prose which can be read aloud easily.
What are you reading now?
The Return by
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?
Laurie Lee: When I walked out one midsummer morning.
Walter Isaacson: Benjamin Franlin (biography)
National Geographic: Becoming America