Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m 56-years-old and I’m British. I live in rural Kent, the garden of England, with my partner and six-year-old son. As well as being a father and a writer, I’m also a furniture maker. Cold Star is my first published novel. I’ve also written a short story, Treasure Hunter, a spin-off from Cold Star which is available to members of my mailing list.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The skies are dark down here in Kent. I bought a telescope soon after we moved here from London and watching the skies with it inspired the idea behind my first novel, Cold Star.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to write at the end of the evening, once everyone’s gone to bed and the house is quiet. I’ll keep going until tiredness beats me – but then, once I’m in bed, often a thought will come to me and I’ll pick up my phone, open up notes and just keep going. At least then, when sleep finally overcomes me, I’m in the right place! Using a phone to write with is, I think, perfectly viable and it’s often overlooked or dismissed. It shouldn’t be.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
More than any other, Ian Fleming. I believe he’s hugely underrated and, once you get past the anachronisms of the period in which he wrote his Bond books, you find a highly accomplished writer able to draw perfect pictures with beautifully descriptive passages throughout his stories. With Fleming, I think it’s the escapism that Bond represents which I love, not just in place but also in time. Reading Fleming is a nostalgic experience, a link to childhood and to simpler times. And I love the plot-driven nature of the spy story genre, the intrigue that’s always present.
What are you working on now?
I’m nearing completion of the first draft of my follow up to Cold Star, provisionally called Silverbird. It features the Agent again but alongside him this time there’s also a strong female lead. Silverbird is set a little later on in the sixties in Europe, Russia and California. It will be the second book in the Agent series, charting the race to the moon in the sixties. A sense of that pioneering decade of space exploration is expressed in parallel with the plot and theme of each book in the planned series.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesome Gang, of course!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the book you want to write, the way you want to write it, and enjoy writing. Concentrate on getting your story down, all the rest of the process of becoming an author and publishing your book can be dealt with later, just don’t think about it for now. Don’t start re-writing until you get your content down, you’ll never get to the end if you do.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To become a writer all you need to do is start writing something.
What are you reading now?
I consume books simultaneously in different formats. On my Kindle, I’ve just finished reading Steel Wolf by Christoph John. He came to my attention through the forum of a 007 fansite. As part of my research into writing Silverbird, I’m also reading a hardback copy of Shady Lady: 1,500 Hours Flying the U-2 Spy Plane by Lieutenant Colonel Rick Bishop. I listen to audiobooks while I’m driving too. At the moment I’m listening to City of Fallen Angels by Paul Buchanan. This is a great, noirish gumshoe story, set in sixties LA. I chose it to listen to as part of my research again but it’s so enjoyable to listen to just anyway. And finally, with my young son, we’re currently listening to The Taylor Turbochaser by David Baddiel. This is the second of his children’s books we’ve listened to and David is certainly both of our favourite kids’ authors at the moment. He narrates his stories himself and I like hearing his voice entertaining us on the school run.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing my first draft of Silverbird and besides this, continuing to promote Cold Star.
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?
I couldn’t pick only 4, and so I’ve chosen 6 – I hope that’s OK!
Moonraker by Ian Fleming. Fleming at his best, in my opinion.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I could happily lose myself again in Donna Tartt’s sumptuous writing and the arcadian world of the American college campus which she describes so well – and for me, there are shades of Brideshead Revisited here too. The intrigue within the story drives the plot forward in an utterly compelling read.
Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson. A fantastic, journeying epic of a story that I’d love to have the time to read again.
Flashman at the Charge (or any of the Flashman books) by George MacDonald Fraser. Flashman takes me away to foreign lands in past times. There’s a history lesson in every book and Flashman is such a cheeky rouge, I can’t help but adore him. Just wonderful.
Once Upon a time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino. Because nobody writes dialogue anywhere near as good as Tarantino does. I don’t know how he does it but he just makes it so vivid.
And finally, Right Ho, Jeeves (or any of the Jeeves books) by PG Wodehouse. I love Jeeves, he’d keep my spirits up, all alone on my island.
Author Websites and Profiles
Dick Woodgate Website
Dick Woodgate Amazon Profile
Dick Woodgate’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
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