Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a British writer and musician. I live in Staffordshire in the UK (where the pottery comes from!) with my fiancée and my two cats.
The Dimension Scales and Other Stories is my first full published collection of speculative fiction short stories. I have also had a poem published as part of an anthology ‘The Dance is New’.
I am a ‘jobbing’ writer, so I have also written for stage and radio – I’ve had credits on the BBC for comedy sketches and jokes, plus written for animations, theatre and audio plays. As a musician I compose and produce music for commercial and community projects, as well as write and play original music in my own band (singer/guitarist).
For the last four years I have been studying towards a mixed degree in creative writing and philosophy (plus a few other subjects!) which I finished this year. I’m in my early thirties, but I’ve found my ‘second wind’ when it comes to education!
All in all, I keep myself busy!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called ‘The Dimension Scales and Other Stories’, and it is a collection of 14 short speculative fiction stories.
The inspiration has been a mixture of my love for North American science fiction (Asimov, Philip K Dick) and the short stories or Roald Dahl (he didn’t just do kids books!). As it is a collection, most stories have very different inspirations, but they are thematically linked by being near-future projections of contemporary fears, or set in ‘possible worlds’ which do the same. They are connected by the titular story in subtle ways that I have hidden for the readers to discover!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can’t listen to music of any kind – being a musician it distracts me and I can’t focus. I drink lots of tea (being British and all)… other than that, it is generally just being locked away in my office for hours stooped over a screen. I like to make notes now and again in different places (pen and paper) – and then bring them back to be written up (which gets a draft out of the way!).
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Isaac Asimov. Philip K Dick. Roald Dahl. Will Self. Martin Amis. Douglas Adams. And dozens of North American writers who I have read in huge anthologies and can’t remember the names of! Oh, and Margaret Atwood.
What are you working on now?
I am working on my next book, which will be a novel rather than short stories. It will have dystopian themes (like The Dimension Scales), but be set in a surreal present-day setting that eventually stretches forward to an even stranger near future. I am about a third of the way through the first draft…
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There are so many, and am still finding my way around the big world of self-promotion. However, it seems that Goodreads and your Amazon profile page are pretty essential. Building up Twitter is good for getting reviews and links out there. Facebook is better for retaining existing readers, rather than getting new ones… The list goes on and on! I’ve approached dozens of sites for reviews and promotion, the most important thing is to read the submission policies carefully and engage with the site (even if that only means following them on social media or signing up to a newsletter) – if they are offering you free advertising it is only fair and will reap rewards.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Get a professional editor. Don’t try to rewrite popular/trending titles – if you are not writing what you want to write, you are in the wrong trade. Be prepared to work really hard to promote your book – as a new author, no one knows who you are, why should they read your book? It can get you down sometimes, but got to keep on going (I am at that stage now! Just keep plugging). Reviews are probably the most important thing to go after – but they must be genuine and useful. Just having a star rating is not enough. Don’t pay for them, and be careful doing ‘review swaps’ unless you already know the other author writes the kind of work you would usually buy/read. And a hundred other things that we are all still finding out for ourselves I’m sure.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Show don’t tell.
What are you reading now?
Philip K. Dick ‘Megapack’ of all his collected short stories. Love it.
What’s next for you as a writer?
The next novel, plus live theatre work and scripts for (hopefully) TV and radio. I have a lot of projects going on at any one time!
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?
This is a hard question. Let’s say, The Lord of The Rings (as I can read it over and over) – The Complete Roald Dahl collection (short stories) and the Norton Book of Science Fiction.
Author Websites and Profiles
Garry Abbott Website
Garry Abbott Amazon Profile
Garry Abbott’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account