Interview With Author Gordon Doherty
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a Scottish writer, addicted to reading and writing historical fiction. My love of history was first kindled by visits to the misty Roman ruins of Britain and the sun-baked antiquities of Turkey and Greece. My expeditions since have taken me all over the world and back and forth through time (metaphorically, at least), allowing me to write tales of the later Roman Empire, Byzantium, Classical Greece and even the distant Bronze Age.
Twenty one books so far (and counting!)
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Empires of Bronze: THE DARK EARTH is a tale of devastation in the distant past.
Clay tablets excavated from underneath the 3,000 year-old ruins in the highlands of central Turkey tell of a mighty empire – the empire of the Hittites – which thrived in the Bronze Age, dominating the region. They were the world’s supreme power for a time… and then it all changed.
The tablets tell of King Hattu and his son, Tudha, and of the absolute carnage they would face… when the Sea Peoples came and blew the Hittites and every other power of the Bronze Age into history
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
A cat who doubles as a foot warmer 🙂
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stories fascinated me when I was a boy, particularly those that offered adventure and escapism. I’d plough through the yarns of C.S. Lewis, Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl, then try my hand at storytelling with semi-illustrated tales of my own. I quickly found the sense of escapism was heightened when writing my own stuff. I think that’s why historical fiction works so well for me, spiriting me away to a long-lost time and place.
There are three authors who have chiefly shaped and influenced my adult writing style and reading interests: Valerio Massimo Manfredi for his passionately-told stories of Alexander, Troy and Rome, Sam Barone for his wonderfully detailed and absorbing tales of early antiquity and the dawn of the Bronze Age city-states, and David Gemmell for his unerring ability to create life from words (his characters positively leap from the page and sear themselves into your mind) while offering simple, earnest lessons in morality to boot.
What are you working on now?
I’m now editing book 9 in my Late Roman ‘Legionary’ series. http://www.gordondoherty.co.uk/Legionary
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I genuinely haven’t found one ‘silver bullet’ website. It’s getting harder and harder to get readers to notice books these days!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
“The first draft of everything is shit”, is a quote attributed to Ernest Hemingway. I can confirm that my first drafts certainly are 😊
But that’s the point – they give you something to work with and make better. Just as Michelangelo needed a brutish block of marble in order to create David!
I now refer to my first drafts as “The vomit draft”. Just let it all come out onto the page, rattle on through it, don’t get sidelined by intricate historical detail (just leave a comment or highlight at that point and you can come back to it later). So that’s my tip: vomit!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writing rule #9: ignore anything that claims to be a writing “rule”
What are you reading now?
Hawk Eternal by David Gemmell. Simply wonderful!
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a brand new series planned and ready to go – I have to keep the subject matter and era under wraps for now though.
If you want to stay informed, you can join my newsletter mailing list (only one or two letters a year) at: https://www.gordondoherty.co.uk/newsletter.html
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?
Lion of Macedon, David Gemmell
Helen of Troy, Margaret George
The Time Machine, H.G. Wells
Author Websites and Profiles
Gordon Doherty Author Profile on Smashwords
Gordon Doherty’s Social Media Links