Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Northern Ireland, served in the UK Air Force for twenty years and now live in Western Australia. I always had a passion for writing and in 2014 I finished my first novel, an alternate history called ‘A Time To Every Purpose’. Since then I’ve embarked on a series of crime thrillers featuring two women, Kara Wright & Tien Tran, who were both ex-military intelligence operators. The third Wright & Tran is due for release on the 10th of March 2017.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Fall Guys… I, like many others, watch the news of the multiple conflicts going on in the world and wonder who on earth is providing all these separate warring factions with their weapons. Apart from the major nation states, there must be facilitators and clandestine deals happening across the globe. That was the start point for Fall Guys and it sees my two main protagonists, Kara and Tien, thrust into a world of backroom deals, smuggling, betrayal and ultimately, an examination of old alliances.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t begin writing until I have what I call the “essential scenes” clear in my head. I do a lot of plot line development while driving and have my phone set up to record voice memos on handsfree. Once back in front of my PC, I can listen to the ideas and scope out the various touch points that will form the main arc of the story. After that, I begin to write and let the process furnish the extra details and fabric of the book.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
All of my books have got strong female lead characters. The likes of Philip Pullman’s ‘Dark Materials’ and John Marsden’s ‘Tommorrow When the War Began’ series were superb examples of that. Being that I was in the military, I used to inhale Tom Clancy’s novels and his particular take on the military thriller had a natural appeal to me. Michael Connolly and his eponymous Harry Bosch gave me a love of following how a character develops through time.
What are you working on now?
The next in the Wright & Tran series, called Family Ties. It’s about the attempted blackmail of a high court judge. I’ve also got an idea for a children’s book that has been kicking around in my head for a while, but Kara and Tien will probably win out.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I try to use a combination of Bookbub, Free Kindle Book & Tips, the Fussy Librarian and, of course, Awesome Gang. Partner those with a website, Facebook page and a Twitter account, occasional coverage in the press and an extensive list of library and bookshop appearances and it all adds up to a marketing strategy that, like every marketing strategy, is a gradually building snowball, rather than a dramatic avalanche.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read. Read and write what you like, what you are attracted to. Don’t take criticism too much to heart. Listen to it obviously and if the same things keep being repeated take a close look at what’s being said, but be gentle with your ego and psyche. Just take a minute to Google reviews of Charles Dickens and you will find numerous 1-star reviews criticising some of the classics of English Literature. It all has to be kept in perspective.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Oh, there has been soooo much good advice given to me, but I did like the simple thing said to me by a world-leading laser expert who provided background research material for my first novel. Modest and unassuming, she didn’t want to be acknowledged by name but said, when I queried if my twist on a fact would shatter the illusion, “Science Fiction is indeed fiction. Don’t get too worked up about the science.” On a ‘whole of life’ scale, I guess that early advice intoned by my parents and aunts and uncles still shines through, “You are better than no one and no one is better than you.”
What are you reading now?
I do tend to have more than one book on the go. So at the moment it’s John Birmingham’s A Girl in Time and I’m rereading Kipling’s Kim.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have the sketch ideas for at least a couple more Wright & Tran novels and through them I’d hope to increase the number of readers I have. As an independent author, increasing your public profile is hard work, but perseverance and persistence are key. My first novel came out in 2014, so it hasn’t been that long. In those three years I’ve been very fortunate, gaining invitations to a few writers festivals (including the 2017 Perth Writers Festival), running author events in Australia and the UK, being reviewed in the national press in both countries and gathering up favourable reviews on the online retail sites. It’s a simple case of following ‘Dory’, the patron saint of Indy Authors… ‘Just Keep Swimming’…
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?
The complete Lord of the Rings… first book I ever reread and then read again and again and…
The complete works of Shakespeare. I’ve loved Shakespeare since I studied Julius Cesar at high school. Plus, it like LOTR, is big and would give me hours of reading time.
The complete collection of Poems by Kipling, because it’s Kipling’s poems… what more explanation do you need???
and if I can have a fourth, I’d take a volume of Irish myths & legends, including the Ulster, or Red Branch cycle, for the stories are literally timeless…
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