Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
So, I’ve been telling stories for as long as I can remember and writing them since I learnt how to spell. Well… maybe even before I learnt how to spell since it’s debatable whether or not I ever did. I’m Plymouthian (England) born and bred, although I did go to uni in Winchester, studied Creative Writing and Drama, graduating with a 2:1 in 2008. Geez, that feels like a lifetime ago.
I’m not ashamed to say I work for McDonald’s, and have done for the last 8 years. It’s not a bad job and they’ve been really good and understanding with the ongoing issues I’ve had with my health.
In my free time I run my own YouTube channel and play with my adorable pet Gerbils, Mew and Celibi (because who wouldn’t?).
As for how many books I’ve written… hard to say. Since I started uni I’ve written on a daily basis. To begin with, it was a chapter per project I was writing on a day, so, for a few years, I got through a LOT of stories. Now I’m a little more relaxed with how much I write each day, so the rate at which I complete something has slowed down a lot. Which is probably a good thing, since I’ve barely published anything so far, and any more of a backlog and I wouldn’t know where to begin with it all lol.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Okay, there are two answers I can give to this question. The first is the book I published last year, since, of the time I’m answering this, that was my last book released. But since I’m also planning to release another before the end of August (fingers crossed) I guess I should mention that one too.
Let’s start with the one I’ve already released. Echoe. It was inspired by a close friend of mine, who challenged me to write a fantasy story with a disabled, single mother with telekinesis as the main character. She herself lives with disabilities and wanted a heroine she could feel inspired by. I think I more than met her expectations there. Well, I at least know she loves it and that’s enough for me.
As for the one I’m about to release. Hyena Boy. I don’t know if I can pinpoint down exactly what inspired it, other than the main character himself. I know that’s a weird answer, but Jay’s a character who just kind of appeared to me one day when I was a teenager. A few years after that I started work on Hyena Boy, his story. Since then he’s always been around and I’ve come back to Hyena Boy time and time again, improving it, getting it ready for when it would finally be released. To me at this point, Jay is more than just a character, he’s one of my closest friends, so maybe it’s weird to say he inspired his own story, but I don’t know how else to describe it at this point.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I guess my most unusual writing habit would be acting out or, at the very least, speaking through character moments/interactions/movements. Sometimes moving through the scene yourself gives you a better understanding of what’s going on. A few times it even changes your perspective of the whole scene.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I think the thing which had the biggest impact/influence on me as a writer has been mangas (Japanese comics). Even though I don’t use pictures in my own book, I have been told more than once that my writing has a ‘manga’ feel to it, although I’m not totally sure what that means lol.
What are you working on now?
Right now, alongside editing Hyena Boy (totally needed to name drop that more than once), I’m working on… what’s starting to become… an epic fantasy. I’m currently writing it as a single novel broken into parts, but I might change that later. It’s kind of a rewriting of a small fantasy series I started in my early teens, although the characters and plotline have been greatly improved (thank goodness).
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I still haven’t found a formula that works for me yet. So I’m in the process of experimenting with as many things possible. Because if you don’t try, you don’t succeed.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Remember, you are your own first reader, if you enjoy your work then others will too.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write about things you’re afraid of. When it was said to me it was meant more literally, but I’ve taken it to mean, write things that have an impact on you. If you can read the same chapter 15 times and still gives you the same feels you got the first time you wrote it, then you must be doing something right.
What are you reading now?
I’m currently listening to The Silver Eyes by Scott Cawthon and Kira Breed-Wrisley on Audible. I’ve read my ebook version more than once too.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Next for me as a writer is to finish editing and finally release Hyena Boy (yay three name drops).
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 One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith, Watership Down by Richard Adams, Old Bear Stories by Jane Hissey, one of the FNAF books by Scott Cawthon and Kira Breed-Wrisley (probably the first).
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