Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written about 10 books, 3 of which are currently in print; the rest will need considerable revision if they are to see the light of day. I work ‘full time’ – as it were – on my artworks, videos, music and on my writings, swopping from one form to another as the ideas come to me, or if I hit a brick wall with one particular thing. I live in London, which is a great place to live as I can get by on nothing while being part of a massive gathering of people from all over the world. I live in a leafy part of town, yet it’s only 20 minutes away from Piccadilly and Soho by tube. So I’m never far from degenerate action, if need be. Perfect. I’ve worked in all kinds of fields, from music to retail to teaching to counselling to plastering and wrecking. Other than English I speak a few languages, though not particularly well. Mandarin is my favourite, but it doesn’t seem to like me, and keeps pushing its impossible and impenetrable characters out of my memory. I’ve also travelled all over the place – Europe, America, Asia, Africa.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is ‘Ghost Queen’, consisting of extremist short stories inspired by my various travels and various observations of human imbecility, including my own. I like to think of the stories as a bit like a deranged Bukowski very slightly filtered through an aspirant Naipaul.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really – I try to work on my various projects during the day and part of the evening (Monday to Thursday), as I save the weekends for recovery. Sometimes the ideas just won’t come, and so I have to wait patiently, and do other things. I used to write at night while drinking, but this was a misjudgement and straightaway led to a catastrophic loss of quality control.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
No one influences me directly, although there are a number of authors I admire to the point of worship: Beckett and Naipaul are at the top of my list. I once tried ‘imitating’ Naipaul’s style, but it ended in total defeat. I love Bukowski for his contrarian persona, and his alcoholic nihilism, and his writing is always fun to read, though it can be a bit ragged in places. Loads of good women: Flannery & Shirley; Clarice Lispector, Fleur Jaeggy, Regina Ullmann. I detest the classics – Joyce, Shakespeare, Austen, and the like – and other than Dostoevsky regard them as completely uninteresting.
What are you working on now?
New poems, short stories and novels. Once written I have to distance myself from them – ie forget about them for a few months at least – to see if they are any good. I’ve been working on a long novel for many years but it’s very demanding and I may never finish it. So I have plenty of publishable material but I don’t know which pieces will make the cut.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I very much doubt if I will ever have a ‘bestseller’, so I have to be content with something like a cult following. I just try to contact people I think will enjoy what I’ve done. And there are some out there ! So I’m always on the alert for the right opportunity. It’s hard work. Kindlepreneur.com is a good place to start, and then you just have to work systematically through the options, one at a time.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes: if you are a serious writer and striving to achieve literary excellence, then ‘try to have something worthwhile to say’. This means you need to have a wealth of all kinds of experiences to draw on, and most of them will not be very pleasant. This means living life – as an ordinary person – in all its grim facticity, while you find out how life works, and what it amounts to. Keep the day job, if you have one. Get a day job, if you don’t. Truth is, you are unlikely to have anything interesting to say before the age of 40. This doesn’t mean you can’t practice your craft in the meantime, but most of what you produce is likely to be vapid and aspirational only. 98% of all writing – including most of the classics – is about nothing at all – just endless words on a page – writing by the yard – by people who’ve never done anything, and have only ever experienced things in their imagination. Imagination and real life are not the same thing. Imagining a fight is quite different from getting punched in the face, though writers and poets don’t want to have to admit it. I don’t want to have to either.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
‘Life is shit, and always will be’ (paraphrasing the Buddha somewhat, but maintaining the unimpeachable meaning of the First Noble Truth) which means that we just have to make the best of a fairly nasty process, while striving for ‘The Answer’. Of course there are moments of pleasure, but anyone who thinks they ever have got life ‘nicely under control’ are deluded, and will be disabused of their mistaken view sooner rather than later. You try your best, but that doesn’t guarantee anything. You keep going amidst the chaos and defeat. Never be surprised by a complete turnaround: reversals are a feature of life.
What are you reading now?
I always read about 5 or 6 books at a time, a few chapters from each ‘per session’, fiction and non-fiction. Martin Amis, Céline, Elena Ferrante, Anselm Kiefer, Frank Bidart. I occasionally even read thrillers – Christie, Rendell, Simenon – to study technique.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Just to keep it going to the bitter end, while trying to find just the right stories to capture the right ideas to capture the right reader. I write non-fiction as well as poetry. And there’s always alcohol to look forward to when Friday arrives: absinthe; vodka; mescal; alternating with 10% strength beer. Thank god it’s not all doom and gloom.
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?
‘Molloy’ by Beckett; ‘The Birthday Party’ & ‘The Caretaker’ by Pinter; ‘Erections Ejaculations and Tales of Ordinary Madness’ by Bukowski; ‘Guerrillas’ & ‘Beyond Belief’ & ‘A Writer’s People’ by Naipaul; ‘SS Proleterka’ by Jaeggy. That should do the trick.
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