Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a writer, blogger and publisher. My first book was a collection of short stories entitled ‘The Village; A Year in Twelve Tales’ published by The Story Bazaar (my own imprint) in April 2015. It chronicled the life of a modern English village over the course of one calendar year in twelve, inter-linked stories. Since then I’ve published individual short stories on line and in magazines and my work has appeared on a number of academic courses.
My first novel ‘Reconquista’ (2016) an adventure story set in 13th century Al Andalus, reached number 5 on Amazon when it was first published. Since then, it was long listed for the Mslexia Children’s Novel Award 2016 ( but it didn’t win ).
I am editor of the annual Story Bazaar Compendium ( 2015 onwards ), a collection of favourite articles and fiction from The Story Bazaar web-site, written by contributors. I co-founded and continue to organise the Clapham Book Festival, an annual literary festival in south London and, this year, also curated ‘Storytelling’ at Crystal Palace Overground Festival.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Reconquista’ is a is an adventure story set in 13th century Al Andalus ( Spain ). I began to write it, ten or more years ago, as a serial story for my nephew and god-son. We have a home in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain and it is a place full of history and romance. My nephew was about to visit there for the first time. I wanted to engage him in the history and romance of the place, so I wrote an adventure story, delivering ‘episodes’ on a gradual basis. He’s twenty three now and the story which I wrote for him has changed out of all recognition.
The book opens on 9th October 1264 as King Alfonso X of Castile & Leon is about to take the city of Jerez after a five month siege. Within the city, fourteen year old Nathan, his older cousin, Rebecca and their friend, Atta, don’t know what will become of them and their families. Everything they have always known is challenged and each of them also has to grow up and learn some lessons about themselves before they can come together once again. There’s quite a lot of peril and jeopardy for them to manage their way through.
It’s a classic ‘journey’ story ( see http://www.thestorybazaar.com/story-of-a-journey/ )
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I started out I was very unfocussed in my writing process, but I’m learning that this is a convoluted and disorganised way to work. I wrote a couple of articles on my website about the lessons which I have learned about the process of writing (see http://www.thestorybazaar.com/how-not-to-write/ and http://www.thestorybazaar.com/how-not-to-write-again/ ) I could have saved myself a lot of time, effort and money if I had been more organised about writing when I began.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Far to many to mention, I read all the time.
What are you working on now?
I am currently writing the next book in the Al Andalus series, the ‘sequel’ to ‘Reconquista’. There were things unresolved when that book ended which I couldn’t deal with in a hundred pages or so, which made me decide to write a second book.
In some ways it’s easier than the first because I know my characters so well. in other ways it’s much harder, because the book has to stand alone, but also make sense to fans of the earlier book. I wrote about this on my website ( see http://thestorybazaar.com/the-journey-continues/ and http://thestorybazaar.com/plotting/ )
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I try and get as wide a coverage as I can, using web-sites like Awesomegang, AskDavid, ebooklister and others. I also use social media and regularly do talks and festivals which I share with all their followers.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read everything you can and then read some more. Write, write and write some more. Only by doing these two things will you improve ( and it never stops ).
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never give up.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading ‘The Essex Serpent’ by Sarah Perry. It’s n historical novel set in Victorian England about a newly widowed lady and her search for the serpent of the title, which, she is convinced, might be a sole survivor from a pre-historic age. I also reading ‘House of Names’ by Colm Toibin, a re-working of Aesculus’ Orestia, which is fascinating for other reasons.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m afraid I already have a number of other books lined up. Once I finish and publish Book II in the Al Andalus series there’s Book III to work on ( it’s already in draft ). This is set two hundred and fifty years after the first two books, in the same part of southern Spain. This is a tremendously exciting time, with the discovery of America and the sailing of the Conquistadors, but also the beginning of the Inquisition’s reign of terror, making life difficult for any non-conformists. Then I have ‘The Village; Another Twelve Tales’ to complete. So, some time in 2022 I might find myself at a loose end.
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?
Ooooh, sooo difficult.
Right now, I think I would take the Collected Works of Shakespeare, the ‘New Elizabethan’ series by A.S.Byatt ( which includes four books, but I’m hoping to sneak that in ), the Children’s Wonder Book ( published 1954 ) and The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin ( so that I can do lots of natural history on the island ).
Author Websites and Profiles
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