Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am an English horror author. I have so far written two books, a novel called ‘Beneath’ and a collection of short stories. I live in the English countryside with my wife and little boy.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called ‘Dark County’ it is a collection of short horror stories all set in the countryside, or as I prefer to call them ‘Ten Tales of Rural terror’. The inspiration for this book was two fold, the fact that it is a collection of short stories came from the fact that I had just finished and published my first novel and wanted to do something different, doing a short story collection gave me the opportunity to write stories of many kinds and styles.
The second inspiration was living, and having lived all but the first seven years of my life, in Lincolnshire. For those who don’t know it it is a large, mainly agricultural county on the east coast of England. It is a beautiful, but bleak place. The county itself inspired the stories.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I suppose the most unusual thing is my lack of habits. I don’t write everyday, I don’t write in the same place each time, I write at any time of day.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are many authors who have influenced me. Stephen King is a big influence on the genre as a whole I feel, and me personally to a degree. Also the late James Herbert was a big influence on me. I am also a fan of Clive Barker and H.P. Lovecraft.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on my second novel, it is called ‘The Wilds’ and it is a change of direction from my first novel, which was about the supernatural, this is about a very real threat. I don’t wan’t to go into to too much detail yet, but the inspiration for the story is the reports of big cats living in the English countryside.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use social media a lot to promote my work, in particular Facebook and Twitter, these two seem to have got the best results for me so far. Also my own website is very helpful, though I need the social media to get people there in the first place.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
patience, do not rush things, or pressure yourself into doing things to quickly. Take your time and enjoy what you are doing, that is the main thing. Also get your books professionally edited, that is a big one, I didn’t do it with my first edition of my debut novel and got a lot of comments about my spelling and grammar. Since then I have had the book edited and my latest one too, and those negative comments have stopped.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write what you know- I don’t take it to mean that you should only write about things within your life, I take it to mean that you should research as much as possible.
What are you reading now?
I am reading ‘The Twelve’ by Justin Cronin, the second part of his Passage trilogy.
What’s next for you as a writer?
After finishing my next novel, I will be starting on my third, I already have the story as I wrote it as a screenplay a few years ago. Then I would like to try and get the film made. I would love to direct.
What is your favorite book of all time?
That’s a tough one, there are so many books that I love, but I suppose I would have to say ‘The Stand’ by Stephen King, just for it’s epic scale.
Author Websites and Profiles
Kit Tinsley Website
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