Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m Mike and I live in North West England, which is the non-fashionable side of the country. I write Crime Fiction thrillers in two series. The first is called ‘Mickey from Manchester’, and that kind of explains itself, except that ‘Mickey’ is NOT a cop, or a Private Eye, or a spy. He’s an ordinary sort of guy who was once served in the Military and can look after himself. He can’t stop himself going to bat for his friends, and there are twenty novels to prove it. Meanwhile, the ‘Amelia Hartliss Mysteries’ features a feisty heroine who is, more or less, a spy. She can’t help falling in love and there are twenty books about her life. You’ll find their adventures in all good bookstores, online and off.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, still being written, is called ‘The Great British FAKE Housing Crisis’. Hmm, what could that be about? Well, Mickey gets involved in helping his friend Don, a police detective, when managers in a local property development company keep getting themselves attacked. Mickey knows people, and that comes in handy when he’s trying to understand what’s going on, but unfortunately, the problems aren’t just local, they range right up to national level and that’s where politicians are getting themselves corrupted. Mickey is baffled as he finds himself in a hole, and it looks like he’s defending the Bad Guys! What can he do to expose the bribery but defend the local Little Guy? He finds himself being pulled in all directions, and that’s when the threats just get sterner and somebody dies. Now it’s Murder and Mickey has to do what he always does best, solve the Mystery and reveal the guilty.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t like to approach a blank page. I get some ideas, then add ingredients to the mix until there’s a seething brew. When I sit down in the morning to tackle my daily target, I always know what’s going to happen next, even if I don’t know the ending of the story.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I really miss Sue Grafton. She was an inspiration. Before that, it was Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald and Mickey Spillane, but strangely, I could never manage Private Eye stories. I like their approach, their style and their wit, and that’s the influence I try to bring into my books.
What are you working on now?
I mentioned a novel above and it is called ‘The Great British FAKE Housing Crisis’. Since it’s such an enormous topic, I decided I couldn’t do it justice with just one novel. In fact, it’s now evolved into 3 books! So, the answer is – I’m working on Part 2, and my next book will be Part 3 of the same story. Don’t worry, it’s still a page turner and, best of all, it has an enormous cast of characters.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I spent several frustrating years telling people ‘I write crime fiction books’ and they would inevitably say, ‘Where can I find your books?’ My answer now is: ‘Wherever you usually go’. Every book site, every social media outlet, I’ve got a presence. I blog and make short videos, and I write songs and sing folk-style. Where do you usually shop for books, e-books, audio books, songs and videos? Well, I’m there. You don’t have to search in corners for me. I’m right out there on the High Street.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice to new authors is to ask as many people as you can what their advice is, then CHOOSE. Some writers will say they write best in the morning. Some prefer the afternoon, or evening. You choose. Some prepare endlessly and work out plots intricately. Some launch into a story with nothing. You choose. Some write short novels, some long. Some like Mysteries, some Police Procedurals. All the time, the answers to your questions of ‘What is best?’ and ‘What should I do?’ will overlap and contradict each other. You can’t escape the fact that if you want to be YOU, then you cannot, cannot, be someone else. You have to look in the mirror and ask yourself: ‘What would I do?’
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I ever heard was from Seth Godin who understands the new digital world we live in better than anyone else alive. He said that writers, artists and business people only need to aim for one thing in the world, to be ‘remarkable’. He means that in the old-fashioned sense, to be ‘worthy of remarking’. That does NOT mean being good. Check it out, the best piano players in the world are not the best known – or the best paid. The best brain surgeons aren’t on the ‘Tonight’ show. So, who is? The person who is so much themselves, so unique, that people are anxious to hear what they have to say and will listen when those souls talk about what they’re doing. For authors that means only one thing: you CANNOT be the ‘new Dan Brown’. Dan Brown was not the new anybody! You have to be the real YOU, and then you’ll be handed the spotlight.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading books by Barbara Sher, Rory Sutherland, Hilary Cottam, Malcolm Gladwell and Vadim Zeland. The thing they have in common is that they are all about how to be a better human being. I’m learning lessons from them that I hope will bleed into my fiction. Now that would be something worth reading!
What’s next for you as a writer?
My aim for this year is to be a writer that lives in the real world. Right now we’re seeing floods and storms, pandemics, bush fires, famines and species extinction around the planet. If so-called ‘Fiction’ authors can’t include reflections of what’s actually happening to human beings, then we can’t be involved in anything that’s worth much, can we?
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?
Anything by Sue Grafton, Malcolm Gladwell, Matt Ridley and Naomi Klein.
Author Websites and Profiles
Mike Scantlebury Website
Mike Scantlebury Amazon Profile
Mike Scantlebury’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
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