Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a retired Yorkshireman, living in an Award-winning Yorkshire village which has provided some of the inspiration the fictional village of Abbotts Meadow, which is the setting for my first two books.
I have 2 published books, No Way Out, (which has received 5-star reviews on Amazon) and Absolute Duty, and am halfway through writing a third.
My working life has been spent in the worlds of Bookmaking, the Motor Trade and Financial Services and for a time I worked closely with New Scotland Yard’s Stolen Vehicle Squad at Chalk Farm in North London on Organised Crime and Greater Manchester Police.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, Absolute Duty is a sequel to No Way Out and was inspired by my love of horseracing, especially Royal Ascot which has featured prominently in my life, although my ambition to have a runner there is still to be fulfilled, and my passion for Yorkshire, in particular the wild, open spaces of the North Yorkshire Moors.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I know that all authors are different and have their own ways of writing.
I spend a great deal of time getting to know my characters as real people, and find that this helps to understand how they think, speak and act in any situation, giving a consistency of action which helps my readers bond with them.
I tend to have a basic outline of the story but find that starting to write and watching the characters and plots develop works best for me.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Because of the genre, Dick Francis, was a hero of mine, and I had a lady reader comment that No Way Out was “like a Dick Francis but with a better twist”. her words not mine, but I would have been ecstatic just to be likened to Dick Francis!
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on two books.
The third Patrick Spencer thriller, possibly titled “Imposter” should be available early nest year whilst I am playing with a slightly different genre, a cosy mystery which may be titled “Murdered by Gossip” which will feature two new amatuer sleuths, Evelyn Warburton and Dahlia Peasbody, who are elderly Churchwardens in another North Yorkshire village, Priory Bridge, just a few miles from Abbotts Meadow.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I decided that I would wait until I had some reviews and feedback before attempting to turn what began as a hobby into a serious enterprise and other than a brief Amazon campaign, Awesome gang is my first attempt at marketing my books.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write!
Forget about whether you could do it, whether it will be any good, what if no one likes it. it doesn’t really matter and if you don’t write anything you will never know.
If you don’t have a laptop or computer, just take a pencil and some paper and begin, Charles Dickens didn’t have a laptop either!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The same as I have just given, begin.
What are you reading now?
P.F. Fords latest in the Dave Slater and Norman Norman series. Very well written, great characters and easy to read.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to continue the Patrick Spencer series as I have outline plans for at least another four books and more than one reader has made the comment that they could see this series as a “Sunday Night TV” series. One can live in hopes but it would be a great achievement if this were to happen.
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?
Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile or any other of her fabulous books, I especially like Miss Marple.
Any of Colin Dexter’s Morse series.
Any of Peter Robinson DCI Banks books.
Any Dick Francis book.
This is despite the fact that I have read all of the books by the above authors.
Author Websites and Profiles
Owen Seymour Website