Interview With Author Pat McQueen
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Writing has been my joy and solace throughout my life. The love of writing began as a child when I wrote and illustrated comics for my friends to read. At school a poem I had penned was selected for publication in a Penguin Educational book and at College I was encouraged to write creatively by my English Teacher after she had read the first chapter of a novel that was written as part of a task that she had set her students. From such modest beginnings grew my love of writing and it has also provided me with an outlet when tragedy and misfortune has crossed my lifeline. I know we all suffer such events and as my mother would have said “there is always someone worse off than yourself” so maybe I have just had my share. I found, no doubt like many of you, that putting your thoughts down on paper can be cathartic and helps to unburden our inner most thoughts in a way that nothing else can. I do consider myself lucky however, if luck is a state that exists, and I am eternally grateful for the good, beautiful, loyal, loving, and inspiring people I have met along the journey so far. My working life included the writing of company procedures and lately I have finally written my first two novels, both fiction but drawing a little on actual events from the past. My stories are from the nineteen seventies, a time that to some might be ancient history but a time in my life that I remember well and fondly. The two books have both reviewed very well by the usual suspects and my hope is that they provide many more of you with a good read. That is what we are all looking for after all. Ciao, Pat McQueen.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Devlin’s Dilemma is my latest book. The inspiration for the story has been the Irish family that surrounded me from the day I met my beautiful late wife Rose-Anne, and the verbal storytelling that seemed endless and almost always humorous throughout our gatherings. The novel reflects the loosening of ties that the passage of time can sometimes cause and yet the search for those memories, good or bad, that never really leaves us, and in which we see ourselves as young again. In the nineteen seventies awful things happened that would not come to light for years later and in our innocence back then we could not have imagined. The past cannot be changed but in the pages of a book of fiction we can at least now refer to such things within the plot.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I struggle with this one as I do not really understand what is conventional. I can only say that I write when I am ready.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I enjoy hugely the Andrea Camilleri books for the understated humour and the interplay between the main characters that he has penned for our delight in the Sicilian Detective Montelbano series. I also enjoy Walter Mosley and Elmore Leonard, both great storytellers in my opinion.
What are you working on now?
My latest novel is set in Italy, a place I love. It is in the very early stages.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I would say Awesome Gang. Tech is best left to the experts I think.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice for new authors? If you love writing get to it, but before you seek praise for your work ensure you have done the hard stuff which all comes when you ‘think’ you are finished. Make sure the manuscript is edited to the point where it drives you nuts and is in perfect condition for readers to criticise the elements of the book that matter and not typos or getting names mixed up, it will distract your critics and yourself. Always take negative feedback on the chin, no one writes books that the whole world loves. Good luck.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I ever heard. It is not advice per se with regard to writing but something that should remind us all to be our best and to do the things we love. It is merely this statement:
“Everything is temporary”
What are you reading now?
I have started reading the Raymond Chandler book The Big Sleep. I know it is not a new novel but right now it suits my mood and the way he narrates is just so cool.
What’s next for you as a writer?
No predictions. Just happy to get my books into the hands of people who will love reading them. Meanwhile I must get back to that Italian affair I have just begun to construct…maybe a sunny holiday there will inspire me.
Ciao
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?
I have started reading the Raymond Chandler book The Big Sleep. I know it is not a new novel but right now it suits my mood and the way he narrates is just so cool.
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