Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in the picturesque Isle of Wight where as well as indulging my passion for writing I also work with vulnerable adults.
I have enjoyed writing since I was ten years old, initially writing short stories based on my favourite characters from books and television. Many books were started, but remain unfinished until the inspiration for the Thomas Knight Chronicles hit me,
I have completed the first three instalments of the six-part series, The Sorcerer’s Tome, Shadowmaster and Time Frame.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest instalment of the Thomas Knight Chronicles is Time Frame and was published in December 2019.
Right from the very start, I had intended that at some point Thomas would be transported back in time to play a part in a famous battle against evil. When I came up with the idea, I wasn’t sure exactly how it would come about, but I think that Time Frame successfully addressed that problem and has given a better insight into the story as a whole.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I supposed the way I write could be considered a little out of the ordinary. Rather than sit at a word processor, I write my first draft in a notebook with a fountain pen. Once completed I then turn to the word processor. For me, true creativity flows from the nib and onto the paper. That might be the reason my earlier attempts were never completed, they were started on a computer and have remained on the hard drive ever since.
However, following an incident that happened whilst writing Time Frame, I have had to modify my methods slightly. I stupidly left the manuscript almost three quarters completed, in a laptop bag in my car. The car was broken into and the bag taken. I was devastated. All that work lost. I could rewrite it, but it would never be the same. It would be like starting from scratch.
Although the computer and the bag were never recovered, about a month later, the notebook turned up in a carrier bag in the porchway of a friend whose address was in the bag. Whether the thief realised how much work had gone into the manuscript and returned it, or if the less valuable contents had been discarded and found by a good samaritan, I will never know, but now I always take a photocopy of the pages and keep them safe, just in case lightning strikes a second time.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
All my favourite authors have influenced me. I started as a child with Enid Blighton, John Wyndham, Phillippa Pearce, Tolkein and C.S.Lewis. As a grown-up (allegedly), I have been a big fan of Terry Pratchett, Philip Pullman, J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown.
What are you working on now?
I have just started working on the fourth book in the Thomas Knight series. It is still very much in the brainstorming stage, but the plot is starting to take shape now.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Most of my promotion has been done through Amazon, but I am now exploring other sites to promote my books.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing is the easy bit. Getting your books out there is the hard part. The best advice I can give writers who are just starting out is never to give up on your dream. If you go the conventional route to publishing you will get rejection letters from agents – lots of them. Never let that put you off. Even J.K. Rowling received more rejection letters than Harry Potter did Hogwarts letters in The Philosophers Stone. Now, look at her.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Illegitimi non carborundum.
What are you reading now?
My son bought me the Secret Commonwealth, by Philip Pullman for Christmas. But in order to enjoy it fully, I am working my way through His Dark Materials and La Belle Sauvage again first.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I intend to complete the Thomas Knight Chronicles before moving on to other things. I have one or two other ideas in the pipeline and I may well re-visit some of those stories that were started and never finished. I would, at some point like to fulfil a childhood ambition and write a Doctor Who story or two.
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?
That is a tough one. Of all the books out there that I have read and I still have to read how could one choose.
Put on the spot I would have to say, Lord of the Rings, Terry Pratchett’s The Death Trilogy, Pullman’s His Dark Materials and Rowlings The Deathly Hallows. Not the most intellectual of tomes, but they make me happy.
Author Websites and Profiles
Philip Sealey Website
Philip Sealey Amazon Profile
Philip Sealey’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Twitter Account