Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
How many books have I written? I’ve started around 12 but only written one. For around ten years I toyed with the idea of writing a novel. During that time I mainly wrote short stories and had a little success with those so one day I decided to take the plunge and complete a novel. I guess I’d always been intimidated by the size, but fate played a hand in the end. I’d gone to Eastercon and from that I got introduced to the editors at Angry Robot. At the time I hadn’t finished the novel but they agreed to look at my early chapters and then later they asked for the whole ms. That spurred me on and although in the end they didn’t take it, it gave me a good understanding of what it takes to write something that big.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My novel’s title is Unbound Brothers. It came from an unusual place. I’d always had (still have) a love of science fiction and wanted to write in that genere. One day my two year old son said, ‘Ethan my brother, me love my brother’, and I suddenly had an image of a much older disabled person saying the same phrase. That gave my my character, the disabled brother’s brother, and also fuelled some emotion content, guilt. I then wrote from the seat of my pants and the connections kind of grew as a I wrote. There’s a neat link between my brothers and the alien’s encountered in the novel and it’s all worked out pretty nicely. People seem to like it and the comments have been good so far.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure I have any unusual writing habits. I set a routine, writing mainly at night after my family has gone to bed. I’ll write a chapter and then do a quick edit. Once the ms is finished, I’ll sent it out to some writing colleagues and a crit group. This normally lets me see the way the novel’s working, where improvements can be made, what doesn’t work etc.
I was going to say that writing without an outline might be considered unusual, but many writers do it that way. For my next I have a rough outline, but I like to see where the imagination and characters take me.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I guess it’s an obvious list; Arthur C Clarke, Larry Niven, David Brin, Philip Jose Farmer, but there’s also Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Frederick Forsyth, Wibur Smith… In fact there are too many to mention. I like the fast page turning found in thrillers and try to combine that with the science fiction tropes I like.
What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a new novel, The Narrows. It’s a huge sprawling mix of SF, fanatsy and steampunk tropes set in an artificial construct. I’m about 20 thousand words in and hopefully it’ll be ready to send to publishers some time next year.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As I’ve only just self published Unbound Brothers this is kind of new to me. I joined some forums, UK Kindle users forum, Kboards, they had some great help sections and generally good advice. I joined Goodreads, which got me some exposure and I found some sites that did reviews and interviews, Underground Book Reviews, The Indieview, and not forgetting Awesomegang, of course. It’s been a learning curve because traditional publishers help push their products, advertising, promotion etc, where if you do it yourself, it falls on your shoulders. It’s a lot of work but in the end it all helps.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. And then write some more. Once you’ve finished a piece put it away in a drawer and then a month later read it again. Edit it, edit again and then send it out. Don’t be upset with your rejections, it’s part of the job. Take on board critisism. But in the end it’s all a matter of not giving up. If you keep going you’ll get some acceptances and you can build from there.
Another tip is go to the conventions in your chosen genre. meet people, form friendships and don’t be afraid to introduce yourself. You’ll be surprised by how many invitations to submit you’ll get.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t give up. A well known SF author read one of my stories that had been accepted by a small press webzine. He put me politly but firmly in my place indicating that I should have sent the story out to majior magazines. He had some simple advice – keep going, and he was right.
It’s easy to give up. And many good solid writers do give up because it’s hard to get past the guards at the gate. But with each knock back you learn a little, some editors even give you some advice (although not many). Keep going, using the things you learn and you’ll get better.
What are you reading now?
Proxima by Stephen Baxter. It’s a hard nosed planetary romance, which so far has been excellent.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m intending to submit my new novel, The Narrows, to major publishing houses. My ambition is to land that contract.
What is your favorite book of all time?
What sort of a question is this? I can’t possibly give you one book, so here’s a small list; Lucifer’s Hammer, Mote in Gods Eye both by Niven and Pournelle, Ringworld by Larry Niven, The Riverwolrd series by Farmer, Clarke’s Rama books, The Fountains of Paradise, City and The Stars, House of Suns and Century Rain by Reynolds, Hamilton’s Pandora’s Star and Judas Tree.
A book which particularly touched me was Pat Frank’s, Alas Babylon, it just felt so real. Then there’s Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mocking Bird and it goes on. I doubt many people can name just one book as their favourite.
Author Websites and Profiles
Rob Rowntree Website
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