Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hey there, thanks for reading this, so what to say about myself?
I guess we should start with the basics then.
I’m originally from the United Kingdom, but have lived and worked in India for many years, primarily in Kolkata (Calcutta).
I used to be a paid up member of the rat race and worked for several multi-national banks over the years, but got fed up of the straitjacket of the nine to five existence, monthly one to ones, and meaningless annual personal development plans.
I’ve been an avid reader since the age of five and would literally read anything and everything. I used to be criticised when young for having an ‘over active imagination’ but somewhere along the line I realised this was quite the boon for a writer.
I’ve literally consumed so much literature over the years that I realised I should put something back into the World, hence I’ve decided to become a full time creator.
This is my first novel but I hope to build this into a series and to create a full blown alternative history World for people to enjoy.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Durga Noir’ – I fell in love with Calcutta and Bengali culture whilst working there in the first half of the 2010s and often wondered what it would have been like to live there in the days of the Raj. This inspired me to dig deeper into the history of the British Empire, what I found was a lot darker than I’d been brought up to believe in the UK where we still cling to the notion of a benign and enlightening past.
From this I began to develop an idea of an alternate World where the Indians were actually in charge of the Raj, and I wondered how would that World have progressed with that key difference.
I wrote ‘Durga Noir’ to be a fairly light introduction into that World and also because I’m a great fan old Noir movies, a detective thriller naturally seemed to be the place to start.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m terribly inefficient when it comes to writing, I usually get up around 8am with good intentions to crack on with the current project, then find myself procrastinating until around Midday at which point I start panicking that I won’t achieve anything that day. The panic usually subsides after lunch and finally get into a groove around 2pm and will actually write until about 8pm (which I think drives my partner mad!).
So I’m usually at the laptop for around twelve hours a day, but will only actually produce quality output for half of that time!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Oh gosh, there’s so many! Tolkein, Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton, Heinlein, William Gibson, James Michener, Stephen King, C.S. Lewis, Ian Fleming, Dashiell Hammett, Iain Banks, James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen…….and enough now there’s just too many.
What are you working on now?
A short story collection based on the loose theme of ‘the nature of reality’ – how do we know what’s real and what isn’t? Are we all living in a simulation? Lab rats in someone else’s experiment? Are there really alternative realities out there? Other dimensions? Who bloody knows? I certainly don’t but it’s fun to speculate!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Mostly Twitter and Amazon, but I’m hoping to reach a wider audience through this site.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Believe in yourself. Enjoy the writing, it’s your baby and you can pretty much do what you like with it.
Give it a go as and when you can, we all have a story in us.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Always bet on black?
Nah, probably, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”.
Or just throw in anything from Groucho Marx.
What are you reading now?
‘Lisey’s Story’ by that nice Mr King, I’ve been meaning to read it for years, but I always have several books on the go (reading wise) and the poor thing always got put to the bottom of the pile. Now I understand one of the streaming services is about to televise it, so I’d better get my skates on and finish it!
What’s next for you as a writer?
Develop the ‘Bharat Empire’ World and series.
Finish the short story collection I mentioned above.
Plus an idea for a film script which in my head is a mash up of the films Blade Runner and Bowfinger. Hopefully that’s better than it sounds right now!
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?
‘Restoree’ by Anne McCaffrey, one of the first Sci-Fi novels I fell in love with – it gets a lot of criticism these days, particularly regarding the characterisations, but it’s a fun romp and a great effort for a debut novel – not to mention its female centric viewpoint was light years ahead for the era it was first published in.
Anything by Stephen King. Wait not anything, I’m taking Pet Semetary out of the list as that still scares the wits out of me.
‘L.A. Confidential’ by James Ellroy, an amazingly rich and complex crime novel, and so evocative of the era it is set in.
Anything by James A Michener – his historical novels are so detailed with well drawn characters, weaving plots, and heart rending drama.
Author Websites and Profiles
Robert Owen Website
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