Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an Australian author and stand-up comedian. My main genres are fantasy and children’s books, and I have recently started self-publishing stuff that is too whacked out for traditional publishers. All in all, I have 14 books floating about out there. I was named after the family cat. I like croissants a lot. Too much, perhaps. I’ve also done some writing for television.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I’ve just released the first three ‘episodes’ in a series of short, crazy, funny reads entitled ‘Sam, Jake and Dylan Want Money’. They are meant to be punchy, single sitting reads, and are basically the written version of a sitcom which I always wanted to make but will probably never have the budget for. The first book ‘Black Market Prawns’ is permafree.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have a jar full of dead flowers on my desk which I refuse to throw away.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a big fan of Robin Hobb – The Farseer trilogy and Liveship Traders in particular. Chuck Palahniuk and Patrick Rothfuss are up there too. The most influencing book would have to be the Hobbit, which my dad read to me when I was small and impressionable, which kinda got me started on my current path.
What are you working on now?
A time travel comedy adventure with NO PLOTHOLES, and that is a pretty tough ask.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have no idea. I’ve only just started investigating such things! Ask me again in a year or two.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I have a very firm rule in my writing: fuck the cat. It is basically, for me, a way of saying that I hate it when characters are driven by plot, rather than the other way around. Because all too often you get people going back into the scary spaceship to look for their cat. Most of us, if given the choice between facing an alien monster that wants to implant its young in our stomachs, or launching the escape pod and getting the hell out of dodge, will say ‘fuck the cat.’ And I have always been determined that my characters would be ‘fuck the cat’ types. In fact I have the phrase hanging it above my computer, to remind me. Visitors might think it odd, I suppose.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write before you edit. Don’t read over what you just wrote. Keep going until it’s finished, then fix it later. It’s not like you have to show anyone until you’re ready. GET IT DONE.
What are you reading now?
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ve been working on a new TV show with a well known comic here in Australia, but I can’t say too much about it!
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?
The Stench of Honolulu by Jack Handey, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (I haven’t read it, but it looks like it would keep you going for a while, or at least be good for starting a fire) and a set of my own – I’m not being facetious, I just haven’t read them for a while, and it might keep me sane to remember who I was.
Author Websites and Profiles
Sam Bowring Website
Sam Bowring Amazon Profile
Sam Bowring Author Profile on Smashwords
Sam Bowring’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
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