Interview With Author Thibault Busschots
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a dreamer. Grew up in Belgium, mostly staring through the window and making up stories in my head. I earned two consecutive writer of the year awards on MMATycoon for writing previews and reviews. After watching and learning from Brandon Sanderson’s writing class on YouTube, I felt confident enough to write an actual book and wanted to share it with the world. I’ve currently published two books. One pirate fantasy and one young adult coming of age story, which is the first in a wrestling novella series.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Wrestling with Bullies is my latest book. While writing my first book, I came across some excellent advice: write the story you want to read but hasn’t been written yet. Something clicked inside my brain. I love pro wrestling. Most wrestling books are biographies. I asked myself: why don’t I try something different and write a fiction book about wrestling? Wrestling with bullies was born.
It took me a while to figure out how to write it to be honest. I didn’t have any examples of wrestling in fiction, at least not the way I wanted to portray it. I wanted it to be a story that’s entertaining for wrestling fans but also accessible and educational for readers who aren’t wrestling fans, hoping to pass on some of my knowledge and passion for this amazing sport.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
After writing a story and doing about two or three rounds of editing, I set it aside for a few months. I do this to give myself some time to think of new and exciting ideas and also to be able to see my own story with a fresh pair of eyes.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Matthew Reilly, Terry Pratchett and Brandon Sanderson to name a few.
What are you working on now?
I’m currently editing the sequel to my novella Wrestling with Bullies.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is actually one of the parts of writing that I’m still trying to figure out.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Advice I got in the beginning was: write every day. This wasn’t for me though and it really made me second-guess my decision to write a book in the first place. Eventually I got through it by finding my own rhythm and sticking to it. That’s why my advice is: be consistent. Find a routine that works for you and stick to it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t just read good books, read bad books as well. Because they can be more inspiring than the good ones. If you’re inspired by a good book, you might copy paste a bit too much without even realizing it. But by analyzing what doesn’t work in a bad book, you will learn a lot more about writing and the mistakes not to make in your own work than by trying to copy what does work in a good book.
What are you reading now?
Just finished reading The Goblin and the Dancer by Allison Tebo, a really cool fairy tale retelling of The Steadfast Tin Soldier.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m invested in turning Wrestling with Bullies into a series so I’m doing the necessary preparations for the next couple of books. There’s also a few ideas floating around in my head for some stand alone stories.
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?
Survival books and a book about raft building to both survive and eventually escape the island.
Author Websites and Profiles
Thibault Busschots Amazon Profile
Thibault Busschots’s Social Media Links