Interview With Author Wallace Briggs
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Now an octogenarian I have published five books in the series of The Adventures of Jimmy Crikey and three other MG children's fantasy stories.
Born close to Durham Cathedral I met Pat, my wife-to-be, as eleven-year-olds while we walked the same route homeward from different schools. We lost touch and fortuitously rediscovered each other when we were seventeen, but we had to wait until we were twenty-one before we married.
We were almost forty years old with two boys when we moved to the South coast with my company speding a deade in each of Sussex and Hampshire. Employment then brought us back to the North and we now live on the outskirts of a beautiful Lancashire town, Great Harwood,
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I have recently completed the fifth Jimmy Crikey Adventure which was inspired, if not demanded, by Jade, one of my characters. the conversation went
I was totally taken by surprise when one of my characters initiated the conversation. It went something like this:
"Dear Mr Writer, am I dying?"
Dear Jade, whatever made yo"u ask that?
"Because you haven't written a single word about me for ages and ages."
That’s because I have just finished my fourth Jimmy Crikey story and if I don’t advertise it and promote it no one will know about your story. Writing the story is the ‘easy’ part, relatively. It’s what comes next that determines how many people read your story. It takes a lot of time and my funds to promote are limited.
"But if you don’t write another story boys and girls will forget about me and that’s worse than being dead."
Jade, you and Jimmy and Matilda and Gemma will never die. Your names are written in a story book that will always be available and when someone is looking for a bedtime story for their child, they could find your story and tell it all over again.
"What if no one ever finds my story?"
Once your story was born it will live forever. New ideas never die. They are just waiting for someone to come along and pick up your story and excite the imagination of the next boy or girl. It may even be that another writer will stumble across your story, floating around in the ether, and he or she may think they have created a new character. But that character will always be you, Jade. So, stop your worrying, even if I cannot find the time or the patience to write more stories Jade the apprentice witch will never die.
"Where will my next adventure take me?"
Oh, Jade! If I only knew.
"Well, I don’t want to be an apprentice witch for much longer."
That is one thing I do know. You will graduate with honours and be even more powerful than Matilda.
"Really?"
Really, God be willing, and protect us all.
An author has to take to his characters, in order to get to know them but last year I was floored when one of my characters initiated the conversation. It was Jade, the young niece of Gemma, was concerned that because I wasn’t writing about her, she would die. Long story – short. I was moved by the normally ebullient Jade to begin writing the next adventure story in the Jimmy Crikey series.
To satisfy the young witch acolyte I was persuaded to start writing the next chapter of her life. It’s not coming easily but Jade keeps pushing.
“What is the title of my book, Mr Writer?”
I don’t have a title yet, Jade. I have hardly written two chapters but it’s not just about you.
“But you will write more. Won’t you?”
How can I not?
“You have to give it a title.”
That’s true, Jade. But let me write it first. Please
And a little more of the story took shape. Apparently not fast enough to satisfy Jade.
Jade! Be patient. I can hardly squeeze a recognisably literary sentence out of my 'pen' today. I am melting in the heat, even with three fans blowing the air around in the lounge, across the faces of the three occupants. I am surprised that anything legible is making its way onto the page, but I am still trying to add to the account of your task in the Sky Islands. I am a little surprised that Matilda has enough confidence in your abilities to entrust the safety of the Sky Islanders into your inexperienced hands. The winds have risen to tornado strength. The six islands are in danger of tearing apart and if they do everyone will be lost.
And this is only the second hurdle that will test Jade before she can be accepted into the coven as a full blown witch. Will she fail so soon at this early stage?
The more you like her efforts the more likely it is that she may succeed. Show Jade some support.
Apprentice witch, Jade, is starting to get out of hand.
"Why are you not writing today?" She demands.
She, Gemma and Jimmy are the loves of my life, after my wife, but there are more demands on my time than she seems able to imagine. Life continues to throw me several curve balls simultaneously and it takes an age to find the answers.
Jade, I haven't forgotten how important it is for you to gain your permanent wand, this year if possible. All I can do is promise that I will do everything in my power to get your story out before year end. Be patient and stop muttering spells under your breath. If you put a hex on me your book might never get written.
That's better. Now smile. You don't look good wearing a frown.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I'm not alone in being a 'pantser'. I usually have no idea what words will appear in my story until they are written down. The plot just unfolds as my characters take actions of their own volition.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
No one ever read me bed time stories, but I made sure that same mistake was not visited on my two boys and they both loved Enid Blighton's Magic Faraway Tree and Rupert the bear stories and of course Jimmy Crikey, for which I painted several water colour scenes (very amateurish).
But my biggest influence growing up, well into my teen years, was the Bible.
I gained my qualifications through night school and 'day-release' and had litttle time to indulge in fiction until after I qualified as a chemist at the age of twenty three.
As I developed my range, Wilbur Smith became my lifetime favourite followed by David BAldacci, Patterson
What are you working on now?
A brief 'time-out' because a proposed memoir was unacceptable to a close family member. So, in the meantime, I have learned how to use an electric sewing machine to alter hemlines for my wife and live-in sister-in-law, Denise.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use my WEB site www.wallaceebriggs.com followed by external promo sites to push http://amazon.com/dp/b0953mj81s for the series of Jimmy Crikey ebooks.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don't expect too much too soon but never stop writing, and revising and editing again and again and keep submitting. Aim to garner as many reviews as humanly possible.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Grow a thick skin and keep writing
What are you reading now?
Another Jack Reacher novel to be followed by the latest Wilbur Smith work.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep plugging away, success may come from my next promo.
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 Bible
The Rise and FAll of the Roman Empire by Gibbons
Where the Lion Feeds by Wilbur Smith
Author Websites and Profiles
Wallace Briggs Author Profile on Smashwords
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