Where did you grow up? As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I grew up in Blackburn in the uk, it's a relatively small town in the north of england, growing up I wanted to go into advertising, not many kids could say that, I'm still not sure why it's just somthing that's always fascinated me, trying to use creativity to get people to do somthing or buy somthing, it just always seemed like a fun thing to try and do, when I told the carers guy that at school it was met with a hearty laugh, so that was the end of that.
Were your parents ever skeptical of your dreams of writing for a living? Who has been your greatest supporter?
Yes they were very sceptical and rightfully so, I am high end dyslexic, I lost Mark's on my english exam for spelling my own name wrong, being a writer has always been a ridiculous notion for somone like me.
That brings me to the second part of your question, my biggest supporter, Siobhan Richard's, she was my partner, she passed away in 2017, she was also the biggest book enthusiast the world has ever seen, she dragged me to one of her writing classes and bombarded me with compliments on my writing, she would beg me to write a book, but I was too scared, convinced everyone would just laugh at me and not because I write comedy.
After she died her brother, the authour, David Richard's, wrote his first novel, Siobhans death was the catalyst for that, the book is called, The Lovely Past, it seemed to help him so I tried it also, I wrote Space and Stuff and David proofread and edited it for me, it did help, I feel every book I write is a tribute to her and how amazingly supportive she was and still is to me.
As an author, what do you believe is your best asset? What three words would you use to describe yourself?
I truly belive my biggest asset is my autism, it gives me my imagination and allows me to see the world differently to everyone else, the drawbacks from having autism are far outnumbered by the advantages if you tell storys.
Why did you choose the science fiction genre?
I did not really choose it, it's always been a part of me, I have been a sci-fi nerd all my life, so was Siobhan, it has always been a huge part of my existence, Star wars, Star trek, battle star Galactica, basically everything with star in its title, Dr who is my biggest obsession, it's still the biggest event in the Carr calendar when new episodes drop, I think people with big imaginations just instantly gravitate towards sci-fi from a very early age.
How did you come up with the idea for your book, Pie-eyed?
I came up with Pie-eyed from my experiences working in the pub trade in England, I worked in and ran pubs in the 90s and early 2000s, most of the funniest memorys I have are all from pub lock in's were everyone has been drinking heavily, I just needed to pair that with an ailen or two and presto, pie-eyed is a term used in the north of england to describe somone who has had to much to drink, if you are drunk you are, pie-eyed or as pie-eyed as a pudding, whatever that means.
What challenges did you face while writing your book, spice, zombie, apocalypse?
Covid 19 started when I was writing The Super Nice Monster squad, but lockdown began while I was writing Spice,zombie,apocalypse, suddenly all my kids were home all the time, frightened and wanting to know what was happening, I was also scared nearly 1000 people a day were dying and it was out of control, my son logan is severely disabled so I was scared stiff about him getting it, I think it shows in the book, it's not as light hearted or funny as my others, I intended it to be funny and light hearted but dark humor crept in and you can definitely see a uneasiness about it and a darker side to it than all of my other books.
Who inspired the character of Bob's handler, Fred in "Bob and the Blob"?
I'm not sure I can answer that without spoiling the book for anyone who has not read it, so if you have not read it look away now, fred is me, I wanted to write somthing interactive, I wanted to show the reader that I know what they are thinking and I even know what they are feeling, that the connection they feel when reading a book works both ways, and the authour feels that too, i wanted to make them a character in the book and then interact with them, i did that through fred, Bob and the Blob was an experiment just to see if it was possable to interact on a deeper level with the reader, I had tried it before with Space and Stuff but not to that level, I think it worked and I know you are not supposed to have favourites, but Bob and the Blob is my favourite.
What was your favorite part, and your least favorite part, of the publishing journey?
No surprise here, the editing and spelling, I have had disaster after dissaster with it, I have a brilliant proofreader and editor now, Amy, but before I found her it was an absolute nightmare, I used so many different editors but I couldent afford the fees of the good ones, so I was using guys on Fivver who were no more an editor than I am a gorilla, then publishing and being ripped to pieces with the reviews, even now if you read The Documented doings of rick toenail space sheriff and princess power, theres parts in the book were the text is slightly bunched together because of how many times it's been edited, that book caused my hair to turn grey.
How did your desire to write grew as the years passed by?
I had a strong desire to write when I was 11, I wrote a short sci-fi story on a computer at school, I dont know why or how but writing on a keyboard was somhow easier, a lot of people with dyslexia find that, and I could do it, the story was hung outside the headmasters office in pride of place, but then I returned to the classroom with a pen and paper and I couldent do it, I suppressed the desire to write after that until 2018.
What inspired the story of your book, the super nice monster squad?
The super nice monster squad was born from a tagline I was using on the old cover for Space and Stuff, I'm not sure I can remember it perfectly, it was somthing like (seriously you wont like it, try somthing with vampires that have fabulous hair).
Siobhans favourite genre of book was the teen vampire, twilight type books, I would tease her about the monsters in them being as scary as care bears, with their perfect skin and fabulous hair.
The idea behind TSNMS was thinking about how the ugly scary monsters would feel about this new generation of young good looking woke monsters, I would imagine it would be similar to the grumpy middle aged people now and how they feel about the young (snowflakes) so I tried to get as much of that over as I could.
How do you add humor to your science fiction stories?
I cant not do it, I have tried, it's just somthing about me and how I tell storys, I think when I was a kid I was very popular at school because I made everyone laugh, so that's always stuck with me, in my head I think people will like me or like what I have done if it makes them laugh, i would love to write somthing serious and epic like Dune, but I wouldent even get past the first paragraph before sombody farts or a frog explodes.
If you had to switch places with another author who would you switch places with?
Well that's a very tough question, as I've said I am dyslexic, I have only ever read three books in my life, Bob and the Blob, the lord of the rings and a brief history of time, two of them three authors are dead and the other ones me, but I would love to have access to the mind of steven hawking, just to see what it was like in there, how did he do what he did and work out them impossible things, all just inside his head, and I probably should not of admitted I have not read my own books, I did get alexa to read them to me though, that still counts!
Criticism, whether constructive or otherwise is part and parcel of any art form. How do you deal with reviews of your books- both positive and negative?
I think I handle it ok, the overwhelming bulk of criticism I have had has all been over grammar, I've been getting that since I was 5, it's really not an issue, I have had one or two reveiws that did not like the story, as opposed to spelling grammar or formatting, that is inevitable and to be expected, I see that as me failing with my cover or blurbs, as much as I want people like me to read them, I want people who dont like that kind of thing to know it's not for them, I dont want anyone who will not enjoy my books spending money on them anymore than they want to waist their money on somthing they wont like.
What are you currently working on? When can we expect the release of your next book?
I am frantically working on a follow up to Our Fathers, I am frantically working on it because it's called, Our Fathers who art in Lapland, and it's a Christmas book, it's already October and I want it finished edited and proofread for a November launch, so it's pretty full on right now, it's going well though, lockdown has finished and my kids are back at school and collage, I am a single dad, so I'm getting time on my own to get some work done again, I dont like doing sequels as I think their never as good as the original, but I always intended on writing more Our Fathers books and this one will not be the last, the good fathers are very much an integrated part of my life now, theres somthing about them that is just an absolute joy to write, they really cheer me up whenever I'm writing their silly nonsense.
How has your experience with AllAuthor been?
Excellent, apart from always comming last in the cover of the month contests, I swear I'm going to start paying people to vote for me, I love the magic tool, i use it all the time with my promotional artworks, and it's a very friendly community, I love how readers can follow authors as well as authors following other authors, it's a great way to network with writers as well as meet new readers.
