Tell us about yourself.:
I am an extremely shortsighted and slightly shambolic bloke with a bad sense of direction living somewhere in NW London with my wife. Both our kids have now flown the nest. I was brought up in Ilford, a large suburban conurbation on the outskirts of East London. I wasn't particularly academic at school but was quite good at art and English. So I ended up going to art college in Maidstone and together with a good friend became interested in creative advertising. We put together a folio of work and were hired by a creative agency called Kirkwoods in 1980. By this time I had decided to become a copywriter and my partner who was a far better artist would take on the mantle of art director. Our working partnership would span a quarter of a century working for several different agencies. I started writing fiction when my other half retired from the industry in around 2007. And it was in 2011 that my first book 'Sleeping with the Blackbirds' was published.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?:
As I mentioned earlier, I was brought up in suburbia in the Greater London borough of Redbridge. Looking back, there were a number of extraordinary people who we were friends with living in the area who would go on and make a name for themselves in their respective fields. There was Bramwell Tovey, my brother's very good friend who became a conductor and composer. He'd go on to conduct some of the finest orchestras in the world and win a Grammy for his composition work. There was Ronald Hutton (now Professor Hutton) who has become one of this country's most eminent historians specialising in Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and Contemporary Paganism. And our neighbour's son Malcolm Denmark would become a multi-millionaire with his company Mediaforce. Did any of this influence me? No, I don't think so. My biggest influences were through school and later on, at work. I had a wonderful English teacher by the name of Clive Lawton who was simply inspirational. He was radical in his approach to teaching in our large comprehensive school in Camden Town. He would turn everything on its head. For instance, he'd tell us that our syllabus was boring and that we were going to scrap it and do something far more interesting. He'd engage us in class debates on contentious issues and get us into storytelling. He'd instill into every child in that classroom a love of words and the power of words. He was totally unconventional but a quite brilliant teacher. Not surprisingly, he would make a name for himself in education and was eventually awarded an OBE. Then once I'd gained employment as a copywriter, I would encounter influential people. One such person was my Creative Director in the mid 80s, Ken Mullen. Ken is a brilliant writer with a wonderful sense of humour. With his academic background (two degrees from Oxford University) he might have cut a daunting figure. But he wasn't at all. Instead, he was a fantastically encouraging, supportive and nurturing boss to have around. And he was a great fun. On one occasion he and his art director created a press campaign for real fires for the Solid Fuel Advisory Service. This involved commissioning novelists to wax lyrical about their own real fires at home. Among the authors commissioned was the fabulous Beryl Bainbridge whose piece won a prestigious D&AD Silver award for the best piece of copy written for a press advertisement that year. And I was fortunate enough to sit next to her at the awards dinner. And looking back, I think it was pretty inspirational to sit and chat with this very lovely, down to earth lady who also happened to be one of the greatest living novelists in the country.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don't know if it's particularly unusual, but I quite like writing in different locations on an old Chromebook. I have written in cafes, holiday cottages, as well as the garden and different rooms around the house. Most of my first book ('Sleeping with the Blackbirds') was written in an office where I was literally waiting to be made redundant. It took the best part of a year before they let me go – by which time I had virtually finished my first book.
What authors have influenced you?
As I mentioned earlier, I was brought up in suburbia in the Greater London borough of Redbridge. Looking back, there were a number of extraordinary people who we were friends with living in the area who would go on and make a name for themselves in their respective fields. There was Bramwell Tovey, my brother's very good friend who became a conductor and composer. He'd go on to conduct some of the finest orchestras in the world and win a Grammy for his composition work. There was Ronald Hutton (now Professor Hutton) who has become one of this country's most eminent historians specialising in Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and Contemporary Paganism. And our neighbour's son Malcolm Denmark would become a multi-millionaire with his company Mediaforce. Did any of this influence me? No, I don't think so. My biggest influences were through school and later on, at work. I had a wonderful English teacher by the name of Clive Lawton who was simply inspirational. He was radical in his approach to teaching in our large comprehensive school in Camden Town. He would turn everything on its head. For instance, he'd tell us that our syllabus was boring and that we were going to scrap it and do something far more interesting. He'd engage us in class debates on contentious issues and get us into storytelling. He'd instill into every child in that classroom a love of words and the power of words. He was totally unconventional but a quite brilliant teacher. Not surprisingly, he would make a name for himself in education and was eventually awarded an OBE. Then once I'd gained employment as a copywriter, I would encounter influential people. One such person was my Creative Director in the mid 80s, Ken Mullen. Ken is a brilliant writer with a wonderful sense of humour. With his academic background (two degrees from Oxford University) he might have cut a daunting figure. But he wasn't at all. Instead, he was a fantastically encouraging, supportive and nurturing boss to have around. And he was a great fun. On one occasion he and his art director created a press campaign for real fires for the Solid Fuel Advisory Service. This involved commissioning novelists to wax lyrical about their own real fires at home. Among the authors commissioned was the fabulous Beryl Bainbridge whose piece won a prestigious D&AD Silver award for the best piece of copy written for a press advertisement that year. And I was fortunate enough to sit next to her at the awards dinner. And looking back, I think it was pretty inspirational to sit and chat with this very lovely, down to earth lady who also happened to be one of the greatest living novelists in the country.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
My only advice is to be yourself and enjoy your writing. Don't be deterred by rejection letters from literary agents. Everyone receives them. Even j K Rowling has a huge pile of them.
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
I haven't really been given much advice about writing. When I wrote my first piece of copy for the Solid Fuel Advisory Service, I can remember Ken saying to me "blind them with art." And I instinctively knew exactly what he meant. At that time that particular client had never been known to buy into creative advertising, but over the next few years Ken and his art director were to change all that.
What are you reading now?
I am currently reading 'An Unmarriageable Man' by Ashok Ferrey who kindly did an interview for my website. It's a beautiful memoir about Ashok leaving his homeland in Sri Lanka and coming to London during the Thatcher years in the 80s, and coming to terms with the death of his father.
What’s your biggest weakness?
My biggest weakness is my lack of discipline. It's why my books take so long to write. I procrastinate and am very easily distracted.
What is your favorite book of all time?
That's a difficult one. But it's a near run thing between Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' and Mervyn Peak's masterpiece 'Titus Groan'. They are both completely different animals. But they are both exquisite works of genius.
When you’re not writing, how do you like to spend your time?
I walk on Hampstead Heath. I watch movies. I read, of course, I do a fair bit of gardening, and I cook.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
Yes. It was 'Stig of the Dump' by Clive King. I re-read it recently, and I have to say that it's a beautiful book written from the point of view of a young boy who discovers a caveman (boy) at the bottom of his grandparent's garden. It's a touching story all about childhood, human relationships and trust, and it made a huge impact on me at the time.
What has inspired you and your writing style?
I'm not sure that I have a writing style. As an advertising copywriter I had to write in varying tones of voice to address different audiences. As for influences, we are all influenced both consciously and semi-consciously by the media and the vast world of literature.
What are you working on now?
I have been struggling with a sequel to 'The Chair Man'. I find the plotting of a book really difficult. And I can't begin to write anything until I have worked out the entire story in some detail. And so far I have only worked out one third of the story, so I have a long way to go before I can start the thing. If I can't resolve it, I will abandon it and start thinking about an entirely different idea. Time will tell.
What is your favorite method for promoting your work?
I'm no expert at this. And I'm not brilliant at marketing my own work, which is ironic seeing that my background is in marketing. I have used the Fussy Librarian a few times to promote my books when they are free, and they've been quite good. On one occasion they shifted 800 copies of 'The Chair Man' in one day, which put it at number 1 in the Kindle thriller charts for a day.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I'm not sure at this precise moment. It depends on whether I can resolve the storyline to the sequel to 'The Chair Man'.
How well do you work under pressure?
Funnily enough, I was fine working under pressure as a copywriter. But as an author, it's very different. We're not talking about 150 or 250 words of copy. We're talking about 90,000 words. It makes a world of difference. Am I any good under pressure? Hell, no. but then, I don't have to be. I'm fortunate in that I don't have to write for a living anymore. I'm my own boss. And I don't insist on deadlines. LOL.
How do you decide what tone to use with a particular piece of writing?
It depends what I'm writing. My first book 'Sleeping with the Blackbirds' was deliberately written in an old fashioned style redolent of children's authors like Clive King and Richmal Crompton. In a sense, I was paying tribute to those guys. But on another level, I was rebelling against clients and account execs at work who kept briefing me to adopt a positive and young tone of voice when writing copy. I happen to like old fashioned terminology, which exudes old world charm and character. And I love writing in that whimsical style.
If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be?
If they go to Amazon, Smashwords, Apple, Nook or Kobo and search for The Chair Man, they'll be able to download it for FREE. I can't say fairer than that, can I?
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