Welcome to the first in
my author interview series, and to start off I'm going to interview
myself. I've done a few interviews before so for some of you my answers
may be nothing new, but for most of you, I hope this will help you get
to know me a little bit better.
I shall be aiming for one author a month, but I'll see how it goes. I'll be posting my next interview, with the brilliant crime author, Leigh Russell, next week.
If any authors would like to be appear in my interview series please contact me via email at cjwrightbooks@live.com and put in the subject line: Author Interview.
So now without further ado, here's my interview with... Myself.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a
writer?
I’ve always had a vivid imagination, but it was when
I met Sue Townsend, the author of the Adrian Mole books, when I was eight years
old that I knew I wanted to be a writer.
I guess a lot of authors have been influenced by meeting a published
author face-to-face, and I most definitely was. I believe it was the 23rd
of November 1985, and Sue Townsend came to my primary school, the one she had
attended when she was a child, and I was in awe of her. She spoke to us about her books, and writing,
and from that moment I knew that it was something I wanted to do too.
What are you working on right now?
I have two new books scheduled to come out next year
so I’m busy doing edits. I’m also doing
primarily work on the final book in my Vampire Hunter Trilogy. Due to my health, my writing has been a bit
sporadic over the past few years, but I’m now getting into the swing of things
by writing mainly at night or early in the morning when I’m at my most alert.
How does your work differ from others of its genre?
I try to go for spooky rather than gory horror. I’d rather make my readers pulse race than
turn their stomachs, and with the amount of gore in horror these days, especially
in movies, most horror fans are de-sensitised to it all. Also I hate to use profanity in my work,
unless I really can’t help it, and then only in dialog. Swearing for the sake of it just seems lazy
writing, if you ask me.
Why did you choose the genre you write in?
I don’t think I did choose it, it chose me. I’ve always been a fan of horror, whether it
be in the form of films, comics and of course, books, and all my writing seems
to gravitate to that. I’m often asked
why horror, particularly by my family and friends, but it just seems natural
somehow.
How much research do you do before and during a
writing project?
As much as I need, really. I like to create as much of the world in my
imagination if I can, but for the things that need to be correct I check
online, and from more than one source if I can.
Just because Wikipedia says it, doesn’t mean it’s true.
Who are your writing influences?
Stephen King, who is an obvious choice, but true,
and I’ve seen and read numerous interviews and documentaries about him, and
I’ve read On Writing a number of times.
The same with J.K. Rowling.
Though I don’t think I’ll ever get to their level of fame or readership,
if you don’t at least have a level to aim for you’re not really going to get
anywhere.
What other authors do you read?
I read pretty much anything, both fiction and
non-fiction, but my favourite genre to read is crime fiction. When I was younger I read a lot of Agatha
Christie, especially the Miss Marple stories, because they were quick reads
which held my childhood concentration. When I tried something longer I usually lost
interest unless it grabbed me right at the beginning I gave up not long
afterwards.
Some of my favourite crime authors are Colin Dexter,
Leigh Russell, Robert Galbraith (AKA J.K Rowling), James Patterson and Tess
Gerritsen. Though there and many, many
other authors enjoy.
What do you like to do when you're not writing?
I watch a lot of Netflix. I’ve always preferred to relax with TV show
box sets than movies. Other than that,
because I am disabled and have to take a medication that makes me tired a lot
of the time, when I’m not sleeping I’m either reading or spending time with my
wife.
Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of
things do they say?
I do hear from a few of them, mainly on
Goodreads.com, and so far it's been pretty positive, but I’d love to hear more from them.
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