Chatting with Helen

Here is my friend Helen.  One of the biggest lover of reading (apart from me) that I know, although I haven't got her into indies yet as she doesn't own a Kindle!!

If you could live in the age and setting of a book, which book, and why?

This is tough, but I think I would have to say that The Darling Buds of May would be my choice. Ma and Pa Larkin live a thoroughly carefree life, if slightly illegal on the tax evasion front. It is perpetual summer in their glorious English landscape. 

Does it annoy you the book finishes well before 100% because the author mentions their other works at the back of the novel. Do you mind if the author includes a synopsis or even an excerpt?

No, I don’t mind at all. In fact I quite like seeing what other ideas the author has up their sleeves. 

Are you put off if you see a book is part of a series? Or does that entice you, knowing that if you like it there are more books to enjoy?

Nope, I love a good series. I have started a lot of series and I want to finish them, but of course this does mean that I may not read other authors, so I try hard not to get caught in a trap of only reading a couple of series and limiting the breadth of authors I read. I am reading all the Agatha Christie stories in order of publication, which has been an interesting exercise in seeing how social norms change. One series that I haven’t started yet, but would like to read is the Culture series by Iain M Banks. These are Sci-Fi books that he wrote, and I love his other writing, which he published as Iain Banks, so I think I would probably enjoy them.

Do you read the Look Inside before purchasing? Always? Sometimes, depending on the reviews? Never?

I always do, with both physical and online purchases. I can normally tell within the first page or so if something is going to grab me or not.

Do you read for hours at a time, or in short bursts, or a mixture of the two?

I can easily sit for hours and read if I am not interrupted. I used to commute to work on the train and always read then. Now I drive so don’t have that option. I do read for a couple of hours every evening before bed. There is something very decadent about lying under the duvet, all snug and warm with a good book.

If I know I only have a few shorter periods of time to read then I choose short stories as you can get a nice literary hit quickly. David Gaffney’s Sawn Off Tales are wonderful flash fiction, perfectly formed short stories in just a few words. I also like Chekov for his wonderful observation of the human condition.

How important are reviews of a book to you? Would they influence your choice to buy it?

Reviews do influence me, but I only take note of the reviewers I trust. These can be professional reviewers, bloggers, or friends. There are a few bloggers out there who have almost the same reading tastes as me, and so their recommendation means a lot.

Do you think you remain unbiased when reviewing books by people you know or interact with on the internet?

I try although I don’t know many authors. I do find it hard when an author I have always enjoyed produces a complete turkey of a book. It is very disappointing and can put me off reading any more of them.

How do you feel about leaving negative reviews?

I have a rule that I only review books I have enjoyed on Fennell Books. In the side bar you will see books I am currently reading, if you see it there, but then never hear of it again on the blog, you will know I didn’t like it!

Are you more lenient with regards mistakes if you know a book is self published, or do you believe the authors should have hired an editor to make sure it's the best it can be?

I hate mistakes, they ruin the flow of my reading and so I can get very annoyed. Is it me, or does there seem to be a higher number of mistakes in professionally edited books now?

If something an author did upset or bothered you, would it stop you reading more of their work, even if you've read their stuff before and enjoyed it? 

I have stopped reading one particularly famous author because of some comments he made which utterly disgusted me. It is a shame as his writing is outstanding, but now when I read his work, I have his rather unpleasant views ringing in my ears.

Helen's opinions can be found at http://fennellbooks.co.uk/

Butterfly by Elle Harper

It's a year after Grace was raped by her (now ex) boyfriend and she still can't cope.  A chance meeting with Ben, a councellor, makes her want to make the effort to get her life back.

This has adult themes, but is not too gritty.  It is boy meets girl, etc, but it has an underlying message of how to get help if this has happened to you and that you can survive.  In saying that, it is not preachy at all.  The basic is, this is a really good, well written story.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HW7B3Q4/?tag=jookuf-21

Interrogating Hugh Howey

Hugh Howey has taken time out his extremely busy schedule to go under my spotlight.  Hugh is the author of the Silo series of books which starts with Wool.

How do you strike the balance between writing something you want to write and writing something that people want to read, in terms of the compromises you make, if any?

I write the things I want to read. And it never fails that there are thousands of people out there with the same tastes as me.

What excites, attracts or appeals to you about the genre(s) you write in.

My goal is to write in every genre. I read all sorts of books, and I don't want to get trapped writing the same story over and over. So I'm working on a children's picture book right now and a romance novel. I enjoy jumping around.

Do you have a box, drawer, folder etc where you keep thoughts and ideas for future stories? Such as names you have come across, bits of dialogue, ideas, characters - even if you have no idea when you might use them?

I have a file on my laptop where I keep book ideas. And I save all the big chunks of my drafts in a file rather than delete them. I'll never use them again, but it feels nice to quarantine them rather than kill them. 

How do you manage plot bunnies (ideas that invade your mind that aren’t usually helpful to the story you’re writing but breed like...er...bunnies)?

If I have them, I'm not aware of them. So they're like ninja bunnies.

How much of you is in your characters? Which of your characters is the you that you’d most like to be? Or be with ?

A lot. We write what we know, and we know ourselves better than anyone else. If I could be any of my characters, I would pick Cole from my Molly Fyde series. If I could be with any of them, I would pick Molly. I just love their relationship. It's based on mutual respect and admiration. 

Do you become so wrapped up in your writing that your spouse wonders if they're married to you or one of your characters?

Not really. My wife loves it when I write. I get quiet.

What type of book do you like reading? Is it the same genre as you write?

I mostly read non-fiction. Science, history, philosophy, psychology. The stuff I'm not smart enough to write. 

What lengths do you go to to convince us readers that your book has the X factor?

I don't know that I do. I just write what appeals to me. I want to be moved by books. I want to learn from them. So that's what I aim for. 

How do you feel when a reader points out the spelling mistake(s) you have made?

I love it! I thank them, and then I fix it.

What do you like most about visiting forums?

The sense of community. Learning from peers and from readers. They are great places to unwind. 

What is on your near horizon?

I can barely see two days ahead. I just flew back from Seattle, where I gave a few talks, and now I'm at the airport to rush up to NY to record an audiobook. And then I'm off to Taiwan for a book fair. I get back, have one night at home, and then it's the Savannah Book Fair. That's just my next few weeks. 

Where can we find you for more information?

www.hughhowey.com. But I'm hard to avoid. I get around.

Vagabond Sky by Mark David Welsh

Wow, what a corker of an epic quest.  Conner, an IT consultant from East Anglia, is running a bar in some strange world of dwarves and elves and no sanitary facilities.  We don't know why or how he is there.  He goes off on a quest with his mate Prince Hieronymus just because he feels like going on holiday.  Of course, it's not going to be a picnic.

What can I say, I loved this book.  It's gently comedic with some laugh out loud moments.  We get hints as to Connor's past.  The book is told in first person POV in short chapters.  With most of them ending on mini cliffhangers and the chapter titles announcing what's going to happen, such as "Chapter 18, It was a Time for Heroes. Unfortunately, I was there too" this felt like Saturday morning episodic television.  I kept thinking "just one more chapter".  I had the time left in chapter mode switched on on my paperwhite, just so I could see how many minutes each one was and thinking "only 3 minutes, I'll read one more"

This is a big chunk of a book, over 400 pages and it didn't seem a chore.  Each adventure the gang had followed on nicely.  The characters were well rounded, even the lesser ones.

This is definitely my favourite book this year so far :)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HKGNA72/?tag=jookuf-21

Interrogating Kath Middleton

From reader to reviewer to drabbler to author, what's next for Kath?

How do you strike the balance between writing something you want to write and writing something that people want to read, in terms of the compromises you make, if any?

As a new author, I never even considered that I was writing for an audience.  I’m sure that will change!  I have one book published at the moment, one in the editing stage and another still being written.  I’m afraid I still haven’t got into that author mind-set of writing what I think people will want to read.  I’m still writing what I want to say.

What excites, attracts or appeals to you about the genre(s) you write in.

I’m not sure I have a genre.  I write about people faced with unthinkable things.  Then I see how they react – how they survive.  I’m an optimist and I think there’s something admirable in people’s ability to overcome horrible things.  The first book is set in early mediaeval times and the next two in modern times, so I don’t think you could categorise them together at all.

Do you have a box, drawer, folder etc where you keep thoughts and ideas for future stories? Such as names you have come across, bits of dialogue, ideas, characters - even if you have no idea when you might use them?

No.  I have a big echoing skull though, and I just rake stuff out of there!  For each story, I have an outline plan on my computer but I don’t always follow it all that closely.

How do you manage plot bunnies (ideas that invade your mind that aren’t usually helpful to the story you’re writing but breed like...er...bunnies)?

My first venture into ‘authorship’ (as against submitting the occasional short story to anthologies) was with Jonathan Hill.  I contributed some drabbles (100 word stories) to his second book, Beyond 100 Drabbles.  This is a wonderful thing to do with a bunny – turn it into a tiny, stand-alone story!  It makes use of the idea and ties it up and gets it out of your current book!

How much of you is in your characters? Which of your characters is the you that you’d most like to be? Or be with ?

That’s a bit difficult to judge.  I’m sure there’s some of me in Maude from Ravenfold.  There’s a character in my next book that I’m very fond of – but it wouldn’t work out!

Do you become so wrapped up in your writing that your spouse wonders if they're married to you or one of your characters?

I do realise when I’m answering my husband and I stop mid-sentence, that I’ve actually been trying to think of two things at once.  We’ve been married a long time, though.  He copes with my obsessions!

What type of book do you like reading? Is it the same genre as you write?

For reading, I’ll have a go at most things.  I really don’t like ‘icky’ romance though.  Sweet stuff with improbably happy endings.  As I’ve said, I’m not sure I write in a genre myself.

What lengths do you go to to convince us readers that your book has the X factor?

Haha!  As someone who never expected to write, let alone to be read, I am rubbish at this.  I sent a link to a good friend recently, as she’s shown an interest in what I was doing, but I said, ‘I don’t think it’s your kind of book, though.’  As a marketing ploy, that has a long way to go!

I’m not sure an author can convince people, other than making the best job you can of the book, and writing a short but enticing blurb.  Shoving your book up people’s noses and telling them how brilliant you are is probably counter-productive.  People have to discover for themselves if it’s their kind of book.

How do you feel when a reader points out the spelling mistake(s) you have made?

You know what they say, ‘Pobody’s Nerfect!’   Chastened, and grateful – and in a rush to correct it!

What do you like most about visiting KUF/GR/forums?

Goodreads UK Amazon Kindle Forum has been my home from home for a couple of years, and I’ve been a member of KUF for just about a year. I’ve been there as a reader and have found some fantastic authors and lots of keen fellow readers to swap recommendations with.  Nobody was more surprised than I was to discover I was writing a book.  However, I now have a network of friends there who will tell me the truth!

What is on your near horizon?

My second novella, shorter than Ravenfold – and I here exclusively reveal the title – Message in a Bottle.  I’m also writing a third and until I finish it, I have no idea how long that will be.

Where can we find you for more information?

I doubt that there is more information!  What you see is what you get – but I have an Amazon author page http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kath-Middleton/e/B00H1WWW2E and there’ll be more about my own writing as it’s published, on my blog.  http://www.ignitebooks.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html

Ravenfold by Kath Middleton

At first look this seems to be a story about a young girl called Romelda, however this book turns into a lot more.

Set in ye olden days where women are nobodies, Romelda is married off to the Lord of the land and her life as a happy child is over.

This story is quite sad and miserable, but is very well written.  There's not much happiness, so the few happy moments stand out.

I liked the way the story was written.  I've not read the book of Princess Bride, but I "heard" the grandfather's voice telling the story as Peter Falk's voice in that film.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HPBC0NM/?tag=jookuf-21

War and Piste by Alex Thomas

War and Piste is the fictional(?) tale of Poppy's season as a ski rep at an Austrian resort.  From the minute she arrives, she's thrown in at the deep end as rep after rep leaves.

I enjoyed reading this book a lot.  In fact I was sad to get to the end as I felt I was saying goodbye to friends I'd grown to like a lot.

I liked the background stuff to being a rep.  As a holidaymaker, changeover day is tiresome, as a rep, it must be ten times worse.  The author, whilst not going into too much boring detail, gets over these long days with humour.

I liked the friendships and the romances that happened in this story.  Most characters were well rounded in their descriptions and had depths to them.

For me this was a thoroughly enjoyable story and I'd like to know what Poppy did next.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005VUU0YU/?tag=jookuf-21

Bolt out of the Blue by Rick Haynes

Bolt out of the Blue was an unexpected delight to read.  I'd picked it up without paying much attention to what it was about and then had the pleasure of meeting Bolt, a white rabbit.

This is a story of hardship, of a family business being run down due to financial decisions, but the discovery of Bolt the rabbit and his joining the family and making friends with the dog bring happiness to the family and some good luck.

This is a very nice story for both old and young alike.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CEQT2HU/?tag=jookuf-21

Maureen and the Big One by Jonathan Hill

Maureen's latest outing takes her to Blackpool for a weekend.  She's not impressed with her first impressions of the B & B she's booked into.

Maureen is still a walking disaster, but with each expedition she sets out on, we get to see more and more of what makes her tick and I get to like her more and more.  This story has a greater depth to it than the previous stories and I liked that.

Here's to more Maureen.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GEA55WI/?tag=jookuf-21

Wolf by the Ears by Lexi Revellian

Another book by Lexi Revellian and another genre for her to be listed under.  This time it's the "wrong place, wrong time" mystery genre.  Tyger gets a cleaning job at a very rich Russian's house, then gets mixed up in his affairs.

As usual with this author's works, the story is well written and well paced.  there's friendship, romance, chases, murder, bad guys and good guys.

I enjoyed this story.  It wasn't over-the-top with heroics, it was one girl against the bad guys, doing the best she can.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00H7IM0FG/?tag=jookuf-21

Off The KUF Volume 2

This is the second collection of stories from the KUForum authors.  A handful of them are available elsewhere, but most of them were new to me (and I devour books by KUF authors).

You get a lot for your measly £2. Over 300 pages.  30 stories by 29 authors, of varying lengths.  Some are drabbles (100 word long stories) and some are much longer reads that you'd probably spend 77p on just the one.

As with any collection of stories there are some you like more than others.  With this, I liked practically all of them and didn't dislike any.

This collection is value for money and I will be looking out for longer works from quite a few of these authors.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00H5S2K9E/ref=?tag=jookuf-21

Hide in Time by Anna Faversham

This was an interesting story that I was dragged into from reading the sample.  In fact I was on holidays with over 80 books loaded onto my kindle to choose from, but once I started reading this, I knew I had to get it to finish it.

Part time travel, part historical romance, part mystery, this was a very enjoyable read.  The back and forth between time periods gave the story a different edge to a normal romance. 

I think this is a very solid start for a new author.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A3E925M/?tag=jookuf-21

The Four Seasons Quest by Cecilia Peartree

This is the second book in the Oliver Quest series. Flora and Oliver are officially a couple, but love doesn't run smoothly for them.  Not when family members are being murdered and Flora is haunted by her past.

This series is set in post war London, and the countryside.  It is a gentle read - not withstanding the murders, muggings and beatings - and is set at a much gentler pace than people nowadays are used to.  Checking that someone's OK means a half day train journey, phoning someone means sending someone else to get them to a neighbour's phone.  I found this story just a bit slower than the previous one.

This is, however, a very enjoyable read, both in the story and the telling of it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FOVZU32/?tag=jookuf-21

An Odder Quintet by Michael Brookes

This is a selection of 5 slightly abnormal stories.  As with the author's other books and short stories, his twisted mind shows.  Whilst not X-rated, they have a creepy, tenseness to them.
In saying they are short stories, they have a meatiness to them.

I liked the first story the best.  An evil prisoner enters an experiment that would be hell for most people.  All the stories are very enjoyable.  The fourth one is similar to one in the first collection and is just the radio talk of a group of soldiers stuck inside a house that isn't what it seems.  Whilst not my favourite, the tension was certainly ramped up with each call.

A decent collection indeed.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ERCTCJM/?ref=jookuf-21

Seesaw II by Rosen Trevithick

Like Rosen Trevithick's first anthology, Seesaw, this is a collection of novellas, short stories and flash fiction.  I read some of the stories elsewhere as they are available as standalone books and in the KUForum anthology Off the Kuf volume 1, however this set of stories goes well with the author's ups and downs of her writing and her life.

The stand out piece for me is 'My Granny Writes Erotica'.  This is a wonderfully funny story of a granny needing to raise money and deciding her book can be published on kindle.  

The first story 'A Stormy Afternoon in Falmouth Harbour' is edge of your seat stuff and makes you not want to put the book down.

The flash fiction pieces work well as they kind of follow on from each other and when you get to the next one you have to read it.

I'm not really a fan of Trolls, but this was readable in that you get the human version of the story in 'The Other Father' which is quite a powerful piece, then the Troll version which was interesting in a writing way to me rather than a troll story way.

Even if you've read one or two of the pieces of this anthology elsewhere, you get a lot of story for your money in this anthology.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FX1Q8XY/?ref=jookuf-21

Lost Wife Saw Barracuda by John Kean

As a lapsed scuba diver who did my first dives in Sharm, I was drawn to this book.  There are a lot of “me, me, me” books about at the moment, some of which are good and some are just somebody’s diary that should be kept hidden away.  This one, however, was a delight to read.

The over-riding arc of this book is the author’s tale of teaching a group of students to dive.  In between he tells various stories, both funny and very serious.   He tells of his life living and working in Sharm and also some occurrences such as the bombing of Sharm in 2008 with him being on the scene at the time.

I was reading this on holiday and I hadn’t dived for 5 years and was a bit nervous about going back in, but it actually made me want to go diving again, so we had a refresher lesson and a nice dive.  Having read some of the skills he teaches and how the students coped with them actually helped me a little.

I found this a very enjoyable read.  Would it appeal to anyone who hasn't been diving?  I'm not sure, but I'd say probably as there are many tales about human character and less about the fish.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004WKUEIM/?tag=jookuf-21

Off The KUF Volume 1

This is the first of 3 volumes of short stories, drabbles and novellas from the KUForum's authors.
I am a big fan of many of the authors who hang out there, so I knew I'd like this book.  I was wrong, I loved it.

From the start with Lynda Wilcox's story 'Intelligence Test' to 'The Last Story' I was enthralled throughout.

I'll just mention some of my favourites.

The first one 'Intelligence Test' is a great opener.  Malcolm is up for a job which is on offer at the Foreigh Office.  The test seems way too hard in a simplistic way.  Who will get the job and what is the job anyway?

The very next story is by David Haynes and of course is one of his trademark creepy, macabre stories - a bit of a ghost story.

'Blackberry Crumble' by Cecilia Peartree is a longer "short" and I really enjoyed that one.  It is always great to read a new Auto story from David Wailing.

Rosen Trevithick has 2 parallel stories in this collection.  One is a Troll version and it is interesting to read them together.

'The Last Story' by H.K. Abell was intriguing and interesting and as it progressed it made me wonder about the sanity of the author.  The ending is well weird, but I think I liked it.  I thought it was an interesting way to finish off this collection

Of the 30 stories in this collection there was only one I didn't like, which is not bad going for such a large collection.

There are highs, there are lows, there are scares, there are laughs and there's the origin story of The Imp.  Oh and Trolls.

There are definitely some new authors here for me to go and investigate.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GDLGTCS/?tag=jookuf-21

Last Christmas by Talli Roland

As with any Talli Roland story, you know what you will get and with this I wasn’t disappointed.  Lucy’s previous Christmas was her worst ever when she proposed to her boyfriend in Paris only for him to dump her.  She’s had a miserable year and is persuaded to have the best Christmas party ever this year.

I did find this a bit short for my liking, but that’s because I love reading Talli Roland’s work.  The story itself was very well written and extremely enjoyable.  Definitely a “sit down, start it, oh, I’ve finished it, where did the time go” book.

In saying that the story is a bit short for me, it didn’t lack any detail or story.  The characters were great. 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GA9RAVC/?tag=jookuf-21

Interrogating M T McGuire

Here’s M.T.McGuire.  She’s mad she is.

How do you strike the balance between writing something you want to write and writing something that people want to read, in terms of the compromises you make, if any?

To be honest, I don’t. I have no idea what other people want to read, all I know is what I want to read. So I write that and hope that it bears a vague enough resemblance to what other humans like for them to enjoy it. I do sometimes keep a picture in mind of the kinds of other people who I think might like it; my teenaged nephew, a friend’s teenaged sons and me.

The thing is, I can’t sell something I don’t believe in. Actually, I can’t do anything I don’t believe in. So I have to enjoy my stuff – and I hope that if I do it’ll make it easier to convince other people they will.

What excites, attracts or appeals to you about the genre(s) you write in.

I love playing with scientific ideas. I get a grain of truth and extrapolate an imaginary edifice the size of a galaxy from it. Doing that is a lot of fun.

Having grown up with lots of 1960s re-runs of things like the Saint, the Avengers, the first StarTrek series and the Cantina scene from StarWars, I’ve always enjoyed making up my own worlds, and species, with their own rules. Although my current project , the K’Barthan Trilogy, is set in a parallel reality rather than in space. It’s sort of liberating if not all the characters in my stories are human. It also makes it easier to deal with real world issues honestly without offending anyone.

I also really enjoy fantasy, that getting lost in a different world. That said, I don’t really feel equipped to write proper dragons and elves style fantasy. I read, with awe, books by people who can. But I fear my book about dragons would be buried under an avalanche of feedback from people who know more about them than I do, telling me I’d done it wrong. Hmm... that sounds very much as if I’m too chicken, which I probably am.

Do you have a box, drawer, folder etc where you keep thoughts and ideas for future stories? Such as names you have come across, bits of dialogue, ideas, characters - even if you have no idea when you might use them?

Absolutely. I have notebooks. Stacks of them, and I keep them all. I still refer to the back of my notebook from 3 years ago when I want the number of my son’s school. I have one with pages of silly names. Corporal Punischment, Colonel Ischzue and Private Land are all in there, as well as lots of other ‘characters’. Many are place names which sound like people, usually signposted off the A1: Leighton Bromswold and Carlton Scrope appear in my current work.

I also use pictures and music. One book is three lines of dialogue and a picture of an aeroplane, so far. Another is a single song.

How do you manage plot bunnies (ideas that invade your mind that aren’t usually helpful to the story you’re writing but breed like...er...bunnies)?

Unfortunately, I incorporate nearly all of them into the story and a lot of them can end up working out quite well.

However, I quite often end up rewriting them or binning vast tracts of stuff and starting again with a slightly different aspect of the same idea. It’s as if I have to look at all sides of the situation before I can work out which way to go.

The hard bit is when it’s wrong and you know you’ve got to get the scissors out or just rewrite it hugely. It’s always sad to cut a character out, but I suppose you just have to convince yourself there’s more where that came from. I usually save a new version of my book so I have the old stuff there if I change my mind. I’m on version 23 of my current one.

How much of you is in your characters? Which of your characters is the you that you’d most like to be? Or be with?

Some of my characters are hybrids, some contain bits of my own personality, usually because when they’re in a tricky situation and I need to empathise and make it convincing I do so as myself. There’s nobody who’s wholly me or wholly someone else. I don’t want reality getting in the way. I really like Ruth and she’s probably the ideal me but then, it would be very liberating to be as much of a git as my baddie.

Do you become so wrapped up in your writing that your spouse wonders if they're married to you or one of your characters?

McOther reckons that I devote about 5% of my brain power to the real world at any given time. I’m not sure it’s quite that bad – it must be over 6% – but certainly, if the real world demands too much of my attention I get extraordinarily cranky. Writing is my crystal meth, my not so secret addiction. It’s why I always call myself an authorholic.

Getting back to the question...The thing really worrying me is that when I’m old and have lost my marbles, I will start to think my characters are real. I’m not sure McMini or McOther are going to appreciate being referred to by the names of imaginary beings, most of whom are not even human. I certainly have no idea how the nursing home staff will cope.

What type of book do you like reading? Is it the same genre as you write?

Yes and no... I loved the Narnia Books. One of the first books I read on my own was The Magician’s Nephew. However, I also get a lot of inspiration from film and TV. Indeed that’s probably where I go for fantasy and sci-fi the most. In the world of books, I read absolutely anything that looks interesting and with a few notable exceptions very much outside the genre I write in. What spills out onto the page when I sit down to write is mostly inspired by dodgy 1960s TV. Imagine if someone like Terry Pratchett, only not as funny, had decided to write the Man from U.N.C.L.E.

What lengths do you go to o convince us readers that your book has the X factor?

Mwhah ha haargh! Probably not enough! I just tell people that it’s funny and there are flying cars in it. That would be enough for me, to be honest.

Actually, between you and me, I sell more out of the handbag than I do online. Perhaps because begging is more effective when it’s done face to face. Phnark.

No, no, nooooo! It’s not true! I don’t beg... much.

However, in real life, when people see the book they are usually interested because in real life not every single person I meet is an author. Online it’s much harder, most of the people I meet are writing something themselves and have a whole different set of criteria upon which to judge other works.

I find reviews help a lot – especially if they’re coupled with interviews or blog spots like this one. I try to do interviews and/or bludgeon people into reviewing my books regularly. Two interviews and two reviews each month are usually the difference between selling a handful of books or none at all.

How do you feel when a reader points out the spelling mistake(s) you have made?

Gutted that I missed it (think Monty Python Fork Sketch) but delighted that someone else has picked it up so I can get rid of it!

What do you like most about visiting KUF/GR/forums?

It’s a good laugh. I really enjoy the forums. Writing is a solitary profession and I guess the forums are my water cooler. This is one aspect of the internet where the fact there are lots of other writers is just brilliant. They are smart, they know stuff and they are happy to share their expertise and advice. If I’m going through a difficult patch with a book or if the Real World is being a pain in the arse, there’s always someone else in the same boat or who understands.

What is on your near horizon?

My feet and beyond those, the telly. OK, sensible answer, I’m nearly at the end of the K’Barthan Trilogy. About 75% of the third book is written, and the other 25% is all tied up. What I have to decide now is whether this book, the ‘third’ and ‘final’ one, is actually books 3 and 4.

Where can we find you for more information?

There’s quite a lot of it. But basically, if you say hello to me in any of these places I am more than likely to reply. Here goes:

Blog: www.mtmcguire.co.uk

Website: www.hamgee.co.uk

Lots of info about my books and links to where they are on sale www.hamgee.co.uk/books

Social Media:

Twitter: @mtmcguireauthor

Twitter profile (for easy following) https://twitter.com/MTMcGuireAuthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HamgeeUniversityPress

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3492555.M_T_McGuire

Amazon: http://Author.to/MTMcGuire – this will take you to my author page, with all my books, at your local Amazon.

Pintarest: http://www.pinterest.com/mtmcguire/

Tumblr: http://mtmcguire.tumblr.com/ caveat, I’ve no idea what to do with Tumblr but wordpress offered to add my blog posts and it seemed churlish to refuse.