Are there therapeutic benefits to modeling a character after someone you know?
Yes for myself my main characters are Jake and Sammy who are dogs. Jake was my dog and Sammy a friend’s dog and both sadly now passed away. To commemorate them both I wanted to create a story around them and writing about them had mental health benefits to myself in dealing with the loss. It was also fun to evolve the dogs characters as I did give them voices and more so they were a lot more than just pets to their book owners, they were actually secret agents helping solve a great mystery.
Do you play music while you write — and, if so, what’s your favorite?
I don’t but I do have my own version of music that helps me get in the writing mood. I always have the tv show ‘Murder She Wrote’ in the background and one of my favourite characters Jessica Fletcher provides me with plenty of inspiration.
Does writing energize or exhaust you? Or both?
Energise more so. I don’t write professionally, it is at the moment a hobby although I would love the freedom to give more of my time to this. I don’t give myself any goals, there are no pressures from my publishers, I just write as I simply enjoy the experience and as mentioned it also helps with my mental health.
Have you ever tried to write a novel for a genre you rarely or never read?
Yes, my first book ‘Second Hand Rose’ which is a horror story and very much a genre I have followed and have always been interested in. The 2nd book ‘Where is all the Grass Going?’ is very much geared towards kids, a mystery story with dogs and other animals as the main characters. I don’t have kids and never read or watched many animated shows or movies so to produce this is totally out of the blue but I had this really bizarre mystery story that I could use the dogs in and it just evolved from there and I loved every minute of it. I don’t think authors have to stick to a genre if you have an idea for a great story whatever the genre just go for it. Didn’t Ian Fleming write ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang after all.
How do you come up with character names for your stories?
For ‘Where is all the Grass Going’? I decided to use people I know, as a lot of the characters are animals so it was fun to pair which of my friends and family should be which animal. I tried to instill a little of their personalities in the characters to add a bit of fun and it has been great to get the reaction from them after they have read the book.
How do you process and deal with negative book reviews?
It was tough at first with my first book as I took the comments very personal and got quite upset. This was my very first book with no previous writing experience and I felt that some people were not taking this into account reviewing it as an established professional author. A lot of reviews thankfully were more helpful to me as they were highlighting areas I could have improved to make the story a better experience for them. These are the reviews that actually helped as I took these comments on board to my 2nd book. From the reviews I have had so far and also how I felt this story developed I have definitely improved as a writer. Turn the negatives around, most reviewers are there to help authors so use them to your advantage.
How do you use social media as an author?
In every way possible. I barely used social media before I published my first book, then I quickly understood how powerful a tool this is in terms of promoting books as an unknown first time author. I now have my own YouTube Channel, Website, X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Tik Tok, All Authors, Good Reads, etc. There is a huge book community out there, use it. I sit at my ChromeBook at 9.00pm typing this interview for The bookShelf Cafe after a 12 hour shift. I still buzz at the thought of me being called an author; I am enjoying the journey and I learn something new every day.
How do you celebrate when you finish your book?
I have done 2 books as mentioned and both times when finished I have had a tattoo done relative to the book or a character.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Walking, Gardening, Cinema, Visiting Historical Buildings and Gardens, I love tap Dancing, Traveling.
What do you think makes a good story?
On my many visits to the cinema I gauge a good story on its originality. With over 100 million books out there it is difficult to come up with something new and refreshing.I’m not sure how many dog run secret agencies investigating world grass disappearances there are but hopefully my story has not been covered before.
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