Author Bio:
I am an Australian journalist who writes by day and by night. My books include the comedy crime novel Iraqi Icicle, the funny short stories 7 Shouts and the soon to be released Naughty Nineties through Kindle Books. My musical Dagworth Day (with Gloria Swenson) awaits a producer.
I also have a small publishing business Bent Banana Books and I publish other titles including excellent paranormal crime by Jane Sharp in the Vision series. You can visit my website for other titles.
I do find time to spend with my wife and teenage son and I am writing this before we embark on the great search for a phone battery.
My own reading tastes are wide with noir, classics and humor the top of my list.
What inspires you to write?
Incidents from contemporary life or history inspire me. I know I am going to write something and I kick the idea around my subconscious for a while – 25 years is the longest period so far.
Tell us about your writing process.
Once I have dragged the idea to the front of my brain, I start writing and continue with little editing until it is done. I don’t outline as my subconscious has done that. I do have to be careful about continuity and consistency in character names and attributes which I straighten out in re-writes. Then comes the hard part, the re-writes. I usually have more then one project on the go at the one time as well as the marketing of previous work. I decide at some stage to bite the bullet on one project and complete it for publishing.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I do hear my characters, but I do not talk to them as they are talking with each other and to themselves. I am an eavesdropper rather than a character. I do laugh when one of them does or says something funny. I have cried at the death of one of my characters.
What advice would you give other writers?
Be persistent. You are never beaten until you give up. If you have a short-run publisher near you, publish with them first. It is the best way to learn what the industry is all about. Have your eBooks properly formatted by a real person, not a computer program. You can learn to do it yourself, but I haven’t yet.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I went through the usual approaches to publishers. But I quickly decided I could for it myself and save all the disappointment. My first books I did through local short-run publishers. After that learning curve, I went through Create Space and Kindle KDP. I format the paperbacks myself and have my eBooks formatted by a good friend in America. Automatic programs translating PDFs into Mobi or ePub do not work. It has to be done manually. There has been so much talk about covers these days, we almost forget it is what is inside that counts first and foremost.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think eBooks are the future though the rate of take-up has slowed. Once presentation (layout, grammar, punctuation, spelling) improves, people will come on-board at a great rate.) I don’t think the big publishers will survive the digital transition. I also think the number of self-publishers will decline as the dream of fame and fortune fades. I believe small publishing hubs of writers, graphic artists, proof readers and editors is the way of the future. These are likely to be a combination of people in physical spaces and across the internet. I hope (and) it is only a hope we do not see the continued domination of a few titles (Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Grey.)
What do you use?
Professional Editor
What genres do you write?
Comedy crime, mystery thriller, short story, historical. humour
What formats are your books in?
Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Author Home Page Link
Your Social Media Links
http://goodreads.com/author/dashboard
http://facebook.com/pages/Bent-Banana-Books/213861475357860
http://twitter.com/bentbananabooks
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