Questions and Answers: Scroll down for the latest!

Where do you live?
How do you write - desk, computer, hand written etc?
Have you always wanted to write?
How old are you?
What words of encouragement do you have to offer the young aspiring author crowd?
Where do you get your inspiration from?
What were some of your favourite books when you were a child or teenager?
When you were at school, were people mean to you because you liked reading?
How did you know you wanted to be a writer? I am always coming up with ideas, in fact I'm writing a little myself, but I am wondering how you knew you'd be any good at it?
Did you ever worry about not being able to bring all your ideas together?
Does Tim have gills? Or does he just not have to breathe underwater? How could a punch from a giant cockroach knock the air out of him?
Was it your intention with Tim to create a "loveable" Godzilla character?
Were you sort of thrashing governments in this book? In TIM the top personnel seemed very ill-informed and unprepared!
You are a fan of the underdog hero type, aren't you?
I really want to share [my] stories with the world, but I make so little progress with them I just don't know if they'll ever get finished. Could you give me any tips to avoid writers' procrastination?

Where do you live?
I live in a converted attic in North London, England. I've been living there about ten years: I'm quite tall, and it's taken me that long to learn where not to stand up too quickly in it and hit my head on the ceiling.

How do you write - desk, computer, hand written etc?
Computer - definitely. Appalled by my handwriting, my teachers begged me to learn to type at an early age. Having to see it myself on a daily basis, I'm inclined to agree with them.

Have you always wanted to write?
No! Plan A was to be an internationally famous rock guitarist. My original intention was to be like Jimi Hendrix, and die young and pretty having made a smoking indelible mark on musical history. There was, I realized, just one problem: I didn't have the talent for it! [Update, Nov '07: Nowadays, you'll notice, I don't even have the hair for it. (;p] I've had to slug away at this writing caper ever since.

How old are you?

In August '08 I'm going to be 34. So that Jimi Hendrix idea is now well and truly out the window. Sigh!

What words of encouragement do you have to offer the young aspiring author crowd?
If I can do it, then that proves it can be done. It has taken me more than ten years – and one hundred and thirty-four rejection letters from publishers and agents! – to get this far, but I got here in the end (wherever here turns out to be) and that surely shows you can, too. A word about rejection letters while we're on the subject: I read in an interview once with Iain Banks (one of my favourite authors) that you're not, apparently, a serious writer until you've had at least a hundred of them. Whether that's actually correct or not I have no idea. But six or seven years ago when I got to my 100th rejection, I had a big "TRIPLE FIGURES YAY!" dinner party to celebrate. Hee hee hee! If you love what you're doing, if you're disciplined and regular about your writing and you can handle the knockbacks, sacrifices - and instant noodles - along the way, then who knows? Anything could happen. The only certainty I can offer you is that it won't if you give up. It's up to you.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Hmmm: depends what you mean by 'inspiration'.
If you're talking about ideas for stories, then I have to say, I'm not really the kind of writer who sits around waiting for those to come by themselves. It'd be great if a story suddenly arrived in my brain like a blinding flash, with everything worked out for me: seriously, that'd be terrific! Unfortunately, however, that just doesn't seem to happen to me (or, I reckon, to most writers).
Writing is a job. In a lot of ways it's just like other jobs, in that you have to put in the hours. And the meat and potatoes of it – the day-to-day ideas, from dialogue and description to characters and themes – tend only to come if you put your head down and work for them. Black Tat started out, essentially, as a list. I knew the kind of book I wanted to write, and I set about thinking up a whole pile of elements that I thought would be fun and interesting: demonic possession, flying kung fu and Hell were among the early choices - the vomiting bats came later! ;)
From there, I started putting these elements together, extending things, combining things, building it all up until, eventually, I had the bones of the story. In his wonderful book On Writing, Stephen King calls this the 'What if…?' stage. You've had some ideas? Great! Now it's time to try out some experiments on them. In Black Tat's case, one of the 'What if…?'s was, 'What if being possessed by a demon gave you powers?' From there it's a short hop to: 'What if you knew you were being possessed, but those powers were so good you didn't want to give them up?' How could that situation come about? What sort of person would get into the worst kind of trouble if that happened? What sort of trouble? -And off I went.
Ideas, inspiration – they're great, of course. But to muster enough ideas to make a book – especially a fast, thrilling book like the ones I want to write – you have to set your initial ideas to work, put them together, to make more ideas. Some of these ideas will be dreadful: no big deal, try not to beat yourself up, they might lead on to better ones. Some of these ideas will be all right, but need more thought, more work. And so on.
The key part, for me, is sticking to the central idea of, basically, what would be fun? Like the masterful thriller author Lee Child says, 'Write the exact book that you yourself would be thrilled to read.' If you love your original elements, love your story, then that'll help get you through the tough bits. But the sad fact is, to make something you can be proud of, you're going to have to work for it. (Sorry!)
HOWEVER: if you're talking about 'inspiration' in the sense of what makes me want to write books (plural) in the first place, then that's a different thing. For me right now the answer (mostly!) is… OTHER COOL STORIES! I love stories. I'll do pretty much anything to find stories that touch me, that obsess me, that give me a thrill. I'll read or watch or see or play things, and they'll make me go 'Wow! I'd love to have written something like that!' or 'That was okay, but how much better would it have been if…?' The world is full of inspiration. Bookwise, you'll find a bunch of what's inspired me on my LibraryThing page -Help yourself! ;) But keep your own eyes and ears open wide as you can. Because the short answer is, it's all around us.

What were some of your favourite books when you were a child or teenager?
Wow, this is actually quite a tough one to answer. I'm currently thirty-two years old: it's hard not to be worried about looking like an old geezer in front of anyone younger who's reading this! Still, it's a fair question so I'll do my best.
The obvious one first. My father read me The Lord of the Rings as a bed-time story. It took him three years, from when I was 9 to when I was 12, and that had a huge effect on me – not just because of the book, but because of the time and because of who was reading it. As you'd only expect with our family name, Dad's ENT voice was particularly good. ;)
As far as stuff I read for myself is concerned, though…
Actually, one of the main reasons I write the kind of stories I do is that I remember being tremendously frustrated a lot of the time, trying to find things I liked. Like someone with a craving for something, or an itch he can't scratch, I searched libraries and bookshops looking for the kind of fantastical action 'hit' I wanted, and often I just wasn't quite able to get it. Of course, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, because it got me into reading a lot of other stuff on the way. I spent a lot of happy time reading old school classic crime and thrillers, by authors like H Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, John Buchan, Sapper, Agatha Christie and the awesome M R James. Some of these were a little tough to get into to begin with, but that was what I could find in the library, and those authors all taught me good things. On a science fiction or fantasy tip it was even harder to find the flavour I wanted though, especially in what was being published for young people back then. But two names still stand out. John Christopher and his Tripods Trilogy - The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead and The Pool of Fire (there's also a prequel, but it's not quite as good IMHO, so start with The White Mountains) Those are terrific. And…
Douglas Hill. He was writing some WONDERFUL stuff – fast, thrilling, full of fights and SF action. I used to buy his new books on sight and just eat them up with a spoon. Unfortunately a lot of his work seems to be out of print now, but if you manage to lay your hands on the Galactic Warlord series then I'd still heartily recommend them. Mr Hill is an enormous influence on me: f'rinstance, the Akachash in Black Tat is directly inspired by the opening battle scene of Planet of the Warlord, which just about tore my head off I was so excited when I read it when I was eleven. That's one reason why I gave him a big name-check in Black Tat's acknowledgments section. If by any chance you happen to see this, Mr Hill, here's to you! ;)
I want to emphasise, just because I had trouble finding what I wanted, that doesn't mean it wasn't out there – it just took me a few years longer to get to it! Better yet, I'm delighted to say that the situation about thrilling stories being published NOW has come on just enormously. Either way, there's a wealth of wonderful books around: check out my LibraryThing page for recommendations. But those above are some of the books I remember most fondly from my past.

When you were at school, were people mean to you because you liked reading?
Yes. Yes, they were. Not the teachers, of course: they, unsurprisingly, were extremely keen to get people to read (if occasionally irksomely fussy or disapproving about what I actually chose – ADULTS TAKE NOTE). No: as the person who asked me this knows – and I'm sure anyone reading this answer does, too – I'm talking about other students.
One of the worst things – possibly the worst thing – about being at school, is the pressure from the people there with you to be "normal", to conform, to be just like everyone else. Anything that makes you stick out can make you a target – and enjoying reading (probably because it's a solitary activity) is a prime example.
What I want to tell you is, you'll get through it. Those people you're stuck with now at school won't be with you forever: one day soon you'll move on, and leave them behind in your past. But a love of reading... that's something that can give you immense pleasure and enjoyment for the whole of your life. And if other people can't understand that, or have some kind of attitude about it, well: they're missing out, and you know something they don't.

How did you know you wanted to be a writer? I am always coming up with ideas, in fact I'm writing a little myself, but I am wondering how you knew you'd be any good at it?
You NEVER know if you're going to be any good at it! And yes, if you're thinking about pursuing writing seriously, then I'm sure you know what that implies. Nearly ten years back I got the chance to ask one of my favourite writers, Alan Moore, a similar sort of question: how did he feel, when he was starting out, before he'd written anything he was pleased with? Mr Moore gave me a huge grin and said, 'Bloody terrified!'
There are no guarantees. All you can have, going into something like this, is a determination to give it your best wallop. My relatives all thought I was mental (Hah! They were right! ;p) I've eaten a lot of noodles over the last ten years, and collected a lot of rejection letters too (I had a party when I got to 100: the final total [including a bunch for Black Tat] was 134!) But now I'm published. And if I can do it, then that proves it: if you want to do it, IT CAN BE DONE.
One thing that can get you through the tough bits – finding the energy to write after a day job, for instance – is if you love and believe in what you're writing. In fact I'd say that's essential. The point where things started happening for me (after three or four failed novels, so check this out and save yourself some time-!) was when I stopped thinking about what ought to go in a book, and started to think about what I would love to find in a book. What would make your ultimate book? What sort of story would it be? What are the elements? How would they go together? Once I started thinking like that, things got a lot easier.
There was this one evening. I had a hole in my roof: there was a dripping leak in the ceiling of my bedroom, and I didn't have the money to fix it. I was tired from work, hungry too, and I opened the door to my fridge and there was nothing inside it but parsnips! (They'd been selling them off cheap down the supermarket).
I found myself smiling. Then I started laughing. And then I knew I was the happiest I'd ever been in my life up until that point, because you see, lousy as things were, I had a secret. I was working on the 'Akachash' chapters of Black Tat. And I tell you, as far as I'm concerned, writing a seven-way gladiatorial monster fight to the death is some of the most fun you can possibly have at a desk. HEE HEE HEE HEE!

Did you ever worry about not being able to bring all your ideas together?
There's always something to worry about. In fact, I'd say that a big part of what this whole writing caper is about is the constant battle to stop the worrying from getting in the way of actually doing any writing! Sure, I worry. Like everyone, I worry about all sorts of things. But letting the worry stack up, indulging in it when you're supposed to be getting on with the job, can paralyse you.
Nowadays, when I'm sat at the desk, I tend to look at worrying as simply my brain's attempts to generate excuses for not doing any work (hee hee hee!) After all, writing is not easy. It's much simpler to sit there worrying, or talking about writing, than it is to get on with it – or it can feel that way.
Sometimes (here's a tip!) I throw the worrying part of my brain a bone to distract it. When I'm writing I always keep a document open under whatever I'm working on: that's where I put things that are clamouring and rattling around my head (shopping lists, bills to pay, letters to answer, how-the-Hell-am-I-going-to-do-that-bit-in-chapter-six? Etc!) I find that sometimes if you acknowledge to yourself that you'll consider those things in due course and you haven't forgotten them – as if nodding to yourself to say 'thank you, that's duly noted' – then (a bit like a fretful baby!) the back-brain quietens down, allowing you to get on with the job. The best part is, once you're into it, once you're engaged in what you're doing, then the worries melt away, the work progresses – and maybe the next time you look at your clock you'll be surprised to find that four hours have gone past!
The only way to find out for sure if you're able to bring all your ideas together is (you guessed it) to try to bring all your ideas together. Worrying in advance is completely understandable (Hell, yes!) but it won't help. In fact, all it does is get in the way.
I'm not going to come on like Morpheus in The Matrix – 'free your mind', or whatever. Personally I'm not sure that's even possible: there's always something else to think about, somewhere your brain can wander away to. But writing takes concentration, and to proceed you have to get to that concentration by any means necessary. That can include trickery ('Brain, I'm listening to everything you're worrying about. Now shut up and let me finish this bit'); bribery ('shut up and let me finish this bit and I'll make you a cup of coffee'), even threats ('shut up and let me finish this bit or I'm going to smack our forehead into the table') Whatever it takes!

Does Tim have gills? Or does he just not have to breathe underwater? How could a punch from a giant cockroach knock the air out of him?
Gills? Fair question, but I'm thinking no – or at least, if Tim does, he's got a choice of whether or not he wants to use them, which would be sort of unusual! Biologically, I suppose (and the line 'he found he didn't even need to breathe' supports this) I was thinking that his breathing might work a little like a whale's. They take breaths on the surface, then hold them. When I was in Australia once I saw a young whale being given diving training by its mother: what I didn't know was that whales have to learn – like writers, they have to practice! The young whale was obviously really happy the first time it stayed down for more than twelve minutes. When it surfaced it spontaneously rolled on its back and waggled its flukes in the air, as if to say 'YES! I ROCK!' – it was great! Ahem: I digress! ;)
The sense I wanted to get with Tim is that he doesn't really know how his body works or what he's really capable of. Neither does anyone else – possibly including his author! Tim is a magical creature – but before you call 'shenanigans' on me for that, don't forget he's also an expression, an extension of the planet Earth. Since the Earth is two-thirds water I figure its Defender would be comfortable pretty much anywhere. But yeah: he can still get the wind knocked out of him. You could probably knock the air out of a whale if you hit them hard enough. Not that I've tried, I hasten to add!

Was it your intention with Tim to create a "loveable" Godzilla character?
Godzilla was certainly an inspiration [and he seems to be very comfortable underwater, btw, though nobody ever seems to ask why!] I didn't necessarily want Tim to be "lovable" – though if that's your reaction to him, you're more than welcome, of course! The central idea of this book was simply to take some of the wonderful aspects of classic giant monster stories – not just 'the big G', but Gamera, the original Kong, the Harryhausen creatures, etc – and narrate them from the monster's point of view. What would it be like to be that size? Why do they scream and roar like that? How satisfying would it be to snap Big Ben off at the roots and toss it like a caber? And so on!

Were you sort of thrashing governments in this book? In TIM the top personnel seemed very ill-informed and unprepared!
Naturally! The idea that governments often make short-term decisions with dangerous long-term consequences – and that one department often has no clue what the others are doing! – are important and obvious truths. People in governments aren't somehow better than the rest of us, they're just muddling through as best they can like everyone else. And they deserve no more respect. Less, usually.

You are a fan of the underdog hero type, aren't you?
Sure! In story terms, if it's obvious who's going to win, then there's no suspense - right? Besides, I like reluctance in a hero. I think that's truthful. I think people have to choose to do the right thing, when the circumstances push them. Naivety in a hero works well in stories, too: if a hero has to learn how to do things, if they fail initially because they're overconfident (like Tim) – those sorts of details make him or her believable and understandable. But... as my girlfriend Laura rather smartly pointed out to me recently, I think in my stories I've currently developed a tendency maybe to go too far the other way. Chris from Tim and Jack from Black Tat are different people, but they both could be seen as being a bit unappealing when you first meet them! It's almost like I'm overcompensating. That's something I've been thinking about as I'm working on my next project: perhaps in that there'll be someone who's obviously got a bit more going for them from the outset. We'll see!

I really want to share [my] stories with the world, but I make so little progress with them I just don't know if they'll ever get finished. Could you give me any tips to avoid writers' procrastination?
To be completely honest with you, procrastination is a huge problem for writers. It certainly is for me! Writing can be fun and satisfying, sure, but ultimately it's a job, it's work, you've got to put in the hours: that's not easy, particularly if you're not yet even getting paid for your time. The bottom line is, I'm sorry to say, that you've got to be disciplined about it. When it gets hard, you have to suck up the pain and keep going. Neil Gaiman, a writer I admire a lot, once put it like this: "How do you finish stories? You finish them. There's no magic answer, I'm afraid. This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and put one word in front of the other until it's done. It's that easy, and that hard [...] Most people can start a short story or novel. If you're a writer, you can finish them. Finish enough of them, and you may be good enough to be publishable. Good luck." However, I appreciate that's not too comforting on its own, so yes, I do have a couple of tips for you! ;)
The first is, be REGULAR about your writing. If you're at school, or you've got a day job, or you've got people you have to look after, then finding the time and the energy to write can be very tough – no question about it. What can help, I've found, is if you set aside a regular part of your life, and dedicate that exclusively and infallibly to your writing. For me, when I'm doing the first draft of a book, I have a quota – a set amount I have to produce. It's a thousand words a day. For me that's a feasible, manageable amount – something I can produce reasonably reliably. Sometimes that thousand takes me all day, and my forehead becomes pitted with little marks from smacking it against the desk. Sometimes (all too rarely lately!) I finish it quickly and knock off early. But it's a good amount. Writing novels is a long game: this way I can make progress without exhausting myself, and still have a place to start the story from the next day when I come back to it. A thousand words a day works for me. For you, particularly if your time and energy are short, it could perfectly respectably be much less. A couple of hundred, one hundred, even fifty words is a fine quota if you're making it every day. The quota doesn't even have to be measured in words: it can be time - an hour a day, one night a week (that worked for Raymond Carver!) It doesn't matter. The important thing is that whatever your framework is, you stick to it, and don't allow yourself any excuses. For that regular amount of time or that quota you are on the case, and nothing can be allowed to stand in your way. If you've chosen a realistic and achievable target, and you stick to it, you will make progress.
Second tip, LOVE YOUR STORY. I've written about that before on this page, but really, it's crucial. Finishing things is hard. There will be times when you want to give up. But if you love your story, if the idea of it is something you believe will be brilliant if you can only carry it off, then that by itself can keep you going to the finish line.
Third tip, INCENTIVES! If you set your writing targets and stick to them, reward yourself: you did the work, you earned it.
Power to your writing elbow! ;)

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