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Its Author Interview Thursday and I have some bad, good and great news. The bad news is that this will be the last Author Interview Thursday I do for a while. The good news is that I’ll be back in September with more awesome author interviews. The great news is that we have a very, very special guest on the hot seat whose going to close out this season in some style. Earlier this year at the London Book Fair, I had a chat with best-selling Cozy Mystery writer Stephanie Bond who assured me that one did not need to have a judicial, criminal or law enforcement background to write mystery books. If you can write a story she said, then you can write in any genre. This was very liberating for me as I’ve always liked Mystery/Crime thrillers but never felt I had the chops to execute. With Stephanie’s words ringing in my ears, I started devouring Mystery thrillers like an unemployed circus elephant at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Sometime in April, I came across this book – Girl Jacked while looking through the Mystery category on Amazon. The cover caught my eye and hinted at a story I wanted to know more about. I downloaded it and I wasn’t disappointed. That book now has more than 300 reviews on Amazon and you can read my review about it here. I just had to get to know the author behind it. I started following him on Twitter. Then I discovered him on Facebook and sent him a friend request which he accepted. The second book in his Jack Stratton Mystery series was recently in the Top 50 on the Amazon store. In the little time I’ve gotten to know him, I have been inspired by his generosity, humour and strong work ethic. I see big things on the horizon for him and I’m truly honoured he’s chosen to be my special guest today. Please buckle your seat belts for what’s going to be and epic ride and let’s welcome Christopher Greyson.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and something most people don’t know about Christopher Greyson? 

I have a bit of an eclectic background. I grew up watching old Elvis movies where Elvis was always 5 different things and a singer. I think I tried to emulate that. I have degrees in computer science and communications. I’m an actor, I have my own video production company, I’m a martial artist, and I’m a writer. I love learning new things.

As far as something most people don’t know about me… I fed a Siberian Tiger by hand. That was a really cool experience.

Tell us about the first time someone complemented you on something you had written? 

I actually just blogged about my first review! When I first published Girl Jacked, I was so excited waiting to get my first review, I kept checking Amazon using my phone. Finally, I saw that I had gotten my first review. I closed my eyes and prayed that it was a good one. With trembling hands, my fingers clutched my phone and I read:

 “This book is a quick read with characters that suck”

WHAT!?!? NO!!! I was so devastated I just stood there and read the words over and over again. “Characters that suck.” “SUCK.”

Well, I set my jaw, straightened up and decided to read the rest of the review. In any endeavor, you need to have thick skin and I was determined to read on and see what this person thought. I clicked on the review and saw the WHOLE review:

“This book is a quick read with characters that suck you in.”

WHAT!?!?!  My phone cut the sentence off. YEAH!!! SUCK YOU IN. The reviewer said SUCK YOU IN not just SUCK. YEAH!!!! Stupid smart phone!

Honestly, for a first review it was at first a kick in the head. I’m human. I hurt, bleed and cry. It’s funny how quickly I jumped on the oh-no-we’re-screwed train. I wanted to share the story to encourage you to not punch that ticket.

The other lesson I learned from my first review? God has a sense of humour… I laughed like crazy once I started breathing again and I laugh every time I think of it.

I have to say your book covers and titles are evocative and memorable. Can you tell us the process in creating your book covers and its place in the successful marketing of a book? 

Well, my Mother is an Artist and being raised in that kind of environment, gave me a firm basis in a lot of different mediums. I used those skills and started a graphics company so designing the covers were an extension of that.

I approach covers from an artistic angle and my wife, who is also a writer, comes at them from the practical side— like can you read them. Together, we do a great job because you really need both. You need a cover that catches the eye but lets the reader know what you have to offer. I feel the cover is very important to the success of a book and if you keep those two things in mind, you can’t go wrong.

You have currently published three books in the ‘Jack Stratton’ series. Was it a conscious decision to write a series and what led you to do it? 

I didn’t start out with a series in mind. It all started with Jack. I come at writing from a story tellers perspective. I start with the character, Jack. Who is he? It seems like such a simple question but it’s not. No one is simple. Everyone is complex and that is what makes each and every person special and have their own story. I don’t look at it like creating Jack’s story. I’m retelling it. I pictured Jack. I knew I wanted him to be a cop and a soldier. From there his history just took off. The troubled childhood, Aunt Haddie’s etc… Once his back-story was done, I set him down in his apartment and just watched what happened. It’s the reason I love writing this series. Jack and Replacement just pop for me. Once I put them in the situation, I sit back and write about HOW they react.

What key ingredients should a good crime/mystery book possess? 

LOVE. You need to care about any story. If you don’t care about something it means nothing to you. That’s why I want people to LOVE the characters. I want you to LOVE Michelle and desperately want to find her too. I want people to LOVE Replacement and if I do that… then you care about the crime. If you love Jack, you’ll die if you don’t find out the mystery. (I might have taken that a little too far with the ‘die’ but you get my point.)

On top of that, sprinkle: A dash of Humour, a pinch of Romance, add a cup of Action and bake at 750 degrees and serve smoking hot!

I think one of the major factors that makes your books such a success is the dialogue. What in your opinion makes great dialogue?

People will tell you to only include dialogue that is pertinent to the story and cut everything else out and I say pfffftttt. (That’s the universal sound of a raspberry!) Do you know what you get when you cut all of the fat off of a nice cut of beef? A dry hunk of meat. Fat adds juices to the steak. Pour on the butter and keep it real!

Again I come from an actor’s background so I just try to keep it real. What do people really say? How do they sound? If you don’t know, go listen to people! Really listen. Care for them. Put yourself in their shoes.

What three things should writers avoid when writing dialogue?

1. Writing for writing’s sake! – Don’t try to fill your word count or add some plot point. Focus on the character.
2. Not saying it out loud. – Does anyone talk like that? Put it through the sound test? Have someone else say it.
3. Not acting it out. – Pretend. Be the character for a minute. Go into the closet and shout – scream – cry – be flat – be full but be!

What book or film has the best dialogue that inspires you to be a better writer and why? 

The Seven Samurai. I don’t speak Japanese but dialogue isn’t just the spoken word. It’s communication. Faces. Gestures. Everything. On top of that, Toshiro Mifune just rocks.

What have you found to be a great way to market your books in such a competitive genre filled with established and well-known authors? 

Write more books. Seriously. I had Girl Jacked and it was very, very hard to get out there. The more books you have, the more flags you can raise.

Say ‘hi!’ There are so many writers out there! You aren’t alone. Connect. Go to Goodreads. Check out blogs. Konrath and Howey have some wonderful resources. Will Wilson of the Indie Book Show is another great resource. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/indiebooks.

Breaking Bad or Homeland? 

Breaking Bad.

The next book in the Jack Stratton series is titled ‘Jack the Giant Slayer.’ Can you tell us a bit about what happens in this episode? 

Replacement finds these three magic beans… Just kidding! Actually, we pick up only a couple of months after Jacks are Wild. Jack is no longer on the police force and that’s a challenge for him. Another adjustment is with his and Replacement’s relationship. They are living together, in separate bedrooms, but now they’re dating. As with anything to do with Replacement—it gets complicated.

Added into that mix is a new case. Replacement gets involved in finding the owner of a lost dog. You’ll also get to learn about Replacement’s back story but I better slow down…. 

What should a first time visitor to your home town do? 

Run! Sorry, I’m kidding. I grew up in a wonderful town on the New England coast. The first place they should go is World’s End. Mostly because of the name. It sounds like a place where there is an adventure just waiting to happen!

How can readers connect with you? 

www.ChristopherGreyson.Com.  I plan in the next coming months to add free content including side stories and vignettes involving the characters from the series. On my website, you can sign-up for my mailing list and receive periodic updates and new book release dates.

Any advice for authors out there who are either just starting out or getting frustrated with the industry? 

Keep at it and don’t listen to anyone! That’s a hard one. I’m a firm believer in advice and counsel but everyone needs to make up their own mind. A wise man listens to counsel but there are a lot of people who will try to drag you down. Their reasons can be different. I have met some real jerks who just want to knock you down because they’re jerks but sometimes, well meaning people can pull you under too.

So… fight. Listen to people but not too much! Elvis was told he couldn’t sing. There was a review of “The Wizard of OZ” that called it a ‘cute little film with no lasting power!’ HA! HA! 

Fight. Pray. Fight some more. Dare to dream and dream BIG!

Thanks for being with us today Chris. That was such a wonderful way to end the interview. If there’s one thing I truly grasp from listening to you, it’s that your success has been no fluke. You’ve worked hard to get where you’re at and I know big things are coming your way. Chris and I would love to hear any questions or comments you may have. I’d also encourage everyone to hop on to Chris’ website at www.ChristopherGreyson.Com and sign up to his newsletter. You can grab a copy of one or all of Chris’ books by clicking the link below

Christopher Greyson books on Amazon

It’s Author Interview Thursday…Woohoo! Now I have to admit that I have been looking forward to today’s interview for months. First of all, I got introduced to today’s special guest by Matt Posner who surely most have an underground lair where some very creative beings congregate to sip on their favourite beverages and exchange ideas. Our guest on the hot seat made a worthy contribution on Matt’s book ‘How to Write Dialogue.’ What I found intriguing was the fact that our special guest comes from my neck of the woods here in England and also writes in a genre I’m currently feasting on – Mystery/Crime Thrillers. His Richards & Parish series are selling very well on Amazon UK and the first book in the series (which I’ve read and you can see My A Life for a Life Review) has more than 200 glowing reviews. He was Amazon KDP’s special guest at their stand at the London Book Fair 2014 and it’s such a shame I didn’t meet him because I was there too! Well, we all get to meet him today. I believe his experience and forthrightness will flush out any cobwebs holding you back and give you wings to soar to another level. Without further ado, please join me in welcoming the one and only Tim Ellis.

Can you tell us about the first time someone complemented you on something you had written?

In the early days – 2008–2011 – as well as writing novels, I also wrote short stories, which I entered into competitions. My first success was with ‘The Expedition’ (included in my short story collection – Untended Treasures) for the Wind in the Willows centenary run by the River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames. I was awarded 3^rd prize, and was invited to the Museum for the presentation. I took my wife and we had a lovely day out. Certainly, 3^rd prize is a complement, and it made me feel as though I was shuffling in the right direction.

You’ve successfully written in different genres. Can you tell us the advantages and disadvantages of this? 

I don’t know whether there are any advantages or disadvantages to writing in different genres. Some people suggest that the readers will become confused about what type of writer I am. I think we have to give readers some credit for understanding that some writers – like myself – are multi-genre writers as well as readers. I particularly like The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov (Science Fiction); Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien (Fantasy); The Emperor series by Conn Iggulden (Historical Fiction) to name a few. Sometimes, readers who have enjoyed my writing in one genre will try my books in another genre, so that’s a distinct advantage to both the reader and myself. I did think of using a pseudonym, but life’s complicated enough without having multiple personalities.

I have to say your book covers are very evocative and can be noticed a mile off. Can you tell us the process in creating your book covers and its place in the successful marketing of a book? 

Someone mentioned not too long ago that the font I used on my covers wasn’t very good. After I’d picked myself up off the floor and penned a strong letter of complaint, I decided they were right. In fact, I realised that the covers themselves weren’t much good either. I did plan to get someone else to design the covers for me, but I felt that designing my own covers was part of the creative process – I usually have to have a title and a cover before I start writing.

Anyway, I did plenty of research and re-designed them all myself. I found a font that I particularly liked, then I discovered a site which allows the free use of photographs. I download the pictures, crop them to the correct size in Paint (free with Windows), modify them to my liking and add my name, title and anything else in Picasa (the free photo-editing software by Google), and hey presto – eBook covers.

You have multiple published books in the ‘Richard and Parish’ series. Was it a conscious decision to write a series and what led you to do it?

On the downwards slope of the 13^th Parish and Richards book now: In the Twinkling of an Eye. Yes, it was a conscious decision. I suppose, what led me to do it, was because I like to read series myself such as, Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy and RD Wingfield’s Frost series. In fact, the majority of my books are series. The only standalones are the novellas, but I always leave the door open to make them into a series if the opportunity arises.

What key ingredients should a good crime/mystery book possess? 

I think there’s lots of advice out there about the ingredients of a good crime/mystery novel – a seemingly unsolvable crime, a likeable protagonist(s) faced with apparently insurmountable obstacles, a depraved villain of the worst kind, lashings of danger and tension as the protagonist(s) moves ever closer to solving the crime(s) and confronting the villain. Let me tell you what I think. Yes, include all of that, but you have to hook the reader with the first sentence. I start my latest with a question: “What’s that?” Richards has bought something from a stall at the car boot sale, but she’s not telling Parish what it is – a minor mystery at the beginning that mushrooms into an ongoing thread and a bigger mystery. I like to write multiple threads running in parallel throughout the book – readers get two, three or four investigations instead of one. I write in scenes, making sure they’re lean and mean. I like to see lots of white space – dialogue. Whole blocks of text turns people off – they turn me off, so why inflict them on others. Keep description to a minimum – readers like to use their imaginations. Cut out the boring bits that people skim over and keep moving the story forward with dialogue and action.

You made a worthy contribution on Matt Posner’s ‘How to Write Dialogue‘ book. What in your opinion makes great dialogue?

Dialogue is important. My books are dialogue heavy. Stories are about people. The reader wants to immerse themselves in a story, root for believable characters and not be bothered by authorial interference. Keep focused on the characters, give them voices that the reader can associate with each character, make it flow – abbreviate where necessary. Gurus say: “Listen to people talk.” I don’t think that’s helpful really, unless you’re trying to get dialect right, which should be kept to a minimum because it makes for hard reading. Other gurus say: “Read aloud.” Yeah, all right, if you must, but I can hear the characters speaking the dialogue I’m writing in my head. I don’t hear Parish saying: “What is that?” I hear him say: “What’s that?” So, my advice, is to write what the characters are saying in your head – or maybe it’s just me hearing voices! “Aye, what’s that?”

What three things should writers avoid when writing dialogue? 

I’ve already mentioned dialect. Sometimes it can be funny though – I use dialect in a couple of my books, but make sure readers can understand it, or they’ll give up very quickly. Second, don’t use adverbs to qualify speech tags – he said loudly. Related to this, I’m a great believer in a picture telling a thousand words. Use body language or actions to convey a character’s behaviour.

Have you ever struggled to give a character a distinct voice and what did you do to solve this?

I must admit, I don’t struggle much nowadays. After having written so many books, writing is second nature. I don’t get writer’s block, I’m never stuck for ideas and I always enjoy sitting down to write. As I said earlier, I see and hear the characters inside my head like a roll of film that I can stop, pause or rewind when I want. I think I’ve got the knack of creating memorable characters by now, and giving them a distinct voice and personality.

What book or film has the best dialogue that inspires you to be a better writer and why?

Conn Iggulden writes good dialogue (No he didn’t pay me to say that). When I go in a book shop (if I can one these days), I read the blurb on the back, and I riffle through the pages to see if there’s loads of dialogue. If there’s chunks of text, I don’t bother. RJ Ellory is another who writes good dialogue, you can tell he’s thought about what his characters will say. As for films – Lord of the Rings, of course; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Jack Nicholson is brilliant with Nurse Ratchett. What a name – Nurse Ratchett for a psychiatric nurse! It make you want to re-name all your evil characters with names from a toolbox.

Your first book ‘WARRIOR: PATH OF DESTINY (GENGHIS KHAN)’ was published in November 2010 and you’ve gone on to write more than 30 books. Can you recommend a book or course that gave you a good grounding as you began your writing odyssey?  

I started writing, and then I read the instructions on how to write. I suppose men have this inability to admit that sometimes they know nothing. There were four triggers early on. 1) After reading the Emperor series by Conn Iggulden I thought: I can do that. Reading those books were a joy. Through his writing, he made reading effortless; 2) Les Edgerton’s book: Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers on Page One and Never Lets Them Go; 3) Elements of Fiction Writing: Scene & Structure by Jack Bickham; and 4) the peer review site: youwriteon.com, which is free to join and you learn through peer reviews, how to write, what works and what doesn’t.

If you could be a cabinet minister in the Government, which Ministry would you like to head and why?

Sad to say, politics doesn’t interest me. In fact, talking about politicians makes me want to kill a few off. As a nation – we’ve become too nice, and in the process lost some of our Englishness. If there isn’t a Ministry of Englishness already, they should create one and re-establish a national pride.

Can you tell us a bit about a book you’re currently working on? 

In the Twinkling of an Eye (Parish & Richards 13). Parish and Richards are trying to solve the case of a gifted boy murdered on the fourteenth green at the local golf course; Richards is also trying to find out if a 1966 diary, written by a captive 15 year-old girl called Loveday that she bought at a car boot sale, is genuine; Stick and Xena are working to solve the case of a young woman’s thawing body found in a wood. Jerry Kowalski is back, and she becomes involved in the trial of an architect who is accused of murdering his wife. His barrister is going to get him acquitted, but Jerry has seen something in his eyes and she knows he’s guilty, so she calls Cookie.

Any advice for authors out there who are either just starting out or getting frustrated with the industry?

As the saying goes – just do it. If you’ve got a book gathering dust on your hard drive – publish it. Create a cover, write a blurb, upload it to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) – it couldn’t be easier. Agents and publishers are no longer the gatekeepers who say what can and can’t be published, and what readers can and can’t read. Now, we’re all masters of our own destiny. If your book is no good, the readers will soon let you know, so make sure it’s the best it can be.

Thanks for spending time with us today Tim. There is just such a wealth of information you’ve shared today that I know will be beneficial to readers of this blog. I’ve gone ahead and added the books you recommended to my Amazon basket. Can’t wait to devour them. Tim and I would love to hear your questions and comments. As you can see, Tim is very generous and it’d mean a lot to hear what part of the interview really resonated with you. I’m also happy to announce that Tim’s latest book – got released earlier this week. You can grab it and all Tim’s books plus connect with him at one of the links below

Website - http://timellis.weebly.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tim-Ellis

Twitter - https://twitter.com/timellis13

Amazon – Tim Ellis Books on Amazon

It’s Author Interview Thursday…Woohoo! Now I have to admit that I have been looking forward to today’s interview for months. First of all, I got introduced to today’s special guest by Matt Posner who surely most have an underground lair where some very creative beings congregate to sip on their favourite beverages and exchange ideas. Our guest on the hot seat made a worthy contribution on Matt’s book ‘How to Write Dialogue.’ What I found intriguing was the fact that our special guest comes from my neck of the woods here in England and also writes in a genre I’m currently feasting on – Mystery/Crime Thrillers. His Richards & Parish series are selling very well on Amazon UK and the first book in the series (which I’ve read and you can see My A Life for a Life Review) has more than 200 glowing reviews. He was Amazon KDP’s special guest at their stand at the London Book Fair 2014 and it’s such a shame I didn’t meet him because I was there too! Well, we all get to meet him today. I believe his experience and forthrightness will flush out any cobwebs holding you back and give you wings to soar to another level. Without further ado, please join me in welcoming the one and only Tim Ellis.

Can you tell us about the first time someone complemented you on something you had written?

In the early days – 2008–2011 – as well as writing novels, I also wrote short stories, which I entered into competitions. My first success was with ‘The Expedition’ (included in my short story collection – Untended Treasures) for the Wind in the Willows centenary run by the River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames. I was awarded 3^rd prize, and was invited to the Museum for the presentation. I took my wife and we had a lovely day out. Certainly, 3^rd prize is a complement, and it made me feel as though I was shuffling in the right direction.

You’ve successfully written in different genres. Can you tell us the advantages and disadvantages of this? 

I don’t know whether there are any advantages or disadvantages to writing in different genres. Some people suggest that the readers will become confused about what type of writer I am. I think we have to give readers some credit for understanding that some writers – like myself – are multi-genre writers as well as readers. I particularly like The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov (Science Fiction); Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien (Fantasy); The Emperor series by Conn Iggulden (Historical Fiction) to name a few. Sometimes, readers who have enjoyed my writing in one genre will try my books in another genre, so that’s a distinct advantage to both the reader and myself. I did think of using a pseudonym, but life’s complicated enough without having multiple personalities.

I have to say your book covers are very evocative and can be noticed a mile off. Can you tell us the process in creating your book covers and its place in the successful marketing of a book? 

Someone mentioned not too long ago that the font I used on my covers wasn’t very good. After I’d picked myself up off the floor and penned a strong letter of complaint, I decided they were right. In fact, I realised that the covers themselves weren’t much good either. I did plan to get someone else to design the covers for me, but I felt that designing my own covers was part of the creative process – I usually have to have a title and a cover before I start writing.

Anyway, I did plenty of research and re-designed them all myself. I found a font that I particularly liked, then I discovered a site which allows the free use of photographs. I download the pictures, crop them to the correct size in Paint (free with Windows), modify them to my liking and add my name, title and anything else in Picasa (the free photo-editing software by Google), and hey presto – eBook covers.

You have multiple published books in the ‘Richard and Parish’ series. Was it a conscious decision to write a series and what led you to do it?

On the downwards slope of the 13^th Parish and Richards book now: In the Twinkling of an Eye. Yes, it was a conscious decision. I suppose, what led me to do it, was because I like to read series myself such as, Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy and RD Wingfield’s Frost series. In fact, the majority of my books are series. The only standalones are the novellas, but I always leave the door open to make them into a series if the opportunity arises.

What key ingredients should a good crime/mystery book possess? 

I think there’s lots of advice out there about the ingredients of a good crime/mystery novel – a seemingly unsolvable crime, a likeable protagonist(s) faced with apparently insurmountable obstacles, a depraved villain of the worst kind, lashings of danger and tension as the protagonist(s) moves ever closer to solving the crime(s) and confronting the villain. Let me tell you what I think. Yes, include all of that, but you have to hook the reader with the first sentence. I start my latest with a question: “What’s that?” Richards has bought something from a stall at the car boot sale, but she’s not telling Parish what it is – a minor mystery at the beginning that mushrooms into an ongoing thread and a bigger mystery. I like to write multiple threads running in parallel throughout the book – readers get two, three or four investigations instead of one. I write in scenes, making sure they’re lean and mean. I like to see lots of white space – dialogue. Whole blocks of text turns people off – they turn me off, so why inflict them on others. Keep description to a minimum – readers like to use their imaginations. Cut out the boring bits that people skim over and keep moving the story forward with dialogue and action.

You made a worthy contribution on Matt Posner’s ‘How to Write Dialogue‘ book. What in your opinion makes great dialogue?

Dialogue is important. My books are dialogue heavy. Stories are about people. The reader wants to immerse themselves in a story, root for believable characters and not be bothered by authorial interference. Keep focused on the characters, give them voices that the reader can associate with each character, make it flow – abbreviate where necessary. Gurus say: “Listen to people talk.” I don’t think that’s helpful really, unless you’re trying to get dialect right, which should be kept to a minimum because it makes for hard reading. Other gurus say: “Read aloud.” Yeah, all right, if you must, but I can hear the characters speaking the dialogue I’m writing in my head. I don’t hear Parish saying: “What is that?” I hear him say: “What’s that?” So, my advice, is to write what the characters are saying in your head – or maybe it’s just me hearing voices! “Aye, what’s that?”

What three things should writers avoid when writing dialogue? 

I’ve already mentioned dialect. Sometimes it can be funny though – I use dialect in a couple of my books, but make sure readers can understand it, or they’ll give up very quickly. Second, don’t use adverbs to qualify speech tags – he said loudly. Related to this, I’m a great believer in a picture telling a thousand words. Use body language or actions to convey a character’s behaviour.

Have you ever struggled to give a character a distinct voice and what did you do to solve this?

I must admit, I don’t struggle much nowadays. After having written so many books, writing is second nature. I don’t get writer’s block, I’m never stuck for ideas and I always enjoy sitting down to write. As I said earlier, I see and hear the characters inside my head like a roll of film that I can stop, pause or rewind when I want. I think I’ve got the knack of creating memorable characters by now, and giving them a distinct voice and personality.

What book or film has the best dialogue that inspires you to be a better writer and why?

Conn Iggulden writes good dialogue (No he didn’t pay me to say that). When I go in a book shop (if I can one these days), I read the blurb on the back, and I riffle through the pages to see if there’s loads of dialogue. If there’s chunks of text, I don’t bother. RJ Ellory is another who writes good dialogue, you can tell he’s thought about what his characters will say. As for films – Lord of the Rings, of course; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Jack Nicholson is brilliant with Nurse Ratchett. What a name – Nurse Ratchett for a psychiatric nurse! It make you want to re-name all your evil characters with names from a toolbox.

Your first book ‘WARRIOR: PATH OF DESTINY (GENGHIS KHAN)’ was published in November 2010 and you’ve gone on to write more than 30 books. Can you recommend a book or course that gave you a good grounding as you began your writing odyssey?  

I started writing, and then I read the instructions on how to write. I suppose men have this inability to admit that sometimes they know nothing. There were four triggers early on. 1) After reading the Emperor series by Conn Iggulden I thought: I can do that. Reading those books were a joy. Through his writing, he made reading effortless; 2) Les Edgerton’s book: Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers on Page One and Never Lets Them Go; 3) Elements of Fiction Writing: Scene & Structure by Jack Bickham; and 4) the peer review site: youwriteon.com, which is free to join and you learn through peer reviews, how to write, what works and what doesn’t.

If you could be a cabinet minister in the Government, which Ministry would you like to head and why?

Sad to say, politics doesn’t interest me. In fact, talking about politicians makes me want to kill a few off. As a nation – we’ve become too nice, and in the process lost some of our Englishness. If there isn’t a Ministry of Englishness already, they should create one and re-establish a national pride.

Can you tell us a bit about a book you’re currently working on? 

In the Twinkling of an Eye (Parish & Richards 13). Parish and Richards are trying to solve the case of a gifted boy murdered on the fourteenth green at the local golf course; Richards is also trying to find out if a 1966 diary, written by a captive 15 year-old girl called Loveday that she bought at a car boot sale, is genuine; Stick and Xena are working to solve the case of a young woman’s thawing body found in a wood. Jerry Kowalski is back, and she becomes involved in the trial of an architect who is accused of murdering his wife. His barrister is going to get him acquitted, but Jerry has seen something in his eyes and she knows he’s guilty, so she calls Cookie.

Any advice for authors out there who are either just starting out or getting frustrated with the industry?

As the saying goes – just do it. If you’ve got a book gathering dust on your hard drive – publish it. Create a cover, write a blurb, upload it to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) – it couldn’t be easier. Agents and publishers are no longer the gatekeepers who say what can and can’t be published, and what readers can and can’t read. Now, we’re all masters of our own destiny. If your book is no good, the readers will soon let you know, so make sure it’s the best it can be.

Thanks for spending time with us today Tim. There is just such a wealth of information you’ve shared today that I know will be beneficial to readers of this blog. I’ve gone ahead and added the books you recommended to my Amazon basket. Can’t wait to devour them. Tim and I would love to hear your questions and comments. As you can see, Tim is very generous and it’d mean a lot to hear what part of the interview really resonated with you. I’m also happy to announce that Tim’s latest book – got released earlier this week. You can grab it and all Tim’s books plus connect with him at one of the links below

Website - http://timellis.weebly.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tim-Ellis

Twitter - https://twitter.com/timellis13

Amazon – Tim Ellis Books on Amazon