Do you draw from personal experiences and\/or current events?<\/b>
\nYes. Both. Next question.<\/p>\n

However, there is rarely an event in life that happens in perfect \u2018story mode\u2019 so it\u2019s down to the writer to make it more accessible and, maybe, more exciting to the reader. You may get the dot-to-dot outline handed to you but it\u2019s your job to create a complete picture and colour it in. Also it helps if you add a big helping of pretentious rubbish, just like I did in the previous sentence.<\/p>\n

Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?<\/b>
\nDepends. With short stories I tend to get most of it in one rush, with the concept and ending coming together leaving me to fill in the journey.<\/p>\n

The novel, the one I actually finished, was an idea for a character and a situation, the rest of that just came along as I typed\u2026and was mostly rubbish, so I had to type it again.<\/p>\n

I find it hard to judge a job before finishing it and stepping back to take a look at the project from a distance. Once I have bolted down the bigger pieces I can go back in and tweak the details to suit. I also have trouble using too many engineering metaphors and they have to be taken out.<\/p>\n

Often things take on a life of their own and what I was planning to write goes out of the window as the story takes me where it wants to go.<\/p>\n

But with writing is anything ever perfect? I am sure I am not alone in going back over things I may have written years ago and seeing a better way to take the story or make changes to a character. I think the hard fact of it is, editing is never done but you\u2019ve got to stop as close to \u2018spot on\u2019 as you can.<\/p>\n

Your routine when writing? Any idiosyncrasies?<\/b>
\nI wish I did have a routine, I need one for sure. I know the only way to get words on the paper is to get words on the paper but, man, it\u2019s so hard to get myself sat down to do it. I want to, I really do, but the sad truth is, I\u2019m lazy. I quite enjoy the act of writing \u2013 when it\u2019s flowing well \u2013 but it\u2019s just the effort to start that I find so hard, especially with a longer piece. For example I got 20,000 words into my latest attempt and then \u2018phut\u2019, I crashed and burned. My mind is determined to get back to it but my backside outweighs it and is nailed to the couch watching TV. Actually I am better at getting things done with some money up front, so if anyone reading this would like to spur me on\u2026<\/p>\n

Who are some of your favourite authors?<\/b>
\nYeah, tough one. To have a favourite author suggests I really enjoy everything they\u2019ve written and, as with everyone, they can have off days. I enjoy reading, when my laziness allows it, and there have been very few books I have flung across the room in disgust after finishing them. Mr King is one hell of a story teller and there was one series \u2013 the name of which I can\u2019t recall, which is a great help \u2013 that really got my attention when I was younger, couldn\u2019t wait for the next instalment. But an all time favourite, I\u2019ll have to pass on that one.<\/p>\n

What are you reading now?<\/b>
\nI\u2019ve been trying to read some of the books you are supposed to read, you know the classics. Not the classics as in Jane Austen classics, way too heavy and\u2026okay, boring. That\u2019s the kind of stuff they force you to read in school which is a great help to literacy in my opinion, especially for boys. I mean the classics like \u2018Tarzan\u2019, which I read recently, and \u2018Tom Brown\u2019s Schooldays\u2019 which I got to page seven on and then promptly lost the book.<\/p>\n

Anyway at present it\u2019s \u2018Catch 22\u2019 but, and remember I have mentioned I\u2019m lazy, I\u2019ve been reading it for four months and I\u2019ve only got one chapter to go but, having said that, I am enjoying it and hope to finish it by early July.<\/p>\n

Are you working on your next novel? Can you tell us a little about it?<\/b>
\nI am\u2026kinda, it\u2019s the one I mentioned before that got to 20,000 words but I can feel my Muse at my shoulder urging me on and I may do it right after I finish answering these questions.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a comedy (I hope) a complete jump from \u2018Chaos\u2019 and it is aimed squarely at the adult market. Basically it\u2019s my attempt to bring the living dead back onto the side of the good guys. Zombies get such a bad rap nowadays.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s set in Victorian Liverpool and the three main characters are recently raised from the grave, much to their confusion. It\u2019s a thriller of sorts, although you know \u2018whodunit\u2019 from the start, and it\u2019s more about the chase and the foiling of evil plans. There\u2019s a mad shape-shifting butler, a mad Scottish policeman, a clown that\u2019s really, really mad and various other mad characters to some degree or other. Actually, they\u2019re not all mad; I just like using the word. Mad. See?<\/p>\n

Anyway, as you can probably tell it\u2019s all very up in the air and very much at the first draft stage. Hopefully I\u2019ll get back to it soon but I suggest no one make a bet on that.<\/p>\n

Your novel would be a movie, who would you cast?<\/b>
\nYou know what, that\u2019s never even crossed my mind to dream about\u2026but seeing as how you\u2019ve asked\u2026<\/p>\n

The leads, \u2018Jake\u2019 and \u2018Angel\u2019, would be unknown actors and have the looks of people in the real world. No good looking model academy kids from the catalogue world, kids that look like we did when we were younger. In fact if they were a bit world weary before their years that would be great; the odd frown line, that kind of thing.<\/p>\n

As for \u2018Mr Packard\u2019, I\u2019ve got him down. Jason Isaacs, a brilliant actor I once saw in a TV play showing the scariest under played nut job ever. Frightening it was. I loved it.<\/p>\n

All other parts would be played by me in heavy make-up.<\/p>\n

Manuscript\/Notes: hand written or keyboard?<\/b>
\nManuscript always typed, so much easier and my PC spells far better than I do.<\/p>\n

Notes are handwritten\u2026badly. I often have no idea what I was making a note of when I come to read them back and I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve lost some good ideas over the years down to my illegible scribble.<\/p>\n

Favourite leisure activity\/hobby<\/b>
\nMy motorbike, though as I get older I ride less and less and the weather has got to be perfect. I\u2019m not as brave as I used to be, nor do I bounce as well as I used to and even the thought of crashing nowadays can bring me out in road rash and bruising. It\u2019s still the only way to get a smile on your gob when travelling though.<\/p>\n

Favorite meal?<\/b>
\nI\u2019m not sure. Full English? Singapore fried rice? Steak and kidney pie, chips, peas and gravy? Cheese and bacon pasta bake? I\u2019m not sure, I quite like food, it seems to stop me dying.<\/p>\n