1) What is it about writing and telling stories that drew you into becoming an author?

I’ve always been drawn to writing. Capturing something that floats in my mind and making it real and tangible. Writing I always say is the result of ‘sparking synaptic moments’. I first wrote something worth reading when I was four and a half, when I dreamt of my Grandfather, not realizing he’d passed away that very night. I got up the next morning and wrote my poem ‘Sleep’

I woke saying, “Grandad says bye bye” and handed them the poem. My parents were gob smacked when they read it. They’d already received the call from the hospital that Grandad had died early hours that morning.

From that moment on I’ve never really stopped writing. I may have changed style and content, but the thrill of writing – that putting down on paper of words inside me – has not left me. It’s the burst of enjoyment, knowing something has been created, that ignites me to write more.

I love telling stories that are mind blowing. I enjoy taking readers on a journey of excitement, horror and wonder. My writing style has been described as ‘fire and ice’. It’s even been said that ‘I’m a writer with ADHD but everything still comes together’.

I know as a reader myself, I adore characters, good or bad, but I only invest in a character’s path in a book, if they are relatable to me. You need to feel that whatever they’re going through, whether it’s on a far flung planet, in an ancient medieval world, or down the halls in Capitol Hill, that they are still accessible to you as a reader. That’s what touches the emotions and makes a story outstanding and memorable. Without that real emotive connection, stories wash over you, and you’re unaffected by them.

Good storytelling enables a sense of escapism. A wonderful feeling that you can fall into a book get lost there. Reading the words, your mind can visualize scenes, you can have your own private movie running in your mind, and the outside world can almost vanish completely. It’s knowing I’m generating those scenes in the minds of my readers, making them gasp, or even shudder, that keeps me up writing at night, and at any opportunity I can during the day.

2) What writers have influenced you as an author? (why and how)

As a child I loved the classics: Enid Blyton, Beatrix Potter, Hans Christian Andersen. Growing up, I moved more toward espionage, mystery thrillers and science fiction. Ian Fleming, Frederick Forsyth, Tom Clancy, John Le Carré, Robert Ludlum, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Arthur C Clarke, Isaac Asimov, James Patterson and Alfred Hitchcock. More recently, JK Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Douglas Adams, Richard K Morgan, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Dan Browne and Sam Bourne.

Perhaps, the one common denominator in all of these writers that I love and have been heavily influenced is their ability to enthrall. That fundamental ability in good storytelling to hold the reader captivated, not knowing quite what to expect, and reading forward that bit more than they had intended to. That style of ‘unexpected, mysterious, unputdownable’ is what I’ve attempted to capture in my own writing, albeit with my own quirky signature style included in the mix.

3) Your series, The Trusted, is unusual for a thriller, combining aliens with a Jason Bourne type protagonist. How did you settle on this storyline?

As you can see already, I have a deep love of spy thrillers, the more intricate and political the better, but I also adore sci-fi. Especially the weirder, bordering on metaphysical or supernatural sci-fi types of stories. These two loves come together in The Trusted Thriller Series. I wanted to see if it was possible to write a ‘Bond/Bourne’ type storyline with global terrorists, fearless spies, political double-crosses, treachery and betrayal with interdimensional, political and highly bureaucratic aliens.

The majority of readers who have never, ever read sci-fi, but enjoy spy thrillers said that the sci-fi element molded perfectly into the story – so much so they were hardly aware of it – it just seemed right. As a result, the books have enabled a greater level of originality to be manifested. The now famous tagline said by a reader, but adopted for the series is “Think 007 on acid with aliens”. Although the “popping candy for the mind” tagline – is getting to be a favorite of mine!

4) Can you describe your own unique approach to writing?

I’m a Director of Operations and Strategic Development at the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (IKE Institute) which is UK’s professional body driving innovation. It’s a full time, highly pressurized position, and my approach to writing as a result has thus been ‘to write whenever and wherever I am able to’. I carry a notebook and pen with at all times, and I write when I’m travelling (with my business this is a lot!). I also write in the evening and at weekends, if I have time, after supporting my elderly parents in law.

I write almost everything in long hand first. I know in this world where everything is digital, and authors are speaking their manuscripts ‘voice to text’ software this approach is anachronistic, but I have to feel the kinesthetic connection to the paper. It’s that feeling that brings the words to me. I then type what I’ve written long hand, embellishing descriptions, fleshing out characters and building the scenes. Currently, I have four books on the market in The Trusted Thriller Series, and all have been written in this way.

Before I start to write a book I think about the plotline. I write the plot lines straight as they come to me, and then I mind map characters, scenes, occurrences, technologies and interconnections. My books have complexity at their core, however through this mind mapping approach, I can weave the reader in and out of moments and bring plotlines together seamlessly.

5) Where do you draw inspiration for your approach to writing?

I draw inspiration through science, engineering and technology innovations (through my work and my own interests), but also through past experiences. Places I’ve been to, situations I’ve been faced with and people I know or met. They merge together to form the inspiration for my writing.

Sci-tech is a key part of my books, with aspects of nanotech, quantum and bioengineering to name just a few, and I always like to ensure that the science is grounded in reality, even if I explode the envelope on possibilities of where science may go within my books. It is interesting to note that the tech innovations I come up with, often pop up in the real world, with Honeywell announcing their quantum computer on March 6^th, 2020 but I wrote about the very same technique to build a quantum computer in The Trusted (chapter 40), published back on April 17, 2019. Another example from The Trusted is the nano-skin that appears in chapter 68, and Cambridge University published a paper on the very same technique on August 21, 2019.

6) What inspired you to take the leap and become a published author?

I really wanted to share with the world what I had written. I imprint under Mindblowing Books, which is very fitting for my types of books. The cross-genre fiction in the world of cinema and television, particularly Netflix and Prime, has become popular, and although I know book readers tend to keep to one genre, I’m finding my readers are driven to explore and try out new territories, and as a result experience an extraordinary thriller.

7) What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Just write! They say everyone has a book in them. Don’t leave it inside you, get it out. Don’t pontificate, wondering if you can be a writer, just feel the words and write them. Let the scenes in your mind flow and let your fingers make the magic.

I work, on average, a 50 hour week, and I still find time to write. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be true to myself. Writing is in my heart. It’s buried in my DNA. It’s a part of me. Not to write is not to live.

8) What business advice would you offer to new authors?

The best business advice I would give is to understand the market you are writing in. Know your fellow authors. Read the books they write. Ensure that your cover has the same tone, same feeling of those other books in your genre. If possible, get a good, professional cover designer. Your book is a product at the end of the day, and it’s the first thing a potential reader sees, as a thumbnail against a whole host of other books. They need to feel it’s reflective of their interests. So, you need to know your archetype customer, what they read, what they’re attracted to, what they watch, even the type of format they buy (KU, ebook, paperback or audiobook?). This will help you to target your AMS, Facebook and BookBub adverts more accurately.

You need to ensure your book description captures the eye, and the sample delivered stacks up. Therefore, the product itself has be a great product. Get a professional editor. Spend time on editing and then get proof readers/beta readers to read the finished article.

At the same time as all of this, you need to be growing a mailing list. Newsletters are crucial for growing your readership, but people do not give emails away lightly. You have to give them something, so you need to have a reader magnet. This can be a novella or short story, a prequel or side story, that goes alongside your new book. You need engage on platforms like Book Funnel and Story Origin newsletter builder campaigns, whereby you offer your magnet for free on sign up to your Newsletter. This needs to be done at least 6 months before you launch your publication. You also need to create a Newsletter that goes out at least monthly, with integrated signup from Book funnel and Story Origin into your subscriber list platform (email systems like Mailer Lite, Mail Chimp, Constant Contact etc.). Once you have a decent level of subscribers, you have a captive audience for your book.

Finally, keywords. These are essential for AMS Adverts and Google SEO. There are various software packages on the market (Publisher Rocket being the most popular) that help authors find lucrative key words they need to target on for Amazon adverts. It is important to spend time on these keywords as they will enable you to maximise your CPC rate and get more bang for your buck.

9) What’s next for you as an author?

I have just finished the finale to The Trusted Thriller Series – book five / part five – The Sum. It’s been a very big commitment, as it ties together everything and leads to a conclusion of mind expanding proportions (no spoilers). I have also just begun to write another ‘Operations’ style novella, as another reader magnet. My current reader magnet, ‘Operation Snowdrop’, is a prequel mission happening four years earlier than the events in The Trusted, and the new ‘Operations’ novella is taking place in 2015, and gives readers an insight into what their favorite characters got up to in the early days. These Operations novellas carry a different tone, and are very much written from an ‘under the bullet’ perspective. One reader commented, “Trying to figure out what this poor guy has to go through to play both sides leaves me exhausted. I feel like I’m living every minute with him I can hardly stand it.” – and that really sums up the style of these Operations novellas.