What type of books
do you write? At the moment for full length
fiction I am concentrating on historicals – having become fascinated by the
late 16th and early 17th centuries. - Perhaps oddly, as I
spent many years writing short stories, and with the exception of one recent
historical short which is being published by the Historical Novel Society’ in a
forthcoming anthology, my short fiction has always been contemporary. However it is generally as distant from me in
space, as my novels are in time – for example stories set in locations such as
Africa or Afghanistan - which also rely
heavily on research to get the details right. One common thread is the impact that
living within a conflict situation has on family, on relationships, and on
personal integrity.
What is your newest
book about? Although
I’ve had short fiction published in the past, Turn of the Tide is my debut novel, published in November 2012 by
Capercaillie Books, and available both in print and on Kindle. It is the story
of a fictional Scottish family trapped
in an historic 150-year-old clan feud, and one man’s struggle with diverse
loyalties and his desire to protect his family.
What inspired you
to write it? My
interest was first sparked by a footnote reference in 18thc family papers to a notorious feud called the
‘Ayrshire Vendetta’ and a particularly treacherous massacre in April 1586. When
I discovered that the two families concerned – the Cunninghames and the
Montgomeries - had been dubbed the ‘Montagues and Capulets of Ayrshire’, I knew
I had to write about them.
What is the writing process like for you? At the moment I’m juggling
working, providing emergency foster-care, church voluntary work and writing, so
it’s a little tricky. I am part-way through a first draft of a sequel to Turn of the Tide and have a modest
target of a word increase of 5000 words per week. I try to get up at 6.00am to
write before anyone else is up, and usually start by editing what I wrote the
previous day. I am looking forward to
finishing this first drat, because I find re-drafting / editing the best part of the whole writing process.
What did you do
before you became an author? I
have been a college lecturer – including teaching Creative Writing courses, and
also worked in Consumer Advocacy, but
I’m really enjoying now being able to spend the majority of my time writing.
How does it feel to
be a published author? Fabulous!
I still have to pinch myself sometimes and get a copy of my book out, just to
feel it in my hand. Getting the balance right in terms of how much time to
devote to interacting with potential readers online is tricky though – my
publisher does their part in publicizing
my novel, but like most writers nowadays, especially emerging ones, I am expected to also do what
I can. I
love speaking at author events and having face-to-face contact with
readers and I get a real thrill each
time someone tells me how much they loved my book. It makes all the hours alone at my computer
worthwhile.
Any advice for
struggling writers? A
piece of advice that I was given – ‘If you have something written, you have
something to change.’ – Get the words down on the page and don’t worry too much
about them first time round – you can always re-work them later.
Where do you see
book publishing heading? Ah,
the crystal ball? Not my forte, but I do
think there will be a lot more self-published work out there. A mixed blessing,
I think. On the one hand it will give scope for some really good writing to be
made available to readers, but at the same time the more there is, the harder
it will be for readers to sift out the good from the mediocre.
Turn of the Tide is now available http://tiny.cc/
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Brian Feinblum’s views,
opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his
employer, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the
third-person. This blog is copyrighted material by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2013
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