Author Interview: Filmaker and Author Brian Kavanagh

Welcome back readers,

This week I am interviewing filmmaker and author, Brian Kavanagh. I have to admit I am having a bit of a fangirl moment here!  How is this for a resume?

Brian is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Film Editors Guild and an Australian Film Institute award for Best Editing for the children's film, Frog Dreaming. He has also produced and directed, AFI award winning A City's Child. His films have been screened at the London Film Festival as well as Edinburgh, Montreal, Chicago and Adelaide, where A City's Child won the Gold Southern Cross Advertiser Award for Best Australian Film. Brian is also a member of the Australian Society of Authors.

Can you tell us a bit about you as an author?

For all my life I was a filmmaker, working on feature films, documentaries and TV dramas, so effectively I was always a story teller. My main area of production was as an editor which entailed shaping the final product. An editor should have knowledge or appreciation of the arts, as they all come together in the cutting room, and knowing how to utilise them to the best effect in creating and telling a story. This also included writing film scripts, so it was a natural progression to branch out into writing novels. So far I have limited my writing to mysteries, light entertainment, but with (hopefully) characters that come alive for the reader. I enjoy writing my mysteries, as the central characters, Belinda Lawrence and Hazel Whitby, have become close friends and we collaborate as each new adventure presents itself, and I discover more and more about their personalities and emotions. Each mystery is character driven and centred on some historical event or object which is at the core of each contemporary story. I have another novel I’m working on which is not a mystery, but an exploration of sibling differences and the possibility of reincarnation.

What are the hardest part of being an author?

I wouldn’t say there is any part of writing that is hard. There can be frustration if a character refuses to be open with you and allow you to know them. Searching for the right word which remains elusive. Ensuring the pace is right for each scene and how it fits on the overall rhythm of the story. Irritations rather than ‘hard’.

What do you enjoy most about being an author?

Satisfaction if I think the story works, meeting new characters as they appear, plotting the action, creating a mood or atmosphere, finding humour in a situation and building on it, editing and improving. All of that, plus positive reviews from readers who are on the same wave-length the stories are pitched at.

What authors/books have had an influence on your writing?

How to answer that? I imagine every book I’ve read has had some influence on me, some lasting, and some ephemeral. But authors who I admire and return to are Evelyn Waugh, Iris Murdoch, and E.F.Benson. When younger I read the classics when I could as well as contemporary authors of the time, John Steinbeck, Gore Vidal, Hal Porter, Truman Capote et al. Agatha Christie of course and I recalled only recently that at an even younger age I read Sexton Blake mysteries, so I guess I’ve always been attracted to mystery novels as a genre and now with the i/net I’m discovering more and more early mystery writers and their works. I have a fascination with the works of Fergus Hume, whose novel Mystery of a Hansom Cab was a huge international success at the beginning of the 20th century, and I have collected many of his works over the years. So I have to say all of these great talents have influenced me in one way or another.

Do you ever get Writer’s Block? If so, how do you deal with it? Do you believe there is such a thing?

Writer’s Block. It can happen, if you believe it stops an author from writing at all. Otherwise, there can be a point when inspiration fails or a plot twist creates a problem for which there is no swift resolution. When and if that happens, I walk away; wait for the answer to emerge, which it will. The point is not to dwell on it and eventually things will clarify and you can see the resolution. One of the characters in the story may tell you. I know I go on about listening to the characters, but they have to be real for me because if they not, they will not be to the reader.

Do you have a particular place that you like to write?

I write in what I call ‘the study’; but it is just a spare room full of bit and bobs and me at the computer. But writing is not confined to the computer or the room. The mind is always writing and hopeful those words will be incorporated in the story.

Do you have a favourite time of day to write?

Morning, night, either.

How do you like to reach your readers? 

Most of my contact with readers comes via FaceBook. I use Twitter but that seems unsatisfactory to me. I like the response and contact I have with readers via FaceBook, not only about the books but information we exchange about our lives and friends. It brings a closeness that I appreciate and an understanding of my readers with their likes and dislikes.

Can you tell us about your latest book?    

My most recent book is MURDER ON THE ISLAND, which is the sixth book in my Belinda Lawrence amateur sleuth series.

How long did it take you to write the book?

Difficult to tell as I don’t work to a deadline, unless I set one for myself. On average it takes about six months from inception to final draft and publication.

Do you have a favourite character/topic in your work?

I would have to say Belinda’s cohort, girl Friday, ADC, Hazel Whitby. As much as I like Belinda, Hazel is worldlier (maybe even world-weary) inclined to be outrageous yet attuned to contemporary fashions and ‘having a good time’. It is interesting that Hazel appears in the first book, CAPABLE OF MURDER more or less as a supernumerary but when writing the second book, THE EMBROIDERED CORPSE she was at my elbow nudging me, flirting, seductive, and eventually won me over. Hazel is a good foil for Belinda and the two women bounce off each other with opposite personalities and tastes. Belinda developing and unsure: Hazel who has seen it all, but still has her radar well-tuned for the right man to come into her life. Plus, she’s a lot of fun.

What was your process? Did you plot out the entire book, or just let the storyline flow? Do you write in chronological order?

Once I settle on the core of the story, I like to have a beginning and where I think it will end. But generally I let it flow, as various characters get involved and I discover more about them and their place in the scheme of things. Also, Belinda and Hazel are developing so I like to be fluid when writing to enable them to tell me more about themselves. As each story has an historical item or event as its core, I do a lot of research, and often ideas that are new to me, come out of that research.

Do you have plans for further instalments?

Further books are planned as Belinda’s life unfolds.

Do you have a plan for your next book?

I have started on Book Seven, ILLUSION OF DEATH which is set on Belinda’s hometown of Melbourne, Australia as was Book Five, A WICKED DESIGN. This time, Belinda is recovering from a broken romance and she and Hazel holiday in the city. The plot concerns evidence of an early film made in Melbourne last century and the two women get caught up in the intrigue and machinations created by opposing parties who have a vested interest in the old film and its restoration.

Ebooks vs Physical books? Do you have a preference when reading?

I prefer Physical but admit eBooks are convenient and that suits my needs at the moment, certainly for light entertainment and biographies. For more serious works, I find it uncomfortable to read electronically.

Self-publishing vs traditional publishing? What are your thoughts? Do you feel that the industry is changing?

The industry has changed, and I believe traditional publishers have lost the plot. They don’t seem to know how to deal with eBooks and the number of authors who are self-publishing. There are distinct advantages for an author to self-publish, in essence, cutting out the middle man. Agents and publishers don’t seem to have their fingers on the pulse of what readers want, and so let potential money-makers for them slip through those fingers.

And finally, what advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Do it. Just that, do it. Self-publish if you wish. If your writing strikes a chord with readers, then it will be worth it. Nothing is easy but there is no point in giving up. They say ‘write what you know about’. I say, write what you want to write about. They also say ‘you’ve either got it, or you ain’t’. There’s only one way for a writer to find out. Publish and be damned! And have fun!

Thank you so much Brian, there is so much valuable information in your interview. I have really enjoyed listening to you. 

Those who'd like to know more, please check out Brian here:

Website: http://beekayvic.tripod.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brian.kavanagh.71

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bkauthor

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Brian-Kavanagh/e/B002BMB79S/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

CV: filmmaker2.webs.com

Thanks again readers for dropping in. If you'd like to be interviewed for this blog or have an interesting story to tell please drop me a line. 

Until next week!

Cheers

Amanda

Author Interview: Gregory A. Fournier, Author of Terror in Ypsilanti

Gregory A. Fournier was born in Trenton, Michigan in 1948. He grew up in the Downriver Detroit area and graduated from Allen Park High School in 1966. When he read Lost Horizon as a young teen, he decided then that he wanted to be an author. That novel transported him to Shangri-La, and he's been trying to get back there ever since.

He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in English Language Arts and sociology from Eastern Michigan University. After teaching at Ypsilanti High School for seven years, he moved to San Diego, California, and taught Language Arts in public school for another thirty years. He also taught night school and weekend college during that time as an adjunct professor at Cuyamaca College for ten years. Now retired, he is living his dream of becoming an author.

In addition to his debut novel, Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel, Greg writes a weekly blog at fornology.blogspot.com, He joins us today to talk about his new book Terror in Ypsilanti.

Can you tell us a bit about you as an author? 

I began my writing career in 2009 after a career teaching English in San Diego. My first book Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel was published in 2011. My current work is a true crime treatment about a little known Michigan serial killer. Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked, is newly released and available online. For the last six years, I’ve been writing a blog entitled Fornology in support of my writing. I want my writing to stand for something beyond the story. As an author, I want to accomplish more than being in the boredom-killing business. I want my work to have intrinsic meaning and value beyond the page.

What are the hardest parts of being an author? 

 Publishing and promotion. Writing is a challenge, but the commercial end of the business is inscrutable. Traditional publishers are losing their grip on their market share, and independent publishers and digital printing are changing the game. The writer is caught in the middle.

What do you enjoy most about being an author? 

The sweet agony of creating meaning out of thin air and having my readers respond favorably to it.

What authors/books have had an influence on your writing? 

My primary inspiration was James Hilton’s prophetic Lost Horizon. Later in life, Night author Elie Wiesel taught me the power of memoir and the writer’s responsibility to the testament of truth. But the author that has had the greatest impact on my writing is Stephen King. His On Writing may be the finest book ever written about what it takes and what it means to be author.

Do you ever get Writer’s Block? If so, how do you deal with it? Do you believe there is such a thing? Brain freeze? Everyone gets it. Walking away from my writing for a day or two to let my subconscious go to work sometimes helps. More often than not, I write a blog post and have a couple of beers.

Do you have a particular place that you like to write? 

Yes. In front of my desktop computer at home. The problem with working at home are all the daily distractions.

Do you have a favourite time of day to write? 

I prefer to write in the morning after I check my social media until early afternoon. The middle of the night works great when I can’t sleep.

How do you like to reach your readers? (Social media? Book signings? Blogs etc) 

I’ve been building an audience for over five years on social media and my blog. Now, I have an author website which is showing positive results.

Can you tell us about your latest book? (is it part of a series, genre) 

Terror in Ypsilanti: John Norman Collins Unmasked is a long overdue, nonfiction treatment of a serial killer case from the late 1960s. Collins was the poster boy for the new age of serial killers before the term serial killer was coined. More isn’t known about him because the Charles Manson Helter Skelter murders occurred just as the Collins case went to trial and drew all the national press to Los Angeles, California.

How long did it take you to write the book? 

Five solid years of research and writing.

Do you have a favourite character/topic in your work? 

No. This was a difficult story to tell. John Norman Collins is the central figure in the book but far from my favorite. He is a psychopathic murderer.

Tell us about John Norman Collins. 

JNC was the prime suspect in the murders of seven young women in the Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor, Michigan between the summers of 1967-1969. Washtenaw County prosecutors tried and convicted Collins of his last murder—the sex slaying of Karen Sue Beineman. The other murders became cold cases.

Why isn’t Collins better known? 

The week the Beineman case came to trial, the Helter Skelter [Tate/LaBianca] murders happened in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. Overnight, Charles Manson and his family drew national attention to Southern California. The Collins trial became a war of attrition; the Manson trial became a three ring media circus.

What genre is your book and who is your target audience? 

It is true crime. Terror in Ypsilanti strives to restore the lost history of these cases. The trial transcripts were purged from the Washtenaw County files shortly after all of Collins’s appeals ran out in the mid-1970s. I initially wrote this book for the people of Ypsilanti to pay a debt to history, but young people going away to college will find the story instructive and cautionary.

Can you briefly summarize the content of Terror in Ypsilanti? 

Part one tells the story of the murders as the details unfolded before the police and the public. Much of this information has never been made public before. Part two reconstitutes the most infamous criminal trial in Michigan history from hundreds of vintage newspaper articles. Part three tells the story of Collins’s years in prison, his efforts to circumvent his life sentence, and his attempts to manipulate public opinion through the media.

What qualifies you to tell this story? 

While these murders were happening, I lived one block up the street from Collins and had several negative encounters with him. It wasn’t until I saw his face plastered across the front pages that I realized I recognized him. I knew people he knew, and I knew friends who knew some of the victims. Going to Eastern Michigan University and teaching at Ypsilanti High School gives me a detailed knowledge of the area and its people. The non-fiction story of what actually happened needed to be told before these events become lost in the fog of time. I’m uniquely positioned to do that.

Has this story ever been told before?

 Brief surveys of the Collins story have appeared in crime magazines and internet articles—usually with faulty information and without the benefit of hindsight. Five years after these events occurred in 1976, Edward Keyes published a cozy mystery called The Michigan Murders, which used pseudonyms for the victims, the witnesses, and the convicted murderer. Keyes wrote his book as a novel, but it did more to obscure the real history than add any insight. Terror in Ypsilanti is a very different treatment of the subject matter. I take a terse journalistic approach.

What was your biggest challenge writing Terror in Ypsilanti? 

Getting official information on the trial. The Washtenaw County Court files were purged in the mid-1970s, and nobody in authority would comment on that. I had to create a patchwork of facts from hundreds of local newspaper articles to tell the broad outline of the trial.

Does your book leave readers with a message? 

Yes, if something doesn’t feel right about a person, trust your instincts. Don’t place yourself in a compromised position and recognize danger before it’s too late.

What else have you written? 

My first writing effort after I retired from teaching was Zug Island: A Detroit Riot Novel. It tells a multicultural story of the clash between urban and suburban cultures. Main character Jake Malone gets a crash course in race relations and learns that the face of racism comes in every shade of color. I also write a weekly blog entitled Fornology [fornology.blogspot.com] about my news and views.

What was your process? Did you plot out the entire book, or just let the storyline flow? Do you write in chronological order? 

I use a chunking technique at first. I get an idea of where I want the writing to go, and I write a few chapters. From there, I chart out a preliminary outline and write each chapter like it was a stand alone short story. Once on the writing treadmill, I continually rewrite until I come up with something I like.

Do you have plans for further instalments? 

I may write a follow up about some prison letters of John Norman Collins. Several people have given me caches of his letters, but for now, I’ve had my fill of him.

Do you have a plan for your next book? 

Yes, an unsolved murder of an eight-year-old boy found frozen under a bridge in the rural town of Ypsilanti, Michigan. The Ypsilanti Historical Society asked if I might be interested in writing a piece on little Richard Streicher.

Ebooks vs Physical books? Do you have a preference when reading? 

I prefer the look and feel of books. I like to go back and forth when I read and turning pages works best for me.

Self-publishing vs traditional publishing? What are your thoughts? Do you feel that the industry is changing? 

What has happened to the broadcast television networks, the movie business, and the auto business is happening to publishing--decentralization. The digital revolution is a game changer. Why be on the ragged edge of traditional publishing when I can be on the cutting edge of independent publishing. Either way authors go, promotion is their responsibility, so why not cut out the middleman?

And finally, what advice would you give to aspiring authors? 

Write, write, write until you can’t help yourself anymore. Then find a competent editor to help guide you. The eye sees but doesn’t see itself.

How can readers find you?

Website: gregoryafournier.com
Facebook: facebook.com/gregoryafournier
Twitter: www.twitter.com/GAFournier1

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Gregory-A.-Fournier/e/B00BDNEG1C/
Goodreads: goodreads.com@gregfournier
Gmail: gregoryafournier@gmail.com

Thank you Gregory for dropping by. As a fellow true crime author, I found this a fascinating interview. I am one of the few who know of the crimes of John Collins, so it was great to see another author's journey with such a violent killer.  Amanda

If you would like to be interviewed for this blog or have a great story to tell, please drop me a line.  As always thanks for dropping by and see you next week. 

Cheers!

Amanda Howard

The Author's Journey - An introduction

Moving further into the concepts of the writer and their writing-  and as part of my University Master's degree in Writing (Subject PWR70002 - Online Writing)-  I will be looking at the writer's journey and will include tricks and tips to help with those difficult times as well as answer questions you may have.

For those who don't know me, I am Amanda Howard, I am a true crime and crime fiction author, I have spent the past two decades interviewing and writing about serial killers and other violent predators.  I am a regular panel member on Australian television programs regarding criminology and have appeared on documentaries, radio, online  and in newspapers across the globe. 

Up to September 2016, I have published:

10 True Crime Books

1. River of Blood: Serial Killers and Their Victims
2. The Lottery Kidnapping
3. Terror in the Skies
4. Million Dollar Art Theft
5. Predators (co-authored)
6. Innocence Lost: Crimes that Shocked a Nation
7. Serial Killers and Philosophy (Collab)
8. A Killer in the Family: When Murder Waits at Home
9. Murder on the Mind: An Insight into Serial Killers and Their Crimes
10. Rope: A History of the Hanged

3 Novellas and Short Stories

1. The Cicadas Roar
2. Charlotte's One of a Kind Cakes
3. Writer's Block

3 Fiction Novels: Kate Reilly Ritual Series

1. The Blood of Many
2. The Elements of Murder
3. A Thousand Cuts

1 Non Fiction book

1. How to Be An Author (Collab)

So that is seventeen books so far, and I have another in the Kate Reilly Ritual Series coming out in November, as well as another True Crime book in February 2017. I also have a fair few other writing projects on the boil too that I will share as they come to fruition.  So I think with a CV like that I hope that I can offer some advice on both non-fiction and fiction writing, The processes of dealing with publicists, publishing houses, editors and the like.  

I have begun putting together a list of topics - of course these may change as time progresses -  that I think this could be a great way to start. Each blog will link back to this page too, so you can go from topic to topic. 

I will begin with the very first moment of a book, those tiny fragments of inspiration and take you through the writing journey until you reach your masterpiece. 

The topics I will cover include:

Ideas and concepts

• The seed of an idea
• Where to begin
• Creativity - The Trial and Tribulations
• Is the pen mightier than the keyboard?
• Inspiration and dedication
• Writer’s block and free writing

Thought mapping - chapters, characters, outlines, storyline

• Who, what, where, when and how
• Long Chapters/Short Chapters
• Word count goals
• Similar books/films/ideas

Research

• Write what you know or learn what you don’t
• Fantastic sources and resources
• Sourcing and referencing
• Genre, rules and the artist

First drafts and Hemingway (my guide)

• Writing packages and programmes
• When you don’t love your first draft
• When you love your draft too much to edit it
• The Editor and the Author Within
• The space between the work and the author (the need to leave early drafts to simmer)

The first edit - the brutal reality

• Subsequent edits
• Direction, misdirection and the need for a critical friend
• When you get sick of reading your writing
• Self-doubt and self-worth

Publishing, contracts and lit agents

• Traditional publishing vs self-publishing
• A changing landscape
• Unscrupulous “publishers”
• The traps new authors fall into
• Contracts – what do they mean
• The editor - friend, foe or something else?
• Do they love it as much as you do?
• When you don’t see eye to eye
• Creative control

Covers - the reality of judging a book

• KISS- obvious is good
• The market and the shelf
• More research

The finished product

• Nothing like the smell of success and a book
• The bookstore and the book shelf

Now what? Media, publicity and the hard sell!

• Press releases
• Your audience
• Social media
• Interviews – the good the bad and the ugly
• Radio, television, newspapers – what’s the focus?
• Nervous? How to curb it.

For now, before the journey commences, these topics will be a great start. Of course, stop me at any point throughout the journey and ask questions, request clarification or even perhaps suggest better topics. 

Thanks again for dropping by, I hope to put these topics up frequently, as my own inspiration ignites my passion.

Until next time, 

Cheers

Amanda Howard 

Links:

Amanda Howard Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amandahowardauthor/

Amanda Howard Twitter: https://twitter.com/amandahoward73

Amanda Howard's books (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Howard/e/B001JP7X7I/

Author Interview: Steve Herczeg, Screenwriter and author of two stories in Sproutlines

Welcome Steve Herczeg to the Blog this week.

Can you tell us a bit about you as an author?
I have been writing creatively for as long as I can remember in one way or another. As a teen I wrote dodgy heavy metal lyrics for a garage band I belonged to. In early adulthood I moved from writing short fiction into a couple of full length novels. Reading those now, I cringe, but they were a learning curve and have proved useful since.

I turned to writing feature film screenplays as a way of getting my thoughts and ideas down on the page quicker and in a more concise way. I found the visualisations that can be achieved in a script to be more effective than the stunted prose I was writing at the time.

I have so far completed fifteen feature film scripts, and numerous short scripts. Two of my scripts, “Death Spores” and “Control” have placed well in some international screenplay competitions, and I am working on developing “Control” into a fully realised feature film.

Working on “Control” has made me turn from a simple writer into a film maker, and I have taken the helm as a director to bring three of my short scripts to the screen.

Last year I had the opportunity to turn back to prose writing and was fortunate enough to have two of my short stories accepted into “Sproutlings: a compendium of little fictions” that is being published through Hunter Anthologies.


What are the hardest part of being an author?
I think the thing that holds most people back is self-doubt. Everybody you mention to that you are an author or writer answers with “I have this great idea for a book/movie”. When you then tell them to sit down and write it, they invariably answer with “oh, I could never do that”.

It’s the same with more established authors and writers. Even George R. R. Martin expressed the sentiment in a recent interview with Stephen King. He asked King “You don’t ever have a day when you sit down there and it’s like constipation - you write a sentence and you hate the sentence and you check your email and you wonder if you had any talent after all and maybe you should have been a plumber?” he asked, incredulous. “Don’t you have days like that?” To which King replied “No”.
But for the most of us, the answer is “Yes”. The real answer is to ignore the question in the first place and just get on with it.

I’ve talked to people that have spent years writing a screenplay. They’ve got to page forty and no further. They say they’ve polished those forty pages until they gleam. My advice to them is finish the bloody thing. It doesn’t matter if the end result sucks, at least it’s finished. Then you have the choice to re-edit it or start on something new. The act of writing is all about the creation not the polishing.


What do you enjoy most about being an author?
The physical act of losing yourself in the creation is the most enjoyable aspect of writing. It’s sort of like being a long distance runner. At times it is almost impossible to break through the inertia, but once you achieve a level of momentum and the endorphins kick in you can achieve a sense of euphoria that is unlike any other experience. The same happens in writing. The blank page can be as scary as any horror movie, but once you begin to type and words appear and multiply, you get sucked into the act of creation and lose all sense of time and space. It is drug like in its attraction.


What authors/books have had an influence on your writing?
I write horror. I have dabbled in science fiction and action, but will always return to what I like best. My favourite authors are James Herbert (R.I.P.) and Stephen King. Herbert always inspired me through his use of small vignettes or short stories at the beginning of his books as a mechanism for setting up the main plot lines of the story. He could breathe life into his minor characters, give them a history and personality before obliterating them completely, often in the most grotesque and left field way. King is the master of taking the mundane and turning it on its head.

My one true passion is collecting Herbert and King hard cover first editions. I have about forty Stephen King HC firsts, and about ten of Herbert’s (including a signed copy of his last novel Ash). Other notable influences have come from the collected works of H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe. For just pure unadulterated entertainment I can never go past a Terry Pratchett novel. I have a large collection as well.


Do you ever get Writer’s Block? If so, how do you deal with it? Do you believe there is such a thing?
Most people think that Writer’s block is a complete shutdown of ideas flowing into the writer’s imagination. To me I think it is more a lack of motivation or even interest centring on the work that the author is concentrating on at the time. As George R. R. Martin said in the interview with King, it comes from that growing self-doubt or sense of worthlessness that comes when a writer loses motivation or interest.

To the part time writer it manifests itself as a symptom of life. The inability to find time to write, time to prepare, time to oneself. Family, jobs, life in general just gets in the way.

One way I’ve found to deal with it, came from a talk that I saw Terry Pratchett give a few years before his death. He said that before he sat down to write he would play a few minutes of Doom. He reckoned that there is no better way of clearing out the cobwebs that day to day living spins in your mind than to blow the crap out of a few zombies and monsters with a double barrelled shotgun.

Admittedly, there can be a downside to this when you realise after a few hours of playing Assassin’s Creed that you’ve now run out of time to do any writing, which is what you were preparing for in the first place.

Do you have a particular place that you like to write?
Again, life has got in the way. I haven’t managed to set myself up a nice, cosy area to while away the day forging pages full of words.

I did have a brilliant opportunity afforded me last year though. I found myself unemployed for a couple of months. This period coincided with a need to perform a full rewrite of my feature film script “Control”. I managed to spend a lot of time visiting coffee shops and cafes across the city in between appointments and job interviews.

I found one café that was nestled in the basement of a local shopping centre and was part of a large second hand bookshop. I was able to hijack a table on a couple of occasions and write to my heart’s content while bathed in the odour of old books and fresh coffee. It was bliss and highly productive.

Do you have a favourite time of day to write?
Again, life. I generally fit in some writing around what I am doing. I have found that if I can lock myself away at lunch time (whilst at work) I can be quite productive, or I’ll snatch some time in the late afternoon before leaving work for the day (there’s a little trick with Outlook that you can answer whatever emails need your attention and forward them on with a time delay). At night, once the kids go to bed and the dishes are done you can generally find some more “me” time to get more words on the page.

How do you like to reach your readers? (Social media? Book signings? Blogs etc)
Social Media (e.g. Facebook) is one of the wonders of the modern world. It may be a massive drain on the collective attention span, but it is also a brilliant way to disseminate information. When my short stories were accepted into Sproutlings, I began advertising the fact on my own feed and on other pages and groups. Although it can be a little hit and miss, the word that came back to me was that it was very effective. Many of my friends and acquaintances either sponsored the Kickstarter campaign or bought pre-release copies of the book.

I have also been a member of online writing groups and collaborative sites. These are great at getting unreserved (sometimes a little too forthright) feedback from strangers as opposed to your friends who are more likely to love everything you do and not give back any useful criticisms.

Can you tell us about your latest book? (is it part of a series, genre)
Apart from my Sproutlings stories and a few other unsuccessful competition entries, my main focus has been on rewriting my feature film script for “Control”. I managed to win an Arts Fund grant through ScreenACT to help further my career as a screenwriter. The money was used to employ a script editor located in Los Angeles. Her task was to pull apart the plot of Control and provide me with the means and feedback to enable a rewrite of the script so that it would be more coherent and marketable.

Control is a horror story that centres on a young woman who is able to see the ghost of a young man and give him the power to interact with our world. Unbeknownst to her when alive he was a serial killer. He learns how to draw power from her and begins to kill those around her. To save those she loves she must learn how to stop him.

The script placed second in the 2013 International Horror Hotel Screenplay competition and was a quarter finalist and top ten in the 2014 “Search for New Blood” and “Horror Screenplay” competitions, respectively.

How long did it take you to write the book?
The initial version of “Control” took about six months to write from woe to go. The original idea came from a talk held a at local film maker’s group where a renowned script writer suggested that there was a lack of ghost stories in modern cinema. Admittedly, this was before “The Conjuring, Mama, Sinister, Ghostbusters remake, etc”. An idea came into my mind from an old article about the prevalence of poltergeist activity around teenage girls. The idea was “what if a young girl could not only see ghosts but control them”? From there the script was created.

The rewrite took six weeks from “FADE IN” to “FADE OUT”, but most of the work was done with the script editor in defining the major turning points in the plot. I only reused one scene, where the ghost animates a roomful of china headed dolls and terrorises a teenage girl to the extent that she jumps out of a window.

Do you have a favourite character/topic in your work?
I love zombies. I have seen and documented about 250 zombie movies and run a Facebook page called “The 30 day zombie challenge” where I publish movie and book reviews.
I have written three zombie scripts, “Death Spores”, “Dead School” and “Titan”, and the opening scenes of “Death Spores” were rewritten into the short story that was published in Sproutlings.
I like zombies as you can do anything with them, give them any attributes that you want as long as you are honest and set up their characteristics from the beginning.

I also find that watching zombie movies to be very cathartic, there’s nothing better than seeing humans perish at the hands and teeth of the ravenous undead to put your own trials and tribulations into perspective.

What was your process? Did you plot out the entire book, or just let the storyline flow? Do you write in chronological order?
I’ve read and listened to Stephen King’s “On Writing” about five or six times and love the process he undertakes to writing, which is come up with an overall story and then let the characters tell you where and how it will proceed.

I’ve tried to put that in action, but found the result to be an absolute mess. Then I found Syd Field, one of the best proponents for screenplay structure in Hollywood. Field suggests the formation of a paradigm which maps out the standard three act structure of feature films, with techniques for when and how to move from one act to the next.

Being an IT geek by trade, I have created a small database that I can input my ideas on the structure and characters and have it spit out the paradigm for me to follow.

It is all a little structured, but I’m a programmer and database developer, so it suits my thinking processes.


Do you have plans for further instalments?
I have left the end of “Control” open for a sequel, but have no plans to write one until I can advance the development of the film. My next steps are to gain a distributor and begin to put key people into roles and gather funding. I have no plans to direct the film myself but do plan to keep as close to the project for as long as I can.

Do you have a plan for your next book?
I have about ten unwritten script ideas in various stages of development. When I began the rewrite of “Control” I was about sixty pages into another script called “Exposure” which is about a young martial artist who finds himself in an underground pit fighting club and must battle to survive and to protect his lover. I am in the struggle stage of getting re-motivated to finish off “Exposure”. Life, and that Assassin’s Creed problem keep getting in the way.

Ebooks vs Physical books? Do you have a preference when reading?
I love the feel and smell of physical books. When I am reading for pure pleasure then I would rather have one to hold. My library has well over five hundred on its shelves and my love has transferred to my daughter (9) who feels the need to own as many books as possible, even if I already own them.
For convenience, happy with eBooks or even audio books. There’s nothing worse than finishing a paperback with several hours left on an international flight (it happened), and you can knock over a large number of books by listening to them on the way to and from work.

Self-publishing vs traditional publishing? What are your thoughts? Do you feel that the industry is changing?
The industry is changing and for the better. Self-publishing is a great way for people to get their work out into the marketplace. At one time this was called “vanity” publishing and cost a fortune, but a writer can spend a relatively small amount of money and produce and publish an ebook. It does mean that there will be a whole lot more garbage out there, but it also means that a lot of rough and unpolished diamonds can make their way into the collective consciousness rather than be lost for all time.

And finally, what advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Just do it.

Write. Create. Build. Paint. Sculpt. Sing. Play. Make.

Get your work out of your brain and down onto paper or into a computer. Who cares if it’s any good? 

Who cares if no one but you and your mother will ever read it?

If you never write then you will never know. And if you never write then no one else will ever know.

Once you get it out, then you can make the decision to make it better, throw it away, or move on to the next project. But if you never do it in the first place, then you will never have that chance.

How can readers find you?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.herczeg.3

Thanks for dropping by Steve. Your projects sound incredible interesting. 

Don't forget to subscribe to Killing Time Blog to see more author interviews. Please contact me if you'd like to be interviewed or have a really interesting story to tell.  Until next time...

Cheers

Amanda Howard

When No means Yes - in the Publishing World

Recently I came across a page that I had bookmarked many years ago, I refer to it sometimes and it reminds me why we all keep going in the face of adversity.

The page? It is called www.literaryrejections.com and it's one that I think all writers should visit whenever they receive their own rejection letters.

You see, sometimes, no means yes. You may get a no from 20-30, even a hundred publishers, but there may be that one company out there that has faith in your work and you might find yourself among the literary luminaries such as Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Salinger, to name just a few, who were told no.

Did you know that Margaret Mitchell's manuscript for Gone with the Wind was rejected by thirty-eight publishers before it was picked up?  Stephen King was told that his work would never sell.
JK Rowling's first Harry Potter novel was rejected by more than a dozen publishing houses before a small independent company took it on.

Beatrix Potter decided to self-publish her Tale of Peter Rabbit after she was rejected by numerous publishers. Her first print run was only 250 copies, it has now sold more than 45 million copies.

Having had publishers call his book dull, William Golding continued to send Lord of the Flies out until the NO turned into a YES and he sold 15 million copies.

Kathryn Stockett's best seller, The Help was rejected by sixty publishers before it was picked up, published and made into a major motion picture.

So, being rejected isn't always so bad, it is more about finding the one publisher who hears your voice and believes it needs to be heard. Keep writing, keep pushing on, keep sending it out into the world. Take critiques well, learn from them. Peter Benchley's book deal was rejected so he went and re-wrote his story and today we have the best-seller Jaws.