Author Q&A with Stewart Bint

An eclectic mix of beautifully written stories. A particular favourite of mine was The Twitter Bully, I’m sure someone will spring to mind as you read it.

1. Where’s your favourite place to write?

In our previous home I used to work in what we called the “chill-out room” at the front of the house. But it faced North, and with its wooden floor, was very cold in winter. So, around six years ago I moved to a room at the back of the house which faced South, with views over fields. I’m sure a lot of my inspiration came from the times I would spend staring out of the French Doors across the contryside.

We’ve recently moved house, and I’ve now got my own dedicated office here, which is great. Especially as I work from home for my PR writing role as well.

2. Have you always wanted to write?

Absolutely. I was inspired to write from watching the very first series of the world’s longest-running sci-fi TV show, Doctor Who, when it started in 1963. My seven-year-old mind was totally enraptured by the stories which could take place anywhere in time and space.

I started creating my own worlds and characters, writing my stories in little blue notebooks until my parents bought me a portable typewriter for my ninth birthday.

But life and work got in the way, and although I’ve always been a professional writer – starting as a journalist, then as a broadcaster, and later as a PR writer – my first piece of fiction didn’t come out until I was 56, in 2012, and then only as an ebook. Several more ebooks followed until I was taken on by a mainstream publisher in 2015, and I’ve now got five paperbooks out.

And I’m so appalling at mathematics and science I knew from a very early age I’d starve if I had to make my living from either of those!

3. Tell us about a scene that you loved, but had to edit out of your book.

It was what I thought was a startling twist in the very last scene of my novel, Timeshaft, where the main character was revealed to be another character’s father. He knew of the relationship, but she didn’t. I’d dropped a few cryptic pointers throughout the book to make it believable.

But my publisher’s editor didn’t like it, and insisted it came out, along with my breadcrumb trail of clues. I was a little upset at the time, but I’ve always been a big believer in taking editors’ advice. After all, they’re employed by publishers to turn an author’s story into a marketable commodity.

And when I re-read the published version I saw she was absolutely right to take it out.

4. Do you like reading the same books you write?

In the main, yes. The genres I write are supernatural/horror, and sci-fi. Even my one attempt at humour and satire, The Jigsaw And The Fan, has a supernatural setting. I have an idea for a fantasy novel, along with a collection of short stories featuring either a private detective or a barrister – I’ve not decided which yet.

So, my Kindle and bookshelves are filled with books from those genres. Overall, I split my reading between long-established authors and up and coming novelists. The former includes A.E van Vogt, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Stephen King. The latter includes DM Cain, Michael J. Elliot, H.G. Sansostri, and Helena Brady.

Maybe reading and writing unease and horror is my way of compensating for not being able to pursue my first career choice. My careers teacher at school was having none of it I when I said I wanted to be an assassin.

5. How do you choose your books’ titles?

With very great difficulty. I take ages to come up with absolutely the right titles, and indeed the right chapter titles, too. In these days of sound-bites I believe we’ve all become accustomed to needing something to grab our attention immediately, so I want my titles to do just that.

I’ll leave it to you to decide if I succeeded with the titles of my five published books: In Shadows Waiting, Timeshaft, The Jigsaw And The Fan, To Rise Again, and Thunderlands.

I have a working title while I‘m writing each book, and only make a final decision based on the finished text. In Shadows Waiting is an actual phrase from that book; The Jigsaw And The Fan are two similes described in the novel; To Rise Again refers to something rising phoenix-like in the story (spoilers prevent me from saying what); Timeshaft is the name of the time travel corridor; and Thunderlands is a reflection of a generic world where the short stories in that collection could take place.

6. How many books do you own?

I used to own several hundred, having built up quite a collection since my childhood. Hardbacks and paperbacks. But when we moved house 11 years ago I gave a lot to charity shops so that other people could enjoy them.

As I mentioned earlier, we’ve recently moved house again, and a lot more have gone now, too. My current collection fills just three shelves of a new bookcase in my office. But pride of place goes to around 30 signed first editions by my author friends from all over the world.

Where can you find Stewart?

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stewart-Bint/e/B00D18IARS
Website: http://stewartbintauthor.weebly.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AuthorSJB
Facebook author page: http://www.facebook.com/StewartBintAuthor/

Author Q&A with Stewart Bint