Welcome to my blog interview.
I am pleased to
introduce the amazing Jim Webster
Hello Jim. Tell us a bit about yourself.
Well, I’m getting to
the stage where calling myself fifty something is stretching the truth a
little, I’m married with three daughters, have no real dress sense, or so I am
informed. I farm, am a freelance journalist, writer and whatever.
I’ve been a reader of
SF and Fantasy since the 1970s and early on discovered the writing of Jack
Vance, and he taught me that if they aren’t the same genre, there’s a very
broad fuzzy borderline between them.
I’ve written six
novels, four fantasy and two SF, and I’m currently publishing a collection of
novellas covering the antics of one of the fantasy characters I created.
I live in South
Cumbria, England, and frankly why would anybody live anywhere else? Between the
hills and the sea, with the best of both.
What bought you to the world of writing?
Frankly, and
unromantically, it was the need to eat regular meals. If you’re trying to
support a family on a small farm, you have to have as second income. So I
drifted into freelance journalism. People kept saying I should write something
more ‘permanent’ and when I got a chance I wrote ‘Swords for a Dead Lady’. Once
you start writing, stopping is the difficult bit.
What is your first book and what do you think of it
now?
My first book was
‘Swords for a Dead Lady.’ I confess that I’m still proud of it, still think
it’s a cracking good tale, and it’s still my baby. I took the hero from that
and am continuing his adventures in the novellas.
What type of books do you write and do they fulfil
your reader’s needs?
I write Fantasy and
SF. I’m not precious, I hope I present the reader with a good story, well told,
that enables them to escape for a while. Reading a good Fantasy of SF book
should be almost like taking a holiday, without all the faff of packing or
dealing with airlines.
Would you like to
feature a book, if so which one? Tell us
about it?
I’ll mention the
latest, ‘Woman in Love.’ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Woman-Love-Port-Naain-Intelligence-ebook/dp/B01H04MHK4
It’s a novella, about
20,000 words and it’s one of a collection. What I did was write, edit and set
up for publishing six of them. You can read them in any order, (a bit like the
Sherlock Holmes stories.)
They follow the
exploits of my favourite hero, Benor, who is living in the city of Port Naain.
Each story is self-contained with a mystery or crime to be solved.
In the current one,
to quote the blurb, “Asked to look for a missing husband, Benor finds that the
female of the species is indeed more deadly than the male.”
How long does it take you to write your first
draft?
Depends of how long
I’ve got and what else I have to do. I have written 75,000 words in a month.
But other books have taken longer because life gets in the way.
Do you plot or not, if so why?
Yes, but on the hoof.
I have a basic outline in my head. But the detail, the twists and the turns, I
work out as I’m going along. I’ll take a walk and whilst walking I’ll ponder an
episode, work out motivations and suchlike. So during writing the plot can
twist and turn no end.
Do you write in 1st or 3rd
person, or have you do both?
Normally 3rd
person. I’ve done stuff in the first person but never a book
How do you edit your work? Do you leave your draft alone for a while or
edit as you write?
I edit as I write.
I’ll often start work by reading yesterday’s work and correcting it. I’ll also
go back and change bits so they fit with what is now happening.
But when I’ve
‘finished’ I’ll put the book down for three to six months and then come back to
it to edit it. Then it goes to my professional editor
What type of people/readers do you market your
books to?
Persons of infinite
good taste, wit and perspicacity. Anybody found reading one of my books
immediately becomes not merely more attractive, but it improves their credit
score.
On a more prosaic
level, I think that the majority of my readers, or those who get in touch with
me, are ladies of mature taste.
Do you self-publish or have you worked with an
Agent/Publisher
Both; I’ve dealt with
small publishers and feel that for them the business model is broken. They
depend for their survival on one of their authors breaking into the big time,
and effectively helping to fund everybody else. But when an author breaks through
into the big time, they allow themselves to be lured away to join the stable of
one of the bigger companies.
How do you promote your writing?
Badly. I only
remembered I had to promote this book a fortnight before it was launched.
I tend to do blog
tours and mention it casually on Facebook.
Where can we buy your books?
The ebooks are
available on pretty much every format. The paperbacks are available through
bookstores but you’ll have to order. The best way to get the paperbacks is
through Amazon, for example https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Hard-Trade-Jim-Webster/dp/1785382233/
Who are your favourite authors?
Jack Vance
undoubtedly. Cordwainer Smith, but of modern writers I’d mention Will
Macmillian-Jones, (I love his Banned Underground series,) and M.T.McGuire
What other hobbies do you have?
Military history,
wargaming, walking
A short piece from the story.
Tallis said thoughtfully, “Bald as an egg? There
used to be a fashion amongst young men about town for shaving your head
entirely. About ten years back. Some people got their heads tattooed as well
but I thought it had faded away.” He smiled and then declaimed quietly;
“As bald as an egg
Was Philinious Begg
Both his suit and his mistress were brash
Some would not quail
To tell you his tale
But I’m a poet, not a sweeper of trash.”
Benor stood up, “A friend of yours?”
“Briefly.”
Benor was intrigued, “A fellow artist then?”
Tallis shook his head. “Alas no, he was a
librettist, a composer of romantic ballads whose words are sung by drunken
stevedores to their lady loves. Purveyors of sheet music fawn upon him and
compete to shower him with gold.”
Benor nodded, he was beginning to understand the
ways of the literary fraternity.
Links.
One of my characters,
Tallis Steelyard, keeps a blog.
I also have one, but
I make a point of not doing author stuff on it J
My ‘Land of the three
seas’ has a Facebook page where I tend to put stuff
And of course I’ve
got an Amazon author page
http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B009UT450I/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?
No comments:
Post a Comment