1. How did you get started writing?
I quit a job a grew to despise (teaching) and just jumped in. I have been a screenwriter for twenty years, so I knew I could write. I took a big risk just jumping ship, but it’s turned out just fine.
2. Out of all your books, which one is your favourite and why?
Probably Star Cat, my sci-fi cat series. Jelly Anderson, the MC, is a superhero – and a cat. Sounds about right to me, anyway! Actually, of all six books, i think Star Cat Forever, the sixth and final entry, is my favorite. It’s INSANE and has so much action. Probably a little too much action, if I’m honest. It’s absolute carnage, and an epic at over 100k words. It took me a few months to recover from writing the series, but it was worth it.
3. If your friends were asked to describe you in one word, what would it be?
Insane.
4. What is your favorite thing to do outside of writing?
I have a few things, but my obsession is movies. I am a walking, talking film encyclopedia, (or IMDb as my friends might say.) I’m on IMDb actually, check me out. You’ll be surprised at the movies I’ve been involved with.
5. What do you love most about the genre you write?
I don’t write in any one genre. I writer satire, crime, thriller, sci-fi, humor, horror… I’m a firm believer that storytelling is universal, and that anyone creative focuses on the story, and not the genre. It’s a reflection of my tastes. I love everything, so long as it’s good.
6. What do you want readers to take from your books?
The desire to continue reading that particular genre until they’ve run out of books of mine to read, AND, I hope, the desire to follow me into my other genres. I’ve learnt quickly that readers, real hardcore readers, fall in love with the storyteller, no matter the genre. Well, the superfans do, anyway. Stanley Kubrick, the greatest filmmaker we’ve ever had, made a movie in each genre (horror, war, drama, history, sci-fi). And each movie is great. It’s got nothing to do with the genre, but the talent of the storytelling and filmmaking. I’m not comparing myself to Kubrick in any way, but it is a mindset I am emulating.
7. Describe yourself in 3 words.
Affable, unconvinced, passionate.
8. What made you decide to write in your current genre?
I think I might have answered this in an earlier question. if you were to ask me what made me to decide to write, period? The answer is easy. I can’t not write. It’s undoubtedly what I was meant to be doing all along.
9. Tell us about your current release/or new release?
Sunday August 3oth, my heist/crime thriller RED COLLAR is released. It’s the ultimate bank robbery – high octane, a rich plot, interesting characters, and twists and turns you’ll never see coming. I wrote it on the fly, and even I didn’t see most of it coming. It’s goddamn AWESOME. I wrote it because I wanted a decent heist story, and I’ve re-read it twice now, just for fun. it’s some of my best work.
10. What does your writing space look like?
Clean and tidy, and lots of space. And, crucially, it’s an office in a room in my house. My wife and I moved from a small apartment recently, and choosing the house we moved into was dependent on having an office, finally!
11. What’s the one piece of technology you can’t live without?
Internet. No contest.
12. Do you find it hard to kill off your characters?
I LOVE killing off my characters. I find it very cathartic. Lots and lot and lots of my characters die. Those who don’t end up regretting they didn’t, or go on to life a life of suffering. The good guys and the bad guys. Most of the time, anyway. Life is cruel, but my books can be crueller. I invent characters simply to kill them off. In a book I wrote recently, I had one more character than I needed, and built him up (sort of) in such a way that you think we’s one of the main characters, and then I blow his brains out when you least expect it. it’s very important to me that readers are surprised, and know that anything can happen. And it very often does. Nothing more boring than, say, knowing Captain America won’t lose, and won’t die. Even when Marvel killed everyone off, they weren’t dead after all. That’s just cheating. My characters die, usually quite horribly, and stay dead. Period.
13. How much of your characters are based on your traits or someone you know personally?
Pretty much every character I’ve ever written, or will write, is a hybrid of ME, usually mixed with someone I know. I mean, how could it not be? There’s a bit of me in the good guys and the bad guys. There’s a bit of my mom in characters, my wife in others, sometimes there’s A LOT of some of my friends. it’s all messy. I never, ever think of my characters in terms of people I know. I’m far more likely to create a character based on my own supposition of someone I’ve seen, either in a movie, or just on the street when I’m out walking.
14. What are you working on now? Can you share a teaser of it with our readers?
Just finished Red Collar, and I’m about to start another high-concept thriller. Can’t say much else about it now, other than to say it’s called THE CHOICE.
15. Is there one genre that you have not written in yet, but would love to try writing?
I’ve written in all genres. Even romance, under a pen name. (No, I’m not kidding and, no, I’m not telling you who she/he is!)
16. What do you do when a flash of inspiration hits you at an inopportune moment?
I commit it to memory and NEVER write it down. If it’s still in my head the next day, then fine. If it’s STILL in my head a week later, then it’s likely going to be used somewhere. But, if i forget it… well, the chances are good that it wasn’t worth exploring.
17. What keeps you going while writing?
Anything ending with “eine” – caffeine, nicotine… morphine… only one of them is untrue.
18. What’s next for you?
What, right now? Dunno. It’s 5am. Probably bed.
19. Where can we find you on the internet?
Email: andrew@chromevalleybooks.com
Facebook: facebook.com/chromevalleybooks
Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Andrew–