What is your writing process like?
I usually write at fixed time every day. 4.00AM. The first draft, I do anywhere, usually while I'm waiting for something. It is at the second draft the real writing begins.
How do you come up with ideas for stories and characters?
Experiential travel, living in different countries, and working in remote and unusual locations, through seven different careers, has introduced me to a range of unusual characters, broken people, and misfits who fuel the characters I bring to life in my writing.
How long have you been writing, or when did you start?
I completed the Start Writing Fiction course in 2020 during the Covid lockdown in Beijing. Two exercises from week 2 were to describe a writing space, and to imagine a character. I used the writing place for the setting to imagine the character (in my case two). These two exercises became the first chapter of a book and I just kept writing. The story became a series of five books focused on the main character at various stages of completion.
What advice would you give writers working on their first book?
Just write. Forget about formulas and rules. Just write and adjust it later. Be prepared for a lot of hard work. I find writing easy, gerttng it right is difficult and takes time and patience.
How do you develop your plot and characters?
I like all of characters. I know them well, but I can't always predict what they're going to do. Often, I think they'll do one thing, but they do something else. To me they are alive, real. I believe consistency of character is more important than following writing 'formulas', like adding conflict for the sake of having conflict.
How many books have you written, and which is your favorite?
I have written five. I am editing and reviewing Broken Promises, Broken People, the follow book to In Death, As in Life. I had previously written a third book, but I felt there a gap, so I have nearly finished One Day I Will Die, which is the new third book in the series. The fourth book My Life Is a Lie, will need to be partially re-written. The fifth and final book of the series is Beyond the Sea of Sadness.