Hi all, I'm G. Wakeling (Geoff), and am an indie author living in the big smoke of London. Currently, I'm self employed, and as all self employed people do, I juggle a lot of jobs. I have a landscaping and garden design company which keeps me ticking over and outside during the warmer months of the year, and also an online copywriter for a range of retail firms, magazines and web designers. BUT, though I should be working on client articles, I normally have a drooling cat on my lap whilst I'm tapping away at my own work.
What first inspired you to start writing?
I've thought about this over the months - when did I get the inspiration to write Inside Evil (my first novel)? I really can't remember! I was going through some old family things with my mum this summer, as you do, sorting through papers, discovering that mothballed cuddly toy that you're still besotted with, and I found all these little stories that I'd written when I must've only been seven or eight. So, I suppose I was writing from an early age, I just can't remember when I decided to actually write a novel.
Are you a planner? Or do you dive straight into writing?
I'm very organised in daily life - when it comes to writing novels? Not so much. If I have a story I just sit down and write. I can't plan chapters, middles, endings, or even characters, especially the latter because my creations have a funny way of doing what they want and not what I want. I have set milestones, or goals, that I want to reach and I'll have inspiration for certain scenes or conversations to include, but largely it's simply a case of sitting down and writing.
If you could work with any author, who would it be?
You know, I'll probably get some hate from this, but J.K. Rowling. I KNOW that Casual Vacancy has been ripped to shreds, but I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan. She managed to create a compelling story over seven books, intricately wind tiny details and tit bits throughout and bring the epic saga to a conclusion that was loved by the majority of the millions of fans. I think she's a pretty awesome storyteller, and I'd love to sit down for tea, cake and book writing with her.
What do you enjoy most about writing?
Finding out what my imagination has locked away. As I've mentioned, I don't really plan my books. I have a story or character idea, and off I go. As I write, it's my imagination that lets the words flow and I often have no idea what's going to happen. Getting up in the morning and thinking, 'what on earth are Martha and Susan going to get up to today?' is a complete joy.
And the least?
Sitting down to write. Once I'm writing, I'm fine, but I'm the king of procrastination so trying to actually take a seat and open that .doc file can be near impossible sometimes.
What advice would you give new and aspiring authors?
Just to write. Don't worry about whether the book will be a success, whether you'll find an agent, whether people will love your work - just write. Self publishing has been made so easy and so accessible that fears of rejection from publishers can pretty much be banished. Of course, I'd still send work out to them initially, but if there's silence at the other end, just self publish. The most important thing is to practice the craft, write, and get better.
What are you working on at the moment?
I've just finished a new science fiction series and am tying up the ends of the first book, getting the documents ready, cover art etc. Then, I'm to start on the third book of the Inside Evil series. The books are pretty fast paced and packed with drama, and I want to get the next instalment out in early 2013 so that readers don't have to wait much longer.
Tell us about your latest work and how we can find out more.
My latest published work was 'The Tower of Souls' which is the sequel to Inside Evil. Inside Evil is pretty fast paced and ends on a big of a bang, so I wanted to get the sequel out as quickly as possible so readers aren't kept in limbo. Readers of the first book get to enjoy a huge world expansion in The Tower of Souls as one of the lead protagonists becomes trapped in the foreign land eluded to in Inside Evil. Plus, fans of Sam Carter have been happy to see that he finally got a POV.
If you want to find out more, then I have a website: http://geoffreywakeling.com/ and you can read about my two books on Amazon:
Inside Evil: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007JIH0EU
Tower of Souls: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0091SD3JM/
Thanks to Geoff for sharing his thoughts with us, on Friday we welcome Marie Clair to the hot seat.
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