Julie Morrigan
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Q&A: Liam Sweeny

6/10/2012

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Liam Sweeny has just re-released his first novel, Anno Luce, into the world. I've read it and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I wanted to ask Liam some questions about it. Here's what he had to say.


Tell me about your book.

Anno Luce is about the return of Jesus (in the book, Yashua King). I wanted to focus on realism with it. Yashua is a character, aside from who he is. He doesn’t exist in a vacuum of religious dogma, and those who come to believe that he’s the returned Jesus go through much doubt and scepticism. There’s something for everyone in the book; humour, contemporary culture, current events and controversy. Though it’s considered Christian fiction, it doesn’t read like that.


What was your motivation for writing it?

When Hurricane Katrina hit, in the days following, I felt tremendous emotion for the people trapped and displaced. And when I heard certain televangelists (who shall remain nameless) say that God used Katrina to punish a sinful city, I had to write a book in which Jesus could confront people who would say such things in his name. But about ten pages in, the story took a life of its own.


How long did it take you to complete?

It took four weeks of writing time, seven weeks total (I spent three weeks in Louisiana in between).


What's your favourite part of the creative process?

I like getting in that zone where I have my coffee by my hand, the cigs aplenty and a scene and a voice that are just coming out of me. That opening line; that opening paragraph. The first interchange of dialog that sets the tone between characters.


How much difference does an editor make?

An editor makes all the difference. I never realized that until I had an editor. Authors write from what is in their head, and what is their style. But, while both are important, you can’t always make people see what’s in your head, and your style, however good it may be, can confuse people. Above all, you want a book that people will want to read. An editor makes that possible. Editors are readers with an expertise on what readers expect, and can accept
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What are your views on e-book pricing?

E-book pricing is a touchy subject. The reason, in my mind, that it’s so tricky is that, while there will probably never be an objective pricing standard among independent authors, there is an objective ‘number of sales’ — it is a number of e-books sold. I’ll give an example; author A and author B write a similarly-sized book in the same genre, both books equally good, and both authors put in an equal amount of effort in marketing. Author A sets the e-book price at $5.99, and author B sets their price at $0.99. Author B will sell more copies, due only to price. Now if there was an equal author C who gave their book away for free, they would ‘sell’ the most copies. It becomes a race to the bottom.

Setting various levels of e-book pricing can be considered a marketing tool, but if ‘e-book only’ authors want to make a living as authors, some consensus around e-book pricing needs to be reached; otherwise, it’s the wild, wild, west.


How do you feel about interviews?

I like interviews. I’m a loudmouth. But even if someone isn’t, they’re important. People want to know about the person who writes a book they enjoyed, or might be interested in buying. Anything to promote interaction.


How do you feel about reviews?

They’re more important to authors than readers think. Many readers pick up a book on Amazon, read it, like it and don’t take that last step to go back to Amazon and say a quick word about it. Reviews tell sellers like Amazon that a book should be moved up in the ranks.

In terms of detailed reviews, good or bad, they’re still bringing attention to the book. So they’re always good. But it’s more difficult, I think, getting people to review longer books.


Thanks, Liam. Anno Luce is available from Amazon in the UK and in the US.

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Q&A: Pete Sortwell

3/10/2012

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I'm delighted to welcome Pete Sortwell to the blog today. Having appeared in a number of anthologies with his darkly funny short crime fiction, Pete's just published his first book, a comedy novella.

Tell me about your book.

The Village Idiot Reviews is something of a new concept (if I do say so myself). It’s certainly something I haven’t seen before. It essentially a comedy novella, however it is written entirely in the format of a person leaving a review. If you didn’t guess, it’s written by a load of idiots who live in a village.

A few of the reviews will start to appear on Amazon. Although I’ve written them in such a way that should anyone suspect them not to be just a laugh then they may well find themselves in the title of the next idiot review book.

What was your motivation for writing it?

Simply put, I wanted to make people laugh and take another step toward being a ‘writer’. I also saw a lot being written this summer about the review process and what better way for a writer to use the subject other than to take inspiration from it and write, and if I could do it well, even better. Basically I put all the effort I could have put into moaning about the behaviour of others into writing this and as a result, I’ve come up with possibly the best thing I’ve written so far.

How long did it take you to complete?

Two weeks. Putting in between three to six hours a day most days. Then another two days to do the second draft, which I put in about twelve hours on both days.

How much difference does an editor make?

It makes a huge difference, certainly to my work. All my work goes through an editor these days. It’s a relationship that I need to trust someone and that’s something I’ve found in my editor. I couldn’t ask for a better professional. Once I’ve been through my own work a couple of times it’s always positive for someone else to and who better than someone who does that for a living? I certainly believe my work is something worth investing in.

How important is a good title?

I think they’re pretty important, it’s the thing that will get spoken about the most, other than your name (and I’ve got a pretty good name too) so if it’s catchy then people will be more likely to remember it. I’ve not really thought myself good at choosing titles before now, I normally steal one of my musician friend’s song titles. So Low, So High and Die Happy, Die Smiling being two of those. I do think I’ve managed to get something decent with this one, something that gives me scope to take the series onto other things.

How important is a good cover?

Again, I think it is very important and is something else I’ve invested in for this book. I think what me and the designer came up with is really good. I’ve seen some covers on Amazon from self-pub’d writers and they’ve been embarrassingly shit. Funnily enough most of the covers in the charts on Kindle, particularly all seem to have decent covers.

What makes you keep reading a book?

If someone makes me laugh, that would. I like new and interesting stories and topics. The ultimate page tuner for me is one with good dialogue, lots of it.

What are you currently working on?

I’ve just started the second Idiot Reviews book, The Idiot Politicians Reviews. Hopefully out at the end of October, if not before.

How can we keep up to date with your news?

You can ‘like’ the Pete Sortwell — Author page on Facebook. That’s where I’ll be doing most of the talking until I stop spending all my money on book covers and editing and pay for a website. Or, of course, if I make some money from this writing lark.

What would your epitaph read?

‘I wouldn’t look behind you, that bloke is touching himself.’



Cheers, Pete — best of luck with the book and with the rest of the series. The Village Idiot Reviews is available from Amazon in the UK and in the US.


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    Julie Morrigan

    Bestselling UK author of crime and horror titles.


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