I’ve always been an avid reader. For me, the hero of a story was the author who wrote it – the person I looked up to, the person I most wanted to be. But it never occurred to me that I could be an author myself, until I read the wonderful ‘Becoming a Writer' by Dorothea Brande. If anyone is thinking about becoming a writer, I can hugely recommend this book. It won’t tell you how to write, but it will tell you if you were born to be a writer.
If you had to give an elevator pitch for your latest book The Sword of Red, what would it be?
Elevator pitches are so hard! You have to spend hours thinking up something that can repeated in 30 seconds. And, if it ever happens in real life, you are so nervous it comes out in a great babbling splurge. But, with the luxury of answering this question in writing, here goes:Robin Hood meets Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in a land of plenty where sword-fighting is for pleasure and everyone is happy. But now a newcomer has arrived – someone who expects to rule, who can’t wait to bring war and chaos to this perfect little world. Exploiting their trusting, accepting nature will be cinch – or will it?
Your lead character’s name Neekra is a little unusual, does it have a meaning?
That’s a very interesting question. Most of my characters’ names are made up and Neekra came to me as a character with a name. It’s not a name I’d ever heard of and I’ve not seen it in a list of baby’s names, although there are people called Neekra out there, both real and fictional.
