Reading Away Life: Author Interview

Friday, August 16, 2013

Author Interview – Nhys Glover

How long have you been writing? All my life ( a very long time)

When did you first know you could be a writer? A published writer? When Barbarian’s Mistress had 16,500 downloads world-wide in five days. Suddenly I realised that I’d found my way to my readers.

What inspires you to write and why? Writing is an obsession with me. It’s an addiction I’ve had since childhood and have only been able to feed when my life allowed it. Now I have a lot of time to write. It’s a way to escape the ‘realities’ of life, but more importantly, it allows me to explore my inner world. I write because it feels good. And I like doing what feels good.

What genre are you most comfortable writing? Romance – particularly adventurous, different romances like time travel, paranormal and the less-popular historical (Roman).

What inspired you to write your first book? I wasn’t inspired to write and publish Labyrinth of Light, I was driven to write and publish it. I was symbolically processing the trauma of the worst year of my life – cancer and the death of my son – and I did it using a tool that had always been my favourite: storytelling.

Who or what influenced your writing once you began? Traci Harding is an Aussie fantasy writer that I discovered at the time I started seriously considering publishing my work. She talked about being the channel for non-physical ‘people’ who wanted to get their story out there and her stuff resonated deeply with me. I realised that I could do something similar.

Who or what influenced your writing over the years? My own life experiences and the people I worked with in a variety of fields, from prison in-mates to gurus. My life has been eventful.

What made you want to be a writer? I didn’t want to be a writer, I just always was one. Finding readers who ‘got’ me made me want to write professionally. It’s addictive to have people read and enjoy what you can create.

What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general? Everything after the first draft! I love researching and then the creative high of getting the story down in first draft form. I hate the tedium of corrections. It’s like having to watch the same great movie over and over again. But it’s a necessary evil.

Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it? I learned a lot more about the Edwardian era and the Titanic. A fascinating time and an amazing ship! It also taught me that I could see an historical event from many points of view, and that I could entwine those points of view to create a clearer picture of that event.

Do you intend to make writing a career? Yes

Have you developed a specific writing style? Not really. I don’t think about style when I write. I just try to say what needs saying in the most effective way. It’s like asking a centipede how it walks. If I tried to analyse my style I’d fall flat on my verbal face.