It will become clear why my guest blogger this week is Dave Sivers. Most of you will recognise him from Crimefest where he hangs around the bar waiting for a Scottish crime writer to buy him a drink - and that never happens of course.
Seriously though, he made a passing visit to Glasgow last week, so I nabbed him and interviewed him for the blog, asking him some serious and some not so serious questions.
He has a very English accent. An accent that I think belongs to spies. So, in my mind, he is a spy. In my universe, he is a master of intelligence. Not the James Bondy spy shooting people but the more Smiley type of spy (as in John Le Carre not somebody of a happy disposition). I would imagine him strolling along beside the pond at St James Park and feeding the ducks. Another man would then walk up and stand beside him... and a conversation will commence.
'Jeffrey looks good in his tutu by the Danube at night.'
'Indeed, and when the night pig flies, EvKa will also be eating risotto'
And that is very Kim Philby etc etc
But Dave Sivers is not a spy, he is a fan of Queen's Park Rangers. One of three I believe.
Here is how he stood up to my interrogation....
Are you a spy?
Err…
no. NO! Definitely not.
2)
Are you sure you’re not a spy?
I
think I’d know, wouldn’t I? I mean unless someone planted a micro-camera on me,
like some sort of espionage mule. I think the footage would be a bit dull, to
be honest.
This is not an espionage mule, but he had a lovely smiley face...(happt disposition etc)
3)
Would you tell me if you were?
I
guess I’d have to kill you if I did, which would be a shame. Between us we
could probably come up with a nice, grisly method though.
4)
Would you ever have a crime writing encounter in
the toilets at QPR?
I’m
not even sure I want to understand that question! Have you seen those toilets?
Thanks for plugging my team, all the same.
QPR's most famous player is Stanley Bowles. During a televised target shooting programme he once shot the table the pistol was resting on by mistake...
5)
You’re very well-travelled, what is your
favourite place in the world? The blog
features writers who write about Scotland, England, Norway, Greece, South
America, South Africa, India, Japan, France and others ( that was in no order of importance!!) How many of
them have you visited. Was Scotland best?
The
Chilterns, right where I live, is pretty hard to beat. Scotland’s good – I had
a great time in the Bens and Glens many years ago. Favourite places to travel,
though? Tough. New Orleans was unquestionably my favourite city ever, although
I went the year before Katrina - going back one day is on the bucket list. New
Zealand is probably the one country I’d consider living if I didn’t live here. I
loved South Africa too. On your list, South America and Japan are the only ones
I’ve yet to visit.
This is photograph of a Chiltern from the Daily Mail. Not very pointy mountains!
6)
Tell us about Archer & Baines?
DI
Lizzie Archer and DS Dan Baines work out of Aylesbury police station, and cover
Aylesbury Vale, the part of Buckinghamshire where I live. Archer transferred in
from the Met in the first book, The Scars
Beneath the Soul, hoping for a fresh start after a horrific incident left
her facially disfigured and shattered her self-confidence. Baines’s wife was
murdered and his small son abducted by a serial killer over a decade ago, and
he still doesn’t know if his son is alive – but a teenage version of the boy
haunts him in dreams and waking visions. Baines is also in love with his dead
wife’s identical twin sister. When I planned the series, I wanted two
protagonists with powerful back stories that would make readers want to know
what happened to them next. So each book has new crimes and mysteries, but also
new developments in the characters’ lives.
7)
Like me, you have another job as well. Do you
have a writing routine?
My
other job is part-time and has no set routine, either when I work or where,
although I do have quite a bit of notice. I also have an allotment on which
things need to be done at certain times of year, and those jobs can be quite
weather-sensitive. So I plan from week to week and build in writing sessions
where I can. I do try to put in an hour before breakfast most days and also aim for a solid half-day
during the week whenever the diary allows. I am able to write on trains and in
cafes though, so even otherwise busy weeks can have quite a bit of writing
squeezed in.
To be Hank, is rhyming slang for being hungry.
You should be able to work that out yourself.
8)
How many languages do you speak? Do you speak cockney
rhyming slang?
I
speak English moderately well and managed better than I expected with my rusty,
failed O Level, schoolboy French in Provence a few years back. I’ve been
accused of speaking double Dutch and rubbish. I know quite a few cockney
rhyming slang phrases, but doesn’t feature much in my everyday dialogue. I
don’t want to be mistaken for an extra from My Fair Lady or, even worse, a Dick
Van Dyke fanboy.
9)
Why do you independently publish?
I’m
a lifelong scribbler. When I took early retirement from the day job, I’d been
seriously trying to get a novel published for an awfully long time. Feedback
from agents, publishers and readers whose critical opinion I trusted was very
good, but the traditional deal wasn’t happening. I originally dipped my toe in
the indie ebook water just because I needed to try something different. Five
books on, with the sixth almost here, I love the control that having my own
business and brand gives me. The process that gets the book to market, in terms
of editing (I now use a professional copy-editor as well as four trusted
readers), putting together the book ‘package’, and drawing up a launch plan –
but all the ultimate decisions are mine, including price and marketing
strategies. I now publish in paperback as well as ebook. I think if you’re
professional, put the work in to offer the best product you possibly can, and –
most important of all – write a good book, readers won’t know or care how it
was published – they just want a good read. I’d never say never about anything,
but I’m more than happy with my writing job as it is.
10)
The
artwork for your covers is some of the best I have ever seen. Can you tell us
how you achieve that?
Thank
you! But the simple answer is, I got lucky. The original Archer and Baines
ebook covers I made myself, photoshopping relevant local scenes with fancy
filters and adding text – and the response was quite complimentary. But when I
decided to branch out into paperback, I knew I didn’t have the technical skills
to get the dimensions just right, do the spine etc. I belong to the Alliance of
Independent Authors (ALLi), which has a vibrant online forum. So I asked for
recommendations for a cover designer, and the name that kept coming up was
Jessica Bell. A glance at her website showed that she was exactly what I wanted,
and it’s amazing having such a talented, professional artist on my team. She
understands the brief and works with the author to get the cover just right.
The Archer and Baines covers have drawn a huge number of admiring glances, and
a number of other authors have used her services on the strength of them.
Reading Tolkien is a bad hobbit to get into.
11)
What is the book you wish you had written?
That’s
simple. The Lord of the Rings. Maybe
with a side bet on any one of a number of Stephen Kings – Salem’s Lot, The Shining or Christine
would do nicely.
12)
Any advice for the up and coming novelist?
Before
you worry about your route to publication, really learn your writing craft. Read,
read, read, especially the sort of stuff you want to write; do courses, but
check out who’s teaching – I’ve seen courses on how to write a novel advertised
with tutors who haven’t a published novel to their name; go to festivals and
start networking and being exposed to panels and speakers on books and writing
– you’ll come away inspired, with lots of buzzy new ideas. The surest way to
disappoint yourself is to submit something to an agent, or self-publish it,
before it’s really good to go.
It’s
also never too soon to start building your online presence – a website, a blog,
social media. Ideally, you need to have all this in place at least three years
before your first book is published, because these days you’ll need those
platforms, whether you’re traditionally or independently published. The online
crime fiction community is incredibly friendly and generous in its support, and
you’ll be able to see how experienced authors go about promoting their work
before it’s your turn.
Dave Sivers 15 01 2016
