I am very excited to let you know that I will be featuring talented authors on my blog going forward. This is something I have been wanting to do for awhile now, but had to put it off due to other priorities. Not that it’s getting any better now, but I figured I can’t push it out forever. So, each week we will hear from authors from around the globe about their writing journey and what inspires them.
Without further ado, I give you this week’s featured author, Pat McDonald from the Great Britain.
Tell us a little about yourself—don’t’ be shy!
I am British Crime author Pat McDonald, I live in a rural part of the Midlands, United Kingdom. I previously worked as a researcher, project manager and programme manager in the National Health Service and in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. I have been a full time novelist since 2013 and published eight novels.
There are so many things one could do. Why write?
After a lengthy career as a researcher it was time to express my acquired knowledge in a different way. I have spent my working career writing all kinds of formal and academic reports, papers, books, and sundry procedural documents on many subjects promising myself that one day I would write fiction which I have always wanted to do. I can only describe it as an ‘itch’ that I cannot scratch. Writing and reading are my prime focus and it is something that I need to do. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner, however, I have achieved a great many other things along the way and can say, hand on heart, that I am proud of most of them.
Publishing can be a daunting process. Do you have moments of doubt? If so, how do you stay motivated?
As a writer I have no difficulties in staying motivated because it is something I like doing, something I have to do and do it every day. Only ill health has taken me away from my routines, although it is writing that has helped me through the most recent and serious of times. Every writer has doubts I imagine even the most successful ones. My biggest being at the outset and learning how to be an author, accepting the role, being able to admit ‘I am a writer’ is something I had to grow into. The biggest challenge of all comes when you open up the office door and allow someone else to read your work.
In the beginning I had no idea how to become published because since the days when you were given a contract to write a book, with an advance on royalties the whole publishing world has changed. Yes publishing is daunting but these days there are far more opportunities than years ago to see your work in print. I was lucky in that I wrote to two publishers outlining my first book, one e mailed back to say it wasn’t their type of genre, the other asked me to submit 30 pages for a free critique. I seriously wanted to learn what I might need to do to improve and be given advice. I got an offer back instead and so began the publishing process. It’s long, it’s arduous and sometimes a painful process, but after five books I began to enjoy it! It even became therapeutic when after a major op I couldn’t write or type, I used it during the recovery process.
What about your latest book—what can readers look forward to when they pick it up?
My latest two books, published a few months apart are totally different. When I was diagnosed with a brain tumour three years ago I began to write my humorous series to help to keep my spirits up during the long recovery process after surgery (carrying on recently because it grew back and I had to have other treatment). My latest book A Bad Penny is Bk3 in that series (A Penny for Them Bk1 and The Penny Drops Bk2). The Penny series follows the extraordinary life of Benjamin Matthews who up until his 31st birthday led quite an ordinary life; he tells one white lie which sets him off on a series of unfortunate incidents and discoveries about himself. A Bad Penny sees him living out in United Arab Emirates with his family trying to avoid an amorous undercover police officer who took a shine to him and tried to separate him from his family. But then nothing ever goes smoothly for Ben.
The other book Echoes of Doubt takes a character from my first trilogy (The Blue Woods trilogy) and who disappeared into the Witness Protection Programme to escape from some ruthless criminals. He changes his name to Cyrus Bartholomew and buys a clock shop in a sleepy seaside town. After two years of hiding, his next door neighbour at the Art Gallery is brutally murdered in his bed which sets him off wondering if the perpetrator mistook the Gallery for Time and Tide his clock shop. I wrote this book because I liked this odd character and also because strange things were happening to me at home, so I wrote them into the plot. I would invite a reader to guess which ones.
If one of your books were to be optioned for a movie, who would you hope would play your lead character?
One or two people have mentioned that the Penny series should be made into a comedy series and because Ben has the face of an angel, one that most people find able to trust, I visualized him as someone like Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins) with big eyes and an innocent face. Having said that how I visualize one of my characters isn’t necessarily how a reader would see them. I only had one trailer done for ‘Getting Even: Revenge is best served cold’ my first book and because my publishers are in America and my crime books are about British cops they picked people that I wouldn’t have chosen including US cops! It would be difficult to watch someone else’s interpretation of your characters I imagine.
Who are your three favorite writers and why?
I was weaned on classic books like Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Austin, Bronte, Dumas etc. When I joined my first book club at fifteen I moved on to more modern authors. Of note I would have to say Stephen King has been the biggest influence because of his imagination, his vivid prose and exquisite style. I have just begun to catch up with his latest work. My tastes are wide and meeting a great number of new authors since joining social networking I have connected with many authors and now read/review a variety of books that catch my eye.
My interest in humour has been fueled by Ian Hutson and Aaron David both of whom are incredibly funny and they have influenced me to dabble in humour. Ian Hutson’s photography at the seaside down of Mablethorpe inspired me to place my character in an imaginary seaside town.
I still have a problem with fantasy or what I call ‘high fantasy’ because it is so far removed from my own gritty realism. However I have dipped into Frank Herbert’s Dune for the first time and now read all of his books, which has sparked an interest in Science Fiction. James Dashner’s Maze Runner series is far better than the movie versions.
There are too many books and too little time.
If you could be any character from a movie or a book, who would you be?
My problem with this question is that all the characters I would want to be are men! I just watched The Dark Tower (Stephen Kings 7 book epic, which I have and read the first six) with Idris Elba as The Gunslinger, a really cool dude. He has taken the edge off Keanu Reeves as John Wick and I can honestly say I do not know why they appeal to me as I am not one bit tough or aggressive. But the wilting damsel I am not! But then Frank Westworth’s character JJ Stoner the assassin with his Harley Davidson is another one.
I don’t think they quite knock Rutger Hauer in Blade runner off the top spot though. “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.” That’s classic.
When you are not writing, what’s your favorite way to spend time?
Reading what other people have written and watching films and some crime/thriller dramas.
What is the best way to connect with you?
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/Pat-Mcdonald-502374626484358/?ref=bookmarks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/issyblack
Amazon page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pat-McDonald/e/B00R372WK4/ref=la_B00R372WK4_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1525946357&sr=1-1
Thank you, Pat! You can never go wrong with the Gunslinger, great choice! Your comment about the real challenge of opening your door and allowing someone else to read your work hit close to home for me too. Thank you for spending time with us today and giving us a peek into your beautiful world. Wishing you every success with your new releases.
If you have comments and suggestions about featured author segment, please let us know below. If there is an author you would like us to feature, do let us know as well.
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Next week, we will be back with another talented author. Until then, keep reading. I will leave you with this quote to muse on.
“A little talent is a good thing if you want to be a writer. But the only real requirement is the ability to remember every scar.” ~ Stephen King.