BEN COULTER
- Guest Author -
G'day folks,
Welcome to the life and times of an author with a great sense of humour from the UK - Ben Coulter.
Welcome, Ben ...
TELL
US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY.
I currently have
three books available in paperback and for Kindle at Amazon. They make up The
Poisoned Saints trilogy. They are gritty-crime-thrillers with a generous
dashing of humour, love and suspense.
WHEN
AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A WRITER?
It sounds ridiculously
clichéd, but I really have been writing, in one form or another, as far back as
I can remember. A vivid memory was screenplays around the age of 7 or 8 that I
put in big brown envelopes and gave out to family members as Christmas
presents! Lucky them!
WHAT
TYPE OF PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR
JUST SHOOT FROM THE HIP?
The initial idea usually comes whilst
driving, which then starts a whirlwind of thought, characters, plot twists
etc ... That I’ll jot down somewhere, usually my phone. Then, I’ll write the
first few chapters and start more solid structure planning from there.
WHAT
DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
Releasing these
demons that taunt my eggshell mind onto my laptop for someone else to deal
with.
WHAT
IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
My other job is running my own electrical business,
nothing about writing is hard compared to that. As soon as I can give it up and
write full time, I will. Writing is the best job, ever. If you find it hard;
don’t do it. I often hear, or read, people moaning about being on their own, in
their own head, for long periods of time. Well, that’s the best part for me. I
love it. If you don’t it’s really not for you.
WHAT
WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?
If you mean
reincarnation; I was definitely on the Asian continent somewhere, probably the South
Eastern part. Living next to a beach, watching my two young boys crash about in
the sea whilst I eat some kind of coconut infused curry with my partner. I long
to regress.
WHAT
IS YOUR GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT?
Poisoned Saints hitherto.
With over 10,000 downloads and 65 5-star reviews.
WHAT
ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?
Another
crime-thriller involving a war photographer and a prostitute. And, of course,
some highly unpleasant gangsters.
WHAT
INSPIRES YOU?
Life. My life initially, and regrettably.
DO
YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?
In the famous words
of a certain evil, worldwide, money hungry whore of a corporation “Just do it”.
Don’t spend too long on the ‘whys and hows’, if you think you’ve got a good
idea, get writing. The more you write the more the creative side of your brain
kicks in and takes over. Then, tap into the eternal source all around you and
spew your brain out all over your awaiting laptop. You can always edit after.
Life’s too short for editing as you go!
DO
YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?
Nope, never. Lucky I
guess; I’m touching the wooden piece of furniture next to me as I type.
DO
YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?
No. Just whenever and
wherever I can. The creative process isn’t a uniform thing, for me anyway.
DO
YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE WRITING PLACE?
Nope. As long as I
have power and an internet connection I’m good to go. Oh, and solitude of
course! The misanthrope in me comes out whilst writing. But not towards the
world of which I’m creating, of course.
WHAT
IS YOUR GREATEST JOY IN WRITING?
The indescribable
feeling of writing ‘The End’ then leaning back in your chair, as you feel as
though you’ve just reached the top of a magnificent mountain climb. A climb you
started at two in the morning, in the pitch black. And as you smile at the
screen, the sunlight blazes out from behind the surrounding mountains and
lights up your soul. Bliss.
WHO
IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?
Joseph Conrad. His
‘wordmanship’ is second to none, and his stories excite me more than any others
I’ve read.
WHAT’S
THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?
Just saying they
loved the book and couldn’t put it down. Maybe when it’s brought them to tears,
too. I’m a bit deranged like that.
WHAT
WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A READER?
Some imbecile on
Amazon, claiming my dialogue was over the top! It’s how I talk a lot of the
time, it’s how people I’ve grown up with talk, if there’s one part of my book
that is perfect in every way, it’s the dialogue. I’m a massive fan of dialogue.
So I took it very personally and wanted to track him down to his home address,
then torture him whilst giving him examples of angry dialogue from the book,
just to prove it was real. There is a lot of localised dialect in my books.
Street slang etc.. Most people who have left their mother’s basement in the
past ten years, though, will understand it perfectly well.
WRITERS
ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?
Yes massively so. The
main character in Poisoned Saints learnt all he knows from me, unfortunately.
OTHER
THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?
Travelling and music.
I’d die if I couldn’t do/have either of them. Literally crawl into a ball and
die.
DID
YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK / BOOKS PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?
Yes! Without
question. Anyone who doesn’t is either a genius or a narcissist. Every stage of
the editing process is vital to the finished product you release to the world.
Ignore editing at your own peril. I learnt lessons with my first book, which
was expertly copy edited by my editor, but not then proof read several times by
others, after. Some pedantic reviewer noticed this, wrote it down for all to
see, and all shall see for the rest of the books Amazon life. Although these
mistakes have now been rectified!
DESCRIBE
YOUR PERFECT DAY.
My past life as
described above. Maybe with a good movie, or two, at the end of it.
IF
YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WITH ONE PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE? WHY?
I have to say my
beautiful and constantly supportive partner, of course. But if she didn’t fancy
it, Jim Morrison. As long as he brought that special cactus of his.
WHAT
WOULD YOU SAY IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO SPEAK TO WORLD LEADERS?
Stop acting like
small children in a playground. Fighting over what belongs to who, and embrace
the fact we are all one infinite energy source. Which works much better
together, respecting everything that has evolved for us to enjoy on this great
planet.
WHAT
ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
To regress to that
former life I mentioned.
WHAT
FIVE BOOKS WOULD YOU TAKE TO HEAVEN?
I don’t believe in
heaven, but, for the purpose of this question:
1: Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad.
2: The Art of
Happiness by H.H. The Dalai Lama.
3: Story by Robert
Mckee (so I could lend it to others and they could write their own books, thus
more reading material).
4: Thus Spoke Zarathustra
by Friedrich Nietzsche (so I could finally finish it).
5: The Satanic Bible
by Anthony LaVey (just to be controversial up there).
DO
YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ANY OF YOUR CHARACTERS?
All of the male ones,
to a certain extent. The good ones anyway. Not those nasty badies.
DOES
THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY FRUSTRATE YOU?
Yep. But it’s not
their fault. Is it?
DID
YOU EVER THINK OF QUITTING?
Many a, many a, many
a time. But it’s not something I really have any control over, not if I want to
stay sane anyway.
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE ‘SUCCESS’ AS A
WRITER.
People saying they’ve enjoyed your books.
WHAT’S YOUR ULTIMATE DREAM?
To write full time,
from any chosen destination in this magnificent world.
WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THE LAST BOOK
YOU READ? GOOD ONE?
Survivor on The River Kwai by Reg Twigg. An amazing book
written by an amazing man. You think you’ve got problems in life, sailing along
on this 21st century techno filled zephyr? Read his book and realize
just how good you really do have it.
WHAT WOULD BE THE VERY LAST SENTENCE
YOU’D WRITE?
Nigh’ night you beautiful bastards.
Links to videos are:
Amazon links are:
Clancy's Comment: Thanks, Ben. Well done on the downloads and 5-star reviews. Keep at it.
I'm ...
Think about this!
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