I’d like to welcome Myron Edwards for #ThisorThatThursday!
Hardest thing about being a writer: Concentration is by far the most difficult thing because in life there are too many distractions, and the number one principle of writing is that you need to be focussed.
Easiest thing about being a writer: Enthusiasm, because once you have the idea in your head you are keen to get it down on paper. That should come naturally if the idea is good, and it shows in your enthusiastic approach to the subject.
Things you need for your writing sessions:
Every writer is different, some like music, I do not, some like background noise, like the TV on. I prefer silence, as I am concentrating on the job at hand and do not like distractions. Sometimes it is unavoidable but in general in my writing I lock myself away and write.
Things that hamper your writing:
Any distractions, noise, music as mentioned. To me writing is a solitary experience, it is also very personal and insular especially if you are crafting a story. The less interference in the process the better. Some people like the hullabaloo not me.
Words that describe you: Creative, imaginative, persistent, stubborn, for starters.
Words that describe you, but you wish they did not: Conceited, stubborn (Again) selfish,
Something you are good at: I suppose my skill set would be in creating ideas that can be turned into a viable product in one way or another.
Something you are bad at: Absolutely no doubt about this DIY totally useless.
Favorite music or song: Well, I played in a band as a drummer when I was younger so the music, I like is the music we used to play. The music is available on the bands Facebook page under Froffy Coffee/Equatol there is also the history of the band on there.
Music that drives you crazy: I cannot stand rap, or the hip hop stuff. Music with out lyrics to me is not music. But then I am old man.
Things you always put in your books: I always try to put a twist in the story, so that the reader is surprised.
Things you never put in your books: This depends on the story and the genre that it applies to. I do not have inhibitions about what I write, some subjects can be taboo, but that depends on what the story entails.
Favorite places you have been: I was in the travel business for thirty years; I have been a travel agent. tour operator, airline manager, conference, and incentive manager. I have travelled extensively, to Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia, USA, Europe so picking one country is difficult, but I have an affinity for Hong Kong.
Places you never want to go to again: Turkey, India
Favorite books (or genre): I like the books by George Macdonald Fraser the whole Flashman series and the classics like Charles Dickens.
Books you would not buy: Mein Kampf.
The coolest person you have ever met: I have met a lot of people in my life from when I was a comedy writer for the BBC, it gave me the chance to work with people like Tracey Ullman, Marti Caine, John Llloyd MBE, Rowan Atkinson, Roy Hudd, the late Douglas Adams, David Jason and the Two Ronnies, and Valerie Singleton who was a client of mine.
The celebrity who did not look like he/she did in pictures/video: I have never thought about that because all of them I met or worked with looked like their pictures, no one stands out that did not, some were taller or shorter than I imagined but they all looked like they should.
The nicest thing a reader said to you:
Probably when you get a good review, and they say what a fantastic story and how much they liked the books. That is very satisfying.
The craziest thing a reader said to you: My books are based on legend and what is surprising is how many people do not know about it, so when they say, “I didn’t know that.” I wonder where they have been all their lives and what they were taught at school.
Besides writing, what is the most creative thing you have done: I have done many creative things in my life, apart from my comedy writing, I was a copywriter for JWT at the time the biggest ad agency in the world, I passed the copy test which no one had done in 3 years and was offered a job at the agency. I wrote my first TV commercial in 10 days. I also have been a creative director in Cyprus where I live and produced ads for TV Radio and posters. I have created games for internet and an arcade machine.
A project that did not turn out the way you planned it: I suppose I have had a few disappointments; the arcade machine prototype was made but due to licencing conditions never got produced, but I think the big disappointment was my first book being made into a film, which could have happened had it not been for the financial crisis.
Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: My whole premise of the first book Mistress of the Rock is based on my epiphany moment when I saw the image of the goddess in the sea. This was the catalyst for me to start writing the story and the legend of the goddess Aphrodite together with the other Greek myths that appear through the series.
Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it is not: My central character is Corporal Richard Cole a British soldier, people who have read the book think the character is based on me, as they see some traits of my personality in him. But it is not.
My favorite book as a child: I won a book in school as I came top of my class in the infant’s school, it got me on the road to reading and writing called a Little Magic for the Browns.
A TV show or movie that kept you awake at night as a kid (or as an adult): Only one and it is still difficult to watch even today, The Exorcist, I kept the curtains closed for months after watching it.
