ERNEST HEMMINGWAY

'The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof shit detector.'

RUTH RENDALL

'I get a lot of letters from people.  They say "I want to be a writer.  What should I do?"  I tell them to stop writing to me and to get on with it.' 

Perfect 10

 

Perfect 10 is simply brief and informal interviews with other writers, some aspiring and some successful.

The interviews on this page are with: Alan Ingram, Alex McIver, Jen Christable, L.R. Quilter, and David Gardiner.

 

Alan Ingram

 

James: Before we get to deep - tell me a bit about yourself (where you’re from, family, occupation etc)

 

Alan: Hi my name is Alan Ingram, I’m 42 yrs old and single, I live in a town called Corby.

I work for Oxford University Press and I live at home with two brothers, my mother and depending on their mood between 6-8 cats, which reside there when the whim takes them.

 

James: How old where you when you first wrote poetry or prose and what inspired you?

 

Alan: Seriously when I was 40 yrs old, I was looking for somewhere to post my scribbling anonymously on the net, and voila I found the perfect site ABCtales.com. I was very bored one day, looking for a new easy hobby so I decided to give writing a bash.

 

James: What was your first story/poem called and what was it about?

 

Alan: It was called ‘ I’m just a boy who can’t say no.’ It involved time travel, murder and a million dollars. It still resides in my sets of work on ABC.

 

James: Do you still have your first written work, or is it lost forever (and if it is lost are you glad it’s gone?)

 

Alan: No I still have it, read above.

 

James: What inspires you to write today?

 

Alan: Sometimes I create from scratch and just go with it, sometimes things that have had a direct impact on me more personal for instance make me write.

 

I think as you gain in confidence; you find it easier to write things that previously might have been considered a no go area. You also have more faith in your ideas whatever the source might be, and that could be phrase, a passing comment, or a TV item... maybe even a song.

 

James: What are your favourite three books and who are your three favourite authors?

 

Alan: Aztec by Gary Jennings, Lord of the rings by JR Tolkien, Wilt by Tom Sharpe.

 

James: Do you have any current writing projects and what are your plans for the immediate future?

 

Alan: Just various short stories and other bits, my plans are to continue building my collection and to try and improve. Once I have a decent set of work, I may work on get them published as book... self-publishing of course.

 

James: Have you ever been published or have you any literary awards/achievements under your belt?

 

Alan: No.

 

James: Are you an author who has embraced the Internet or are you a technophobe?

 

Alan: Without the Internet I wouldn’t have writing as a hobby today, Sites like ABC, UKA and Writewords are very addictive, especially in regard to the feedback you get on these sites.

 

James: Finally. If you had control over your future where would you like your life and your writing to be in ten years time?

 

Alan: I think I’d like to see some of my stories appear as on screen as plays or dramas, I’m not really that interested in magazines either virtual or real print.

 

I’m always very reluctant to cut or edit out portions of my work, I can always visualise the whole of my story being played out, hence why I’d like to see some of my work as live drama or film, to see if it would hold up.

 

I hope in ten years that I’m alive and happy. I can see some improvement in my writing since I began, so I hope to continue up the scale. Apart from that I’d like to think I either needn’t have to work or be working somewhere I enjoy.

 

James: Thanks Alan for your time, it was a pleasure. 

 

 

Alex McIver.

 

James: Before we get to deep - tell me a bit about yourself (where you’re from, family, occupation etc)

 

Linear: I am a 23 year old from Gloucester. I used to be a struggling student, now I’m a struggling cleaner trying to become a struggling technician. I have two brothers, two parents and one fiance.

 

James: How old where you when you first wrote poetry or prose and what inspired you?

 

Linear: I’ve had ideas for stories for quite a while. I tried writing them down a few times in my teens but never stuck too it. I started writing properly when I turned 23. I was inspired by reading a lot since I was a child.

 

James: What was your first story/poem called and what was it about?

 

Linear: My first complete story was “The exciting world of science”, I wrote it when I was around 19. It was a sci-fi story about some lazy scientists.

 

James: Do you still have your first written work, or is it lost forever (and if it is lost are you glad it’s gone?)

 

Linear: The first version is lost forever, but I re-wrote it this year from memory. I don’t really miss it, but it would be interesting to see how different the re-write was.

 

James: What inspires you to write today?

 

Linear: Ideas buzz into my head all the time, I am easily inspired. It is picking out the good ideas and making them work that troubles me.

 

James: What are your favourite three books and who are your three favourite authors?

 

Linear: Too many to favourite books to choose from, but somewhere in my top infinity are: Tanya Huff’s “The second summoning”; Mary Gentle’s "Grunts” and Terry Pratchett’s “Night watch”. And three of my favourite authors are; Robert Rankin, Tamora Pierce and Douglas Adams.

 

James: Do you have any current writing projects and what are your plans for the immediate future?

 

Linear: I have a lot of projects on at the moment. A couple of sci-fi novels. A handful of fantasy novels that I can’t quite get a handle on. And some horror stories that I have to get out of my head.

 

James: Have you ever been published or have you any literary awards/achievements under your belt?

 

Linear: Nope, nope and nope. But I am working on it.

 

James: Are you an author who has embraced the internet or are you a technophobe?

 

Linear: I have embraced the internet. I get a lot of my advice and encouragement from other authors over the internet, and I have found this invaluable.

 

James: Finally. If you had control over your future where would you like your life and your writing to be in ten years time?

 

Linear: I would like to be married and living in some sort of impressive mansion. That would be nice. As for my writing I would like to get some of my stuff published.

 

James: Thanks Linear for your time, it was a pleasure.

 

 

Jen Christabel

 

James: Before we get to deep – tell me a bit about yourself (where you’re from, family, occupation etc)

 

Jennifer: I was born in a Birmingham suburb, and came to live in Devon when I was a wee thing of 20, and have stayed here ever since. I had always intended to go into uni at some stage but left it until I was 30, when the kids had both started school. I packed away my secretarial suits and studied for 11 years obtaining an honours degree in history, a postgrad certificate in education and a postgrad diploma in Imperialism. After getting my first degree in 1997 I started lecturing in history, but there is very little work in the field and so I just continued my studies. About 2 years ago I decided to take-up writing again and turn my back on education and that is all I do these days, apart from housework of course! I am married with two children and a faithful old cat. My main hobbies are writing and genealogy and I do this whilst having my ear-drums pounded by UB40! I am also a serial-shopper!

 

James: How old where you when you first wrote poetry or prose and what inspired you?

 

Jennifer: I first started writing both prose and poetry when I got my first typewriter at the age of 8. I continued tapping away for years until I married and moved to Plymouth, then it all stopped. I remember writing stories about holidays on my dad’s yacht and the teacher accused me of telling fibs! My mom and dad were called in to the school, and the teacher had egg all over her face when they confirmed that what I said was true! I used these stories to make up a series of ‘shorts’ about a little girl, her dog and her adventures whilst on holiday.

 

James: What was your first story/poem called and what was it about?

 

Jennifer: I honestly can’t remember as I was too young. But I know it was about some adventure a little girl had whilst on holiday with her parents.

 

James: Do you still have your first written work, or is it lost forever (and if it is lost are you glad it’s gone?)

 

Jennifer: Noooo, it’s long gone. I recall it being on the wall at school though!

 

James: What inspires you to write today?

 

Jennifer: I cannot say everyday life inspires me as I predominantly write in the mystery/crime genre. I do read/watch a great deal of real-life crime and often these stories can spark something off in me, and I begin to ponder, twist it around and often end up with a completely different story! Mind you saying that, I will sometimes catch a snippet of conversation in my shopping ventures, a bit of gossip here and there and that can set-off a spark of a story.

 

James: What are your favourite three books and who are your three favourite authors?

 

Jennifer: The Lodger (Stewart Evans and Paul Gainey, about Jack the Ripper), Kigsaw Man (Paul Britton, Britain’s leading forensic psychologist) and The Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated Communist Woman (Alexandra Kollontai, she was Lenin’s right-hand woman). I suppose the authors I have chosen are fairly predictable: Agatha Christie, Val McDermid and Ian Rankin.

 

James: Do you have any current writing projects and what are your plans for the immediate future?

 

Jennifer: I am 7 chapters into Johntorman, which is concerned with a series of murders linked to an internet chat room. I have ground to a halt on that for the moment, as I am busy writing little ‘shorts’ for UKA and possible publication.

 

James: Have you ever been published or have you any literary awards/achievements under your belt?

 

Jennifer: Only this week I have sent off some short stories to various magazines for consideration in their 2006 publications. Fingers crossed, nobody has come back to me and said ‘no’ as yet!

 

James: Are you an author who has embraced the internet or are you a technophobe?

 

Jennifer: I have used computers since my first job in an accountants when I was 17 and have been working with them for employment, study and pleasure ever since.

 

James: Finally. If you had control over your future where would you like your life and your writing to be in ten years time?

I am happy with my life and family, but I am really hoping that I can make headway with my writing. I would like to have either my novel or a book of short stories published by the time I am 50.

 

James: Thanks Jennifer for your time, it was a pleasure.

 

 

L. Roger Quilter.

 

James: Before we get too deep - tell me a bit about yourself (where you’re from, family, occupation etc)

 

QBall: I am a 75 year old retired electrician and served in the Royal Canadian Navy for 22 years. I am married with two children and four grandchildren. Born in London and raised in Croydon I have lived in Canada since 1954. During my navy years I drew several cartoons and wrote many odes. They helped relieve boredom at sea.

  

James: How old were you when you first wrote poetry or prose and what inspired you?

 

QBall: I suppose I enjoyed what was called composition in school. I loved writing at the age of around twelve. I prefer writing humour and always sought comical situations in all aspects of life. I write for my own enjoyment and tell people I have a devious mind. I enjoy putting my creative ideas down.

 

James: What was your first story/poem called and what was it about?

 

QBall: Absolutely no idea. Since I began to write seriously, after I retired, I have three unfinished projects. One is a detective novel, “Die, Shamus, Die!” entered in a competition for unpublished authors. I received a certificate for ‘her’ outstanding novel – ticked me off! It was also turned down by BeWrite. I have finished a rewrite and maybe we’ll go with that from now on. An autobiography, “Life’s a Cockup!” and “Ship of Fools, HMCS Penelope” a compilation of tales woven into a full story about my misadventures in the navy. Trouble is, after being subjected to foul language for years, I hate to include it in my writing and navy life is full of ‘fowl’ language - what a hang-up!

 

James: Do you still have your first written work, or is it lost forever (and if it is lost are you glad it’s gone?)

 

QBall: I have retained all my written works for the past 12 years. Some programs from my old computer I haven’t been able to reopen yet. Not sure what my first story was.

 

James: What inspires you to write today?

 

QBall. Anything and everything. I am very lucky because I never suffer from writer’s block. Lately I feel I have to write against war. Read my short story, “The Crater” on BeWrite. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink!

 

James: What are your favourite three books and who are your three favourite authors?

 

QBall: No favs. I read Tolstoy’s War and Peace when I was unemployed back in the fifties and found it a bit dry. One or two stories have held my attention, Something of Value, by Robert Rouark (a story about the Mau Mau) and Watcher in the Shadows, by Geoffrey Household. I used to enjoy books by Tom Clancy, but there are a couple of his that I stopped reading after two or three pages. Ludlum and Wilbur Smith I also like. Robert Benchley is a great humourist.

 

James: Do you have any current writing projects and what are your plans for the immediate future?

 

QBall: My detective novel is top of the list. I also want to finish off a lot of short stories under the title, “Hysterical History.” This is an outlandish project even by my standards. I am contributing to Bewildering Stories.

 

James: Have you ever been published or have you any literary awards/achievements under your belt?

 

QBall: Apart from a lot of stories on websites, I have one story in an anthology, “The Thorn in the Rose,” published by BeWrite. Proceeds so far amount to about $4 and I owe the Canadian Diabetes Association half! I still have that certificate for Shamus!

 

James: Are you an author who has embraced the internet or are you a technophobe?

 

QBall: Without a doubt the internet has encouraged me. The problem is that feedback is rare. Everyone wants it, but is not willing to give. I have works on BeWrite, UKA, Gold dust, Bewildering Stories and too write among others.

 

James: Finally. If you had control over your future where would you like your life and your writing to be in ten years time?

 

QBall: Who cares? I’ll be 85. Hopefully some of my work will be published and I can achieve my dream of contributing money towards a cure for diabetes.

 

James: Roger thank you for your time, it was a pleasure.

 

 

David Gardiner

 

James: Before we get too deep – tell me a bit about yourself (where you’re from, family, occupation etc)

 

David: I was born in 1947, the only son of an Irish country GP and a former nurse. She retired from nursing after she married my father. We lived in a small town in Co. Donegal in the Irish Republic until I was 10, then we moved to Belfast, and finally to Birmingham when I was 16. I was a solitary child, with lots of hobbies like amateur radio, astronomy, photography, chess and model aircraft. I had a very fragmented childhood and attended a multitude of different schools, but I don’t think it did me any harm. My father died in Birmingham and my mother and I moved back to Belfast, where I went to night school and eventually University. Financially we were reasonably secure but my mother had what were probably mental health issues and was very difficult to live with. I got on well with my father. After graduating I taught in England for a while, then went to London University to do a full time M.A. in Philosophy. When I completed that I was invited to register for a Ph.D. which I tried to do part time, but never finished. As a part time student I got into the habit of drifting from job to job and was also preoccupied with Utopian communes and trying to find the perfect alternative to the nuclear family. I ended up (you’ve guessed it) in a nuclear family setup with my partner Jean and our adopted daughter Cherelle (and now Cherelle’s boyfriend as well) living in a big, once communal house in London. That brings me right up to the present. I earn my living at the moment as a care worker in an organisation called Maidstone Community Care Housing, which houses and looks after people with mental health problems. I love travel, scuba diving, writing of course, and I have a keen interest in science and the natural world.

 

James: How old where you when you first wrote poetry or prose and what inspired you?

 

David: I was taught to read by my mother before I went to school and one of the things we did together was make cartoon strip stories with speech bubbles, so I suppose I was writing stories of a kind from about the age of five. When I went to school, because I was already able to read, I found a lot of the lessons very boring and became disruptive. The nuns who taught me discovered that if they let me sit at the back and write stories I was perfectly happy and didn’t bother anybody, so that was what they did. Sometimes they got me to read my stories to the class, and that made me very proud.

 

James: What was your first story/poem called and what was it about?

 

David: It’s far too long ago for me to remember and has thankfully been lost in the mists of time. My earliest stories were mostly about spacemen and aliens, because the first Journey Into Space series (written by Charles Chilton) was on the radio at the time and I was quite obsessed with it.

 

James: Do you still have your first written work, or is it lost forever (and if it is lost are you glad it’s gone?)

 

David: I refer the honourable Member to the answer that I gave some moments ago.

 

James: What inspires you to write today?

 

David: All kind of things: travel, my own life, what’s in the news, overheard conversations—but perhaps most of all, song lyrics. My story The Lodger was inspired by the words of Paul Simon’s A Most Peculiar Man, another one (which is presently in a competition and hence removed from my site) by Leonard Cohen’s Seems So Long Ago Nancy, my Angel and Musky trilogy (humorous stories) by Olivia Newton John’s Sugar Me, and so on. In song lyrics you often get a very concentrated idea that has a high emotional charge and can be unpacked into a good short story.

 

James: What are your favourite three books and who are your three favourite authors?

 

David: A very difficult question. Favourite books: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Favourite authors: O. Henry, Kurt Vonnegut and Kazuo Ishiguro. All these might change the next time you asked me. Generally I like a well-written short story better than anything else.

 

James: Do you have any current writing projects and what are your plans for the immediate future?

 

David: I suppose I have two current projects. The first is a follow-up to my Rainbow Man short story collection. I think I’ll call this one The Other End of the Rainbow. The other is a project that has already gone on for more decades than I care to admit, and that is a novel loosely based on my student days in Belfast during the rise of the Provisional IRA and the start of the “troubles” that have only just come to an end (we all hope). I have a huge mass of material but it’s shapeless and a lot of it isn’t up to publication standard. My retirement project when the time comes will be knocking it into shape so that it works as a novel. I think it has good possibilities but still needs a lot of work.

 

James: Have you ever been published or have you any literary awards/achievements under your belt?

 

David: Two published books, Sirat, which is a sci fi novel about the first emergence on earth of electronic intelligence, and The Rainbow Man and Other Stories, which is a collection of 23 of my short stories, all originally web-published and/or published in small magazines etc. I was also runner-up in the 2002 Fish Short Story Competition with a story called Letting Go, and have been placed in a few smaller competitions. My very first success of any kind was with a short story (a parable really) called Blind Date, which won a local radio short story competition back in the mid 1990s. That is still one of my most popular pieces and has been reprinted and recycled more times than anything else I have written.

 

James: Are you an author who has embraced the internet or are you a technophobe?

 

David: I love the Internet and suffer withdrawal symptoms if I have to stay off line for any length of time (e.g. when I’m travelling).

 

James: Finally. If you had control over your future where would you like your life and your writing to be in ten years time?

 

David: I’m happy enough with my life as it is. I would like to be retired so that I could devote all my time to writing. That should happen (fingers crossed and any new legislation permitting) in seven years time, so that part of my wish should come true. The other thing I would like would be for someone to make a film of Sirat, which I think would work well as a low budget rather contemplative sci fi film. I can visualise the scenes very clearly when I close my eyes.

 

James: David thank you for your time, it was a pleasure.