AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Michael Davies

Tell me about yourself. What got you started in writing?

I have one of those cliche stories about always writing stories as a child and then continuing it into adulthood. I used to write for my younger brother and he would love the stories I told him. I am fortunate enough to have had family and teachers who also encouraged me and believed in me. My friends at school and college also loved to hear what I was working on. 

How do you schedule your writing time? When do you write?

Mornings are the best time for me. I like to write before anyone else at home wakes up. Sometimes I will also try my hand in the evening but I am such a morning person that I usually fall asleep if I try this. 

How and where do you write? Do you prefer a lap top or some other method of getting your words down? 

I have multiple methods. If ideas come to me while I am driving I will use my phone to record them like a dictaphone. Sometimes I will still use the old pen and paper to write a couple of scenes here and there as well. Usually though I will be sat down at a desk with my PC and work using Scrivener. 

What's your favorite part about writing? Your least favorite part about writing?

My favorite part is seeing a world you have imagined come to life. That world will stay alive as long as the words you have written survive. I think every book contains something of your heart, dreams or aspirations. I like to think it can connect you with something that until then had remained hidden.

My least favorite part of writing is when I have two scenes that I know need to connect and one is in the future but I can’t figure out how it is connected to the one in the past. I tend to write a different chapter in that case until inspiration hits me. For my first novel in The World Of Pangea I re wrote chapter 10 multiple times because of this issue. Every time I drafted it I didn’t like the way it connected with everything else, so I kept trying again. 

How did you come up with your book idea? How long did it take you to write your book?

I think the idea of The World of Pangea has been in my head for quite some time, but creating a world from an idea is quite a task. The story line has been in my head since I was 18, but initially it took place in a Terry Pratchet esque world and I just thought it was far too strange for anyone to ever want to read it. So I took the story line and put it into a different fictional setting but one I felt that readers could relate to much more easily. From starting on The World Of Pangea in this new setting to the time I finished it probably took me about 2-3 years. 

What types of marketing do you do to promote your writing?

I probably need to do more. I have guest blogged, visited libraries, spoken at schools but not as consistently as I should. I’ve also sent the novel off to various places for review. Every little bit helps.

What are you currently working on? Do you have a new book out? 

I am working on the second part of the trilogy. It is not out yet but is approaching the end of the first draft. It develops the female characters a lot more and introduces the reader to some new places, as well as some new heroines and heroes. 

Do you have a project on the back burner? Tell me about it.

I have a file on my computer where I put all my ideas. I don’t like an idea to go to waste. One of the more intriguing ones is a science fiction piece. It’s just a scene I wrote of someone dying, but in the process blowing up a ship that was close to annihilating their entire planet. I am not sure where it will go but I already have in my mind the back history that led the conflict to that point.

What would you tell a beginning writer who wants to publish but doesn't believe he/she has enough talent?

Firstly, you have to believe in yourself. Secondly you have to be committed. Writing every other week won’t get a book finished, you need to write daily even if it’s just 15 minutes each morning. Thirdly, read a lot. The more you read particularly in the genre you want to publish in, the more you will recognize what is good and unique and how your word crafting can improve. Fourth: Believe in what you’ve written. You are writing it for a reason, it’s obviously intriguing to you so believe it will be intriguing to others also. Twilight started out as a dream, now it’s made the author millions. 

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The link to my novel and video trailers can all be found at www.theworldofpangea.com