Welcome to the Author Interview. This time, it features the lovely Nicky Moxey, author of Sheriff and Priest.
If you’re an author who’d like to take part in the series, email me: debbie@myrandommusings.co.uk
Now over to Nicky:
1 Firstly, tell us a little bit about yourself
Well, I was born a long time ago lol.
Ok, I was born in Kenya in 1960, a little before Independence, so I’m a true Colonial. We lived in Africa until I was 18, so I did my high schooling in a boarding school in the UK, spending the holidays at home. I suspect that kind of peripatetic childhood led to my love of books – I could carry them around with me, my friends were more fixed in place.
2 Tell us a little bit about your books
I write two sorts of books; historical novels, and fantasy short stories for children (also vaguely historical; they’re based on my childhood memories).
I’ve self-published them all; the most recent was my 12th novel, Sheriff and Priest, about a really interesting Saxon freeman called Wimer the Chaplain who ended up as the Sheriff of all Norfolk and Suffolk.
He’s a real person (OK, OK, was a real person) and given that we’re only 100 years after the Norman conquest, should never have climbed so far up the career ladder. Not to mention that he was excommunicated not once, not twice, but three times – and was given the land to found the Priory he retired to by the King’s mistress; I still don’t know why. I loved researching him, and the times he lived in.
3 Where do you find your inspiration for your books?
I have no idea where the children’s stories come from.
But Wimer came directly from my other great love, archaeology. I’m a keen amateur archaeologist, having failed to make a professional living from it after college, and I found what turned out to be a church roof tile – and later, after a dig, the whole church – in a place that wasn’t marked on the maps. So I spent a winter in the Suffolk Record Office looking for what I’d discovered, and found my friend Wimer, and his career path, and the young lady in question, and it grew from there.
Similarly, there’s a Bronze Age girl called Anya who is waiting rather impatiently for me to turn the clock back further; she’s had one outing so far, in an anthology of winning stories called Distant Echoes from the Historical Novel Society’s competition each year (she was a long-listed story).
4 What, for you, is the best thing about being a writer?
Seeing the landscape I walk through transformed by the extra layers of knowledge. Some fields are full of monks in brown tunics, tending bee skeps and shearing sheep; other ones are industrial areas, where bronze axes and swords are forged.
5 And the worst?
The page that insists on being written at 3am. Worse than the cat for refusing to give up!
6 If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?
I would like to discover the secret of staying slim without dieting 😀
7 Do you have any tips for anyone wanting to write their first book?
The first draft is the clay out of which you can form the finished work. It’s not ready to show to anyone yet; give it some time in a dark drawer before you pick it up again.
Then think about the shape of the book. Will a reader who doesn’t know the subject like you do get drawn into the story, and fall in love with the protagonist (or hate them, as appropriate)? Is the story arc believable and engaging? Does it actually say what you wanted it to say?
This kind of editing is crucial. Don’t skip it.
8 Tell us one random fact about you
I own a 1/220th share, or thereabouts, in the village pub, which we bought to save it from closure.
9 Who is your favourite author?
No way. Not choosing. Besides, I read across several genres – I don’t think I have a favourite favourite.
10 And your favourite book(s)?
Not going there, either – but one of my favourite technological advances is the thought that if my home burned down, Amazon could repopulate my new Kindle instantly.
11 What book are you reading right now?
For research; Claire Brea’s “Magna Carta”, Frank McLynn’s “Richard and John; Kings at War”, and Marc Morris’ “The Bigod Earls of Norfolk”.
Light reading in the lounge; Richard Dee’s “Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café”.
Bedside book; NK Jemisin’s “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms”.
Kindle; on my phone – Joanna Penn’s “How to Market a Book”.
On my actual kindle; Elaine Powell’s “The King’s Justice”.
12 Where is your favourite place to write?
Any place where I can find paper and pencil. I do quite a lot whilst volunteering behind the bar of the pub, if we’re quiet.
13 Do you prefer to write in silence or do you have a writing soundtrack?
Silence works – or maybe Classic FM or Radio 3. Perhaps some Georgian plain chant, if I’m concentrating really hard.
14 What can we expect from you next?
I’m about 2/3rds of the way through the follow-up to Sheriff and Priest, tentatively titled Son of the Priest. It covers the turbulent years of King John’s reign, and how hard life was for people, and the church. There’s a love interest, too…
15 Anything else you’d like to share with us?
Having self-published 7 books, I now feel qualified to help people through the maze. I’ve set up a small company, Dodnash Books Ltd, which offers a self-publishing consultancy and support service.
16 Where can we find you? (Links to your Amazon page and social media)
Amazon, my Facebook, Wimer’s Facebook page, the Dodnash Books Facebook page, Twitter and Goodreads.
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