Exclusive Interview with
Bruno Martins Soares
When did you start writing?
I don’t really know how old I was when I started writing stories. I wrote them for school, I’m certain, but the first time I wrote without any academic goal I was 12, I remember that much. I just loved reading and stories and the books I laid hands on didn’t last that much and I had so many stories in my head I just started playing with them until it was impossible not to write them down.
I kept writing different stuff. When I was 22, a friend of mine incited me to enter one of the largest and most prestigious Young Writers’ contests in Portugal. I did and won an Honourable Mention. I tried again two years later and won it. I went to Torino and them Rome and Sarajevo, representing my country as a Young Writer. One of the best times of my life. Then, one day, I decided to write a Scifi novel I had been chewing on for some time: The Saga of Alex 9. I showed it to a publisher who’d just included a short story of mine in an anthology, and he loved it. I was a published novelist one year later, and soon was featured in a series alongside names like George R.R. Martin or Bernard Cornwell, hailed as an author to recon with in Portuguese Scifi. How about that? I wrote more novels and worked in movies, TV and plays. I’ve done a lot of things in my career, but overall, I’ve been writing professionally for 20 years.
What makes writing your passion?
I'm not sure it's my passion. It's just who I am. It's a part of me. Like eating or breathing. I just couldn't do without it. But I guess I'm in love with people in general, in how we behave and what ails us and inspires us. I guess that's it.
How long have you been writing?
37 years, I guess.
What was the feeling when you published your first book?
Elation, of course. But it didn't last long. Soon I was eager for some more! I guess the first time I wrote an article that was published in one of the largest newspapers in Portugal it was more breathtaking. I just kept imagining everyone reading my text.
What’s the story behind your choice of characters?
I like badasses with soft spots. One of my references is Frank Miller – his characters are such badasses. I like characters like that. I also like them to be smart and analytical. I guess my stories reflect my values, my preferred themes, and whatever messages I feel important to put in there.
What annoys you the most in pursuing a writing career?
For most of my writing career, I had to choose between earning money or dedicating myself to my writing. Sometimes I chose to earn money, sometimes I chose to write. Writing is not a very good way to make money. It doesn’t have what Warren Buffet calls ‘Good Underlying Economics’ – that kind of ease in making money you can get by becoming a doctor or a lawyer or an oil-driller. And other work takes a lot of my time. Only recently am I starting to earn good money with my writing, so I’m able to slowly invest exclusively in it.
How do you get over the “writer’s block”?
That's a long answer, as I'm convinced there are several types of Writer's Block. I invite you to read an article of mine on the subject: https://brunomartinssoares.medium.com/taming-the-demons-on-writers-block-and-procrastination-26a016d9b9d6
We all know the writer’s path is never easy, what makes you keep going? What advice would you give to new authors?
I guess I always wanted to be listened to and prove I had value and something worth listening to. So when I write I express myself in all my different facets: I believe in family, I believe in people, and in freedom. I believe we should respect each other and each of us is original, special, and creative. I believe all of us have our own monsters to contend with and that we should treat each other well despite it. And a few other things. So yes, you could say a lot of me goes into my writing.
As for young writers: start with short stories. Be sure you tune your skills through short stories before you put your hands in the dirt and write novels and other large stuff. Be original. Always. Use tropes, but always be original – if you can, stay away from elves, dwarfs, dragons, vampires, werewolves, and witches. Create something different. And write. Just write and write and write.
If you could go back in time and talk to your younger self, what would you say?
It's the structure, stupid. I don’t always write down my structures or make maps or anything, but I’m deeply aware of the structure as I go along. I’m always analyzing and testing my writings against the rules of structure, and I plot and plot and plot. I love when plotlines and storylines come together, and I love subtle foreshadowing, and devising twists, and having characters surprise the reader. Structuring helps us avoid many of the traps and dead ends our stories can step into. It lets us focus on the writing itself when we get to the page and since I learned that, my writing has grown immensely.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with the bad ones?
Yes, of course! The bad ones have to be as natural as good ones. We're in the 'rejection business' and we need to be ready for that. Do read my article on the subject, I guess I have a lot to say on it: https://brunomartinssoares.medium.com/taming-the-demons-on-writers-block-and-procrastination-26a016d9b9d6
What is the feeling when you get a good review?
I'm proud and happy.
Have you ever incorporated something that happened to you in real life into your novels?
I won the Young Creators National Award for Writing in ’96, and represented my country in fairs in Torino, Rome and Sarajevo. I was in Sarajevo when Clinton decided to bomb Belgrade, which was a little bit scary, but not so much as the earthquake we felt a few days earlier.
Overall, it was a special experience for me. I was there 3 years after the Civil War and scars were everywhere. Every single wall had bullet holes in it and some quarters the windows were still covered with United Nations’ plastic, as no window had survived the war. But the worst scars I saw were in the eyes of people around me. You could see they had all gone through Hell. Sarajevo is separated in two by a river and during the war, no-one could go from one side to the other without being shot by snipers. And children could only play outside when there was fog. These kinds of stories were very impressive to me. I wanted to go there because I wanted to learn for myself, up close, the real consequences of war, and I did see them. My parents were involved in the Portuguese Guinea Independence War, and I knew they had been scarred by it. And I’m fascinated by those extreme events. War brings out the best and the worst in people. That’s a little bit of what I try to show in my writings
Which of your characters you can compare yourself with? Did you base that character on you?
Difficult to say. I guess there's a piece of me in every character and at least each male character gives me pause. I tend to Identify with them and fall in love with each female character.
What do you think, the book cover is as important as the story?
Crucial. That's what gets the reader's attention. Even if they know you, they need to see your name. If they don't, they need to have a feeling about the book before reading the synopsis. So, yes.
Do you connect with your readers? Do you mind having a chat with them or you prefer to express yourself through your writing?
I do! In fact, in my first trilogy, THE ALEX 9 SAGA, I asked them to invent characters I would integrate into the story in the last volume. It was a success and I ended up using 6 different characters my fans built.
How do you feel when people appreciate your work or recognize you in public?
Elated and proud!
Who is your favorite author? Why?
I love Virginia Woolf and Ernest Hemingway, but I have a lot of fun reading Douglas Reeman/Alexander Kent – he writes Navy novels, from the Napoleonic era to WW2. My character Byllard Iddo is loosely based on his character Richard Bolitho. I like historical novels, especially about military leaders and units. Love Bernard Cornwell. But the type of story that always catches my eye is the clash of cultures stories – like time-travels or space travels and foreign encounters, like Avatar, Dances with Wolves, Last of the Mohicans, Last Samurai, Tarzan, Shogun, that type of stuff. I also like those types of stories when a team has to be at their best to survive, like Apollo XIII, or Master and Commander.
What’s the dream? Whom would you like to be as big as?
Oh, I just want to be writing until I die and earning a good living out of it - travel a bit, not worry about money. Many years ago, I'd like to be as big as George R.R. Martin or Cornwell. But that's not how I think of it now. I just want people to like my texts and live well.
Would you rewrite any of your books? Why?
Not sure. I don't think so.
If you could switch places with any author – who would that be?
I don't know. I don't really think about it like that. I like being me.
What would you say to the “trolls” on the internet? We all know them – people who like to write awful reviews to books they’ve never read or didn’t like that much, just to annoy the author.
I wouldn't say anything. I tend to ignore them. 'Go to therapy', maybe. I just think they're an occupational hazard.
What would you say to your readers?
Hope you like my books as much I liked writing them!
Share a bit about yourself – where do you live, are you married, do you have kids?
I’m Portuguese, I live in Lisbon, I’m 50 years old and lived in Portugal my whole life. I studied Business and Law. And a whole lot of Psychology. I’ve been writing for 37 years at least. In my 20s I won the highest award for young writers in the nation – along with a few other authors who are the best of my generation. As a result, I represented my country in Torino, Rome, and Sarajevo. I also won an important SciFi/F award for the Portuguese version of THE DARK SEA WAR CHRONICLES. I live and work in Lisbon with my partner Ana and her daughter Diana.
What is your day job if you have one?
I have a small business of HR and Marketing consultancy that calmly pays the bills.
What are your hobbies? What do you do in your free time?
Free time? Not sure I understand the concept. I'm kidding. I'm constantly listening to music, I like playing strategy games and watching TV. Portuguese coffee shops are perfect to hang out with friends and when I really need to relax I go look at the sea.
Did you have a happy childhood?
Sure.
Is there a particular experience that made you start writing?
School :-)
Do you have unpublished books? What are they about?
Many. About 7 or 8, I think. Mostly, they're realistic literature. I have a Creative Writing book to come out, a travel book/novella, and a short-story anthology called BALTIMORE AT DAWN. Most of them will come out eventually. I'm launching a psychological thriller/horror novel this spring, called INSIGHT. It's about Matt, a recent widower who is going through some strange events: his 9-year-old son develops supernatural powers, apparitions of his dead wife become frequent, and he is being followed by a suspicious man. When his son is kidnapped, he dives into a spiral of events of supernatural and/or sci-fi origin. He’ll have to do the unimaginable to save his family
What do you think should be improved in the education of our children? What do we lack?
All kinds of different behavioral skills: Interpersonal Communication and Empathy, Creativity, Time Management, Democratic Decision-Making, Team Dynamics, Meditation, etc. Information-based disciplines, they just Google it. They need some skills about interacting with people and reality that we usually mistakingly take for granted until we are found lacking in adulthood.
If you were allowed 3 wishes – what would they be?
1. Peace
2. Love
3. ... and everybody reading my books.
What is your favorite music?
Depends on the moment. I love many things from Chet Baker to Radiohead, Debussy to Max Richter, Doors to Tindersticks.
Share a secret with us 🙂
I have this thing in my eye I don't know what it is, I'm going to the doctor's tomorrow and I'm nervous.