Exclusive Interview with
Clayton Graham
When did you start writing?
As a youngster growing up in the cobbled streets of Stockport, UK, I read a lot of science fiction, and loved the ‘old-school’ masters such as HG Wells, Jules Verne, Isaac Asimov and John Wyndham. Short stories were penned from an early age, but I did not start writing novels until I retired.
What makes writing your passion?
Combining future science with the paranormal is my passion. I love exploring what could happen to the human race in the future, within a universe [or multiverse] we are only just starting to understand.
How long have you been writing?
What was the feeling when you published your first book?
A great sense of achievement coupled with not a little relief.
What’s the story behind your choice of characters?
People like you, people like me. Put them in the future to face uncertain challenges. Let them meet people [including aliens] that they do not initially understand. Let them grow.
In Milijun, for example, Laura Sinclair is a single mother who faces impossible odds. And she has a teenage son to boot!
What annoys you the most in pursuing a writing career?
How do you get over the “writer’s block”?
Doesn’t happen very often, but the best remedies are either a complete break for a few days, or maybe just a walk to sample nature and get back to reality
We all know the writer’s path is never easy, what makes you keep going? What advice would you give to new authors?
The best advice I would give to new authors is to keep every word you write, or that enters your head. The advent of computers certainly helps with that. Some of my best ideas come when awakening, so a pad and pencil by the bedside is essential.
You may use those words ten years or more hence.
If you could go back in time and talk to your younger self, what would you say?
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with the bad ones?
Yes, of course, especially just after publication. Bad ones [thankfully very few] I just ignore. Some people just get out of the wrong side of the bed in the morning.
What is the feeling when you get a good review?
Have you ever incorporated something that happened to you in real life into your novels?
Which of your characters you can compare yourself with? Did you base that character on you?
What do you think, the book cover is as important as the story?
Not as important as the story, but in this media-driven age extremely important. Perhaps not so much for hardback books, but certainly for eBooks and Paperbacks.
Do you connect with your readers? Do you mind having a chat with them or you prefer to express yourself through your writing?
Yes. I have a website, a monthly newsletter, an Author Facebook page, a Readers and Reviewers group, and a Twitter account. Time consuming, but well worth it.
How do you feel when people appreciate your work or recognize you in public?
Who is your favorite author? Why?
Dean Koontz, especially his earlier works. He is a master at making the paranormal normal – which it probably is.
What’s the dream? Whom would you like to be as big as?
Would you rewrite any of your books? Why?
If you could switch places with any author – who would that be?
No one really. Happy as I am.
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.
What would you say to your readers?
Many thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the journey [and maybe spread the word]. Love you all.
Share a bit about yourself – where do you live, are you married, do you have kids?
I have five grandchildren, two children and a spouse. And that’s quite enough for now, thank you.
What is your day job if you have one?
What are your hobbies? What do you do in your free time?
I love walking, gardening, animals of all shapes and sizes [even alien ones], and family get-togethers. Travel, too.
I hope my novels enable people to travel in their minds, and wonder a little bit more about what is out there in the universe and how we all relate to it. To finish with a quote from my latest novel:
“Like the worm in the soil, or the spider in the web, we know nothing of creation save that of our immediate surrounds. For that is all we need to know in order to survive.”
~Terran translation of an ancient Rbuzen saying, prior to the aliens’ discovery of extradimensional space.
Did you have a happy childhood?
Is there a particular experience that made you start writing?
Do you have unpublished books? What are they about?
What do you think should be improved in the education of our children? What do we lack?
If you were allowed 3 wishes – what would they be?
What is your favorite music?
Share a secret with us 🙂