In my latest interview on Blazing Minds I got an opportunity to ask horror author PJ Blakey-Novis a few questions about how he got into writing, his influences and his recent novella ‘Four’
Q. How did you originally get into writing professionally?
A. I started work on a novel (The Broken Doll) back in 2016, just as a hobby really. At that time, I had absolutely no idea what to do with the book when it was finished, but quickly learned about the options available for self-publishing. To be honest, I never expected anyone to actually read the book, and knew little about promoting it. There is every chance that, if it had not sold, then I may not have continued writing, certainly not to the extent that I am now. Thankfully, the book received a string of five-star reviews within a week of its release, and that pushed me to write the sequel.
Q. You are now focusing more on the horror genre with your writing, what attracts you to the horror with your stories?
A. I fell into writing horror almost accidentally, after seeing a call for submissions for short horror stories. I’d always enjoyed horror movies but hadn’t written any horror at that point. I wrote a story and was surprised to have it accepted into an anthology, as well as being paid for it. That was the point at which I started writing more horror shorts, leading to the release of my first collection – Embrace the Darkness. My horror books have done fairly well, and I would say that I’ve found the right market for them.
Q. How would you describe your style of writing?
A. Concise is a word that first comes to mind. Writing predominately short stories, and novella-length books, it’s essential to get as much of a story as possible into a smaller word count. The stories themselves are quite different to one another, with some having more of a slow-burning, creepy feel, and others hitting the reader with outright bloody violence.
Q. What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a new story?
A. Trying to find an original story idea can be difficult, and perhaps there are no truly new ideas. Fitting that outline into a short story can be challenging too, especially when it comes to any background stories, and character development. Even if the story is short, the reader still needs to feel something for the characters.
Q. How long does it take you to write your stories?
A. It varies a lot, if I’m honest. I don’t plan out short stories; I just get an idea of one particular scene and write around that. Sometimes it will just flow in a way that I expect, other times it goes off on a tangent. Some stories I’ve written in a day, others have taken a week or two. But there can be weeks between ideas for a new story.
Q. Your latest book is a Novella called ‘Four’. Can you tell me a little bit about the concept for the book and what we can expect?
A. Four was an idea I had one evening, and actually came together very quickly. I wanted to write something longer, but as my preference is short stories, I found a way to combine four shorter stories into one longer one. Four tells the story of a group of friends who go camping, each taking turns to tell a story which may frighten the others (hence, the shorter stories within the whole). Of course, things take a turn when not all the stories appear to be fictitious, with some serious consequences for the group.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the book?
A. I love camping, and this has featured in a number of my previous short stories. The plot for Four gave me the opportunity to write a book which essentially revolves around camping, but also the chance to throw in some alien technology, serial killers, ghosts, and more. If the idea of combining shorter stories into one longer one came from anywhere, I’d have to give a nod to the fantastic You Only Get One Shot, by Kevin J. Kennedy and JC Michael.
Q. You are part of the company Red Cape Publishing which supports indie authors. Can you tell me a little bit about the company and how that came about?
A. I formed Red Cape Publishing along with my wife (Leanne) back in 2017. At the time, we had my own books out, as well as a digital magazine, and Leanne was studying graphic design. Having everything under one name gave us a recognisable brand name, and led to us offering additional services, such as book promotion, cover design, and now editing and formatting. We are also in the middle of putting together a series of four, multi-author, horror anthologies, the first of which will be out in September.
Q. There is also Red Cape Graphic Design which is a subsidiary Red Cape Publishing, can you tell me a little bit about that side of the business?
A. Red Cape Graphic Design is Leanne’s part of the business. She offers a range of design work which includes book cover design, social media promotional images, bookmark design and printing, leaflets, and even book trailers.
Q. Who are some of your biggest influences as a writer?
A. I would have to say that the biggest influences, and support that I’ve received, have been from the Indie writing community. There have always been people, whom I have connected with through social media, who have been willing to help with advice, feedback on my stories, even buying and reviewing my books. There are so many talented writers who have chosen to self-publish, that I rarely read anything from the large publishers now.
Q. You look to work with and promote other independent authors, is there anyone who we should be looking out for?
A. I’ll take the opportunity to name-drop a few of the writers who not only have exceptional books, but have been great influences and inspirations to me; you can’t go wrong with any books by Lou Yardley, D.J. Doyle, John Evans, Kevin Kennedy, Marc Johnson, or Toneye Eyenot, and they are all awesome people. There are a lot more, but I can’t list them all.
Q. Do you have any new projects you are working?
A. I’m currently swamped with editing work, and putting together our multi-author anthologies, so writing has been put aside for the past few weeks. That said, I have made a good start on the third book in The Broken Doll Trilogy and have an idea for a novella that I plan to start in September. There will also be a follow-up to Four coming early next year.
Q. What advice would you give to someone who is looking to get into writing themselves?
A. The most important thing is to get it written. Write the story your way. There are plenty of books which give general advice on writing techniques and styles, but very few of these are actually useful. Self-publishing doesn’t have to be insanely expensive, but there are some things that you will need to pay for if you want the book to sell, and for the reviews to be positive. Pay an editor, pay for professional cover design, find people willing to read the book before you publish it so you can get some feedback, and resist the temptation to publish it too early. Steady promotion leading up to a launch day is effective; there are plenty of ways to promote books which cost nothing, or very little. And price it right – look at similar titles and how much they cost, bear in mind that you may not have a name that anyone will have heard of, yet.
You can follow PJ Blakey-Novis
www.facebook.com/pjbnauthor
www.twitter.com/pjbn_author
www.instagram.com/pjbn_author
You can purchase books from PJ Blakey-Novis using the following links
Four
Embrace the Darkness & Other Stories (Collection I)
Tunnels & Other Stories (Collection II)
The Artist & Other Stories (Collection III)
Karma & Other Stories (Collection IV)
You can find out more about Red Cape Publishing on the following
www.redcapepublishing.com
www.facebook.com/redcapepublishing
www.pinterest.co.uk/redcapepublishing
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
Related Posts
