Stuart Aken interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

A little introduction:

I’ve been a writer for years, but most of those I was also employed in various jobs. Now, aged 73, I’m retired from the wage-slave environment, and, for eight years, it’s been good to concentrate on my creative aspects. Like most authors, I have many worlds within me, struggling to gather new readers. Most will never be released, but those I’ve managed to expose to the world have so far been well received. I intend to make those that follow as good, or better.

When did your love of books begin?

My parents were readers, and we had no TV in the house until I was 14 years old, so I read from being a toddler. By 11 I’d exhausted the children’s section of the local library and dared approach the formidable lady in charge to ask if I could borrow books from the adult section. She gave me her most fearsome stare and told me because I always returned books in good condition and on time, I could take out one adult book at a time but must pass it before her. That she raised not an eyebrow over my first choice of Erich Maria Remarque’s ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ informed me my future choices would not be censored!



When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

I come from a background and family where the idea I might become an author was never considered. But at 14 I won a school-wide annual prize for a short story, and my English teacher encouraged me to do more. In my late teens I used my camera skills to sell some illustrated articles to the British photographic press. Way back in the 1970s I entered a playwriting contest run by the national TV listings mag, the Radio Times. My play, Hitchhiker, came third in that contest, which was won that year by Willy Russell of ‘Educating Rita’ and ‘Blood Brothers’ fame. After my play was broadcast, I was approach by a West End literary agent. Unfortunately, he was into scripts, and I spent many years submitting work for TV, some of which came close to being accepted. But I eventually realised my subject matter and treatment was too radical for that medium, so I turned to writing novels.



How have you found the process for becoming an author?

I’ve been a member of a few writing groups, which have generally been supportive. And I was a regular reader of writing magazines, which provided help. The creation of stories has always been natural for me. Getting them into a state fit for readers, of course, is a different matter. I’m still learning. Writing is a skill, or more properly a collection of skills that require constant honing and learning. I love the creative aspect but have a real issue with promotion and marketing: the two roles need such divergent, almost contradictory, skills and attitudes.



What would you say to those wanting to become an author?

Read a lot. If at all possible, buy, beg, borrow, or steal a copy of Dorothea Brande’s ‘Becoming a Writer’. Do the exercises, complete the whole process. If you do, you’ll know you’re travelling the right road. If you can’t manage that process, it might be best to recognise writing is probably not for you. Oh, and, please, out of respect for your readers, learn the trade. Understand the rules of the language in which you intend to write. It’s only when you fully know those rules of grammar, syntax, and structure that you can get away with disobeying them.

Tell us about your book/books:

Breaking Faith: a romantic mystery set in the Yorkshire Dales of 1976, self-published in 2008 through YouWriteOn.com, supported by the British Arts Council. http://mybook.to/breakingfaith

The Methuselah Strain: a science fiction novella set in a far future on planet Earth, published in 2011 by Fantastic Books Publishing. http://getBook.at/Methuselah

Joinings: A Seared Sky, Book 1: an epic adult fantasy trilogy published 2014 by Fantastic Books Publishing. http://mybook.to/joinings

Partings: A Seared Sky, Book 2: the second book in this original fantasy published by Fantastic Books Publishing in 2014. http://mybook.to/partings

Convergence: A Seared Sky, Book 3: the concluding book in the trilogy, published by Fantastic Books Publishing in 2014. http://mybook.to/convergence

ME and me: a medical memoir detailing my 10-year voyage through ME/CFS and my recovery. Self-published in 2015. http://myBook.to/MEandme

Blood Red Dust: Generation Mars, Book 1: a science fiction trilogy set a few years hence on a climate-threatened Earth and on a newly-colonised Mars. Published in 2016 by Fantastic Books Publishing. http://getBook.at/BloodRed

War Over Dust: Generation Mars, Book 2: continuing the story set on Mars some 500 years on, published by Fantastic Books Publishing in 2017. http://myBook.to/WarOverDust

Return to Dust: Generation Mars, Book 3: concluding the story and set on Mars and a rejuvenated Earth. Published by Fantastic Books Publishing in 2018. mybook.to/ReturntoDust

An Excess Of…: an environmental/covid romantic adventure set 10 years hence on Earth, published in 2021 by Fantastic Books Publishing. http://getbook.at/AnExcessOf

Also, many short stories in various anthologies, which can be found on my website: http://stuartaken.net/

What do you love about the writing/reading community?

I’ve been part of the writing community for many years and have always found it to be a supportive place populated by many different people. Advice is freely given by most, and mutual support is the default position. It’s a place where new writers are welcomed and listened to with respect and concern for their best interests. Experiences are shared, warnings given about the charlatans who pose as ‘publishers’ etc. A lovely community to belong to.


Where can people connect with you?

Website: http://stuartaken.net/

Twitter: @stuartaken