Paula R. C. Readman interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

A little introduction:

My name is Paula R C Readman, and I write in the style of the Victorian Gothic mystery writers because I prefer to chill my readers rather than use blood and gore to scare them. My books are more cosy horror than full on. Though they all contain an element of crime. I have had over a hundred short stories published in various anthologies, by five small publishing companies and have won several writing competitions

When did your love of books begin?

My love of books started when a new library opened in our village in the 1960s. My mother took me in and told me to select some books. I was so excited and eagerly selected some to read, holding them to my chest ready to take them home. A lady came over and asked my mother if she had a library card. Mother said “no”. The librarian explained all she needed to do was to fill in a card. Mother told me to put the books back and dragged me from the building. My mother had learning difficulties and could hardly read or write. My father, an avid reader, would share books with me, mainly sci-fi though his main love was westerns. At sixteen, I had to catch a bus to work, so I would take a book to read while waiting, I also carried a small dictionary with me to look up words I didn’t know the meaning of or was unable to pronounce them.

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

Twenty-four years ago, I sat pondering my forthcoming birthday while building electronic units in a factory. As it was one of those milestone birthdays when one evaluates their life, I felt mine was lacking in artistic achievements, so I decided to tackle my dyslexia as this had held me back throughout my early life.

Was it possible for someone like myself to get something into print?

This might’ve seemed an easy challenge to others but being dyslexic and poorly educated, along with a lack of funds and limited time I decided my best option was to learn from books. These I could take into work to read in my break time. My husband had an account with eBay so from here I selected second-hand books within my price range to read.

From the ‘How to’ books, I learnt there was far more to writing than I could have imagined. After buying over two hundred and fifty books my husband finally told me just to get on with the writing. In 2009, I submitted to a call-out by English Heritage for a writing competition and to my utter surprise, my ghost story was selected. In 2011, I entered the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival/ Writing Magazine Short Crime Story competition to win a luxury weekend at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. My short story Roofscapes became the overall winner, and the inspiration for my first crime novel, Stone Angels, published by Darkstroke.

How have you found the process for becoming an author?

It’s been tough at times, and slow, but taking the traditional route I decided was best for me mainly because I lacked confidence in my ability to write. Being self-taught, I wasn’t 100 per cent sure about whether I was using the grammar correctly to be able to go down the self-publishing route. I needed the expertise of a publisher to know my books were good enough. One bad review would’ve floored me. Of course, finding a publisher takes longer, and I suffered many rejections, but I found this only made me more determined. In addition, it makes you edit your work further. Sometimes the feedback you received, as I did, helps. I found it pushed me to edit and reduce the word count of my books, too. Publishers won’t take a risk on a long novel, so it’s important to stick to novel guidelines as publishing a book is expensive, especially if you’re an unknown author, with no publishing history.

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

The best route, I feel, and the one I took to become an author is to start with short stories. These give you all the skills you need to learn when tackling a novel. Working to a word count pushes you to find the right words that will express your meaning without using long descriptions. Every word must count. You will learn how to follow guidelines, and how to write concisely while dealing with rejections when submitting to writing competitions, or small presses for anthologies. Acceptances and competitions wins will help to create a publishing history when a publisher asks for your writing CV on submitting your novel to them.

Tell us about your book/books:

Since 2020, I’ve had five books published, by three publishing companies.

The Funeral Birds is a novella that began life as a short story for the BBC short story competition but was unsuccessful and sat for quite a while on my computer with no home to go to. My neighbour, Joan loved the story and kept encouraging me to resubmit it. In 2019, a writing friend sent me the guidelines for Demain Publishing Murder Mystery Mayhem series, and it was accepted. I’m in the process of writing a follow-on novel using the main characters from the novella.

My single collection of short stories, published by Bridge House Publishing, Days Pass like a Shadow has thirteen gothic tales between the covers. Though the theme covers death it’s also about rebirth, too. The stories cover many different genres from Crime, Sci-fi, time travel, and ghost stories.

Stone Angels started life as a short story written for a competition in the Writing Magazine. The magazine had joined forces with the Harrogate Crime Writing festival. It was the festival tenth anniversary, so the number ten had to appear in the story somewhere. After running through a few ideas, I decided to write a story about an artist on a quest to find ten perfect models for an art exhibition. The idea behind the story is the killer was hiding his victims in plain sight.

Seeking the Dark is a twist on the normal vampire story. The plot is set in Whitby and Middlesbrough and tells the story of a journalist who is trying to uncover the truth behind a series of unexplained deaths. Seeking the Dark was the first novel I wrote, and it went through many rewrites until I was happy with it.

The Phoenix Hour is my latest release. Again, it’s a crime novel with a difference. Dr Louise Brimstone faces mounting pressure to rectify a problem after the misuse of a drug has taken humanity to the brink of extinction, she becomes a time traveller in a hope of finding a solution, but instead is left making a tough decision as the Phoenix Hour ticks down.

What do you love about the writing/reading community?

I find it supportive, and haven’t come across any negative behaviour from either, other writers or readers. Reading is all down to personal taste, so if someone doesn’t enjoy my books, then there are those who do enjoy the style in which I write. All writers know how hard it is to become a published author, and how expensive marketing can be these days, so it’s lovely to find others are so supportive. It’s a real minefield on the net with all sorts of people offering us writers services for large sums of money with no real return.

If you could say anything to your readers what would it be?

That’s a difficult question to answer, but I will try. I look forward to reading your honest review. I know, my writing style might not be to everyone’s taste, but I would like to thank you for buying and taking the time to read one of my books.

Where can people connect with you?

I can be found on

Blog: https://paularcreadmanauthor.blog

Twitter Paula R C Readman@Darkfantasy13

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paularcreadmanauthor/

Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Paula-R-C-Readman/e/B00A9UHMSO/

Or just Google- Paula R. C. Readman, and you’ll find me.