Clive Warner interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

A little introduction:

I’m a retired broadcast engineer, a kind of ‘man in a suitcase’ guy. I went to several dozen countries and had hair-raising experiences, and inevitably, my stories reflect that. These days I live peacefully in Mexico with my wife and dogs.

When did your love of books begin?

My dad taught me to read at age 4, and I just went on to read everything in sight, including a book on fireplace design. So if you happen to want a nice design for a British 1950s tiled fireplace, I’m your man. All the fiction was in omni POV, so I don’t read that anymore.

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

I tried a few times over the years and could never understand how the process worked. It was very frustrating because as a result, I suppose, of reading all that fiction, I had a real desire to create a story myself. And then I began travelling to seriously dangerous parts of the world and was way too busy to write.

How have you found the process for becoming an author?

Challenging. To say the least. My first novel, an action-adventure, found an indie publisher and I thought, great! But then there was a warehouse fire and all the books burned. Maybe it was an insurance scam. Who knows! So the first book sank without trace. After this experience I decided I too, would be a publisher! But that’s another story.

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

Join a critique group and learn how to write and what works/doesn’t work.

Tell us about your book/books:

The earliest still in print is Rebody, an SF novel set in San Antonio. It’s a dystopian story in which a student seduces an English professor, and he’s murdered by her father. But his head is frozen and woken up in the future. Unfortunately, he has no funds and his head is grafted to a smart vacuum cleaner and set to work. Things get worse from then on as he goes through existence as human head/gorilla body, head/robot chassis, virtual intelligence, etc.

When Things Go Bang is my favourite, it’s a historical/time portal/coming of age novel. Set in 1959, Jim, an autistic 15 y.o. lad, is taken back to Alamein in 1942 to fight Rommel’s forces as his dead Uncle Buddy. Along the way he learns how to help people instead of blowing up their lives. Set on the North Liverpool coast, the story ends with Jim finding his first girlfriend at a performance of The Quarrymen at the Casbah Club.

The new release (Dec 16) is A Wolf In Sheik’s Clothing, published by Offbeat Reads. It’s a present-day thriller, possibly technothriller, set in the UK; a high-concept novel with a high body count. It begins with the murder of an Israeli covert agent, then an English village is poisoned with radioactive Cobalt. An ISIS cell has set up shop in England. Det. Insp. Strange and his team must stop the terrorists before they devastate London – but then Strange’s girl is kidnapped, and a band of radioactive victims joins the pursuit.

I’ve also published a memoir about my professional life, and a small book on heart surgery for heart patients.

My WIP is about 30,000 words right now. It’s a three-act historical novel set from 1915-1918. It begins when a Liverpool lad of 16 is caught up in the Lusitania riots and forced to join up. Act 2 is his return, mentally wrecked, and his rejection by family and society and alcoholic spiral. Act 3 begins when two Queer Punch and Judy men rescue him from the beach. He becomes the understudy in a musical play and finds fame and fortune in the theatre.

What do you love about the writing/reading community?

The people are just great, there is a real sense of belonging.

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

Thank you for reading, and please click the rating star on Amazon, that would be greatly appreciated. A review would be drooled over.

Where can people connect with you?

I’m on Twitter, @BrunoStBernard. That’s the easiest way.