The following interview was published today in Vision and Verse, the blog of Carol Ann Kauffman
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
INTERVIEW: Multi-Genre British Author Barnaby Wilde AKA Tim Fisher
Tim Fisher
Although I publish under the name
Barnaby Wilde
By the Sea in Devon, England
UK
Good morning, Tim, and welcome to Vision and Verse. I’ve read the Mercedes Drew Mysteries, Volumes One and Two. They was terrific! I loved them. Look for the reviews coming up onAugust 20 and September 3, 2024. Can you tell us what else you’ve written?
I am a fiction writer, with several novels and many collections of short stories and verse published as eBooks and paperbacks. My website is barnabywilde.uk All the books are available at Amazon/Apple/Barnes and Noble etc
What is your favorite genre to write?
I have written in many genres, including sci-fi, cozy mystery, romance, humor, time travel etc but everything is written with humor and a sense of the absurd, including a series of books written as fairy tales for adults (sorry, no sex or violence, just laughs) full of princesses, dragons, court jesters and anachronisms.
Favorite food.
I am an omnivore that enjoys all food.
Tea or coffee?
Tea for breakfast, coffee mid-morning and tea again in the afternoon.
Pizza or ice cream?
Love both. Favorite pizza would be pepperoni and favorite ice cream, rum and raisin.
Wine or beer or soda or what?
Not a big drinker, but I like a glass of wine or elderflower cordial with my meal and a beer when I’m out.
Where would you like to visit?
South America, especially Iguassu falls, or Australia.
Favorite musical artist.
Paul Simon, Tom Petty, Dire Straits
Do you listen to music when you write?
I generally write in a silent room. Writing is essentially an antisocial activity that requires full attention without interruptions.
What makes you laugh?
Absurd humor, Dad jokes.
How old were you when you started writing?
I wrote my first ‘story’ when I was about seven or eight years old. I have no recollection what it was about, but my father one finger typed it onto tiny pages which he stapled into a miniature book, sadly long since lost. I’ve written intermittently throughout my adult life, but only began publishing in my fifties. Initially, these were collections of verse (I hesitate to call it poetry), followed by a couple of novels and subsequently collections of short stories in various genres.
Do you plan out your book with outlines and notecards? Or just write?
There is little planning. I have an idea and then the characters take over. Often, they take the story to places that surprise even me. I usually have an end in mind, but sometimes even this changes as the characters refuse to do what I tell them and take me to a different place.
Describe your perfect evening.
I’m very much a ‘home’ person. I enjoy dinner with my wife, followed by an hour or two of TV, unless she drags me out to a music venue or a theatre.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Often, just as I am about to go to sleep. The best stories are those that I write in my head in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, they are often forgotten by the morning. I am rarely awake enough to make a note. Inspiration, though, can come at any time or place.
What do you do when you get a writer's block?
It doesn’t happen very often, but if I do get stuck, I usually make myself write the next paragraph and come back and back to it until I’ve edited it, changed it, or replaced it with something that lets me continue. It will stay in my head the whole time until I have sorted the way forward.
Who is your favorite author?
Kurt Vonnegut. I like his sense of the absurd and his understanding of the folly of human nature.
Best book you ever read.
Breakfast of Champions, because it was the first Vonnegut book I ever read.
Last book you read.
Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty.
What would you do for a living if you weren’t a writer?
I am retired and writing is a part time occupation. My career was working for an international photographic manufacturing company, but if I were to live my life again, I think I’d like to be an architect or a garden designer.
Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why?
Another tricky question. If I am only allowed one person, the answer can only be my first wife and the mother of my two children. If I can sneak in a second, then it would have to be my present wife because she challenges my preconceptions and takes me to places I would otherwise not find.
If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why?
I am going to surprise myself here and say my mother. I think I have only begun to understand and fully appreciate her recently, many years after her death and too late to tell her in person.
What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer?
Just write.
Do you have some links for us to follow you?
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/stores/Barnaby-Wilde/author/B0067XT7D0
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/timgfisher (Barnaby doesn’t have his own Facebook page, maybe he should?)
Website www.barnabywilde.uk links to all bookstores and books on the website
Email barnaby-wilde@hotmail.co.uk
Blog barnabywildeauthor.blogspot.com
My style is very gentle. I want to entertain and amuse, not shock. I like word play and puns. I like to think that my stories or verses may sometimes surprise people, certainly make them smile and maybe even generate the occasional belly laugh.
The next book to be published will be volume two of Davey and the Holey Oak. Ten more short stories about an irascible old man always looking for the next big chance.
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