Interview With Author Glenn McGoldrick
Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself.
English
was my favourite lesson during my school days, and I always enjoyed writing
stories.
Then
I grew up and worked in Casinos for twenty years, and spent fifteen of those
years travelling on cruise ships.
Leaving
ships in 2011, I now live in the North East of England. When I’m not busy
writing, I enjoy music, movies, beach walks and beer.
How long have you
been writing, and how many books have you published to date?
I
have been writing for four years. I have published two collections of short
stories, available on Amazon.
What did you hope to
accomplish by publishing your book?
In
February 2017 I published a collection of some of my stories on Amazon Kindle.
Researched for a couple of months, did all the work, even the cover photo. I
wanted to be able to say that I’d done absolutely every part of the process
myself. It turned out quite well, I think; it was stressful at times, but very
rewarding, and it’s great to see my book on Amazon. Then I went and did it all again
with my second collection!
When did you realize
you wanted to be a writer?
I
enjoyed writing stories as a young kid at school. Then I grew up, had a career
and did some travelling. I saved some money, took some time off and thought
about what I really wanted to do in life.
I’d
always enjoyed reading, and I read some books about writing professionally.
Then I took a writing course, wrote some stories of my own and enjoyed it. Then
I just carried on writing stories, hoping to improve a little each time. And I
still like to read a lot.
Can you tell us about
your writing process? Where do your ideas originate? Do you have a certain
writing routine?
I
get lots of ideas from newspaper articles. I expand the original idea, work on
it for three or four days, ending up with lots of notes on paper. Then when
I’ve got most of the story figured out, I’ll get to my laptop, start typing it
up, breaking it down by scene, in random order. I usually find that the first
and last scenes are the easiest ones for me.
What is your greatest challenge as a writer?
Finding the time to write. Or, setting
aside the other stuff, everyday stuff, all the little mundane jobs that need
attending to – sometimes it’s a challenge to put it all out of my mind, leaving
me able to focus exclusively on writing.
Do you have a favourite author, or writing inspiration?
I’m an avid reader, particularly
enjoying James Lee Burke (Robicheaux series), Robert B Parker (Spenser series)
and Lawrence Block (Scudder series).
I usually bookmark my favourite
passages from their books, then revisit them later, hoping to soak up some of
their skills!
What advice would you give beginning writers?
Just
sit down and write. Never mind the laundry, or making a snack, or going for a
bike ride – sit your butt down and write. There’ll always be other stuff to do,
so get to it after you write.
What do you like to do when you're not writing? Any hobbies?
I like movies and music, and I’m very
interested in politics. I’m out on my bicycle most days, and I like going for
walks in the country. And you can’t beat sitting by the sea, drinking coffee
and reading the newspaper!
Glenn McGoldrick's books are available on Amazon:
Glenn McGoldrick worked in casinos for 20 years, and 15 of those 20 years were spent on cruise ships, seeing the world. He's now settled back home, in the Northeast of England. He writes in the horror/thriller genre.
For more on the author check out his Website.
You can also find him on Twitter: @G_T_McGoldrick
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