Francis Powell Interview
Describe your desk
Broken glasses, scraps of paper, cables, rather chaotic, if truth be told.
Where did you grow up? How has this influence your writing?
I was born in a “dormitory town” called Reading, not famous for much, apart from a huge Rock festival, and for the fact that Oscar Wilde was sent to prison there and wrote “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”. My family then moved to a farm in the country, in Sussex, not too far from London. I was sent aged eight, to a boarding school, so I would spend long periods away from my family. Imagine having regular prison sentences, imposed upon you, as a child. At some of the schools I attended, there were psychotic teachers and cruel nasty children. I used to count the days when I could be reunited with my family. I became a recluse in the art room and painting was my salvation. I had a teacher who encouraged me to paint and introduced me to various artists, including Kandinsky. I went from austere harsh boarding schools to Art College, a very different environment. My upbringing certainly fired a need to create…
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
Creating strange scenarios, oddball characters. Using rich language. Seeing a story through, from the start to the end.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
My young son usually manages to wake me up. My days are fairly active, every moment used up.
When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
I love doing many different creative activities, I write music, I paint, I do sculptures.
Do you experience writer's block?
Sometimes I might get stuck on the direction a story is going in, or the ending.
How do you overcome writer's block?
Churning ideas in my head, until I get to a point of resolution.
Who are your favorite authors?
I love the work of Rupert Thomson, who wrote “Dreams of leaving” as well as other books. I met him when I was a new student at Art College and he and his writing has made a long lasting impression on me. For my book Flight of Destiny, Roald Dahl’s short stories are a big influence.
Do you prefer e-books or physical copies?
I guess physical…
What motivated you to become an (indie) author?
I moved to a remote village in Austria. It was not far from Vienna, but a very oppressive and strange environment. I thought I should try writing a book. I launched into it…nothing came of it. I do many creative activities, painting as well as writing music. Writing lay dormant, put to one side. Then later, living in Paris at this point in time, via an advert, I made contact with a man called Alan Clark, who had a literary magazine called “Rat Mort” (dead rat). I submitted four short stories for this magazine, encouraged by Alan, I began to write more and more short stories, and developed a style…I guess if I compare these stories to earlier efforts at writing…there has been a huge development…I am sure my early attempts were imaginative but raw.
What is your favorite genre to write?
I write short stories, that are dark sinister, surreal but at the same time witty.
Who do you feel has been the most supportive, other than your family?
As I mentioned before, Alan Clark.
Do you put yourself into any of your characters?
Not directly, but I think there is a lot of me in my stories. I write about outsiders and I guess from quite an early age, I have felt like I am an outsider.
Do you have any strange writing habits?
Not that I am aware of…
Where do you want to visit that you haven't visited before?
I would like to go to Bali, some friends have been there…and told me what a great place it is…I also fancy going to India…It is hard to imagine going to these places, at this moment in time.
When you start a new story or book, do you know how it will end?
Sometimes yes…sometimes no…it depends. Some endings are clear from the start …some take a lot of figuring out.
Do you write every day?
Not exactly. I am a bit of a “jack of all trades” I write, but I also love to paint, write music, make videos…I try to do something creative…At the moment I am mostly promoting my book…It is another important aspect of being an author…
What's your favorite genre to write?
Dark short stories…in the Roald Dahl, Edgar Alan Poe style…
How did you choose the genre of your work?
As I mentioned I came across my genre and style, following a chance encounter with the editor of a magazine called Rat Mort.
What have you written?
Many short stories, many are included in my book Flight of Destiny. Poetry, some of which, has been published. Some short stories published in “Freakwave” magazine.
Where can your books be purchased or viewed?
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Destiny-Francis-H-Powell/dp/0988664097/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
http://theflightofdestiny.yolasite.com/
What are you working on now?
Mostly promotion.
When did you decide to start writing?
I wrote some short stories at school, that got published in the school magazine…but it wasn’t until I was living in a remote village in Austria, that I tried writing seriously.
Have you ever collaborated with another author?
Not that I recall, I have collaborated in lots of other artistic projects, music and film however.
What's your writing process like?
Ideas seem to plant themselves in my head and I feel a need to expand on them and develop them. Sometimes newspapers provide excellent sources. I read obscure stories about people stealing other people’s identities, a person who pretends he is a Duke, but in reality he is a fraud.
What do you think is the hardest part of writing?
Continuity in stories. It is vital for me to write a striking opening sentence…for example my story Bugeyes begins with… Bug-eyes was due a life of toil. Seed begins with Captain Spender’s wife was ovulating. Cast from Hell begins with There it was: I was to be banished from hell. It is important I start my stories powerfully, but also end them strongly. Once I have an idea for a story, I have to work out in my head, the direction it is going, and ultimately its ending. I also think a lot about the characters in the stories. My stories are very visual and there is a lot of description and detail in them.
Do you edit as your write or do you write and then go back to edit later?
A lot of the time. It is good to re-evaluate stories, polish them, add extra detail.
What's your favorite motivational phrase?
I am not sure I have one…but I don’t wake up in the morning and shout “yes we can”
What's your favorite film and why?
I love “One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest” I guess the story is great and the acting is brilliant and the ending very dramatic. It is a film that stays in your mind…it is funny, meaningful, and sad.
What's your favorite quote?
"Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man,"
From my story Opium.
Which famous person, living or dead, would you like to meet and why?
I would like to meet Leonardo de Vinci. He was an artist, but so much more and way ahead of his time.
Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven't included?
I do author to author exchange interviews… If you would like to do an author exchange interview with me below is a link to my interview questions, and info where to send your responses http://francishpowellauthor.weebly.com/download-interview-questions-for-authors.html
I am also doing a music competition, based on my book; the idea is to write a song or piece of music based on my book.
http://francishpowellauthor.weebly.com/music-competition.html
Contact Information
Website: http://theflightofdestiny.yolasite.com/
Blog: https://francishpowellwriter.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flightofdestinyshortstories?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
Twitter: Francis H Powell @Dreamheadz
Book links:
My book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwNl0F6095Q
Amazon author central: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00WSWYVNK
PRESS RELEASE
http://www.prlog.org/12443660
Broken glasses, scraps of paper, cables, rather chaotic, if truth be told.
Where did you grow up? How has this influence your writing?
I was born in a “dormitory town” called Reading, not famous for much, apart from a huge Rock festival, and for the fact that Oscar Wilde was sent to prison there and wrote “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”. My family then moved to a farm in the country, in Sussex, not too far from London. I was sent aged eight, to a boarding school, so I would spend long periods away from my family. Imagine having regular prison sentences, imposed upon you, as a child. At some of the schools I attended, there were psychotic teachers and cruel nasty children. I used to count the days when I could be reunited with my family. I became a recluse in the art room and painting was my salvation. I had a teacher who encouraged me to paint and introduced me to various artists, including Kandinsky. I went from austere harsh boarding schools to Art College, a very different environment. My upbringing certainly fired a need to create…
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
Creating strange scenarios, oddball characters. Using rich language. Seeing a story through, from the start to the end.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
My young son usually manages to wake me up. My days are fairly active, every moment used up.
When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
I love doing many different creative activities, I write music, I paint, I do sculptures.
Do you experience writer's block?
Sometimes I might get stuck on the direction a story is going in, or the ending.
How do you overcome writer's block?
Churning ideas in my head, until I get to a point of resolution.
Who are your favorite authors?
I love the work of Rupert Thomson, who wrote “Dreams of leaving” as well as other books. I met him when I was a new student at Art College and he and his writing has made a long lasting impression on me. For my book Flight of Destiny, Roald Dahl’s short stories are a big influence.
Do you prefer e-books or physical copies?
I guess physical…
What motivated you to become an (indie) author?
I moved to a remote village in Austria. It was not far from Vienna, but a very oppressive and strange environment. I thought I should try writing a book. I launched into it…nothing came of it. I do many creative activities, painting as well as writing music. Writing lay dormant, put to one side. Then later, living in Paris at this point in time, via an advert, I made contact with a man called Alan Clark, who had a literary magazine called “Rat Mort” (dead rat). I submitted four short stories for this magazine, encouraged by Alan, I began to write more and more short stories, and developed a style…I guess if I compare these stories to earlier efforts at writing…there has been a huge development…I am sure my early attempts were imaginative but raw.
What is your favorite genre to write?
I write short stories, that are dark sinister, surreal but at the same time witty.
Who do you feel has been the most supportive, other than your family?
As I mentioned before, Alan Clark.
Do you put yourself into any of your characters?
Not directly, but I think there is a lot of me in my stories. I write about outsiders and I guess from quite an early age, I have felt like I am an outsider.
Do you have any strange writing habits?
Not that I am aware of…
Where do you want to visit that you haven't visited before?
I would like to go to Bali, some friends have been there…and told me what a great place it is…I also fancy going to India…It is hard to imagine going to these places, at this moment in time.
When you start a new story or book, do you know how it will end?
Sometimes yes…sometimes no…it depends. Some endings are clear from the start …some take a lot of figuring out.
Do you write every day?
Not exactly. I am a bit of a “jack of all trades” I write, but I also love to paint, write music, make videos…I try to do something creative…At the moment I am mostly promoting my book…It is another important aspect of being an author…
What's your favorite genre to write?
Dark short stories…in the Roald Dahl, Edgar Alan Poe style…
How did you choose the genre of your work?
As I mentioned I came across my genre and style, following a chance encounter with the editor of a magazine called Rat Mort.
What have you written?
Many short stories, many are included in my book Flight of Destiny. Poetry, some of which, has been published. Some short stories published in “Freakwave” magazine.
Where can your books be purchased or viewed?
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Destiny-Francis-H-Powell/dp/0988664097/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
http://theflightofdestiny.yolasite.com/
What are you working on now?
Mostly promotion.
When did you decide to start writing?
I wrote some short stories at school, that got published in the school magazine…but it wasn’t until I was living in a remote village in Austria, that I tried writing seriously.
Have you ever collaborated with another author?
Not that I recall, I have collaborated in lots of other artistic projects, music and film however.
What's your writing process like?
Ideas seem to plant themselves in my head and I feel a need to expand on them and develop them. Sometimes newspapers provide excellent sources. I read obscure stories about people stealing other people’s identities, a person who pretends he is a Duke, but in reality he is a fraud.
What do you think is the hardest part of writing?
Continuity in stories. It is vital for me to write a striking opening sentence…for example my story Bugeyes begins with… Bug-eyes was due a life of toil. Seed begins with Captain Spender’s wife was ovulating. Cast from Hell begins with There it was: I was to be banished from hell. It is important I start my stories powerfully, but also end them strongly. Once I have an idea for a story, I have to work out in my head, the direction it is going, and ultimately its ending. I also think a lot about the characters in the stories. My stories are very visual and there is a lot of description and detail in them.
Do you edit as your write or do you write and then go back to edit later?
A lot of the time. It is good to re-evaluate stories, polish them, add extra detail.
What's your favorite motivational phrase?
I am not sure I have one…but I don’t wake up in the morning and shout “yes we can”
What's your favorite film and why?
I love “One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest” I guess the story is great and the acting is brilliant and the ending very dramatic. It is a film that stays in your mind…it is funny, meaningful, and sad.
What's your favorite quote?
"Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man,"
From my story Opium.
Which famous person, living or dead, would you like to meet and why?
I would like to meet Leonardo de Vinci. He was an artist, but so much more and way ahead of his time.
Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven't included?
I do author to author exchange interviews… If you would like to do an author exchange interview with me below is a link to my interview questions, and info where to send your responses http://francishpowellauthor.weebly.com/download-interview-questions-for-authors.html
I am also doing a music competition, based on my book; the idea is to write a song or piece of music based on my book.
http://francishpowellauthor.weebly.com/music-competition.html
Contact Information
Website: http://theflightofdestiny.yolasite.com/
Blog: https://francishpowellwriter.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flightofdestinyshortstories?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
Twitter: Francis H Powell @Dreamheadz
Book links:
My book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwNl0F6095Q
Amazon author central: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00WSWYVNK
PRESS RELEASE
http://www.prlog.org/12443660