Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie. 

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age? 

Paul: I’m Paul L Arvidson and I’m way older than 40 🙂

Fiona: Where are you from? 

Paul: Originally from Liverpool, UK (yes where the Beatles came from!)

Fiona: A little about your self (ie,  your education, family life, etc.). 

Paul: I’m married to another writer we have two girls (11 and 12) the youngest of whom has a rare genetic condition, so she has a wheelchair and loads of complex care. In a previous life used to be a Theatre Lighting Designer. We live in rural Somerset (the county where Glastonbury Festival happens) with dogs, cats, guinea pigs and chickens.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news. 

Paul: In SFF world, I’m writing the third book of the Dark Trilogy, for release hopefully summer this year. I’m alternating that with writing thrillers, my first is ‘The Wheels of Cady Grey’ which is available from Amz and on KU the moment but goes wide to all other sellers this year on ****

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing? 

Paul: I did the night feeds of both our kids so I got a lot of mad ideas in the long dark hours of the night. They all had to come out at some point.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer? 

Paul: I think once someone I didn’t know had reviewed the first book! It didn’t really feel real until then.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book? 

Paul: It was more desperation than inspiration. When I gave up work due to increasing care for our daughter (it takes more than two of us to cope), I realised if I don’t do something creative, I start to go a bit crackers.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title? 

Paul: The Dark series is set on the planet called Dark, which has no light. Although there are other books with the same title, I figured I couldn’t call it anything else!

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging? 

Paul: I’m very much a pantser when I write. I know the main story arc and the main points I want it to hit, but by and large I let the characters tell me what they’re going to do in whatever situation I’ve put them in. I enjoy writing like that (I’ve tried to plan the whole thing, but my mind just doesn’t work that way) though it can be stressful at times. Writing #SFF is usually way easier than writing #Thrillers. If you don’t know something, you can just make it up. Writing thrillers, I’ve had to do research for the first time: everything from ‘are silencers really silent?’, to ‘how long does it take a fire alarm to go off?’

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life? 

Paul: You would think for the #SFF book, nothing, right? Then I stood back and realised that I’d set an entire book in a world called the Dark, after having to give up a career that I loved as a Theatre Lighting Guy. Hmm…

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process? 

Paul: I wish I could travel to space. Especially in the spaceship in ‘Darkest’, the book I’m writing now. She’s very cool.

Fiona: Who designed the covers? 

Paul: An awesome artist I found on twitter called @betibup33 Such a huge talent.

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? 

Paul: Just because there’s no light, doesn’t mean there can’t be heroes and adventures.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you? 

Paul: New Author – F.D.Lee, she writes very cool, very funny, steam-punk fairies saving the world as well as very edgy, quite cyberpunky, Sci-Fi.

Favourite author this week? Iain M Banks – Culture Series

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author. 

Paul: I have big love for Draft2Digital. Lovely folks, who are super helpful to #indie writers getting their stuff out there.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

Paul: Yup.

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

Paul: Nope. (not finished yet anyhow!)

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book? 

Paul: When you’re world-building an SFF world, you need to leave yourself *loads* more notes than you think.

Fiona: If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead? 

Paul: It would be really difficult to film it (being totally in the dark) but I could see someone like Elijah Wood voicing Dun.

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

Paul: Find a virtual water cooler to hang out at, writing can be a lonely game. My current recommendation is the #FSFRL (Fantasy and Science Fiction Readers Lounge)

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers? 

Paul: My current readers? Thank you for all your support, buying the books and some amazing reviews.

Potential readers – follow the breadcrumbs and try one of the freebies on the website to see if it suits you 🙂

Fiona: What book are you reading now? 

Paul: Currently reading an ARC for a friend, so I can’t tell you about it yet!

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read? 

Paul: The first books I remember reading were the ABC books by Richard Scarry. I loved the worm with the hat. The first book I chose off a shelf for myself was The Hobbit.

Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry? 

Paul: Laugh? Dark humour. Cry? Injustice, people being hurt.

Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet? Why? 

Paul: Neil Gaiman, love his books and he seems cool.

Fiona: Do you have any hobbies? 

Paul: I play table-top RPG’s on Monday nights with a huge group of cool people.

Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

Paul: Rather enjoyed watching ‘Good Omens’ recently (Amazon/BBC)

Fiona: Favorite foods, colors,  music? 

Paul: Food – Cheese; Colour – Purple; Music – Nitin Sawney at the moment.

Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do? 

Paul: Crikey. I can’t imagine that. Not now I do it. I’d dictate if I couldn’t see. If I got jailed and they took my pen away, I’d be scraping stories on the walls with my fingernails!

Fiona: You only have 24 hours to live how would you spend that time? 

Paul: Loving.

 Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone? 

Paul: Carpe Diem, I did.

Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers? 

Paul: website: www.paularvidson.co.uk

Mailing lists: follow the links on there to either Cady Grey for the thrillers (there’s a Free one) or Dark for the SFF stuff (the first novel is Free on there).

On twitter  or insta I’m @realarvo

website: www.paularvidson.co.uk

Author page: amazon.com/author/paularvidson

Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15807656.Paul_L_Arvidson