Ask the Author: Stuart Roberts
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Stuart Roberts
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Stuart Roberts
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(view spoiler)[I have no mystery in my life that could become a plot for a book. However, I have experienced many odd and unusual situations in my former profession as a psychiatric nurse and later as a community psychiatric nurse. I used a tale I heard many years ago when speaking to a very rational guy and modified his tale for use in my book All Time Lowe. The plot is of two men at opposite ends of the social spectrum who meet in a psychiatric hospital. They forge an unlikely friendship. However, their relationship changes dramatically when supernatural forces come to the fore. Look out for the flies. (hide spoiler)]
Stuart Roberts
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(view spoiler)[The fictional world I would want to travel to is Piers Anthony’s On A Pale Horse. I have read this a few times and always enjoy it. The main character Zane unwittingly becomes Death. He rides a horse that can become a car, speeds to different locations, and reaches out for spirits from the dead body to deliver to an afterlife. However, their afterlife depends on how they conducted themselves here on Earth. To ride that Pale Horse across the skies or drive that special car would be the ultimate.
Hey ho.
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Hey ho.
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Stuart Roberts
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[I am extremely lucky because I never get writer's block. This is partly due to having a vivid imagination and drawing on a myriad of ideas, plots, and situations in my mind that are ready to go. All I can say on the subject is that in the event of writers block, switch off, play Destiny 2 or similar, and give your mind a bit of fun. Then, later when you feel in a better frame of mind, try some of your ideas out. Don't be hard on yourself. Remember, Stephen King and Dean Koontz had to start somewhere. (hide spoiler)]
Stuart Roberts
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[The best thing about being a writer is the great satisfaction obtained by writing and publishing the novel. Even now, after three novels, I still feel a buzz when I complete my latest novel. So please don’t do it because you have to, do it because you really want to. (hide spoiler)]
Stuart Roberts
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(view spoiler)[Read a lot, write short stories and ask friends or family to read your story and give you feedback. Don’t be put off by criticism; see it as a way of changing, moving and developing your ideas. Before we can run, we have to walk. Read whatever you write aloud. If it sounds clunky, then it most likely is. Try to write a story that flows and one that makes you feel proud. But most of all, write really engaging stuff. (hide spoiler)]
Stuart Roberts
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[I am currently working on a Sci-Fi thriller. My inspiration for the story came from a UFO article I read in a newspaper. But, once again, I didn’t want just to write Sci-Fi; it had to be really odd. Can you recall the film Cowboys and Aliens? That film, for me, was the epitome of writing a good story. I won’t tell you about the plot for my next book; suffice to say it will be a hum dinger. Watch this space.
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Stuart Roberts
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[Inspiration for a book comes from many things and areas in my life. Having a memory for the unusual and odd helps greatly. I once saw an American ER scene where a patient seeking treatment reacted differently in mood and voice at different times to the medics, so much so that she wasn’t making much sense. Her problem was a so-called multiple personality disorder. I used this in my second book ‘Hand of the Beast.’ Try to think outside the box. (Excuse the phrase.) It is most important that you think of plots, characters and situations as much as possible. Go on, give your mind a workout. If it is good to you, write it down in keyword form for use later. My major inspiration is to be different. When others write the same old same old I am composing and writing different, maybe even crazy. Even so, crazy is good; it sells books. (hide spoiler)]
Stuart Roberts
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[The action in my book took place on a mountain in Murla, Spain, called Caballo Verde. This Spanish translates to The Green Horse - the title of my book. I lived in Murla for two and a half years and heard many tales about the mountain, particularly about the Moorish people being hounded out of their homes and ultimately the country by the Spanish army. Years later, as a writer, I used the location and tales to tell a story. Thus, the book is filled with actual history in 1609, but also fiction.
Watch out for the shapeshifter.
The genre is a historical fantasy thriller.
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Watch out for the shapeshifter.
The genre is a historical fantasy thriller.
(hide spoiler)]
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