Knights Errant (Merely Players series, book 1) by Ian Smith
Book Tagline:
Paul, a modern-day knight in armour, finds jousting team and helping a damsel in distress are far easier than coping with two attractive women, both clearly very interested in him...
Young: Welcome to In The Harem, Ian.
Ian Smith (I.S.): Hi, thanks for inviting me to be a guest on your blog
Young: How long have you been a writer and how did you come to writing?
(I.S.): I���ve been a ���spare-time writer��� for about four years. I���ve written hundreds of technical reports, a dozen scientific papers and two dissertations in the course of my education and career, all following standard layouts and a bit impersonal. Wanting to write in my own voice, I started a distance-learning course in freelance writing, and have had a few pieces published. I put off ���creative writing��� as I didn���t think I could create characters and write dialogue. Then I read a few ���chick-lit��� books, started thinking about how the stories were put together and thought it might be fun to try writing something similar. But from a guy���s point of view, and with rather more detailed lovemaking scenes! I found an e-mail based writer���s group, which has been a fantastic source of constructive feedback and encouragement.
Young: How did you come up with your stories?
(I.S.): Some are very loosely inspired by things I���ve read, or from TV shows and movies I���ve seen, but the majority come from, well, just somewhere in my head. Things I do or see can give me an idea I can develop into a story. I usually have a good idea of the general flow, but never write an outline. I mull it over in my mind, develop my ideas and come up with some scenes, then write these into the story as I go along. Obviously, I find gaps to fill, invent new characters for the ���cast���, introduce and resolve tension, and so on
Young: What are the best and the worst aspects of writing?
(I.S.): The best for me are when I get some acknowledgement as a writer. This can be one of my stories appearing on my crit group���s website gallery, or having short stories accepted for anthologies. The acceptance from my publisher for ���Knights Errant��� kept me smiling for days! These reassure me that I���m developing as a writer and producing entertaining work.
The worst thing is having a head full of ideas, but too little spare time to sit down and write them! Maybe one day I���ll earn enough by writing to do my day-job part-time.
Young: What inspires you to write?
(I.S.): It���s the feeling that I���ve got a story in my head which wants me to write it. I just try to tell it as well as possible.
Young: How did you conduct your research for the ���Merely Players��� series?(You can explain the series here)
(I.S.): This series will feature the same three main characters involved in making TV shows. In the first, Paul and his jousting team are recruited to feature in a medieval-themed show, which they start filming in the second story. A complicated romance develops between the three, with the two women taking the lead and Paul wondering what���s going on.
Research? Hmm. Well, the ���making of��� features on DVDs and about TV shows often give useful little insights. But something like jousting cries out for a more hands-on approach ��� the ���Red Letter Day��� jousting experience my wife treated me to!
Young: What are 3 of your favorite lines/quotes from your newest release? (include title)
(I.S.): This is a tough one, because the lines work as part of the scene they���re from
Knights Errant (Merely Players, book 1)
She fought to suppess a grin. ���I don���t want to know what she did give you.���
I couldn���t really die from embarrassment. Could I?
Vicky turned to Hayley. ���Mummy fixed it for you to like Uncle Paul. He���s been lonely,��� she said seriously.
Young: What would your friends say is your best quality?
(I.S.): Probably my chilli con carne, and maybe my collection of DVDs...
Young: Are reader reviews important to you?
(I.S.): Very. I want to write entertaining stories, so reader���s feedback is the only way I know if I have!
Young: Do you have any blogs/websites?
(I.S.): I���ve got a Facebook author page (www.facebook.com/ian.d.smith.writer/) which I���m trying to post on weekly.
I have a blog (http://ianiscurious.blogspot.co.uk/) which I don���t use anything like as often as I could. My only excuses are a lack of spare time and wondering what others might find interesting to read about.
Young: What do you do when you don���t write?
(I.S.): In spare time, I read or listen to audiobooks, and think about the stories churning over in my mind. My other creative hobby is photography, and I enjoy archery and walking on the moors near my home.
Young: Tell us about your other books?
(I.S.): I���m revising the second story in the series, ���The King���s Captain���, which I���ll send to my editor in the very near future. I���ve got ideas for four more stories in this series, two already sketched out as short stories. Two of these stories are based on successful movies, but with a distinct twist.
I���ve got a very substantial first draft of a different story which I wrote a couple of years ago, and will return to this once ���The King���s Captain��� has been sent off. I���ve got some new ideas to write in, which I think will make it a better story. But only readers can tell me that for certain!
And I���ve other characters already featured in short stories, which I want to develop into novellas or short novels.
Young: If you could share one thing about yourself that you would like readers to know what would it be?
(I.S.): Good question. I think it���s that I want to write nicely-paced engaging stories which feel realistic, so I���ll do my homework as best I can to help them imagine the scene I���m trying to describe.
