Interview with Khaled Talib

Khaled Talib is a very talented and inspirational writer. He's very friendly and supportive of other writers. I first started noticing quotes from his book The Little Book of Muses floating around on Facebook and Twitter a couple of years ago, and we've since become good online friends. I recently read The Little Book of Muses and would recommend it. It's a quick read, packed with lots of uplifting and inspirational quotes for writers and artists. (It has also now been translated into Spanish and Italian.)



Khaled is a former journalist with local and international exposure. His articles have been published and syndicated to newspapers worldwide, and his short stories have appeared in literary journals and magazines.

His novel Smokescreen was listed "Thriller of the Month" on e-thriller.com's September 2014 issue.

He's a member of the UK Crime Writers Association.


INTERVIEW WITH KHALED TALIB




Welcome, Khaled! Thank you for joining me on my blog.

Where does your inspiration come from?

From everywhere: it could be a chance meeting with someone or being at some place that left me imbued. There’s no formula — it’s just something you pick up and then later explore the possibility of making something out of it.

What 3 pieces of advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Don’t give up. Trust yourself. Listen to your editor.

All great tips

Tell us about your latest book.

I’ve written two flash fiction: I Swear It Happened Just Like This is a collection of short stories based on my experiences. It takes place in various parts of the world.





The second, Stories To Creep you Out Until Dawn is a compilation of horror tales from paranormal to the supernatural. These books have also been translated into Spanish.





My completed novel manuscript, "Incognito", which hasn’t been published yet, is primarily set in Europe, and tells the story of a VIP’s kidnapping. There’s more, but it’s top secret for now.

You've been busy! I love the titles for those flash fiction books! :)

How long did it take you to write your last book?




It took me years to complete my first novel, "Smokescreen". I had no experience, I kept making mistakes before I finally got it right. The second manuscript, amazingly, took me a year and two months. I’ve learned a lot from the first one; it’s the same like everything else: it’s hard at the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes easier.

It's hard work writing a novel!

What advice would you give your 16-year-old self?

Pursue what you really want to do, and not what everyone else wants you to do.

Wise advice

When writing a novel or story, do you think word count is important? If so, what is the ideal length?

Personally, no. But it seems many literary agents and publishers demand a certain number of words. So I’m forced to comply. I’ll try to include additional scenes, but when it comes to dialogue, it’s too risky to inflate it. Remember, if you keep blowing a balloon, it’ll explode. You do what you can, but don’t overdo it. My first novel was 66,000 words. For the second one, I stopped at 70,873. That’s the best I can do.

Do you have any advice for writers as to how to deal with bad reviews?

Don’t ever take a bad review personally, and never reply to the reader (and troll) who hates your book whether it’s on Goodreads or Amazon. If your book is good, you’ll find your fair share of positive reviews pouring in to overshadow the bad ones.

What do you enjoy most about the writing process?

You are literally creating something out of nothing.

That's very true :)

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, Khaled! I'm looking forward to reading your novels and stories.

****************************************

Author links:

Website: http://khaledtalibthriller.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/khaled.talib
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KhaledTalib
Little Book of Muses website: http://thelittlebookofmuses.com/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Khaled-Talib/e/...