Andrew is a slick, clever mystery writer with tight interesting plots. I ‘met’ him through his writer/wife, Tasha Alexander. Can’t wait for his newest release coming out in the fall of 2014.
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?
A. Whenever possible I write in what was originally the maid’s room in our apartment in Chicago (there was no sign of the maid when we moved in, so I figured someone may as well use it…) but due to the amount of traveling I have to do, I often find myself working on planes or in airport lounges, or any other place where I won’t get either wet or arrested!
Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas)
A. I’m an obsessively tidy person, so I guess that tendency extends itself to my work space. Other than tidiness, all I need to get started in the morning is a giant pot of coffee. Followed by several more giant pots of coffee as the day (and sometimes, the night) progresses.
Q. What is your mode of writing?
A. I write on my computer (MacBook Air – good for traveling) and revise on paper, scribbling notes with a different coloured pen for each book. There’s no rhyme or reason for the colour choice – I just pick whatever I feel like at the time. It was purple for the book I just finished, green for the one before that…
Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative?
A. Time is the scarcest resource for a novelist, so waiting to feel creative is a luxury I can’t afford. I just start in the morning and keep going until I hit the milestone I’ve mapped out for that day. I like to work for fifty minutes and then break for ten out of each hour – a habit my father passed on to me from his days in the army.
Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?
A. What I do whenever the urge to procrastinate strikes is to tell myself I can write one of two things that day: my current novel, or a letter to my old boss asking for my previous job back. That’s generally enough to get the words flowing!
Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing and for how long?
A. I certainly find it hard to switch between the world I’m making up in my head – and all the strands of story I’m trying to keep straight – and the real world. This is at its worst when I have to leave the house and run any kind of errand. People see me wandering around the grocery store or the post office in a complete trance and assume I must be possessed or in need of psychological assistance.
Andrew Grant was born in Birmingham, England in May 1968. He went to school in St Albans, Hertfordshire and later attended the University of Sheffield where he studied English Literature and Drama. After graduation Andrew set up and ran a small independent theatre company which showcased a range of original material to local, regional and national audiences. Following a critically successful but financially challenging appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Andrew moved into the telecommunications industry as a ‘temporary’ solution to a short-term cash crisis. Fifteen years later, after carrying out a variety of roles, Andrew escaped from corporate life, and established himself as the author of the critically-acclaimed David Trevellyan series of novels–Even, Die Twice, and More Harm Than Good. He is married to novelist Tasha Alexander, and divides his time between Chicago, IL and Sheffield, England. Further information is available on his website–www.andrewgrantbooks.com
Don’t miss Part II on February 11th
For more about Andrew and his books: http://andrewgrantbooks.com/andrew.php
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! “The Writer’s Corner”
In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Janet Evanovich, Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Walter Mosley, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Raymond Benson was my January author. This month Andrew Grant will join us. Janet Evanovich, Barbara Delinski, Loretta Chase and Sherryl Woods in the coming months. Dean Koontz just granted me an interview and will be featured here this spring!
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