| Author Page: Taff Lovesey |
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I have a passion for well written sword and sorcery as well as a love of computer games of a similar genre and hence I tend to write in this category.
I set up Authors2You to try to help independent authors find new readers, and vice versa.
I'm married with two grown children and live in Lincolnshire with my wife Bridget.
Following 10 years in the RAF as a radar engineer I forged a successful
career in corporate IT before 'going it alone' with my own IT company in 2007 (see www.litespc.co.uk). It was about this time that I published The Spider Gem.
My ambition is to write full time but for now I'm mixing writing with the above. I'd love my work to go more mainstream, both so I can make a living from it but also to know that others are enjoying reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
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What inspired you to write?
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Relocation back to UK from four years living in Oregon left me with time to fulfill a long held dream of writing a novel. Friends and relatives were so encouraging that it pushed me on. This was later fueled by positive reader feedback driving me on to the second novel and beyond.
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What genre do you write in?
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Traditional sword and sorcery - the current series, The Portal Chronicles is best described as Lord of the Rings meets Narnia on holiday with Harry Potter secretly dating Edgar Rice Burrough, hopefully building on the positives of those great novels.
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What books have you written?
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The Spider Gem - book one of the Portal Chronicles; tells the story of how three earth teenagers are thrown into a world of fantasy and battle.
The Shimmering Gate - book two of the Portal Chronicles; continues the story of the teenagers adventures and their battle with forces hellbent on domination of the world of Portalia.
Book Three of the Portal Chronicles is currently in progress. |
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What is the address of your official web site?
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www.lovesey.net
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Who are your favourite authors?
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In no particular order:
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Garth Nix, David Eddings, Stephen Donaldson, Tolkien, Philip Pullman, Robin Hobb, Rob Auty, Deborah McIntyre, Bill Bryson, Tony Hawkes (laugh out loud funny)
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What are your top five writing and/or publishing tips for budding authors?
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- Write when and where you feel comfortable. Don't force it - it'll only end up in the bin
- Always question your plot and characters but learn to know where to stop - or you'll never finish
- You can't proof read / edit your own work so don't try. If you can't afford professional editing then use friends and family
- If going the self publishing/print on demand/small press route get multiple quotes and review what is (or isn't) included. My current advice would be to look closely at self publishing (ie; you become the publisher) especially if you have good IT skills.
- Call on the experience of others in both writing and publishing. The author community can be very supportive
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Any final words of wisdom?
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Try to store any random ideas and thoughts - you never know when they can be re-worked into a novel or a short story in themselves.
Keep smiling - even when faced with the fussy lady who wants to pick holes in your work rather than enjoy it for what it is - a darned good story!
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