Press
Q&A 28/11/14
Each year for the past three years, I have addressed questions sent to me by readers/visitors to the website on a once-yearly basis in the form of a video. This time, I thought I would just answer some of them here. I answer individual queries personally, so this is just a flavour of some of the questions I've been asked over the last twelve months...
Q - Nothing has been published since 'Moscow Drive' in 2012, are you still active?
A - I am still active and although nothing has come out, with the exception of a few short stories here and there, I have been busy. My new novella 'Get Stupid!' is with Drugstore Books at the moment, awaiting a final edit with Andrew Oberg. Having done four drafts on my own, I have gone through two drafts with Drugstore's Paul Rogers and now Andrew will give it his treatment. It's set for release in the new year.
Q - Where did the title for 'Get Stupid!' come from?
A - The book was going to be called 'Guns and Women' but a couple of people I know who read the early chapters didn't like the title. I wasn't completely sold on it, so I put it to the vote on this site and 'Get Stupid!' won the vote by more than three to one. It's a line from one of the characters, Francine. It's also a nod to Elmore Leonard, who's writing and book titles I've always loved. 'Get Shorty,' 'Freaky Deaky,'... Elmore was great with titles and this was supposed to be a nod to that. Although I just started reading 'Be Cool,' and learned that 'Get Stupid' was a proposed title for a film sequel that Chilli Palmer had been trying to pitch. So it was more Elmore than I knew it was, as it turns out. It's also an Elvis Costello thing, I love his album 'Get Happy!' and that was in there, too. Titles sometimes come really easily, sometimes not at all.
Q- 2013 and 2014 have been quiet, is 2015 going to make up for it?
A- That's the idea. I'm pretty locked in with Drugstore at the moment insofar as they seem happy with me and I'm happy with them. There's the possibility of a short story collection next year that Andrew has expressed some interest in. I've already got a book's worth but I'm not happy to include all of them, it's still going to take some work. One piece is something I thought would be a novella but it's going to be around 15,000 words, so that will be the last story in the book. The title story is about a guy who thinks he can hear Steve Earle in his head.
I've also finished the first draft of another novel, another crime novel and I'm well into another novel past that. I think the latest one will be finished as far as the first draft goes by Christmas. My next two books after that, one is drawn out and the characters are there, I've written the opening scenes and I'm looking forward to that. The other is an idea at the moment that involves a 'psychic' working with the police and I haven't decided if she really is or really isn't yet. So, potentially there could be two novels and a short story collection issued next year.
Q- Are you still writing every day?
A - Mostly, with a couple of days a week off.
Q - Why has there not been a paperback version to 'Moscow Drive?'
A - I'm aware that there are some formatting issues with the book and also some problems with the last edit. It reads okay but some of the punctuation needs changing. I'm going to revise it in the new year and then hopefully it can finally have a paperback. The formatting issues have caused some problems. Amazon for instance, list the Kindle version as running to 23 pages. I know I can be slow but it didn't take me two years to write 23 pages. The book is around 340 pages, so obviously the formatting hasn't worked well. In the new year, I'm going to find someone who can format these things properly and get some help. If anyone reading is good with Kindle formatting, please feel free to contact me and we'll see if we can work something out. 'MD' wasn't done with Drugstore, which is how these issues arose.
Q - 'Get Stupid!' is described as 'noir,' is this a new direction?
A - No, it's just one book. I love noir and read a lot of it when I was writing 'Dogs Chase Cars,' mostly to make sure Harry wouldn't be a typical private eye, as that wasn't what I wanted. My style is developing into more crime, less comedy. The comedy is still there but isn't the focus like 'Dogs.' I think 'Moscow Drive' has a slapstick element to it that was intended at the time but isn't there any more. The humour now comes from the character interactions and dialogue. I'm not writing with humour as a goal.
Q - Lisa Roberts from Edinburgh asked how I decide settings and would I be tempted to set anything in Edinburgh?
A - I love Edinburgh and had planned to set a book there that's now been scrapped. The setting is decided by how the characters are when I start to hear them. 'Get Stupid!' is set in 1960's Philadelphia because I just wanted to write that style. The next novel is set in London but also finds it's way across the pond for the last third or so. The current one is set in Liverpool again and doesn't leave Liverpool, at least, not yet. Lisa, I have a short story set in Edinburgh titled 'Stark' and it was published on-line by Pulp Metal Magazine.
Q - Are you still publishing through Drugstore Books?
A - I am indeed back with Drugstore and I'm glad about it. It works for me and as long as it works for all of us concerned, I'm happy for things to stay that way. I'm not chasing a mainstream publisher. If one came to me, I would listen but the process being as long winded as it is, I'm happy trying to establish myself with Drugstore. Andrew and Paul have treated me very well and I don't see any reason to change that. I also love the Drugstore ethos, which I've talked about before.
Interview with David Wisehart for Kindle Author. www.kindle-author.blogspot.com
DAVID WISEHART: What can you tell us about Dogs Chase Cars?
MARK PORTER: Dogs Chase Cars is a comic mystery set in Takoma Park, Maryland. The central character and narrator is an Englishman (Harry Hoodman) who has traded his store detective job for private detective status, in order to prove to his partner Megan that he can be relied upon to pull his weight. Harry is often awkward socially, he is a thinking man but struggles to motivate himself into action and feels that life is sliding past him faster than he can apply the breaks. When one of his friends is shot, Harry and the other characters attempt to fix their various issues through helping each other and trying to solve the identity of the assailant. Meanwhile, Harry is in therapy with a washed up former '70s glam rocker by the name of Caleb Pink. One of Caleb's former band mates rode a horse off the top of a Holiday Inn, securing the band's place as a minor footnote in rock history.
DAVID WISEHART: How do you develop and differentiate your characters?
MARK PORTER: I had the characters of Harry and Lambert Windle, his house mate and friend in mind for some years. I had always imagined I would do something with them, I just didn't know what. Caleb was initially a comedy invention but I had left the stand-up circuit before I got a chance to try him out. Their voices are very different to each other. Some of their characteristics are based around personal experiences and I suppose that there is some of me in Harry, to the extent that I give Harry his opinions and his hang-ups. We are both Olympic standard procrastination experts, so Harry is helping me get over that. In terms of keeping the characters separate and consistent, I have a firm idea of their backgrounds, fears, hopes and quirks before I write for them. Much of that information won't make the cut directly but it helps me keep the behaviour consistent.
DAVID WISEHART: Who do you imagine is your ideal reader?
MARK PORTER: I'm not sure. I wrote a book that I wanted to read. Dogs is a comedy and there is no getting around that. But I like to think that there are some decent examples in there of a more literary style of writing that I feel I am capable of. It just so happens that my natural voice will throw a punchline in whenever I think I'm in danger of vanishing up my own arse. My biggest influences are Joe R. Lansdale, Carl Hiaasen, Sam Lipsyte, Lee Goldberg and Douglas Adams. I have also started very recently to read Donald Westlake. With a background in stand-up and writing comedy material, I think I know how to time a punchline and how to make it seem natural to the prose. Anyone wanting to be entertained could read this, I am looking to write REAL comedy, not forced sitcom type comedy.
DAVID WISEHART: What was your journey as a writer?
MARK PORTER: One of my earliest high school English teachers complimented me on a fight scene I had written when I was eleven and within a year I had read To Kill A Mockingbird. That book made a life long reader out of me. I wrote poems and lyrics for bands I have played with and also dabbled with shorts. I wrote a novel and aborted another in my twenties and they were brain crushingly bad. Looking back, I can't believe I sent them to anyone. In May 2010, I was in Turkey with Leeanne, my partner. I had just read a novel by a mega selling author. I won't reveal his name but I felt really let down and a bit insulted to be honest. I felt like it was the most formulaic crap I had read and that he wouldn't have found a publisher had he not been able to rely on having already established his name. Leeanne said 'well, why don't you write one then?' I have always talked about it. She gave me a direct challenge to have a go, so I did. I sent the book to one publisher, Drugstore Books who are a very small indie with an ethos of helping new writers and using POD. It was accepted and went through an editorial process. Nine months after that discussion in Turkey, my first novel was published.
DAVID WISEHART: What is your writing process?
MARK PORTER: I write something every day. I tend to write very quickly through the first 50,000 words or so. I slow up down the back stretch and re-drafting takes as much, if not more time than the initial draft. I work out chapter plans and character queue cards were necessary. The plans can change here and there but in a book like Moscow Drive that I am coming into the finishing stages of now, there are so many sub plots and characters that I have to work with a plan. Having that structure helps me to relax and enjoy the process. I'm also a life long insomniac so much of my best work is done when I should be sleeping.
DAVID WISEHART: What authors most inspire you?
MARK PORTER: Joe R. Lansdale, Carl Hiaasen, Sam Lipsyte, J. Robert Lennon, Michael Chabon, Barry Hannah, Samuel Shem. Just lately, Willy Vlautin and thanks to fellow indie writer, Matt Hadder, John Barth. Tobias Wolff, Tim Bryant, Chris Brookmyre, Donald Westlake, Jim Dodge, Jake Arnott, Raymond Chandler. There are so many. I think you take things on board all over the place. I don't just read comedy or crime, or limit my reading to any other specific genre. I've been enjoying some sci-fi recently, too.
DAVID WISEHART: What one book, written by someone else, do you wish you'd written yourself?
MARK PORTER: I have to cheat and say two. Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union and Joe R. Lansdale's Vanilla Ride. Of course, it depends on mood but all of Joe's Hap and Leonard books would be on the list.
DAVID WISEHART: How have you marketed and promoted your work?
MARK PORTER: A few interviews, some posting on forums, interviewing other writers on my own website, www.markporter.weebly.com and I have some personal appearances coming up, too. It is a huge part of the process. It isn't like the old days, unless you're a celebrity chef or something, publishers have no inclination to promote and you have to do it yourself anyway. The Internet makes it easier, Drugstore Books have been right behind me but you hope you can create some kind of buzz. Without it, whatever you do is worth squat.
DAVID WISEHART: Why publish on Kindle?
MARK PORTER: It makes sense. Anyone who has yet to see that it is the way of future publishing, is probably descended from people who felt the petrol engine could never catch on.
DAVID WISEHART: What advice would you give to a first-time author thinking of self-publishing on Kindle?
MARK PORTER: Use an editor. Number one, biggest piece of advice. Get some objective eyes in there, people you can trust. But then get a totally independent editor. If you are serious, you will. If not, you run the risk of missing things that mark you out as an amateur. You can sell your books for a pound or a dollar but no-one will repeat buy anything else you do if the first one stinks. Then, all those hurdles negotiated—if you want to shift a few copies you have to learn to promote. No one will read it if they don't know it exists. Accept that some won't like it and have some belief.
DAVID WISEHART: Thanks, and best of luck with your books.
Drugstore Books have posted part 2 of a 2 part interview. Text is also included below.
www.drugstorebooks.com
This is the second part of our interview with Mark Porter, author of the just released “Dogs Chase Cars“
Where did you get the idea for Dogs Chase Cars?
I was stood in the sea in 1995 and Horatio and Lambert’s names came to me and a very basic plot. Nothing like how it ended up. Those names came back to me when I started writing this. In 1999 I went backpacking up the East Coast in the U.S. and I based myself for around three weeks in Takoma Park, where Dogs is set. All of the place names are accurate. I really liked the place, it reminded me a little bit of the town that Marty McFly lives in in Back To The Future. The plot developed the more I thought about the characters and who I wanted them to be.
How did you plan the characters? Are they based on real people, and if so, how closely do they resemble the people they’re based on?
They are not based on anyone, as such. There are aspects of people I know but not to the point where I think anyone would notice. Lambert Windle’s name was the combination of two people I know; I took each of their last names and made that Lambert’s name. Beyond that, it was imagination. I felt like I had Harry in my head for a very long time. I sort of knew that I would eventually get around to giving him a voice. When it came time to sit down and start, it felt very natural to write from Harry’s perspective. Caleb Pink’s name came from a tiny headstone from the 1800s that I found in Highgate cemetery in North London, not far from Karl Marx. The surprise was Reuben. I love his character and found him extremely enjoyable to write for. I also loved the two plain clothes cops, without giving too much away.
And as a follow-up, how closely do you resemble the protagonist of the story?
I think I have some of the traits Harry does. I’m more outgoing than he is but I value family and friends like he does. I think it’s inevitable for a first person, first novel that some of you will creep in. We are not all that similar. I have purposefully given him some different opinions. I think he feels a little overwhelmed by life at times and I can identify with that. I have an element of his clumsiness and I can be a fantastic worrier. I think the biggest similarity is that I do have a tendency to daydream my way through life a bit. I am bad for procrastinating and making situations worse than they need to be as a result. The drive and ambition issues Harry has came straight from me.
What was the hardest thing to overcome when writing your book?
Personal doubts. Was I good enough? Could I really pull it off? Would I have the staying power for a full book? Some of the doubts became motivational tools. Some of them caused me to seize up for a few days at a time.
Any words of advice for other writers out there?
Be a sponge. Read absolutely everything you can. I read an awful lot of writer interviews now; partly because it makes me feel less isolated and partly because having been through the process now, I find it pretty engrossing. I love to know how other writers approach things, regardless of what they write. Try to trust your instinct but read out loud when you are re-drafting. As far as first drafts, don’t be too critical or too much of a perfectionist. Just get to the end. In some ways the work only really starts when you re-draft. I also try very hard to be disciplined but I don’t force it. I write something every day. If the novel I am working on isn’t there on a particular day, I write something else. We are writers. That’s what we do. If it means enough, you’ll find a way to do it. I think it helps to know exactly what your goal is when you start. Finally, just trust yourself to get it done but not to the extent where you allow yourself constant breaks. It isn’t easy, at times it is bloody hard work but it is so rewarding when it goes well. I am about to start the second draft of my second novel and I can’t imagine not writing now. So get off the blogs, websites and forums until you have written enough words to have earned the break. There are so many distractions and your brain will trick you to take them whenever the going is tough. Most of all, you will never have the time. You have to find it.
___________________________
The just published April issue of Writing Magazine and Writers News includes a news feature 'Hot Dogs' in reference to Dogs Chase Cars.
___________________________
First part of an interview for the Drugstore Books website. Posted online 3rd March 2011.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m British, I’m from a city called Preston and I live in Liverpool. I’ve had a lot of different jobs, which means I have encountered a lot of different people. I used to be a stand-up comedian and I am curious about what makes people tick. What makes a person act or react the way they do. I’ve always had the attitude that if I want to have a go at something, I’m curious enough to try it. That doesn’t mean I consider myself massively talented, I just want to try for myself.
What was your motivation for writing this book?
Every chance and any chance I get to read, I read. It’s become a running joke. I once got knocked down by a tram because I walked in front of it reading a paperback. As far as writing Dogs I was getting tired of reading the same book over and over. The identi-kit thriller with the cardboard characters and predictable plot. I was in Turkey last year with my partner Leeanne and we were talking about books. I had just read something by a very well known writer and felt massively let down by it. I just felt like I wanted to write the sort of book I wanted to read. I have written a lot in the past from boxing websites to one novel and one part of a second novel in my very early twenties that were awful and were thrown away. I had always meant to get back to it, once I had some life experience. I just felt like it was time to put the excuses away and have a go.
How did you keep going? Were there any times when you felt like giving up on the project?
No. I was at the very early stages when I approached “Drugstore Books” and the interest in the book meant that I was able to maintain my excitement, even when it was hard going. “Drugstore” being there for me from the outset and on the end of an e-mail whenever I needed them, having the belief in me and my project and liking my material, all gave me huge encouragement. I had a couple of frustrating periods, where I felt it wasn’t happening and there were days when I couldn’t look at it. I wouldn’t say I ever felt like giving up, I felt like taking a break maybe but I liked the characters, I felt like I knew them and I didn’t want to let it go. You have to be honest with yourself, on the days when it just isn’t there, let it go. But I took it seriously. I also kept hearing Reuben’s voice telling me to stop wasting time and get on with it! Reuben was hard to hide from.
How did you plan this project? And how closely did you stick to your initial plan?
I sketched an outline and broke the book down into a chapter plan. I knew who the characters were and where they were taking me. I didn’t stick to it so rigidly that I wasn’t prepared to change things here and there. I didn’t write the book in chronological order. I wrote the chapters in the order that I wanted to write them in until I had reached something like chapter thirteen and then I ploughed through to get the first draft finished. After that, I took a couple of days to re-charge and started re-drafting. I don’t think any first draft is the finished article, or even close to it. It takes some time to knock it into shape and I had to change a lot. The changes were more in terms of consistency in style and the voices of the characters. The plot pretty much took care of itself. I had worked through four drafts before I started submitting it to “Drugstore” for the editorial process to begin. I had a lot of support.
How do you view yourself? Primarily as a writer, or does your sense of personal identity come from elsewhere?
This has changed a lot since I started the book. Initially, I felt like I was trying someone else’s shoes on. I was trying to think like a writer. Towards the end of the first draft, I started to see myself as a writer. I have written something every day now, more or less, since I started this and I definitely see myself as a writer now. Identity comes from all directions, how you are in your personal relationships, working relationships, where you stand as far as personal taste and outlook. So it is much more than just being a writer. I am comfortable in saying I am a writer now. I’m not apologising for it and I am not planning on stopping. It is a huge part of who I am now, it’s not the sum total but it’s a very important part of who I am.