Read the review of Dublin in the Rain
Me: Hello and welcome to my blog, Andrew. Congratulations on your debut book, Dublin in the Rain. Please tell us briefly about the story behind this book.
Andrew: Many thanks indeed for the opportunity. Dublin in the Rain, as delightfully described by one literary critic, is a haunting story to pull on reader's heartstrings. I view it as a passionate, romantic story of love, loss and ultimately redemption. Certainly readers who enjoy an unexpected twist really seem to have enjoyed the book enormously - which makes me very happy!
Me: So what inspired you to pen down this beautiful, heart-touching story?
Andrew: The inspiration really comes from one of my favourite films of all time, 'It's a Wonderful Life'. Although very much the inspiration, I did want to produce something very different. Without doubt, the lead character in my book is certainly very different to James Stewart's role is in the film. Also I wanted to create an erotic romance full of passion, which could never be said of 'It's a Wonderful Life'. The erotic nature of the book definitely divides readers, that's for sure! However, the key themes of 'It's a Wonderful Life' in terms of the importance of friendship and the fact that we are often our own worst enemies, as well as the magical journey that is sometimes taken to redemption, are all very much a massive part of Dublin in the Rain.
Me: Was it always your one true-dream to be a writer?
Andrew: I wouldn't say always but certainly for the past 30 years. It took some courage to 'give up my day job' to focus on writing. However, without doubt, it's the best decision I've ever taken. I love being a novelist and writer and find it impossible to imagine doing anything else now.
Me: Name one person in your life who inspired you to write.
Andrew: It was a guy I played cricket at University with called Joe Bennett. I never really engaged with English as a subject at school but being around Joe at University really inspired me. We lost contact for around 25 years until earlier this year and I found out that he's written about eight or nine books in that time.
Me: How will you describe your journey so far as an author ?
Andrew: A wonderful one where I am learning literally every single day. Some days it's about improving as a writer. I am immensely proud of Dublin in the Rain and its not insignificant success but I do feel that I can still very much improve as a writer. Plus, understanding the complexities of the book industry where around 100,000 books are released in the UK and USA alone has been absolutely fascinating.
Me: Tell us about one particular trait of Jonathan, your protagonist, that intrigues you the most.
Andrew: Wow, that is a good question. I think it's what I mentioned earlier - namely that he is his own worst enemy. He's basically a very good guy to whom some very tragic and unfortunate things have happened. However, the only person who is actually stopping him from finding happiness is himself. I've been guilty of that myself in life. I think a lot of people share that difficulty at some point in their life.
Me: How can you describe your normal writing day like?
Andrew: It's difficult as it varies so much. Some days I am able to focus on writing but other days I seem to spend most of the time around promotion of the book. I received some very good support from Authoright during the launch of the book but for the past 10 months virtually all the promotion of the book has been done by myself. Whether that be Social Media (in particular Facebook) or networking on Goodreads or chasing US literary review sites to look at my book. Sadly I am not successful enough yet to have a massive infrastructure behind what I do. In a sense that's a good thing though as I am still able to interface and talk directly to any fans who want to engage with me. I really wouldn't want to lose that.
Me: How do you unwind yourself after a long day's work?
Andrew: A glass of red wine normally. Although some days, like today, I'm still hard at it at ten at night. I wouldn't want it any other way though. As I say, I love what I do.
Me: So you're working on the sequel to Dublin in the Rain. Please tell us briefly about this sequel.
Andrew: There's a Novella coming out in the first quarter. It's a very simple and light romance called 'The Wish' - but also very heartwarming with a real feelgood factor around the concept that True Love Never Dies. What really interests me is how the story is presented visually. Following discussions with my Publisher this week, I feel confident that we can deliver something very different. After that it's my follow-up Novel proper to Dublin in the Rain. Very, very different to Dublin in the Rain in many respects but it still focuses on the key themes of melancholia, friendship, love and, above all, redemption. I'm so excited about the book it is beyond belief - my biggest challenge at the moment is finding the right title for the book.
Me: Thank You so much Andrew for sparing time to have this interview session with me. I can only wish you luck in all your future endeavors.
Andrew: Thank you so very much also. It's really been a great pleasure. Some of the questions are things I've never been asked before and just great questions. I wish you all the very best with your blog sites. For sure, I loved your review of Dublin in the Rain.
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