From right to left: authors Ross Greenwood, Jane E James and me!
- Hi Ross, can you please tell us all a little bit about yourself? How long have you been writing and did you always want to be a writer?
I’m 44 and was born in Peterborough. I travelled all around the world, living in Australia and Gibraltar of all places. Then I met my soon to be wife walking a dog about 50 metres from my back door next to the River Nene! I had an urge to write a book about 10 years ago, but life (kids actually) got in the way. The drive to finish it became irresistible, and I wrote Lazy Blood between 4 and 6 am after being woken up by son’s request for milk.
- I really enjoyed reading Fifty Years Of Fear (read my review here) and from what I can gather your first three novels are set in or around Peterborough, can you tell us why? Is it important to you to ‘write what you know’?
Fifty Years, Lazy Blood and The Boy Inside are all set in Peterborough. I wanted to write about my home town as there are few books set here. The ones that are, often portray a stark place that I don’t think exists. Characters from each book may pop up in the others, but they can all be read standalone. I worked in the prison for four years and used my experiences there to portray modern lives told with humour. I find writing flows when you pull the information from your own memory.
- And finally, for any would-be writers out there, what one piece of advice would you offer them?
You’ll find lots of people have advice about writing, but everyone’s journey is unique. The only advice that is guaranteed to be correct is to pick up your pen and begin. Then you are a writer, whatever anyone says. It’s unlikely you’ll make much money from it, but it’s a wonderful thing to do. Holding your own first book is an experience that’s within your reach, if only you pick up that pen and write.
Thank you for being a great guest, Ross. If you want to connect with Ross on social media you can find him on:
Facebook
Twitter
Ross has also recently released his fourth novel, Abel’s Revenge, which is getting some rave reviews. Check it out here and here.
Eva Jordan 