You’ve written a huge amount of fiction, poetry and business-related non-fiction during your lifetime, what has prompted you to seek out a publisher now?

I had contacted conventional publishers before, mainly re non-fiction writing, and I have published a couple of technical books and many articles. But for full-length philosophical or fiction works, publishers are inundated with manuscripts. Until recently, I have had little time outside my professional work, so I did not have the chance to pursue it. 

The Newsman was a short story you wrote while studying at City University, was this your first piece of creative writing?

I wrote a lot of songs when I was in my teens and twenties, and some poetry. Newsman was written especially for the competition and was probably the second or third story I actually completed.

When you first penned The Newsman did you have any idea that you might have written a winning story?

I thought it was good, but I didn’t expect to win. I don’t have a strong interest in entering competitions, so it was a nice surprise.

Do you share your writing with others, and have you used beta-readers for this or other stories? For example, Stephen Kind shares all of his writing with his wife and she is his writing barometer.

Yes, I have a couple of collaborators, mainly on the non-fiction side, but Richard Skinner, who is a professional poet, has helped me a lot to make my fiction writing more professional

What was the inspiration for this story and for the others you’ve included in Someone Else’s Gods?

Most of the stories were inspired by events I observed or was involved in or by people I met in my professional life. Some draw on personal incidents and experiences. The trick is to project the psychology into different environments and explore what could happen.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you work through the storyline and know exactly where the story will end or does the story unfold from the first line or lines?

Definitely pantser. I like to call it “romantic”!  Ideas for stories come to me all the time. I write them down and then when I have the chance, I work on them. Some have been developing for years like a fine wine, I hope (!). I normally have an idea where a story is going, but I find that the plot details come to me as I am writing. At the end, I go back to make sure the continuity works, and the theme of the story is coherent. Generally it’s not far off, but I always do rewriting and polishing, often with the assistance of a patient colleague.

Your short stories are a mixture of adult fiction, light science fiction and philosophical theorising but with a lot of humour throughout, do the other novels and short stories you’re publishing follow this same vein, or have you dabbled your toes in other genre?

Yes, all my stories are intended to amuse or entertain in some way, and some are meant to be more intellectually challenging. One of the “teasers” I included in Someone Else’s Gods shows a different style, that of an action thriller with a detective element, which is a genre I enjoy reading. I am interested in the way that human psychology and behaviour is consistent across cultures, and I try hard to avoid situations or characters who do not ring true psychologically. Hence, I am not a fan of fantasy or superhero writing.

Did any of your stories begin as sketches for your comedy performance revues?

Yes, only one in the current collection, but I plan to include more sketch type material in the next one.

Have you got any advice for authors who’re sitting on a mountain of unpublished work?

Yes – just do it ! I recommend using a literary editor to perfect the material – that has been a very worthwhile Investment from my point of view – as well as getting friends to give their views. However, you don’t need to follow advice slavishly if you have good reasons for going a different way. Advice helps you think through your own objectives for the material – the background, the plot events and the characters – and will enable you to make changes for the better.