Authors Electric

Do you sometimes struggle to come up with a subject to blog about? Well that was me up until I read Reb MacRath's blog on size (Friday) and Jan Needle's comment about interviewing the Beatles. I was about to add a comment, when I suddenly realised that what I was going to put, could be turned into an entire blog. So first off, thank you Reb and Jan for inspiring today's blog! My comment was in response to Jan who had once interviewed the Beatles, finding that three of them were smaller than him. That reminded me of interviewing Chewbacca, an 8ft Wookiee about a month ago. That was certainly a bit of a size difference! It dawned on me that over the years, I've interviewed some weird and wonderful characters. So I thought I might share a few with you. Topically, as Star Wars celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, I remember writing an article for a magazine celebrating Star Wars' 25th anniversary. I got to interview Dave Prowse – who played Darth Vader. ...

Interviewing Lee Tysall, drummer of heavy metal band 'Wars' I'm starting to think that writing is taking over my life! It's not just that I'm spending every day writing something – an article, a bit of my novel, note for a writing class etc., it just seems that all my free time and social life seems to be taken up with going to events and places which I end up writing about.  I'm not actually complaining. In fact if it wasn't for my writing, I wouldn't have anywhere near as good a social life. This weekend it's Crufts, next weekend it's Comic Con and the weekend after that it's Miniatura. All three events are working jobs, but what nice jobs! I love dogs, and writing about them is probably my favourite topic. It's taken me all over the UK and abroad, covering so many different aspects of man's best friend. A visit to an army base in Northern Ireland and a trip in an army helicopter stemmed from an interview w...

Imagine a duel of titans:    Harpo Marx vs.    A creature who looks both like that and like this:                                                 The concept still rings my bells after all these years. Halley's Comet, in 1986, sends a trainload of passengers scream-rolling back in time to 1906 San Francisco--the year of the Great Quake.  And I had some cool tricks to go with it: 1) Also on the train is a new kind of vampire. Austin Blacke looks like the Sundance Kid...but can also transform to a hyena or python--and even change his face. Blacke goes into immediate 'blood shock', desperately needing the blood of his day. 2) Unaware they're being stalked, the passengers face other perils. They're quickly 'made' as  strangers   because of their money, clothes and speech. A few adapt clever disguises--including the h...

Me working in Switzerland I've been writing about Man's Best Friend – dogs, for well over 20 years. And recently my output has doubled. Payment for these articles hasn't doubled however, in fact I'm doing a whole series of animal welfare charity articles for free for an on-line magazine, because it's a cause dear to my heart. Writing about dogs began way back in the 1990s when I spotted in Freelance Market News (which I still get every month) a listing for a dog magazine called Dogs Monthly . At the time one of my dogs, Pippa, was taking part in an amateur dramatic production at the Wheatsheaf Theatre next door to my house. My teenage son and his pal used to do the theatre's sound and lighting, and when the play called for a dog to walk on with one of the actors and be fed crisps, my son thought Pippa would be perfect for the role. She didn't get an Oscar but she did get interviewed on the radio – yes honestly! And I got my first article ...