About A.J. Sendall:
“WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW.” UNKNOWN
“YOU HAVE TO LIVE IT UP BEFORE YOU CAN WRITE IT DOWN.” ROBIN MOORE.
After three decades of ‘living it up’, it is now time for A.J. Sendall to write it down. Not as a dry travelogue or memoir, but as realistic novels based on real life experiences. Experiences, which still run technicolour through his mind.
Since ’79, A.J. Sendall has been collecting people and places. From the polluted dust bowls of the Sahara, to the pristine ice floes of the Antarctic, he has gathered and filed them away. Some have recently pushed through the bars of insecurity and are now at large in the pages of his first three novels. Others await their future fates.
What inspires you to write?
Perhaps the impossible desire to emulate those great writers whose works I admire. But I don’t need external inspiration, I am constantly driven to write, I alway have been, but it is only recently that I have considered publishing.
Tell us about your writing process.
As most of my stories are based upon events from my life, I don’t need to plan, it’s all just there waiting to spill out. I don’t plan pure fiction either. I tried once and felt too controlled, too hemmed in and so did my characters. My process is to start with an idea, an incident, a moment in time, and then run with it. My current WIP, Carlotta, is an example of that. I was walking along the waterfront in Cartagena, Colombia, heard a squeal of tyres and the whole book played through my mind as I walked home.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
The border blurs between a character and me. I try to become them, think and react like them. I have conversations with them and try to provoke them into arguments to see what they are made of.
What advice would you give other writers?
Be yourself. Don’t do stuff just because you think it will be popular, or feel it is trendy. It won’t last and you won’t maintain it. You will always be you.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I’ve always been a hands-on guy, and have had a few businesses in the past, so self-publishing was a natural choice for me. Self-publishing allows the author to maintain full control of their career, something which I feel is very important in these rapidly changing times. There is also the financial consideration, in that as a self publisher, one gets a bigger slice of the pie.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I try not to. But I think it is inevitable that self-publishing will continue to strengthen and grow for the next decade at least. What happens to trad publishing depends on how that sector reacts to the changing culture and technology. People will want paper books for a long time to come, but there will inevitably come a day when they go the same way as vinyl L.Ps.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Thriller, Crime, Mystery
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print, eBook, Print
Website(s)
A.J. Sendall Home Page Link
Link To A.J. Sendall Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
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