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| CLIVE FLEURY |
BRIEF PROFILE OF THE AUTHOR:
Clive
Fleury is an award-winning writer of books and screenplays and a TV and Film Director
and Producer. He has worked for major broadcasters and studios on a wide
variety of successful projects in the US, UK, Australia, Europe and the Middle
East. In the initial stage itself, he ignored the advice of the Career
Specialist and embarked upon a very different but successful life.
His
latest book –“Kill Code: A Dystopian Science Fiction Novel”, is the first in an
exciting new dystopian science fiction series, set in a world facing climate
catastrophe, where nothing is what it seems. Besides “Kill Code”, he also wrote
“Scary Lizzy” - a novel about an eight year old girl, Sarah Wilde, who befriends
an African child ghost - and the teen action adventure book, “The Boy Next Door”'
- or what happens when a teenage girl has a crush on her next door neighbor,
who isn't all he seems. He also co-wrote “Art Pengriffin and The Curse of The
Four” - a young adult fantasy adventure about a teenage boy, who discovers his
father was Merlin the Magician. It was a Kindle Book Review Awards
Semi-Finalist. He loves to travel – anywhere, and anytime he has any spare
cash.
Q Are you a professional writer? How many of
your books have been published so far?
I
have been a professional writer for several years and have had four books
published of which “Kill Code: A Science Fiction Novel” is the latest. It is
the first of a trilogy and I am hoping to have the next book in the series out
by the end of the year. I also write screenplays and for newspapers and
magazines.
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Q Which
particular book of yours, do you consider as the best so far, and why?
It
is hard to be objective about the books you have written. All are “my babies”
at the start of the process and then, when I am finished, I have to let them go
out into the world. However, I do tend to like best, the novel I completed
last—in this case, Kill Code.
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Q Did
you receive appreciation/recognition & adequate sales for your this book,
or any other book, in the world?
For
me, and I suspect most authors, there is no such thing as adequate sales. All
of us want to sell more books than we have so far. On reviews, and I have got good honest
reviews for Kill Code, they are like sales— I can never get enough of them.
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Q Do
you promote and recommend writing of books jointly? In your opinion what are
the areas of benefits and problems, in such joint ventures?
I
enjoy writing books jointly, though I have only done this once so far—on a YA
book called “Art Pengriffin and the
Curse of the Four.” Writing is a lonely profession, so it is good to share the
time with someone else. But if you are a control freak, writing jointly can be
a nightmare!
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Q When
& how do you get the ideas & do you immediately note them down in a
diary or elsewhere?
I
cannot write a new book until I have the structure locked down, so I spend a
lot of time staring into space and trying to work out what the story is all
about. My current book, Kill Code is the start of a series, and this helps me
with the next one, because I have now got a handle on the characters. Yes, I do
carry around a notepad just in case, I suddenly have a flash of inspiration.
The trouble is that my handwriting is so bad I cannot always read later what I
have written. Very frustrating!
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Q On
an average, how many months do you take to complete one book, in all respects?
Kill
Code took around seven months to write and edit. However, the idea has been at
the back of my mind for years now. Other books have taken longer to write, but
the central theme took far less time to think up. So it varies.
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Q Besides
the quality of writing, in your opinion, what are the other factors for the
success of a book?
The
growth of the Internet and self-publishing have meant that there are now
millions of ‘authors’ out there, and are vying for attention. But unless you
can reach an audience, your book will die however good it is. So you have to
invest a lot of time in marketing. This is not good news for most writers who,
like me, are lousy at it.
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Q Which
aspects motivate you to write books? Earning money/publicity/helping
readers/self-satisfaction/others?.
I,
like I suspect most authors, have no choice. I have to write! I know that
sounds strange to some, but it is a little like being constipated. I have to
put words on paper.
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Q What
are the reasons for the general success of the concept of “Agents of writers”
in some countries?
I
have never met anyone who is creative, who does not have massive amounts of
self-doubt. “Am I good at what I am doing? Should I go on? Is this all worth
it?” That is where an agent comes in. A good agent can give advice and help to
overcome this stultifying self-doubt. They can also do things which many
writers cannot do—like negotiate deals, and make sure someone pays you. But an
agent is no panacea. Ultimately, you learn that success or failure is up to
you.
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Q If
you were not a writer, in what other way, you would have expressed your
creativity?
I
am lucky. I direct films and TV, as well as write. Doing this helps me to
express my creativity in a different way.
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Q What
is your opinion about e-books? Due to this concept of e-books, is the survival
of printed books in future in jeopardy?
There
was a time when e-books were supposed to be wiping out the printed books and
bookstores. Now, however, I think people have realized that e-books and printed
books can and should co-exist.
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Q What
are your future plans for writing books?
I will keep writing. I
cannot help myself.
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Q What
is your advice to the budding authors?
In
the words of the great Oracle Nike: “Just do it”.
--------------vijaiksharma
