Meet out featured writer, Stewart Bint.

Hello everyone!
First, let me start by wishing all the writers and readers a very happy 2015. I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas (as did I!).
I'm very pleased to introduce you all to author Stewart Bint, without sounding too melodramatic, you wouldn't be reading this without my association with Stewart.
Stewart was one of the first people I met on Twitter, brought together by our mutual liking of TV Show Dr Who. I mentioned to Stewart that I'd always loved writing since childhood but didn't have any confidence in my abilities, he told me to "go for it" and that was all the impetus I needed.
Since then Stewart has provided me with invaluable help, advice and encouragement. He recently took time out from his schedule to beta read my new short story, Dinner For Two. His positive feedback put me on cloud nine.
  Stewart has created some wonderful books, which I can highly and honestly recommend since I purchased his latest work, Thunderland and would encourage you all to put it on your 'must read list'.
So without any further delay from me, please say hello to Stewart Bint.

UPDATE!

Since this post went live Stewart has landed a five year publishing contract with U.S. publisher Booktrope. Stewart's previous four books will be published as well as a new work scheduled for release in 2017. Congratulations Stewart, you are an inspiration not only to myself but other indie authors as well.

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Interview With Stewart Bint.

Q:        Tell us a little about yourself.

I was born in the dim and distant past (I’ll admit to 1956 under torture). My Dad died when I was 11, and I believe that pushed me into maturity much younger than most people, and may have been responsible for me retreating into the worlds I created with my stories at that time.

Writing takes up pretty much all of my time in three different guises. My day job is a PR writer for an industrial software developer. There are my novels…and I also write a column for a fortnightly magazine. I trained as a journalist and worked as a radio broadcaster, reading the news and presenting current affairs and phone-in shows for ten years before moving into PR.

Q:        You mentioned the stories you wrote when you were around 11. How did you start writing?

My real inspiration came from watching the original series of Doctor Who in 1963 when I was just seven. I was enraptured by the storylines which could take place at any time in Earth’s history and future, and absolutely anywhere in the universe or beyond. I started creating my own worlds and my own characters, writing my stories in little blue notebooks until my parents bought me a portable typewriter for my ninth birthday.

And those make-believe worlds became invaluable when my Dad died. I was in control of my characters’ fate, knowing that whatever happened to them during the story I would make sure they were okay in the end. My worlds were certainly better than the real one at that time.

Q:        What genres do you write?

Science fiction and supernatural. They are the two genres I love reading myself. Also, most of my ideas for stories are too way-out for straight-forward thrillers.

Q:        Tell us about your two latest works of fiction

Thunderlands is a collection of 17 short stories. Probably best to let one of the reviews on Amazon speak for it:

"Stewart Bint's 'Thunderlands' is a study of human nature, even if all its characters aren't, strictly speaking, human. The stories examine themes such as greed, lust, gluttony and plenty of other deadly sins, with a widely differing series of characters and settings. The book truly puts us, which is to say humanity, on trial for our offences, in some cases literally. The book starts with the trial of Santa Clause and ends with the trial of a twitter bully (the two strongest stories in the collection). In both these examinations of societal evils the blame may be placed at the feet of an individual, but the stories show us that the issues are far more complex than the easy answers we’d like to assign them."

In Shadows Waiting: During a spate of burglaries in their village a family start seeing fleeting movements in their garden. Then things happen in the house. The police can find no sign of intruders.

What was simply annoying becomes frightening. Then dangerous. Then deadly. It’s clear there are supernatural forces at work.

For young Simon Reynolds and his family, the shadows are fading, the waiting is over.
-- It was a face of utmost evil, but was gone before I had a chance to register its features.
-- The sound was heavenly, totally out of this world and I listened entranced. It was the music of angels.

-- Those eyes mirrored all the wickedness and evil ever born on this Earth.
-- But at that moment he didn’t know just how dangerous. And neither did I.
-- Why has it suddenly started to come now? They were questions to which we had no answers. Yet.

-- The creature’s triumphant laugh was something that will be with me to my dying day.

Q:        What advice do you have for other writers?

Write for yourself first of all -- your stories should make you happy. And you are never too old to make it. Life, family and work took preference over my dreams of becoming a novelist when I was younger, and my first novel wasn't published until I was 56.

Q:        Which other writers inspire you?

Over the years there have been many. The first one I can really remember as having an influence on the stories I wrote, as opposed to just reading for fun – such as Enid Blyton and her Famous Five and the Secret Seven etc., was C.S. Lewis. That was because he wrote about other lands and fantasy characters in the same ilk as Doctor Who.

I’ve always been fascinated by the timeless stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but he’d be spinning in his grave to think I prefer Sherlock Holmes and the Lost World tales to his more literary works.

When I was around 13 I discovered Alistair McLean and his string of thrillers, which influenced me to create twists in my stories, particularly at the end.  Around the same time I began to read Ian Fleming’s James Bond series and that influenced me to temper some of my outlandish, far-fetched worlds with a sense of realism so the reader could at least identify with part of my creations.

But one author who has remained with me ever since the publication of his first book way back when, is Stephen King. He is the master of instilling menace and uncertainty into everyday situations through a wonderful imagination and a great story telling craft.

Q:        What’s your best and worst experiences as a writer?

This is easy, but boring, I’m afraid. Best: the day my first novel, Malfunction, was published. Worst: Those rejection letters. Okay, I bet everyone says that.

Q:        And the best/worst writing advice you ever received?

Best: “You’ve got all those stories inside you. You’ve got to write them and get them published before you’re too old.”

Worst: “You may as well not waste your time writing novels. You only stand one in a million chance of getting published.”

Guess which I took.

Q:        What do you want your fans to know about you and your work?

I’d like my readers to know how grateful I am to you all for finding the time to read my stories and I hope you enjoy them. My work is only intended to entertain. I know it’ll never be classed as great literature.

Q:        When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?

Writing does tend to take over my life, but when I can get away from the keyboard, I’m a member of the Coventry Barefoot Hiking Chapter, and get out on wonderful treks, barefoot, through the countryside and woodland trails.

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STEWART'S WORKS.

 

You can find all Stewart's books and stories here

You can also visit Stewart at his website by clicking here 

I must say a very big thank you to Stewart for taking time for his busy lifestyle to speak to the Writers Emporium, do something nice for yourself and give yourself a great read and buy one of Stewart's books, I did and I can recommend them!