Hi Nick! Tell us about your most recent release or an upcoming release:

In Science Fiction: The Queen’s Spawn, Book 4 in The Wrecking Squad series, released on 25th November. This starts the second phase of my system-spanning action sci-fi series. Think The Expanse meets Firefly with a pinch of action from Aliens as Rebekah and her crew face the rise of a human/AI hybrid they helped release from a deranged scientist’s lost ship.

In Fantasy: I released A Queen In Blood, the final book in the Warriors of Spirit and Bone trilogy. This series charts the emergence of the Seven Gods’ lies about a people’s past, where scripture dictates the denial of science and magic. When a tide of soul magic exposes their deceit, a terrifying truth emerges as their world is revealed to a race of soul-vampires who have hunted them across the ages. Think spirit-magic, vampires, necromancers and clockwork artifices that feed off souls to function.

Who was the first author that you remember reading?

Avidly would have been Alistair MacLean, a Scottish writer of spy and action thrillers. I grew up under the influence of my grandfather, who saw service in World War 2 on the minesweepers and was also keenly interested in recent history. The two went together, and I think perhaps they have impacted on my style, which tends to be fast, action orientated with high stakes and usually a background of intrigue between. I moved on from his books as I discovered Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert and Tolkien.

Who was the first indie author that you discovered?

Probably, and at the time as things changed quickly for him, Andy Weir with The Martian. Though if I’m honest, I never sought out whether a book was indie or traditionally published. In effect, I wasn’t aware of indie publishing at all until I began reading ebooks and in particular escapist ‘B-movie’ style scifi. It was these that piqued my curiosity, and I began to explore the authors involved, perhaps with a hankering about my own possible future. Once this started, I found myself rarely picking up a trad book. This isn’t because I avoided them, but more because of the risks taken by indie writers that perhaps wouldn’t get past an agent or a publishing house seeking mass sales.

Which authors have most contributed to or influenced your indie experience?

Now this is an interesting question, because it’s not necessarily their books that have altered my view, but their support and input into my process. I work closely with an international group of indie authors, and we’ve just produced Neosythesis – a sci-fi anthology released on December 1st. However, it’s their support with beta reading, cover design ideas, process, story structure and just being there on the bad days that has kept me going. I should name Martin Lejeune, co-author of the McMurdo Rift series, as a huge influence, as well as Bryan Chaffin, TK Toppin, Rohan O’Duill, Jes Deaver and JD Robinson. They’ve all, at some point, made me put pen back to paper, so to speak. I also recently joined Creative Commune, a group located on this side of the Atlantic, who have a different set of skills and expectations, but already the mutual support is present and that desire for everyone to develop. I am sure this exists in the trad community, but for me, this is the real boon of indie writers. We’re in it together.

Do you feel like you’ve ‘arrived’ as an author yet?

No.I’m seventeen books in, but in no way am I ‘established’. I have moved between genres because as an indie writer, I can, and also played with different styles, such as in The Scorching books. I think ‘arrived’ has to include consistent, organic sales, not those forced by an endless round of free giveaways and constant discounting just to move the needle a little. I would love to be at that point and move away from this being an obsessive hobby to fill my time after early retirement, but I’m not sure that’ll ever happen.

What are your #authorgoals?

Out of everything, readers to enjoy my books across all the genres I write in, while being in the black! Long way to go.

What element of writing life do you find the hardest?

The days when someone returns your 99c/p book on Amazon. I mean, that’s a killer moment when it first happens, but I’ve found it never gets better. To that reader, my months of work are not even worth getting past the first few pages. Or worth 99c/p? Damn, that’s harsh. I would also say the loneliness but joining both writing communities has really helped with that.

What’s the best piece of critique you’ve ever gotten?

From Bryan Chaffin, author of Accidental Intelligence: If someone tells you something is wrong, listen. They are usually right, but how they tell you to fix it is always wrong.

You can find Nick’s works here.

This is a shortened version of Nick’s interview. The full interview is available to our Patreon members. You can find out more about our Patreon and additional content here.