An Interview with Nicky Blue, author of Escape from Samsara
Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?
My first novel is still sitting in my desk drawer. I have so many ideas moving forward, I don’t have the inclination to revisit it yet. I think the book has quite a solid plot and I still stand by a lot of the imagery. It would take a lot more work to get it ready for publication.
Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?
Ideas come easily for me I’m pleased to say. I like to write fast and get things down as quickly as they come to me. I change/ update ideas in my edits. I aim to write 2-3 novellas a year.
I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?
I can write anywhere on any medium. My favourite is the local library in town as it is full of students typing away. I join their rhythmical flow.
Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?
I have family members to read my stuff work but you don’t get the objectivity. I am lucky to have a team of people on my mailing list that read my work and give me feedback.
I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?
I love old musty bookshops, the dustier the better, I source most of my material leafing through bookshops in Brighton my hometown. Ebooks have their place though, especially on trips away.
I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and do you have a favourite author who sticks in your mind?
Tom Holt was my favourite in adolescence, I used to only read comedy. I started reading Dystopian novels in my early twenties. I loved Aldous Huxley. Now I read across all genres. If it comes recommended I will read it. I am currently rereading Dune by Frank Herbert.
Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?
I manage my own social media profiles but hire a virtual assistant for admin related tasks. I only spend 1-2 maximum a day on social media, normally in the evenings.
It is my belief there is a lot of hype around social media. It is wise to have a presence but it won’t make you a better writer. If you are a good writer people will find you.
Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?
It’s tempting but I enjoy the writing!
So many lies! So many betrayals! So many twists! So much still unsaid! This novel was filled with excited Ollie chatter, and it filled me with his infectious glee as well. And of course, Moritz’s mainly calming influence. Two boys who grow up (at least a little bit), by facing the world. And just because they are different doesn’t mean that they don’t face the usual teenage problems like falling in love or learning how to deal with school
I distinctly felt the two writing styles of Oliver and Moritz, and although at first I was worried about a text that consisted of letters the formatting ended up working well (
I got almost half-way through this novel, and nothing had happened. No-one I cared about was in real danger, and the Beast didn’t actually feel like a real threat for ‘normal’ people. From what I read from the blurb I think the myriad of characters eventually team up? But I didn’t see any of that, and instead I found myself again wondering why I cared about anyone’s outcome.
This is the same lovely mix of magic and slavery that I enjoyed in the first novel of this series, 
This novel was a wussy one. It revisited old tropes of a sister being wrested away unfairly because of a crime she didn’t commit, and then her sibling doing something equally ‘awful’ in order to be sent there so that they can escape. And then it turns out, surprise surprise, that there is someone else working there who could potentially help them!
Honestly, my enthusiasm for this novel waned over time. After reading 
Sitting here reviewing this in fact months after I have read it, I am tempted to read it again. It’s like a much better version of another set of singing novels I attempted a long, long time ago. I don’t seem to have reviewed it, but I think the author was someone Modeste?
It had the potential to be a thriller, but thanks to 
I was glopping through the mud and becoming numb to the spectacle of adults mapping the ground blindly right from the beginning. I could feel the fear sweat running down my spine. Plus, I loved that joke ‘Rain can only go in one direction – down!’. The the two brothers turn out to be the most hardy of all of the child survivors, but they don’t really know why.