Author and Editor in Chief- NIK MORTON

I have the honor of representing Nik Morton, Solstice Publishing’s Editor-in-Chief, and author of several books this week! Nik dishes on his personal interests and preferences when it comes to his two favorite things: reading and writing~

 

 

 

 

 

 

What types of books catch your interest?

My taste is rather eclectic. I’m currently reading The Far Pavilions (saga set in India during the time of the British Raj), Screenplay for Downton Abbey (popular Edwardian TV series), A Game of Thrones (fantasy series, now on HBO), The Miners (Old West). Of the 17 books I’ve read this year, 11 have been published by Solstice.

What genre do you like to write?

Any. I’m interested in virtually all genres and have had books published in crime, thriller, fantasy, western, romantic thriller, horror so far…

What genre do you like to read?

Any. I have a library of over 4,000 books (maybe 500 nonfiction, 500 sci-fi, 300 western, plus crime, thriller, sagas, classics, mainstream. I’ve probably got more books still to read without the remaining time on this planet to actually read them all…
What kinds of fans do you attract?

I seem to have fans for my Sister Rose book (Pain Wears No Mask, out of print) and my westerns. As my writing doesn’t fall into a convenient genre label, I’m probably missing out on feeback.

Do you have a target age range?

I’ve written and drawn comic strips for 5-8yr olds (Super Scoop the Penguin) and for teens (superhero, The Vulcan), but my prose is in the main aimed at an adult readership, though I have planned a YA adventure entitled The Call… – when the call comes.

What is your motivation? Do you write things you know, or things you dream?

I’ve been writing for over 40 years, and I’m inspired by many things, which ignite my imagination. I don’t seem to need motivation. It’s more a question of which novel to move forward on at any one time. I have started on the third Tana Standish psychic spy novel – The Khyber Document (the first two – The Prague Manuscript and The Tehran Transmission – now out of print), a romantic thriller set in Victorian England and Tenerife (Bradbury & Hood), an adult pirate adventure (Dark Endeavour), the first in a cat burglar series (Cat Among the Pigeons), and a humorous Los Angeles private eye novel (Sneeze on a Thursday) – all waiting in the wings for me to finish.

What are your hobbies?

Would you believe writing and reading? Also watching movies. I like drawing but don’t have much time for that, though I do draw superhero characters for my grandson to colour-in.

What turns you off to a book or author?

Careless and lazy writing; an inability to create a visual sense; a lack of adequate description. If an author can’t accept comment or advice, then that turns me off, understandably. They can accept it, they don’t have to abide by it.
What can we expect to see from you this year?

The year is young, yet. I’m expecting my 16th, 17th and 18th books to be published this year. Nonfiction book Write a Western in 30 Days (John Hunt, UK publisher) which contains a lot of advice about writing generally, not just regarding westerns. Wings of the Overlord, co-written with Gordon Faulkner, a fantasy quest novel, the first in a series in mythical Floreskand (Knox Robinson, UK publisher). Blood of the Dragon Trees, a crime thriller set in Tenerife (Crooked Cat, UK publisher). I’ve just about finished a western, The Magnificent Mendozas. A long short story, homage to Edgar Rice Burroughs and H Rider Haggard, ‘Bid Time Return’, is to be published by Beat to a Pulp online.

I’ll be working on the next Floreskand novel, To be King with Gordon, too.
Anything else you would like your fans to know about you?

I was never a nun, and never lived in a convent – it was purely research…

 

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