Bill Davidson
Featured Author: Bill Davidson is a Scottish writer of horror and fantasy. Although fairly new to short story writing, his work can be found in a number of publications from the UK and US, such as Flame Tree Publishing’s Endless Apocalypse Short Stories; Dark Lane Books, “Storyteller,” “Under the Bed,” “Emerging Worlds”; Metamorphose, “Enchanted Conversation”; Tigershark Publishing and Storgy Magazine. Find him on billdavidsonwriting.com or @bill_davidson57
Featured Author: Bill Davidson Interview
- How long have you been writing?
- What/who inspired you to be a writer?
- What genre do you prefer to write in?
- Describe your writing process. What comes first–character or plot? Do you “pants” it or outline?
- What is your daily routine as a writer?
- What are some of your biggest challenges you feel like you have to overcome in your writing career?
- Do you have a set number of words each day or a goal?
- How much time is spent on “the business of writing” – queries, seeking an agent or publisher, marketing/sales?
- Do you prefer short stories or full-length novels in your writing?
- Can you give some us some insight into your story?
- What advice can you give other writers?
LHP: How long have you been writing?
Bill Davidson: I’d say I’ve been writing with real purpose for around two years. Before that, I was too distracted with my previous career, paying the mortgage and bringing up kids. All of which was fantastic, of course.
LHP: What genre do you prefer to write in?
Bill Davidson: I’m very fond of horror, but I’ll write anything that comes to mind. I had a fairy story based on the elves and the shoemaker published a few months back. Something horrible happened, though.
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LHP: What/who inspired you to be a writer?
Bill Davidson: My main inspirations have to be Stephen King and Elmore Leonard.
LHP: Describe your writing process. What comes first–character or plot? Do you “pants” it or outline?
Bill Davidson: I start with an idea. Then I wander around for a few days falling over small dogs and crashing my car into things, looking for other ideas to hang off it. Eventually, I end up with the outline in my head. I can’t bring myself to plot in great detail. Then I lock myself away and write, and that’s when the characters appear. They always have their own ideas about who they really are and what the story should be, which I love because that is where the good stuff lies.
LHP: What is your daily/weekly routine as a writer?
Bill Davidson: I write every day, but don’t have a routine, exactly. I home school my twelve-year-old, so I work around that. If I am in the zone with a story, I will spend many hours at a stretch.
LHP: Are there any software tools, resources, or websites you use often while writing?
Bill Davidson: Not really. I always do a bit of internet research to keep my story straight, but apart from that I just use word.
LHP: What are some of your biggest challenges you feel like you have to overcome in your writing career?
Bill Davidson: I’ve only started writing seriously after a long career in Local Government. That puts me in the position of being older that most writers at my stage and inevitably less attractive to an agent.
LHP: Do you have a set number of words per day you target? or do you set other goals to meet?
Bill Davidson: No. Some days I will write pretty much all day, needing spoon fed and carried to the bathroom still typing. Some days, I just grind out a few hundred words, and use forks and knives like everybody else.
LHP: Do you prefer short stories or full length novels in your writing?
Bill Davidson: Go back just over a year and I wasn’t reading or writing shorts. I’m sorry to admit that I simply wasn’t interested! I started writing them purely as a means of getting publishing credits. Then, the inevitable happened and I got seduced by the form. There are so many fantastic writers out there, cramming amazing stories into just a few thousand words, it takes your breath away.
I’ll always prefer writing novels, but crafting a good short is incredibly satisfying.
LHP: How much time is spent on “the business of writing” – queries, seeking an agent or publisher, marketing/sales?
Bill Davidson: Ok. I admit it. I’m crap at that. I have written three novels in the past, sent them off and went into a decade long sulk when they weren’t instantly snapped up by a grateful publisher. Coming right up to date, I have just finished my final edit of a new novel I’m very excited about and am about to dedicate myself to seeking an agent or publisher in a much more purposeful and professional way.
LHP: Can you give some us some insight into your story?
Bill Davidson: I started with a scene in my head that seemed unsettling, with a hefty dose of nostalgia- an old man walks into a room and finds it exactly as it was long ago, as though a little bubble of his past has burst into the present. I needed a convincing and spooky explanation for how this strange occurrence can happen and felt that confronting it should allow our elderly protagonist to face the failings of his past.
LHP: What advice can you give other writers?
Bill Davidson: Avoid sulking. And careers. Also children, they are horribly unhygienic and expect you to speak to them.
Terrors Unimagined
Bill Davidson recently authored “The Tale of Days” for Terrors Unimagined on sale now.