Ask the Author: Marco Ocram
Answered Questions (7)
Marco Ocram
Hi Sarah,
Many thanks for your question. Perhaps the best answer may be found by listening to a recent interview in which I explain how the books came about and what I was trying to achieve with them. Here's a link... https://www.spreaker.com/episode/2294... Do please let me know if you have any problems getting the link to work, or any follow-on questions.
Best wishes
Denis Shaughnessy (Marco!)
Many thanks for your question. Perhaps the best answer may be found by listening to a recent interview in which I explain how the books came about and what I was trying to achieve with them. Here's a link... https://www.spreaker.com/episode/2294... Do please let me know if you have any problems getting the link to work, or any follow-on questions.
Best wishes
Denis Shaughnessy (Marco!)
Marco Ocram
The book I've just finished is The Awful Truth about the Name of the Rose (it should be appearing here by August 2019), which is a surreal homage to Eco's novel. I loved the tongue-in-cheek way that Eco borrowed from other books, so I thought I would be stomping over his distinguished footsteps by writing a spoof. It turned out to be a perfect vehicle for Marco's brand of absurd humour.
Marco Ocram
I think of the millions and millions and millions and millions of poor readers who will be left utterly bereft without having something new of mine to read, and that inspires me to extend the right forefinger and tap out the next best-seller.
Marco Ocram
I think of the millions and millions and millions and millions of poor readers who will be left utterly bereft without having something new of mine to read, and that inspires me to extend the right forefinger and tap out the next best-seller.
Marco Ocram
Get a good deodorant. Sorry, I thought that said perspiring writers.
My advice, which I offer with no warranties implied and no liabilities accepted, is to:
Write what you enjoy reading.
Become technically proficient. Would you enjoy watching a movie in which the scenes were out of focus, the cameraperson's thumb obliterated the picture, the heads of the actors were cropped off, the sound-track was out of synch, the camera-shake made you sea-sick, the dialogue was unbelievable, the contrast and colour balance meant you couldn't make-out what you were looking at, and so on? Of course not- you expect movie-makers to have mastered the skills required to avoid such mistakes. It's the same with writing.
Become a free beta-reader. Nothing, in my authoritative opinion, is a better way to learn about writing than offering to read the work of others and having to articulate your thoughts about it. There is a fantastic beta-reader group on Goodreads.
My advice, which I offer with no warranties implied and no liabilities accepted, is to:
Write what you enjoy reading.
Become technically proficient. Would you enjoy watching a movie in which the scenes were out of focus, the cameraperson's thumb obliterated the picture, the heads of the actors were cropped off, the sound-track was out of synch, the camera-shake made you sea-sick, the dialogue was unbelievable, the contrast and colour balance meant you couldn't make-out what you were looking at, and so on? Of course not- you expect movie-makers to have mastered the skills required to avoid such mistakes. It's the same with writing.
Become a free beta-reader. Nothing, in my authoritative opinion, is a better way to learn about writing than offering to read the work of others and having to articulate your thoughts about it. There is a fantastic beta-reader group on Goodreads.
Marco Ocram
The endless stream of friend requests from Goodreads readers taking pity on me.
Marco Ocram
I always follow Herbert Quarry's golden rule, and write the very next thing that comes into my head- regardless of how nonsensical, inane, cliched (how do you get an acute accent in this dialogue box?), ambiguous, offensive, ungrammatical, misleading, predictable, unpredictable, repetitive, pleonastic (message me if that's not a real word), neologistic (ditto), readerly, writerly, implausible, impenetrable, or otherwise open to criticism it might be. And that's how you become a publishing legend.
Marco Ocram
I'm currently working on the final edits of the third book in the series- The Awful Truth about the Herbert Quarry Affair. It's a prequel- the book that made Marco a publishing legend.
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