Ask the Author: Philip Whiteland
Answered Questions (12)
Philip Whiteland
But what really preyed on my mind was that we now had an attic. Well, rather more than an attic really...
From 'And things that go bump in the night' in 'Crutches for Ducks'
From 'And things that go bump in the night' in 'Crutches for Ducks'
Philip Whiteland
It would have to be Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchett's Discworld. I would quite like to attend Unseen University, they seem to have an interesting attitude to mealtimes :-)
Philip Whiteland
The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Reading 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman on my last holiday has given me an appetite for his odd blend of myth and gritty realism.
Philip Whiteland
There was an incident involving a planchette from an ouija board, but that would be more of a paranormal thing. Other than that, I am entirely bereft of mystery. As my books would tend to indicate...I'm an open book :-)
Philip Whiteland
Sam Vimes and Lady Sybil in the Discworld series. A more unlikely pair it is difficult to imagine, but they work really well together and are clearly the rock upon which each one stands.
Philip Whiteland
Hi Ches. Thanks for the question. it is difficult to categorise them as they don't fit neatly anywhere really. Arguably, they are memoirs but most people expect memoirs to tell a story over a particular chronological period, and these don't. You could say they are humorous essays, which I think is probably more accurate, but that doesn't take into account the nostalgia element. As far as Amazon is concerned, I've used both of those categories. My local bookshop has them filled under 'Local Interest' of course. Whether I've succeeded in "finding readers of an age and mindset" is open to some debate, but I have been very fortunate in attracting readers from across the world who have been prepared to read the ramblings of someone who spent most of his formative years in one square mile of Burton upon Trent!
Philip Whiteland
'Giving a Bull Strawberries' is a collection of articles that I have written over the past two years, some of which have been published in our local newspaper and elsewhere. The title comes (as do all my titles) from an old phrase of my mum's, which refers to an exercise in pointlessness, which pretty much sums up my writing ;-)
Philip Whiteland
I think inspiration gave up on me years ago and went off to bother someone else. I do, sometimes, have a germ of an idea (perhaps just one line or the basis for a joke that amuses me) and that usually keeps going around in my head until I can get it down on paper. It doesn't always automatically become a useful article. I've had many false starts with an idea that I like, simply because I haven't quite got the right context in which to present it.
Philip Whiteland
Well, as I'm hardly in the Frederick Forsyth category myself, it's a bit of a cheek for me to be giving any advice, but here goes...
I think the answer is not to be hell bent on producing the next Great Novel but instead use any and every chance to write for publication that presents itself, even if that is just a Readers Letter in your local paper. The more you publish, even on such a small scale as that, the more feedback you are likely to get and that should inform your approach to your writing in future. I know it is not a popular thing to say, but you really need to write something that people want to read, not what you want them to read.
I think the answer is not to be hell bent on producing the next Great Novel but instead use any and every chance to write for publication that presents itself, even if that is just a Readers Letter in your local paper. The more you publish, even on such a small scale as that, the more feedback you are likely to get and that should inform your approach to your writing in future. I know it is not a popular thing to say, but you really need to write something that people want to read, not what you want them to read.
Philip Whiteland
I'm tempted to say that it is nice dry work without any heavy lifting, but I won't. For me, it is mostly about generating amusement in people. Ideally, I would like to make someone smile with every page and, hopefully, laugh out loud on occasions.
Philip Whiteland
I've never had a severe case of this (which is, of course, tempting providence) but I usually find the best way to overcome my natural procrastination is to write something - anything that comes to mind - and just see where it goes. Sometimes it doesn't amount to anything whereas, on other occasions, it could lead to a whole series of articles that I hadn't thought about before.
Philip Whiteland
I'm thinking about putting together a collection of stories on the subject of cruising (ocean-going, not anything else you might think of ;-))
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