Ask the Author: Ian Coates
Answered Questions (5)
Ian Coates
Seeing the final manuscript complete and nicely polished.
Ian Coates
Just write anything. Even if it's a pile of rubbish / not particularly relevant and you're going to delete it later, just get words down on the paper. It's like exercising muscles - some days a jog isn't very good, but you do it anyway because it keeps you fit; ditto with writing.
Ian Coates
Follow your gut instinct. If you have a niggling feeling in the back of your mind that something isn't quite working, don't ignore it - don't ever say, "Oh, I think that'll be okay." It won't! If it doesn't feel right to you, it sure won't feel right to a reader, agent or publisher. Be super-critical. And always be prepared to go back and totally change something if you have any doubt about it.
Ian Coates
I'm working on a new thriller called "The Rival". It involves an unusual double blackmail, sabotage, a long hidden family secret, and what happens when 2 people being blackmailed don't want to be blackmailed any more.
Ian Coates
I've worked in the high-tech electronics industry for 30 years. It was my first job after graduating that gave me the first germ of an idea for Eavesdrop, when I designed some walkie-talkies with encrypted audio. That got me thinking, "what would I do if I wanted to listen in to that radio?" That what-if scenario soon led to thoughts about international spies, and the first ideas for Eavesdrop were born.
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