It’s Meet the Author Monday! Each week we meet a new author and get to know a little about them, their writing process, publishing experience, and tips for other writers. Today we’re talking to Timothy Michael Lewis.
About Timothy Michael Lewis:
Timothy Michael Lewis is a London-based author. He spent 18 years working as a computer programmer and IT manager in the world of financial IT. In 2011, the death of his wife after a long illness made him reassess his life goals. He decided that he wanted to write stories, especially in the science fiction and fantasy genres. Coming from an interest in screen-writing, his writing style is a fast-moving concise style of short action-packed books.
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Books by Timothy Michael Lewis:
Author Interview with Timothy Michael Lewis:
- Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Writing energizes me, though I need to work up to starting writing and have a coherent plan. I can’t just simply start writing.
- What are common traps for aspiring writers?
For me not having a coherent plan for a book kept me from completing them for so long, and even last year I started writing a book with an incomplete plan and I had to give up on the project because I lost my way. You should know at least the beginning, the end and the general idea of the book before writing it.
- Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
No, but I wish I had in hindsight, simply because by using my full name Timothy Michael Lewis for my fiction it sounded pretentious and my normal name Tim Lewis is so common it’s hard to stand out. So I wouldn’t have done it to conceal my identity, but more to create a memorable name.
- Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I’m guilty of being overly original – I like to twist conventions in books, especially my Magpies and Magic fantasy series where Dwarves are a matriarchal society, for example.
- Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?
Yes, I do. I think not feeling emotions may restrict the genres you can be successful in, but writing has many other aspects and the emotional impact.
- How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I think in my complete life I’ve probably not finished about eight books, at least two since I started publishing them.
- Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
I do as even though it can be emotionally tough, they are actually an excellent way to learn as a writer, especially the critical reviews. Some are just people with problems, but often a critical review will tell you something lots of people feel but felt too polite to say.
- How long on average does it take you to write a book?
It can take me years to write a book, though most of it is getting the idea and the plan finished. Once that’s done, I try to write the book as fast as possible in terms of the first draft. The editing process takes ages as well.
- Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, are there any you’d recommend?
I mostly listen to audiobooks now. One especially good one I listened to recently is Poirot and Me, where David Suchet describes how he played Poirot in the long running TV series in the UK. https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Poirot-and-Me-Audiobook/B00FEKWINS
Thanks, Tim!
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