Interview with Author John Smale
After a career in the corporate rat-race, Author John Smale was a therapist for many, many years. As an author he writes in a way that is easily understood and includes humour, one of the greatest medicines ever.
His short stories and metaphor books are well respected and are set reading for some Universities because they show how therapeutic value can be gained from explaining problems and their resolution in simple and entertaining ways.
He has also written fictional works that explore the meaning of life.
Tell me more about your latest book
THE OPEN BOOK of DARK SECRETS
Please note; this is a tongue-in-cheek assortment of short stories that range from funny to the macabre. (The book is actually unable to read people, by the way.)
A few of the stories involve death and murder. This was not me sitting and plotting crimes. My original theme was to have stories linked by the act of screaming, maybe because during lockdown many people were screaming at the loss of liberty, company and hope for the future.
Other stories will offer amusement, entertainment and metaphors for changes.
I was inspired by an author from decades ago, Henri Barbusse, who wrote a book of stories as if was in a boarding house in Paris with a crack in the wall with an adjoining room. This gave him the platform to write a variety of insights into the lives of others. He called it Hell.
It is the same as being a fly on the wall, witnessing but unable to respond to what is seen, directly. The same as the butler who peers through a keyhole.
Never voyeuristic, I like to look at the inner quirks of people and write in my own style rather than copy others so I chose my platform to be that of a book being able to read people as they read it.
What was the most challenging aspect of writing this book?
To be honest, I am an author who has written many short stories that came from my imagination, before and during lockdown. I am a person who ended up having conversations with my other self, my imagination, and doing my best to be creative.
So, I found myself stuck on a metaphorical desert island during the lockdown. It was a place where the sharks were the lurking corona virus infections.
These stories have been my equivalent of messages in bottles that, if found, will help others who are lost on their own outposts in their own lockdowns.
I was living in France but most of my friends and family were in England. I could not travel to see them, and they could not come to see me.
My friends in France were in the same situation. No visits, curfew from 7.00pm until 6.00am. No restaurants or bars were open, just the shops necessary for food, bread and wine.
What is your normal procedure to get your books published?
I am also a publisher for other authors so I am able to go through the whole process needed to set the publishing up
Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?
Depends on what is meant by spiritual. I take inspiration from what I see and witness so I draw on experiences of others as well as myself. A good expression is ‘whispers from the Universe.’
How many books have you written so far?
OPEN BOOK of DARK SECRETS
MIND CHANGING SHORT STORIES AND METAPHORS
SHORT STORIES AND METAPHORS
MOVING FORWARD. SHORT STORIES AND METAPHORS
STOP BELIEVING THE LIES, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
TWO TANGLED SERPRENTS: FEAR CREATED FROM AN OLD MYTH WAS USED TO KILL
What’s the best way to market your books?
A difficult, if not impossible question to answer. There are no easy ways. Some have been recommended and others have been found. I make YouTube videos, but they have to be found.
How hard or easy is it to establish and maintain a career in writing?
I treat writing as a paid hobby rather than as a career.
What is your advice for aspiring writers?
Never give up and follow your own style s if talking to people. The attempts to copy others is like using a colouring in book of pictures. Start by plotting and planning what you want to say. Keep a notepad with you always and take ideas from what you sense, ie see, hear, smell, feel and taste. Listen to what is given to you as clues from the Universe.
Visit Author John Smale book links:-
https://www.azonlinks.com/B09528T1XP THE OPEN BOOK of DARK SECRETS
https://www.azonlinks.com/0955073642 MIND CHANGING SHORT STORIES AND METAPHORS
https://www.azonlinks.com/B004M8RAJA SHORT STORIES AND METAPHORS
https://www.azonlinks.com/B004HIM3JC MOVING FORWARD. SHORT STORIES AND METAPHORS
https://www.azonlinks.com/B07VPR9MG4 STOP BELIEVING THE LIES, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
https://www.azonlinks.com/B086Z4D448 TWO TANGLED SERPENTS: FEAR CREATED FROM AN OLD MYTH WAS USED TO KILL
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