Andy Jarvis

I don’t do ‘formula fiction.’ I don’t believe that ‘genre’ is a hard and fast rule. When creating a story, I don’t even think about this word, it stifles natural creation. If a story crosses over and embraces more than one genre it doesn’t matter. Whatever it takes to tell a good tale. Being an independent writer means I’m not held down by Big Publishers and their rules that often patronise the reader with repetitive story lines simply because they believe that’s what the public want.

I am a former engineer, a career that has enabled me to create the more unusual characters in my stories. Their actions and dialogue come from a lifetime of listening and observing, allowing me to create protagonists with a different slant on life.

I like reading the unusual from any genre, not always fiction. I am inspired by the more imaginative and strive to achieve this in my own writing.

As a youngster I loved authors such as Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, and the unknown writers of the Arabian Nights stories – tales that captivate the adventurous spirit and transport us to another time and place. I am also inspired by real life books in exploits such as climbing, sea or wilderness survival – anything that tells of an adventure, preferably with a romantic edge, pitting the central character in a conflict against the odds.

I’ve never really understood the term ‘writer’s block.’ I’ve spent too long waiting for the opportunity to create to even look up the definition of this, I have too many future books to write.