- an established author in multiple genres with numerous stories published in a number of anthologies.
Readers, let’s give a good, hearty welcome to this week’s guest!
(Anthony) Tony Dews is originally from England with life detours of varying lengths in Australia (Perth then Melbourne and Ballarat) before landing in the USA.
Right now he’s living in Richmond, Indiana with his wife Lisa, her daughter, two cats, and one dog who goes with him in the truck on his weekly runs (the dog, not the cats). He has been writing for ten years and hopes to be good at it one day.
Tony, thanks for agreeing to be here today. Most interviews start off with the boring stuff, but I know what readers REALLY want to know.
If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?
I have a small dog called Romana (after a companion of the 4th Doctor Who played by Tom Baker. She comes with me in the truck on my weekly runs and I wouldn’t have any other pet over her for all the money Dan Brown has.
A sweet, loyal dog is irreplaceable.
What do you write? And how did you get started?
I write SciFi, Fantasy, Horror, a dash of Crime and I have pretensions of being able to write Literary and Satire. Maybe I can.
I got a push from a work colleague called Margaret Ross many years ago who refused to let me waste myself in something I didn’t really want to do. I thank her for that. I started writing literary but switched to other genres after dabbling in ghostwriting and realizing I wasn’t too bad at it.
Encouragement and external faith in your writing are wondrous things.
What do you like to read?
Anything that grabs my interest at a book shop. I’ve read so many types, genres, and styles I can’t honestly say I read any one genre or have a preference. But lately, I’ve been upping my intake of SciFi and Horror.
Reading widely is supposed to be good for writers, anyway. But, SciFi and Horror are definitely some of my favorites as well.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you
Write what you know.
It’s a bit overused. I prefer to write what I feel or have experienced.
So true. If we only wrote what we know, we could barely write more than memoirs. But, we feel the heart of the human condition, and that’s what can make a good story great.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that works for you
Write everyday.
Even if what you write is only 100 words of shit. I think Steinbeck said that (and yes I’ve read his work). Shit can be edited. A blank page can’t.
I can’t quite sustain every day, but I definitely admire those who can and understand that if I wait for the muse, I’d never finish a story.
Shameless Self-Promotion time!
Jesus and Mary on Jerusalem Street
Jesus Contreras lives in a different LA. Climate change has taken hold; bears, wolves, and mountain lions roam the streets and plants make buildings their home while the human inhabitants face an ongoing struggle for survival. Above the dying city, the overlords watch and draw together their plans for the dying city.
With a new and growing body of followers, Jesus finds out what happened to the other cities on the west coast and vows to stop it happening to his home. They leave the city, some to follow him and others for their own reasons, and to the east in their stronghold Jesus is faced with a terrible choice of who and what he is prepared to sacrifice.
WRITING TIPS & WRITERLY MUSINGS 
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