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Colin Galbraith |
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Colin’s 18Q |
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The Eighteen Questions |
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18Q |
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Hunting Jack (2004) Fringe Fantastic (2005) Poolside Poetry (2007) |
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Bibliography |
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URL |
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1. Did you choose the writing profession or did it choose you? It grabbed me early on, but I chose to ignore it for a while, not realising quite how hard a pull it had on me. I used to write poems and short stories as a kid, but then my life went in a more technical direction. I only came back to writing in the late nineties after a friend bought me Hand to Mouth by Paul Auster. It ignited the flame and I suddenly found myself in the reality that I had chosen the wrong Degree course and followed a path that didn’t suit me. That book made a lot of things clearer for me.
2. What is your background? (education, work, etc.) I took an I.T. Degree at the University of Paisley in Scotland, which has served me well as far as paying the bills and providing for my family goes. Then I did a Creative Writing course at the Open College of the Arts (OCA), and I got more out of it than any other type of education I had received up until then. Since taking that course I’ve moved further away from I.T. and further into the world of the writer.
3. When did you ‘know’ you were a writer? I’ve always known I could be writer, and successful at it, but it wasn’t until the release of Fringe Fantastic, and the sale of my first novel, Hunting Jack, that I felt I had reached the point in my life where I could comfortably say, “I am a writer.” Just saying those four words to people was a hard thing to get used to at first.
4. How would you describe your style of writing? Spontaneous, darkly humorous, and representative of the insanity of every day life.
5. What is your writing process? Both novels I have written so far have been written entirely differently. Hunting Jack was total fly-by-the-pants stuff. I only had a vague idea of the plot but hadn’t a clue how I was going to reach the end – or what it might be. The characters were so strong though, I think that’s the main reason I got away with it.
Slick, being a complex crime novel, was planned in much more detail, but not so restrictive I wouldn’t allow myself to stray when the urge came or the story needed to divert. I’m about to embark on the hunt for a publisher for this work so I’ve yet to see if it worked!
My poetry ebbs and flows differently again, it’s much more inspired and dependant on my mood and emotion of the piece.
I guess it looks like I have no definitive process other than the fact I get up at 5am everyday to write. That seems to work best for me and is my main constant.
6. What was your path to publication? I started off on an accredited course in Creative Writing at the OCA. From there I just wrote and wrote and wrote and kept submitting until finally I became good enough that my work began to be accepted. Hunting Jack was accepted for serialisation, which was my first sale, and there my novel writing career began.
At the same time all of this was going on I was dabbling in poetry but getting nowhere. It felt like it was something out of my reach and that it belonged only to the echelons of intelligent society. Then I discovered a bunch of poets that wrote about observational humour, politics, day-to-day events, the mundanity of life, and so forth. I realised poetry wasn’t stuffy after all and I began writing a book about the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Fringe Fantastic was published in December 2005 and I’ve never looked back.
7. What is your favourite self-marketing idea? Filming skits on the streets of Edinburgh while the Fringe is running to promote Fringe Fantastic is one of my more advanced and newest ideas, but my favourite has to be posting copies of my book to famous people. I once sent a copy of Fringe Fantastic to Jonathan Ross when he said on his radio show that he had nothing good to read. He never mentioned it on air (which was supposed to be the point), but I know he enjoyed the book immensely in his letter. I think it was the BBC’s advertising standards committee that put the damp squib on it.
8. What are the biggest surprises you’ve encountered as a writer? It always surprises me how supportive most writers are towards each other, no matter how many books they may have sold. Whether best sellers or beginners, a writer is a writer, and we all seem to have the same insecurities and worries.
9. How do you inspire yourself? What are your sources of creativity? I just keep thinking, “what if?” I source ideas by watching people and events around Scotland. I live in Edinburgh and I find it hugely inspirational, but other places in the UK are just as motivating, though in other ways. The grittiness of Glasgow and the sheer mass of human life in London are both locations I have uses in my novels and poems.
Writing crime does involve a lot of “creative murder” ideas, which I develop from newspaper cut-outs and every-day observations. There’s no end to where creativity comes from – you just have to train your “writer’s eye” to pick up on it all.
10. What is your proudest writer moment? The publication of my first book, Fringe Fantastic: The Poet’s Experience of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and having it picked up by the national press was pretty good. More satisfying, and what makes me more proud than anything, is when somebody sends an email or tells me how much they enjoyed something I have written. It’s that moment, above all else, that gives me the most acute feeling of pride.
11. What’s the best advice you were given about writing? I have a thick skin so rejection and criticism is something I’ve always been able to handle. So I would have to say the best piece of advice I’ve been given is that a writer can’t do enough research, that although you may fill a dozen boxes with research for a single novel, you will probably end up binning 95% of it in the search for the perfect sentence or twist of a plot.
12. What is your most embarrassing writer moment? I don’t really have one. That’s not because there are none, merely because it takes a lot to embarrass me. I’m the sort of guy who would walk through the street wearing a thong and a simmet if I believed it would get a laugh. The answer to your next question is “yes”.
13. What business challenges have you faced as a writer? Promotion and speaking in public are the most vital to me, but also the toughest. I discovered it is vital to get over the barrier that success won’t just come to you; that you have to go after it. Speaking in public is all to do with confidence, and confidence breeds good writing and promotional skills. The whole thing is intertwined. Adapting to the business side of publication is a lot of fun, but managing it and the time it takes up to allow you to continue writing, is a delicate balance.
14. What is your writer life philosophy? Don’t take no for an answer.
15. When you’re not writing what do you do for fun? I’m Scottish and I’m male, so naturally a lot of my free time revolves around the pub. I like visiting my friends and family who are scattered all over the UK; we usually go to the pub to catch up. I like animals, fishing, going on holiday, and the cinema when I get the chance.
16. Who do you like to read? I enjoy reading contemporary and crime fiction, so authors like John King, Ian Rankin, Irvine Welsh would all rate highly. Paul Auster is my favourite author who I aspire to most. I read a lot of poetry; not sticky, elitest, unfathomable poetry, but poetry that can be spoken aloud and will make people laugh and muse over a pint of beer. People like Rick Lupert, Brendan Constantine, Anita Govan and Frances Macaulay Forde are all excellent poets.
17. What’s your advice for new writers? Keep writing and keep submitting. Don’t take no for an answer and be prepared to listen, learn, and push yourself outside every comfort zone you ever created for yourself. Be prepared to grow with it as it carries you along.
18. What are you currently working on? I’m working on the completion of my second novel, Slick, and am about to start writing my third. I’m currently in the middle of an intense promotional campaign at the Edinburgh Fringe and Book festivals. |
