Author Interview: John Ault

I am pleased to welcome John Ault to my blog today, to celebrate the launch of his new book Thirty Days in February. I have bought my own copy of this book and haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I think you will agree it has a fantastic cover! Anyway, enough from me, let's get on with the interview.

Hello, John, and welcome to my blog.

Please tell us about your new book. 

Well the book involves a young MI6 agent who becomes embroiled in an international crisis which takes him initially to Singapore and British Hong Kong. The book is set in the post-Cold War period in the mid-1990s when international tensions are no longer concerned with the Soviet Union but still involve nuclear proliferation and Britain’s response to it.

I am intrigued to know whether you found the process of writing your first fiction book different to your previous non-fiction works.

Yes, very different. When you are writing academically your arguments are based in evidence and the research you have conducted. When writing fiction I found it a much more personal process. Actually writing about emotions, people and events is much more intense really.

Did you draw on personal experiences when you are creating your characters and plot lines?

John Ault

Yes, absolutely. I have visited all the countries that are visited by the lead character in the book. His travels are my travels so they should be realistic. Like most writers I have also based the characters on people I have met or know well. I suspect people who know me will see a lot of me in the main character – if a slightly younger version!

What next? Could you give us a little summary of any other books in progress?

I am pondering whether the lead character could appear in another book. Certainly I have ideas for another, probably a prequel, and am drafting ideas for how it might work in a similar travel diary format that this book is written in.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

Well one review, by popular author Iain King, said it better than I could: ‘The book is loaded with wonderful portraits of exotic locations, throughout the Eastern hemisphere and faraway oceans – as just a travelogue it would make for a compelling read. But the author has weaved in geopolitics and history, giving this book that little bit extra. Compelling.’ Sorry, that’s not one sentence!

What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?

Write your book – write it the way you like. However, once you have written it ask close friends and family to read it before you publish it. Ask them to be honest, not kind, and really find out from them what they liked and didn’t like.

It’s much better to hear what people you trust think before you unleash your book on the world and can’t change it.

Thank you for your answers, John, and also for joining me here on Ramblings of a Rusty Writer.

John has kindly said he will do a giveaway of one paperback copy of his book. This is a worldwide giveaway! Please see the Rafflecopter below to enter.

Alternatively you can buy a copy of the book yourself from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com or your local Amazon site.

You can find John online in the following places:

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a Rafflecopter giveaway