Full Name:
Paul Flewitt
Do you have a nickname or what do your friends call you?
None that I know of.. but that doesn’t mean I don’t.
Mark Twain used to say that you can gauge people’s opinion of you on what they say about you when you’re not around. Or something like that. I’ve had trouble finding the exact quote so my paraphrasing will have to suffice.
I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with that, which is why I don’t often eavesdrop.
Birthplace:
Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Current hometown:
Same place.
Favorite city and why?
I’ve travelled a little bit and Sheffield is still among my favourite cities because I get the best of both city living and country life. I’ll always be a country boy at heart.
Birthday / Age:
24th April and I’m 31
How would you describe yourself physically?
Average in every way.
How would someone else describe you physically?
I shudder to speculate.
The first thing people notice about you is…
Hair and beard, probably.
Religion, if any?
I hold certain Christian beliefs but I don’t attend a church per se.
Are you superstitious at all? Any phobias?
None that I’m aware of, though I haven’t been confronted with everything there is to be scared of.
Do you smoke / drink? If so, what? Any bad habits?
I smoke and drink and have plenty of bad habits, I was in a rock band for a while and old habits don’t break easily.
Current occupation / Dream job:
I am a writer and I always wanted to be one.
What do you like to do when you’re not at work?
Spend time with family, read a lot, listen to music a lot…
What is your zombie outbreak survival plan?
I don’t really have one, but my mantra would likely be “kill ‘em all”.
All of ‘em?
If it’s a case of kill or be eaten, then anything coming my way is a fair target in the event of an apocalypse… that, and I guess food would be in short supply after a while.
Weapon of choice:
In every-day life, my hands and brain… in the event of zom apocalypse I guess anything goes.
Do you have any special skills?
I can play pool pretty well.
Did you go to college and, if so, what for?
I did for a while, studying English and Media Studies, but it didn’t stick.
If you went to college, did you manage to pay off your student loans?
I come from the time before student fees, so I had none to repay.
Any pets? If so, what are they and what are their names?
None currently, but I do love animals. Due to allergies in the family we likely won’t be able to own more furry critters again.
What is your favorite animal?
Wolves… in all shapes and sizes.
Speaking of pets, any pet peeves?
Plenty, far too many to list but elitism and ignorance are the main ones.
Favorite / Least favorite Food:
Sausage and mash is the favourite, least favourite is pizza.
How can you possibly hate pizza? What does the air taste like on your home planet?
Ha! If I had a pound for every time I’ve heard that. The really weird thing about it is that I like all the constituent ingredients to a basic pizza, but not when put together on a pizza… I’ll leave you all to figure that one because it stumps me too.
What is your favorite quotation / motto / saying?
Memory, prophecy and fantasy, the past, the future and the dreaming moment between are all one country, living one immortal day. To know that is Wisdom. To use it is the Art.
I’m so confused.
The quote comes from The Great and Secret Show and Everville by Clive Barker, it’s a kind of explanation or philosophy on the use of magic and the way the world works; a new kind of metaphysics. I particularly like the last two bits and I feel that they speak for any kind of learning or knowledge; to know a thing is wisdom, to use it is art.
That makes perfect sense now… because Clive Barker wrote it.
What is the best thing that ever happened to you?
Being in a relationship with my partner and having my children.
What is the worst thing that ever happened to you?
Losing my Grandmother; among the most supportive and loving people in my life. My debut release is dedicated to her memory.
Ever had your heart broken? Is there a story worth telling behind your answer?
Yes I have and I probably could come up with a story about it. She fancied herself as a witch and was quite a bit older than me.
You should write that story. I’d read it.
Funnily, I was clearing out an old folder and came across an abortive attempt to write a story along those lines. Maybe one day…
I’ll be waiting with bated breath.
Ever broken someone’s heart? Is there a story worth telling behind your answer?
I don’t know… they never said…
What is the best thing you’ve ever done?
Raising my children is always going to be number one, other than that it has to be getting into the writing industry.
What is the worst thing you’ve ever done?
Far too many things. In younger days I wasn’t the greatest of people to be around. Most things were drunken lunacy but still things I have to live with.
If you could kill one person, who would it be, and why?
Hmm… death is the greatest of penalties isn’t it? I’d have to think of someone worthy of taking my time and harming my soul over, someone I hate with such a passion that I could live with taking their life. In “real life” I struggle to kill a spider or a fly, so to kill a person, I dunno that I could. I’m more likely to write a pretty nasty death scene or two.
What do you do?
I write Horror and Dark Fiction.
How did you get started doing what you do?
I’ve always written in some form or other, either poetry, songs or short stories. My Dad wrote quite a lot of poetry when I was a kid, so that probably rubbed off. Taking it seriously was something that came around early in 2013 and it’s got to be the best decision I’ve made.
What is your advice to other people that want to get started doing what you do?
Read and write, write and write some more. Get into a good writing circle and share your writing, critiques are all important. Most importantly, enjoy writing what you create.
What are some of the projects you’ve worked on / finished in the past?
Give us a little history if you will.
Okay, so first thing was a short flash piece based on Clive Barker’s Cabal, the project was OzHorrorCon’s Book of the Tribes tribute to Clive Barker anthology. Then came Paradise Park, a shorter work which appears in JEA’s All That Remains anthology and Thirteen Horror volume 3, I’ve also written a contributing part of JEA’s 666 Lycanthroship project which is forthcoming and also have a short story in their next anthology too. I’ve also released a novella called Poor Jeffrey which will be relaunched in February 2014.
What projects are you working on now?
Right now, I’m working on the sequel to Poor Jeffrey and a totally unrelated other novel which are both pretty exciting. I’m also working on promos for the relaunch of Poor Jeffrey.
What are you watching?
Right now? Nothing, I’m typing this interview, the kids are watching Power Rangers.
What are you listening to?
I have a wide range of tastes in music, but right now I’m listening to a best of The Moody Blues album.
What are you reading?
Joe Hill; NOS4A2
Favorite author / book?
Clive Barker is definitely my favourite author… favourite book is too difficult to answer, it changes with the mood.
I met Clive Barker in Los Angeles one weekend. He’s a sweetheart.
Oooh, now I’m jealous. I’ve never had the opportunity but I love the way the guy’s mind works and I’d value the chance to have a chat sometime.
Send him an e-mail. He’s a pretty approachable chap.
Favorite band / song?
Pink Floyd; Wish You Were Here. It says what it needs to and leaves, like all great songs should.
Least favorite band / song?
There are a lot… I may have to go back to the question about the person I’d kill, actually…
I recommend Morrissey. You guys live on the same island. Why not?
The temptation is strong, but I can think of some slightly worse offenders than Morrissey. He just saves himself with “How Soon Is Now”.
I downloaded a Smiths discography and the only song I ended up keeping was “Asleep”.
If you could do anything other than what you do now, what would you do?
I’m doing it… this was the “other thing I’d do” and… so far so good!
Who would you want to meet that you haven’t met?
You get three choices: Alive. Dead. Fictional.
Alive: Clive Barker.
Dead: Nelson Mandella
Fictional: John Furie Zacharias (Gentle from Imajica)
What’s the best and worst job you’ve ever had?
Writing is my job now, that has to be the best. Previously, the best was also the worst as a care worker. I dealt with death for about five years which sucked, but getting to know the elderly and making them feel of some worth was highly rewarding.
Anyone you recommend I interview that you can put me in touch with?
Any of the Vamptasy/CHBB authors, Alex Laybourne, Christopher D.Abbott, Jackie Chin from zombiepallooza radio, Michael Bray, the list goes on…
Alright, you make the introductions and I’ll handle the follow-through.
Definitely, done deal!
Got any questions for me?
How’d I do? Great! Good initial questioning.
Thanks for letting me subject you to being interviewed!
Pitch parade:
Give me all of your links for things you want to promote. All of them.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Storytrees-Leaves/352745188170046
Twitter: @PaulFlewittJEA
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Paul-Flewitt/e/B00FG34L7O/
Paul Flewitt lives in Sheffield, UK with his partner and their two children. He is a writer of horror and dark fiction with JEA press.
Paul is the author of Smoke a flash fiction which appeared in OzHorrorCon's Book of Tribes anthology, Paradise Park from JEA's All That Remains anthology and the stand alone novella Poor Jeffrey which will be relaunched in February 2014. He continues to work on further pieces, including the sequel to Poor Jeffrey.
About the Interviewer:
Scott Lefebvre can write about whatever you want him to write about.
Mostly because when he was grounded for his outlandish behavior as a hyperactive school child, the only place he was allowed to go was the public library.
His literary tastes were forged by the works of Helen Hoke, Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Edgar Allan Poe, and H. P. Lovecraft.
He is the author of Spooky Creepy Long Island, and a contributing author to Forrest J. Ackerman’s Anthology of the Living Dead, Fracas: A Collection of Short Friction, The Call of Lovecraft, and Cashiers du Cinemart.
He is currently working on ten novel-length book projects which will be released in 2014.
He also publishes themed collections of interviews from his interview blog You Are Entitled To My Opinion.
His reviews have been published by a variety of in print and online media including Scars Magazine, Icons of Fright, Fatally Yours and Screams of Terror, and he has appeared in Fangoria, Rue Morgue and HorrorHound Magazine.
He is the Assistant Program Director for The Arkham Film Society and produces electronic music under the names Master Control and LOVECRAFTWORK.
He is currently working on a novel-length expansion of a short-story titled, "The End Of The World Is Nigh", a crowd-funded, crowd-sourced, post-apocalyptic, zombie epidemic project.
Check out the blog for the book here: theendoftheworldisnighbook.blogspot.com
Check out the Facebook Fan Page for the project here: www.facebook.com/TheEndOfTheWorldIsNighBook
Check his author profile at: www.amazon.com/Scott-Lefebvre/e/B001TQ2W9G
Follow him at GoodReads here:
www.goodreads.com/author/show/1617246.Scott_Lefebvre
Check out his publishing imprint Burnt Offerings Books here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Burnt-Offerings-Books/1408858196016246
And here: http://burntofferingsbooks.blogspot.com/
Check out his electronic music here: soundcloud.com/master_control
And here: master-control.bandcamp.com
Check out his videos at: www.youtube.com/user/doctornapoleon
Check out his IMDB profile here: www.imdb.com/name/nm3678959
Follow his Twitter here: twitter.com/TheLefebvre or @TheLefebvre
Follow his Tumblr here: thelefebvre.tumblr.com
Check out his Etsy here: www.etsy.com/shop/ScottLefebvreArt
Join the group for The Arkham Film Society here:
www.facebook.com/groups/arkhamscreenings
Stalk his Facebook at: www.facebook.com/TheLefebvre
E-mail him at: Scott_Lefebvre@hotmail.com
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