I have two connections to this week’s guest. We are both Irish and we are both long time members of the FaceBook group Indie Authors Support and Discussion. (It’s a secret group for authors to do secret author things) I’ll leave that to your imagination! But we are a great bunch of people always willing to help and support each other – just like the group name.
I’d like to introduce you to Max, otherwise known as Patrick, who has sent me a potted version of his life to date and a little about his books.
Born and bred in Dublin, my Irishness influences my writing. I’ve been fortunate to travel the world and I’ve even lived abroad for short periods of my life, but the culture, traditions and language of the little green island I call home, are things I cannot escape. I married a childhood sweetheart which ended eventually in a divorce way too late in life, but I have been lucky to find love again and have been with my darling Joanna for the last 20 years.
All of our children are adults now and while life was tough for me in my early days, I am happy and, to be honest, I feel as though I have been lucky. It may sound odd but I also believe I made most of that luck myself.
My writing is my comfort blanket. It comes easily to me. I sit at the keyboard and I begin. Since I was a very small boy, I’ve loved words. They appeal to me. I love the sound they make, the meanings they express and the secrets they divulge. I love the way they feel in my mouth.
I wrote Darkly Wood with that love in mind. It was my intention to create a book with a style of its own, that told a rather unbelievable tale while somehow making that world real. It was such fun to write and there was so much more to tell, that it has now turned into 3 books.
Bad Blood and Larry Flynn, were long-standing stories that I wanted to tell, and Little Big Boy was perhaps my personal journey that broke me in its writing. I often cried salty tears as new ideas dripped onto the page.
Right now, I have three semi-suspended projects. I thought the whole working from home thing, would give me more time to write but it has had the opposite effect. Before Coronavirus, I came home from work, ate dinner then after walking the dogs, retired to my study to write. Now I spend my day in my study working harder than ever and I find it impossible to go back to the space I love so much at the end of a day working there.
But of course, that’s not the only reason I have taken a short sabbatical. My health is on the surface fine, but I have had a few recent challenges that demand I step back and while I cannot step away from the pressure of work, I need to look after myself or something will give.
That being said, I have a couple of crackers on the boil (I hope) and I am ‘typing away’ albeit ever so slowly. My blog is something I use to keep me fresh and active as this is always a bit of fun and it doesn’t take up much time.
If you’ve read my blog, you probably know a lot more about me than I care to think about, so it might be hard to give you a fresh insight into who Max Power the writer is in any real sense. Of course, Max is a pen name but that’s a practical thing for me, it serves a purpose. So, what can I tell you? Jo is the chief chef in our house but I am the master snacktician. Lunch is my speciality.
Joanna is practical. She plans and makes beautiful dinners which we have in the evening at our house, but when it comes to lunch, she is a heathen. Hunger rules and it’s whatever will sate her hunger in the moment that she goes for. I on the other hand, never get hungry. It is a weird thing. I can go all day without food, wouldn’t bother me. Left to my own devices, I could forget to eat. So, when I decide to prepare a meal, be it simple or elaborate, I will consider taste, flavour, smell, colour, design, and desire. It is always a triumph, but largely because I have the patience to create something a little different, as hunger never gets in the way.
My writing is like that. I sometimes add very thinly sliced strawberries to a salad, something that would horrify many people, yet you really need to try it, you might be surprised. So that’s what I do. I write like I make lunch. Never dull, always with a different twist, I am patient enough to look for exactly what I want – but most importantly, once you’ve had it, you know who has made it, and hopefully, you will come back for more.
OK, I have to be honest here, the Darkly Wood series freaked me out a little, but if you’re a Stephen King fan, you will love them. My favourite book is Little Big Boy.
Here are the links to Max’s books.
getbook.at/Darkly-Wood
getbook.at/Darkly-Wood-II
getbook.at/Little-Big-Boy
getbook.at/Larry-Flynn
getbook.at/Bad-Blood
Thank you Max for sharing your story with us.
If you would like a guest post on my blog, then leave me a message on Facebook or in the comments box below.
lucinda E Clarke 