Ask the Author: Paul Draper
Answered Questions (10)
Paul Draper
Hi Stephen, thank you for your amazing review! I currently have a novel titled The Clubman (this may change, it's factually correct as the main character is a neutral English Civil War militiaman, but a little 'grey') underway about a 17th century village under siege from something odd and very old. It's slightly stuck in development at the moment as I've been narrating audiobooks to bring some pennies in but will be looking to finish it ahead of the summer.
I have another couple of longer prose projects in early development stages. One is titled The Parish Knives, and is my folk-horor-lore flavour of high fantasy, but with the sort of humour in Mrs Pendleton's Corpse. The other is a collection of short stories and simple poetry exploring the lore of The King of Gorse through the centuries. The village where Dr Hall lives in the short story has over a long time known the presence of that green fellow. I also have about 2/3rd of the stories already for Black Gate Tales vol ii, but that is a bit further down the line.
Thank you so much for reading and your interest in my work. I tend to put updates on facebook.com/itstheblackgate and instagram.com/blackgatesight if you want to stay connected. Have a great day and thanks again. - PD
I have another couple of longer prose projects in early development stages. One is titled The Parish Knives, and is my folk-horor-lore flavour of high fantasy, but with the sort of humour in Mrs Pendleton's Corpse. The other is a collection of short stories and simple poetry exploring the lore of The King of Gorse through the centuries. The village where Dr Hall lives in the short story has over a long time known the presence of that green fellow. I also have about 2/3rd of the stories already for Black Gate Tales vol ii, but that is a bit further down the line.
Thank you so much for reading and your interest in my work. I tend to put updates on facebook.com/itstheblackgate and instagram.com/blackgatesight if you want to stay connected. Have a great day and thanks again. - PD
Paul Draper
So many! I want to read The Troop by Nick Cutter and Piranesi by the amazing Susanna Clarke. I must finish Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley by the summer too. I'm loving it but keep misplacing it.
Paul Draper
I love Middle Earth, but it'd be pretty lethal. China Mieville's The City & the City would be fascinating.
Paul Draper
It's an old one :)
'The last human on earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock at the door.'
'The last human on earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock at the door.'
Paul Draper
A good walk usually does the trick. Get out of the office or home. In non-pandemic times, go to a cafe or hotel and write there.
Paul Draper
Flying into spaces that only you can navigate to, then inviting others into it. When a reader says a certain part of my writing touches him or her, and they *feel* something - that's the big win.
Paul Draper
Keep at it, and watch the Ira Glass video 'The Gap' on YouTube. He nails why a lot of new writers give up too early. Try and keep to as regular a routine as you can to work on your 'writing muscle' - then 1,000 words won't seem like any effort at all. Know that your first draft of anything won't be good enough. Just create it so you have something to fix. Listen to good friends around you - the ones that offer good feedback (not everyone is good at this, or they try to rewrite it for you, which is a no-no) And good luck!
Paul Draper
Working on The Parish Knives - the idea for a multi-character novel threading through a series of unfolding events seemed to fit nicely into the idea of a chaotic disruption to a bucolic English landscape. It allows me to work folk horror, a bit of character comedy, and some truly scary ideas that currently don't have a home into one work. I'm really excited about this book!
Paul Draper
Like a lot of writers, I collect ideas in a note space and if the idea continues to chat to me after a while, I'll work it up a bit. I do a fair bit of competition writing which always seems to spawn new ideas.
Paul Draper
A novel called The Parish Knives, which is the first part of a trilogy centering on an old war being awakened in an English village, as well as Black Gate Tales vol II.
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I'm intrigued by your upcoming projects and look forward to any future publications.
Good luck with all you do ...more
Feb 22, 2022 06:20AM