My Series of Author & Poet Interviews #author #poet Narberth Book Fair#BookFair. Today with Hugh Roberts

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Titleband for Narberth Book Fair

Throughout this months I ’ll be posting interviews with the authors and poets who will be taking part in our Book Fair:  http://www.narberthbookfair.co.uk/.

There are forty authors, so, obviously, there are many genres for both adults and children. There will be talks an writing and books, creative writing workshops for adults  workshops & talks and fun workshops for children, activities for the children  Children’s Page and a fun book trail through Narberth, the gorgeous little market town in Pembrokeshire.  Location.

All free!!

And, of course, there will be the chance to chat with all the authors and to pick their brains on all aspects of writing. Even to buy their books and have them personally signed.

And, as usual, there will also be the writing competition: this year is a poetry competition:  competition . Submit a poem, in any form, of 20 lines or less, on the subject of : –

BOOKS AND READING.

Having outgrown our previous venue we have been lucky to hire the Queens Hall: https://www.thequeenshall.org.uk/ who have been very generous in their support of the event.

Although, five years ago,  I started organising the book fairs on my own I was soon joined by Alex Martin: http://amzn.to/2hZCgt2  and Thorne Moore: http://bit.ly/2rc5qyA. Unfortunately Alex has moved on to pastures new  (although is still a great supporter), so Thorne and I have been joined by Elizabeth Sleight. Elizabeth is involved in the charity we are supporting through our raffle; The Harriet Davis Seaside Holiday Trust For Disabled Children: http://bit.ly/2sNyeKQ . 

Our author today is the lovely author, prolific blogger and all round good guy … Hugh Roberts.

Hugh Roberts

Let’s’ start, Hugh, by you telling us what you love most about the writing process?

Being able to go into worlds that do not exist and creating characters and worlds that I have the power over and which readers enjoy reading about. As a writer, you can do anything you want to the people in your worlds, so it’s probably the closest I’ll ever get to living life as an emperor.

What is the ultimate goal you hope to achieve with your writing?

I would love to write for a TV show such as Doctor Who, or even a well-known soap-opera. I admire the writers in the world of TV and movies and think it such a shame that many of them do not get the recognition they deserve. We need to ensure that these people walk along the red-carpet to loud cheers, as much as the actors do.

If you could write about anyone fiction/nonfiction who would you write about?

The Time Traveller in The Time Machine. I know there have been hundreds (if not thousands) of other time travelling stories since H.G. Wells wrote The Time Machine, but I would have loved to have asked Mr Wells if I could write a sequel to his book. I’m not a huge lover of sequels, but The Time Traveller in The Time Machine is one of my all-time favourite fictional characters.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

Yes, ever since I can remember. It has always been one of my two lifetime goals. Unfortunately, for many years, I allowed being dyslexic get in my way. I’m so grateful to have discovered the world of blogging, as it was the gateway for me to finally conquer the monster I called ‘Dyslexia’. 

 What genre do you consider your books? Have you considered writing in another genre?

As a writer of short stories, I’ve written in many genres. My favourites tend to be science fiction, horror, and suspense. However, I was recently challenged to write a rom-com, after saying it was a genre I would find difficult to write. It took me a while to write a story, but I’m pleased to say that I wrote one, although it’s yet to be read by anyone.

Could you tell us a bit about your most recent book and why it is a must-read?

So far, I’ve only published one book. It’s called Glimpses and is a collection of 28 short stories I’ve wrote over three years. If you enjoy shows as such The Twilight Zone, Tales Of The Unexpected, The Outer Limits, or Tales From The Dark Side, then Glimpses is a must read. All the stories are full of twists and turns that take the reader on an unexpected journey and an ending they probably never saw coming.

Glimpses by [Roberts, Hugh W.]

What was the inspiration behind Glimpses?

My love of The Twilight Zone and its creator, Rod Serling. When I first watched The Twilight Zone, I wanted to find out more about its creator. Serling is the master when it comes to writing stories with twists that nobody will have guessed, along with his thoughts about the situations people find themselves in, in each of the stories. He gave me the inspiration to write stories the way he did and to marvel in the delight when people say that they didn’t see that ending coming. It’s one of the biggest compliments a reader can pay me.

How long did it take you to write Glimpses?

I wrote the first story in April 2014. However, at the time, I had no intension of publishing it in a book. Then, as I wrote more and more short stories and published them on my blog, my readers started asking me to put them into a collection and publish them. Glimpses was published in December 2016.

Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reins of the story?

No, I always have the reins of a story. In fact, the ending will come to me first, and I then tend to work backwards to the beginning. I’ve never found myself in a situation where a character has hijacked the story…not yet, anyway.

Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?

Yes, as many of them follow my blog. One of the best things about blogging is the interaction between my readers and myself. If it wasn’t for my readers leaving comments on my blog, Glimpses would never have been published. I’m very lucky in that my blog seems to attract a lot of comments. I’ve had huge compliments paid to me, as well as great constructive criticism about what I publish. I also enjoy seeing my readers interact with each other on my blog. When I’ve asked people why they leave me comments on my blog, many say it’s because of the friendliness I show everyone who comments. I treat anyone who visits my blog as a guest and always ensure I respond to all the comments.

 Do you have any hidden or uncommon talents?

Not that I’m aware of, although I have been told that I have a talent of writing stories with an unexpected ending that many never guess is coming.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

That most of my writing is done in the morning. I rarely write after lunchtime, although one story I wrote during the middle of the night did end up in Glimpses.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Walking with my partner, John and our Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Toby. Watching television, cycling, and meeting up with friends and family for meals and drinks.

What is the most amusing thing that has ever happened to you? Not particularly to do with your writing.

I got knocked out by an electric potato peeler at the Ideal Home Exhibition in London. It wasn’t funny at the time, but I now laugh about it.

Give us a random fact about yourself.

I have a collection of 24 foot dated Harrods Christmas Teddy bears and over 50 Christmas themed mugs.

Hugh’s Links:

Blog
Twitter
Amazon

78 thoughts on “My Series of Author & Poet Interviews #author #poet Narberth Book Fair#BookFair. Today with Hugh Roberts”

  4. OMG this was such a great interview with Hugh and I was delighted to find him here as one of your author interviews, Judith. Hugh makes me laugh – loved the potato peeler story, even though I can’t imagine how on earth that happened? LOL. Yes, Hugh has a gift with his storytelling and his always anticipated unexpected endings with his stories. It’s no surprise he has many readers of his blog because his posts are always either entertaining and/or informative. Just loved this! Hugs to both! xo ❤

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  7. Thanks, Judith and Hugh. It is easy to see the influence of the Twilight Zone (and it also influenced many of my short stories). I didn’t know about your collections. I hope you keep adding to them!

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  10. Pingback: My Series of Author & Poet Interviews #author #poet Narberth Book Fair#BookFair. Today with Hugh Roberts – Hugh's Views & News

  11. I enjoyed learning more about Hugh! I wish the USA had such wonderful fairs too. I need to check into this. Wishing all authors a terrific time and big sales! Blessings & hugs to you Judith and Hugh! ❤️

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  13. Congrats on being a part of the upcoming book fair. It sounds like such an honour and well done. You certainly have come far with dyslexia, the book and being a published author. I still remember your blog when you started it, and thought you were such an engaging writer. And even more so now, and this was such a gracious, down-to-earth interview with Judith.

    Maybe that rom com would see the light of day some day. Or maybe you could go back and rewrite it, and rewrite a few more pieces of that genre and turn it all into a book 😀 I think that is the writing genre I most struggle with too. It has never appealed to me, and it’s not a genre that I’ve actually read. Good on you for attempting it, and I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think it is.

    Very interesting to hear that you write mainly in the morning and rarely after If it works for you, it works for you. I’m the complete opposite – I only write at night and rarely when the sun is up. To me, night time is when my mind is awake and alert and I’m ready to write and write. Or course a lot of the time I get stuck, but whenever I have inspiration, it tends to strike at night, and usually right before I have to go to bed in preparation for work the next day.

    That is quite the collection of teddy bears 😀

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    • Thanks so much, Mabel.

      I’ve not let anyone read the rom-com yet, but I quite like what I’ve written. It will probably go straight into my next book once my editor has read it. She was the one who challenged me. I’m glad she did. However, I don’t seem to have any desire to write another rom-com. Not yet, anyway.

      I’ve always been a morning person. Once lunchtime has come and gone, I find that my mind is less creative. However, one of the stories in Glimpses was written very late at night.

      The Teddy bear collection grows every year. Soon, they will have taken over the house. I’m in trouble if that happens. 😀

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      • Good luck with the rom-com seeing the light of the day. Sounds like sooner rather than later, and I am sure we will all fall in love with it 😀

        Grow that Teddy Bear collection, Hugh. I’m growing my stuffed monkey collection each year. They seem very eager for a face off with your Teddies now 😀

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  17. Pingback: Welsh Wednesdays Reblog: Today with Hugh Roberts #author #poet Narberth Book Fair #BookFair. | writerchristophfischer

  18. It’s always entertaining to read about Hugh. Great interview to both! And I could definitely see you writing TV shows Hugh! Sorry, but once again had to LOL at the potato peeler. 🙂 🙂 xoxoxo

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