SHORT SHARP INTERVIEW: SIMON WOOD - International Man Of Mystery

SHORT SHARP INTERVIEW: SIMON  WOOD

Q1. Simon Wood sounds like a very cool secret agent. Have you ever fancied being a spy?

I have. I think a certain spyness fits my personality. I'm not one for rules that come with the military, but if you assign me an objective, I'll find a way of achieving it by hook or by crook. Besides it's a small family tradition. A great uncle worked for the secret service during WWII.

Q2. You have a dog called Royston, clearly named after the comedian Roy 'Chubby' Brown. Which other comedians have influenced you?

Tons! My biggest comedy infleunces include: Eric Morecambe, Alan Davies, Billy Connelly, Jasper Carrott, Jack Dee, Jeff Green, Dave Allen, Leonard Rossiter, Ronnie Barker, Kenneth Williams, Sid James, Rowan Atkinson, Bob Newhart, Alan Sherman, Eddie Izzard, Brian Regan, Peter Sellers, Bennie Hill, Barry Cryer, Willie Rushton, Lee Evans and Frank Skinner. The list is endless. And I'm not including great comedy writers.

Q3. Which TV series' would you like to have written for?

Doctor Who and Murder in Mind.

Q4. You're currently giving away the first few chapters of your new novel at Goodreads. Is that because you're so rich that you don't need to sell books anymore?

Far from it. This week, I'm posting the 1st 5 chapters from Terminated, but there's another 20 or so I'm not posting. Consider me a devious drug dealer. I let you get hooked for free, but make you pay to support your addicition.

Q5. You've recently been nominated for a Dagger Award. Is this only for people who support Dagenham & Redbridge F.C.?

I bloody hope not. No, it's an award put out by Crime Writers Association in the UK. The Oscars have a statuette. The CWA has a Dagger as its prize. Seems pretty apt for crime writers. The winner gets announced in July. I'm against some pretty stiff competition, but if I'm lucky I'll have to go scabbard shopping.

Q6: You have family in sunny Hartlepool yet you live far away in grim, gray California. Why is that?

My wife is to blame for that. She's a California girl. I love traveling and I met my wife when we were both in Costa Rica. When it came to the decision to which country to live in, it was easier to move to the US. That's the official answer. The real reason is that I don't drink tea and I was banished to the Americas by royal decree.

Q7.You've been called “ the 'Gary Oldman' of mystery fiction .” Are you that scary?

No, another author called me that because he thought there was a lot anarchy in my stories. A lot of my books deal with people lives coming apart over a single incident

Q8. If you're books were bands, who would they be?

Tricky, The Clash and Portishead

Q9. Which of your books would you recemmend to to someone unfamiliar with your work?

My books are all standalones so they don't have to be read in order. The latest is TERMINATED, so I'm eager for people to let me know what they think of that. That said, my readers usually point first time readers towards PAYING THE PIPER.

Q10. What's on the cards for 2010?

There's a new collection of short stories called ASKING FOR TROUBLE. It's due out August/September. We're waiting on the result on the Dagger Awards before finalizing a date. There's some more audio adaptations of my short stories due out later in the year. There are a couple more things, but they're far too vapoury to mention at the moment.

Ta for that, Simon!

BIO: Simon Wood is an ex-racecar driver, a licensed pilot and an occasional private investigator. He shares his world with his American wife, Julie. A longhaired dachshund and five cats dominate their lives. He's had over 150 stories and articles published. His short fiction has appeared in a variety of magazines anthologies, such as Seattle Noir, Thriller 2 and Woman’s World. He's a frequent contributor to Writer's Digest. He's the Anthony Award winning author of Working Stiffs, Accidents Waiting to Happen, Paying the Piper and We All Fall Down. As Simon Janus, he's the author of The Scrubs and Road Rash. His latest thriller, Terminated, is out in mass paperback. Curious people can learn more at Simon Wood's website  HERE

His MY SPACE page is HERE