Simon Brading

Question One: Tell us a little bit about yourself! Where are you from, what’s your favorite color, anything that you want to!

I write under the name Simon Brading, but my full name is Simon James Brading. My middle name is in honour of my maternal Grandfather and I dropped it for artistic purpose like writing and acting, but he was a huge influence on my early life – he was the one who taught me sports, games and manners – and I gave my son the James that I dropped in his honour.

Question Two: What inspired your debut novel?

There was a children’s television show back when I was young called “Mr Benn”, where a man would go into a fancy dress shop, dress up in a costume, like a knight or an astronaut, then would travel back in time, or through space, and solve a problem before returning. “The Time Traveller’s Nephew” began as a short story in that vein, featuring my nephew and as a present for him. I never worked up the courage to give it to him (or even tell him) and over the next few years developed the short story to a full novel and then eventually the five-part “Displacers” series. The first inspiration, though, was that TV show and a nephew.

Question Three: What was the first book to make you cry? And if tears have never been shed then what was the first book that gave you an emotional reaction?

I distinctly remember, actually, that the first book that made me cry was one of the Shannara books, The Elfstones of Shannara, by Terry Brooks. I read it when I was about 9 or 10 and when one of the main characters (SPOILER!!!) turned into a tree I bawled my eyes out – in secret of course because I’m British and a boy and British boys don’t cry, at least not 40 years ago!

Question Four: Do you have any pets? Bonus points for pictures!

No, my parents never let me have pets and now, living in a very small flat in a city, I don’t think it’s the best idea. I have fed and given water to the various animals that have visited my balcony over the years, though, including a magpie, a few tired bees, some swallows that perch on our clothes lines and a grasshopper that is a repeat visitor (despite us living in a flat about 50 feet above the ground) and which my son and I named Geoff.

Question Five: What is your goal as a writer?

I want to be able to write all the stories I have in my head. That’s my dream. To make enough from my writing to be able to dedicate enough time to be able to do that. And there are SO many stories I’m going to need a LOT of time!

Question Six: Do you believe in “kill your darlings”? Did you have to kill a darling you really didn’t want to?

I’ve lost count of the number of characters I’ve killed off in my stories, but considering that the Misfit Squadron series is set in an alternative version of World War 2 and people die in war, then that’s not surprising. That doesn’t mean it was easy, but it was necessary and I know I’m going to have to kill off some more before I bring the series to an end.

The hardest death I’ve ever put in my books comes right on the last page of the “Displacers” series and I still get emotional when I read it because it was the death of the one character I’ve ever based on a real person. I’m not going to say any more than that because of spoilers!

Question Seven: Have you ever googled yourself?

I haven’t actually. I don’t expect to find anything about myself aside from my web pages and social media, so I haven’t bothered. There are also two other Simon Bradings out there who are moderately well-known, so most results would be about them, I assume.

Question Eight: Was there someone in your life that inspired you to write/self publish? Either good or bad.

Nope! It came out of the blue one day and was a complete departure from anything else I’d ever done.

Question Nine: What are the best and worst things about being an indie author?

The best thing is being in control of what I write, how and when. The worst is the uncertainty – not just not knowing whether you’re going to earn any money, but also whether anyone is going to like what you write.

Question Ten: What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Find a story you believe in and just write. Stop thinking about it, stop worrying it won’t be good enough, stop worrying about grammar and just write it. Sort the rest out later.