Author Interview: We Have Lost The Chihuahuas by Paul Mathews

We Have Lost the Chihuahuas by Paul Mathews

Release Date: 28th November 2017
Series: We have Lost #4 

Genres: [Genre] ([Age])

Thrilled to be hosting Paul Mathews on the blog today with an author interview. Lets find out about the book first! 

BOOK BLURB

London, 2046. The British Republic has a new First Lady. She’s Californian, ‘in-your-face, for sure’ and she’s got big plans for a Buckingham Palace refurb. When her three Chihuahuas go missing, one man is determined to avoid getting dragged into it all. His name is Pond. Howie Pond – presidential spokesperson, retired secret agent and cat lover.

Meanwhile, Howie’s wife Britt is handed her first assignment as a National Security and Intelligence Service rookie – to solve the mystery of the missing canine trio.

Will Howie manage to slope off to the pub before he can be roped into help? Will Britt unmask the dognapper and grab the glory? Find out, in the latest, crazy comedy-thriller from dog-loving British author Paul Mathews.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1.       Did your writing skills come naturally or did you have to attend courses to help you develop that creative side?

I’ve had a creative streak for as long as I can remember. I produced my own comics when I was a kid – planning & writing the stories and drawing the characters. (Unfortunately, I threw out all the copies of ‘Walt’s Weekly’ – I would love to read them today.) I also wrote a couple of choose-your-own-adventure books as a kid, which I loaned to school friends. I worked in PR / communications for 20 years and that required the ability to write and edit well, so it helped improve my writing skills.

  

And before turning to novels, I wrote both short- and full-length comedy plays. During that time, I did a lot of research about story structure, characters, plotting etc. And writing plays taught me how to write good dialogue, which is a central part of all my books. In fact, dialogue is my favourite part of writing because it flows so much easier.

2.      What books/authors inspired your writing journey?

Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series is pretty much my one and only literary influence. In tribute, I include lots of references to the number 42. In ‘We Have Lost The Chihuahuas’, Howie and Britt have to visit apartment number 42 and this leads to various other, 42-related memories.

Indirectly, the James Bond novels influence the series because Howie is always comparing himself to 007. However, I’ve only seen the films – not read any of the books (sorry Mr Fleming!).

As a comedy writer, I’m probably more influenced by the TV sitcoms I enjoyed in my youth, such as Blackadder, Home to Roost and Men Behaving Badly.

3.      How does it feel to know that your books inspire others? Whether readers with a response to the content or other aspiring authors?

If they inspire people to read more, write something themselves, or just take life less seriously, that’s great. But I primarily see my ‘We Have Lost’ comedy-thriller series as pure entertainment – something to bring a smile to people’s faces when they’re sitting on a sofa, commuter train on sunbed.

4.      Do you have any writing rituals? What are they?

I try to write a chapter in a day (about 2,000 words), when I am in full novel-writing mode and then I stop – unless I’m nearing the end of the novel and then I might squeeze out a few more words. I do this Monday to Friday and then take a timeout at the weekend. It might sound a lot like ‘real’ work, but it’s not – I enjoy every minute. You just have to make sure you have other things in your life, such as travel and other hobbies, so writing doesn’t become an obsession.

5.      If you could have written any literary character, who would it be and why? 

Marvin the Paranoid Android from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – his depressive take on life is just so comically British. Only an Englishman could have created a robot that is so permanently cheesed off with the universe!

6.      Within your genre, is there a subject that you would never write about? What? Why? 

My basic rule is no blood, gore or people dying. There’s enough of that in real life.