Interview with Phillip W Simpson

 

Hello all you readers and writers! Emma Michaels here to introduce you to our guest author of the day

Phillip W. Simpson

Hello Phillip and welcome to

The Writers Voice.

 



If you could have any extraordinary gift or super power what would it be and why?

I'm going to cheat here and pick being an operant in Julian May's novels. Humanity has evolved to have awesome mind powers. Each human has a different strength with the rare individual possessing strengths in many areas. Some are powerful in creativity, others in telepathy, others in kinetic etc. It's been a while since I read them but just talking about them has given me a hankering to re-read.

What’s your favorite way to procrastinate?

I don't know if it counts as procrastination (who am I kidding? Of course it does), but I read. My favorite thing to do is hop into bed on a rainy day and read a book. In a perfect world, I'd read all day. I also have been known to spend hours surfing twitter, goodreads, facebook and youtube. I play a reasonable amount of solitaire as well.

Where do you do your best writing? Do you like to have certain surroundings?

To be honest, it doesn't really matter. I tend to switch off to the outside world when I'm writing. My wife tells me that we have conversations when I'm writing (she's learnt better now) which I don't remember at all. Anywhere where my son can't find me (he's twenty months old). If he does, I have to pick him up which makes it impossible to type. He, of course, is able to and has almost succeeded in deleting several pieces of work with his busy fingers. I generally hide in the garage now.

If you could live in one book for a day, what would it be?

The world of the Culture by Iain M. Banks. All the people live in a utopian society on ships or artificial worlds. The ships are run by Minds (like AI's but better). The humans basically have an ideal existence of indulgence and privilege with the ships running everything. The ships are almost omnipotent.

Besides writing, what do you like to do in your free time?

Are you implying that I have free time? Sleep mostly. Family time. When I can, play football and golf. Go fishing. Read. Drink single malt whiskeys. Read some more.

Which came first for you--the characters, the idea for the setting, or the plot?

For me, it's the idea. The setting, concept and theme is of paramount importance. The character is almost as important but I have to sit down and think about how he (or she) fits into the world I've created.

When you were growing up, what did you want to be?

An archaeologist. I trained to become one and worked as one for a while. It didn't quite live up to my expectations (Indiana Jones lied to me!). I would've liked to have become an astronaut but I don't think I could handle the G's (I tend to scream a lot on rollercoasters).

Thank you for stopping by

The Writers Voice!