Today I am delighted to welcome author, Tom Batt to Books, Life and Everything to talk about his writing life and his latest novella, a revenge thriller, Street Siren.
Welcome to Books, Life and Everything, Tom.
Would you like to start by telling us a little about
yourself and how you started as a writer?
I’m 34 years old and have been writing since I was fourteen.
I started writing screenplays, shorts and features, getting several produced as
short films and finding success in competitions. During the pandemic, I was
obviously spending a lot of time at home and so tried my hand at writing short
stories. By 2021 I had a collection of around twenty. My attempts to get them
published failed, so I decided to put together the best ones and self-publish
them as a book. Old Wounds: A Nick Shelby Case and Other Crime Stories received
positive reviews and encouraged me to keep writing. I published a second
collection of short stories only as an ebook called MindSpaces and then
followed it with the novella Street Siren.
Tell us about your latest book without giving the plot away.
Street Siren is about a young prostitute, Devlin whose
lover, Roxy is brutally murdered for the purpose of a snuff film. The police
are stumped for leads, but Devlin finds a connection between the snuff film and
an adult film studio through a chance encounter. She suspects those responsible
can be found there and decides to go undercover as an actress to track them
down and exact her revenge one by one using her skills of seduction to lure
them. It’s a dark tale of retribution set in a seedy 1980s London.
What are your writing routines and where do you do most of
your writing?
I used to write in the mornings but soon found my brain
doesn’t kick in until the afternoon and so I switched up my routine and now
write later in the day. Most of my writing is done in my spare room which acts
as an office, but sometimes I require a change of scenery and switch between
the sofa in the living room or the dining table. I’m amazed by people who write
in public places. I couldn’t as I’d be distracted by everyone and everything.
Which aspects of your writing do you find easiest and most
difficult?
The easiest part of writing is the ideas stage. When you’re
first building the characters and plot structure there is so much freedom you
feel anything is possible for your story. The most difficult for me is the
first draft as that can be the moment you realise certain plot points don’t
work or you need to explain something better. When things are locked in one
change can create a domino effect and disrupt something later in the story
which can be incredibly frustrating.
Do you have any guilty pleasures which stop/help you write?
Video games are a guilty pleasure that can both stop and
help me write. When I play video games I’m always thinking I could be spending
this time writing. However, when my brain is focused on another task such as
playing a game it seems to free up my mind and I’m able to think more clearly
about my writing and solve problems. On top of that, video game storytelling is
at such a high level now it can be a big inspiration.
Can you give any hints about any upcoming books you have
planned?
I have another novella waiting in the wings to be released.
It’s another crime thriller, this time set in modern-day London and revolves around
bank robbers and the flying squad detectives trying to stop them. I’ve also
started working on my first novel, taking place in 1940s Hollywood, but don’t
want to say too much about the story yet. It’s an idea I’ve had since 2012,
that I’ve been constantly reworking. However, I have no idea when that will be
finished.
Thanks so much, Tom and good luck with your writing!
About the Author
Tom Batt
has been writing in a variety of formats such as screenplays and prose
across multiple genres. He has several film credits to his name and
found success in competitions. He began writing short stories as a hobby
and decided it was time to share them with the world. In August 2021 he
published his first collection of short stories, Old Wounds: A Nick
Shelby Case and Other Crime Stories to positive reviews, followed by a
second collection, MindSpaces, in May 2022. In October 2022, he
published the novella, Street Siren.
Book Spotlight - Street Siren
London, 1988
Young
prostitute, Devlin Hunter is distraught when her best friend Roxy is
found murdered, pushing her back into drug addiction. After a snuff film
is uncovered depicting Roxy’s death by a masked killer, the police
struggle for leads.
Devlin stumbles upon a
connection between the snuff film and a local adult entertainment studio
and infiltrates the company by going undercover as an actress. She
tracks down those responsible and seduces each of them before exacting
her brutal revenge.
However, the police are soon on her trail and it becomes a race against time to kill them before she is caught herself.
Book links: Amazon UK | Goodreads
Comments
Post a Comment