Come and meet Clive Hindle Interview/Excerpt

 

Let's start with Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Pretty ordinary guy actually. Married, 4 kids, lawyer in the UK and Hong Kong.

What genre's do you write? if more than one do you have a favorite?

Thriller - mainly legal background. Or autobiographical fiction set in last few decades. I like both as they are not that far removed. The lawyer character in the thrillers could be me as could some of the main characters in the second genre.

What can we expect from your books?Action, sex, adventure, romance?

A bit of all that. Really I like to write about life with a what if twist. Life is really about stories. People seeing the same thing and putting themselves or their perspective at the centre of it won't tell the same one.

Do you have a favorite book or character of yours that is a favorite? Why?

I suppose my favourite is Dark Side Crossing but it is difficult to say why. I imagine because it exorcised a few demons for me. However, it may be surpassed soon.

Can you tell us anything on your newest release?

The Eighth Square:

Jack Lauder, a man of simple pleasures, was a successful lawyer who enjoyed nothing more than climbing in the mountains and a good old competitive game of chess. But he is about to be dragged into a deadly world of deception, where truth and fiction become inseparable, and the life he knew will be changed forever. The battle for his sanity begins when his wife, Rachel dies after a tragic climbing accident during a snowstorm. He found it hard to mourn her loss because her body was never recovered. Now, the question of her existence taunts him as she continues to appear before him. His sense of reality is on the verge of collapse, but right now that's the least of his worries ... Somebody has a very personal vendetta against Jack and he must put all the pieces of the puzzle together to figure out why he is being framed. He finds himself caught up in a web of drug-smuggling and murder. In a haze of confusion, Jack will have to think several moves ahead to survive this hostile game against an opponent who will stop at nothing until Jack is annihilated.

Are you working on anything new? when will it be out and can you give us any details....hints?

I am working on 4 of the thrillers featuring my lawyer character, Jack Lauder and I cannot say yet which will be ready first. One is set partially in Hong Kong, another in Majorca and the other 2 in the UK.

I am also working on finishing two of the auto-fiction books.

What kind of advice would you give new authors or people who are trying to get published?

I can't give advice on getting published because it is such a game of chance. All I can really say is don't let it consume you, just write and write about what you know best. As I said before life is about everyone's different story (or stories because they will change) so concentrate on what makes yours different from the others. It will be. You need to bring it to life.

Lets find out a little more ....How about some FUN stuff!!

favorite place to travel?

My favourite destination is now Scotland. In a way it always has been. Once I was a mountaineer and I went many places to climb but secretly I'd spend time in the Scottish mountains in preference to anywhere else. If I picked one place or another it would be a toss up between the wilderness of Rannoch Moor leading up to Glencoe or maybe now I am older it would be the tranquility of Glen Lyon in Perthshire.

Favorite foods?

I like most food types but I like spicy more than it likes me!

Favorite past time?

I guess my favourite pastime is getting out in the hills still, off the beaten track, usually involving some solo climbing but a bad break (leg) last year has nipped that in the bud temporarily. The signs are I am nearly back to normal.

Book (not yours but one you can recommend)

Author (one you can recommend)

I just read Will Storr's Heretics and loved it. I enjoy the autobiographical fiction of W. E. Sebald but it is not everyone's cup of team I really engage with the sort of work where you have to keep asking yourself if this is true or not. In truth I have pretty diverse interests.

any pets?

I used to have 4 dogs but they died on me one by one all pretty old and all setters. Now I have a cat going on 21. She's a bit of a diva but I guess she's earned the right.

Finally is there any special places we can find you and your books (Links please)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Eighth-Square-Clive-Hindle/dp/1857567315/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369426469&sr=8-1&keywords=clive+hindle

http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Eighth_Square.html?id=Z9IRTwEACAAJ

http://www.thereadingroom.com/books/details/the-eighth-square-clive-hindle/3786459

EXCERPT:

Arriving at the village, they booked into the hotel –

separate rooms, of course. Jack intended staying at the house

the next night if it proved habitable. That way he could work

late. The hotel proprietor seemed surprised to see them.

‘I thought the weather had put everyone off,’ he said,

‘so you’ve got a choice: sea view or priory?’

Not much fancying even a monastery graveyard, Jack was

shown to his sea-view room, where he deposited his

backpack. Sarah joined him as he emptied the minimal

belongings he had brought for the weekend, just enough not

to stick to the furniture. She confessed to having brought a

few glad rags.

‘Don’t want to look a mess at dinner,’ she said. Then she

gasped in surprise and when he turned to follow her gaze

the sight which met his eyes was of a Viking longship, its

square sail set, sailing out of the storm on its way to the

beach beneath the castle.

‘Wow!’ he exclaimed. ‘This coast is renowned for its

theatrical reproductions of ancient battles, but that’s

spectacular! The construction cost of a replica like that

must have been phenomenal.’

‘I read about this,’ Sarah replied. ‘It’s that film director

guy, isn’t it, the one who’s got the castle? He’s making an

epic about the Viking raids on this coast.’ She snapped her

fingers as if trying to remember.

‘Darius Lockyer!’ he said for her. ‘Would you believe I

know Darius? He was a great pal of Vince’s.’

His face wore a smile and Sarah, having begun to read

him, smiled herself.

‘What?’ he asked, crumbling beneath that silent

interrogation.

‘You’re thinking something wicked,’ she laughed.

‘No,’ he replied, laughing with her, ‘I was just thinking

about how the media portrays celebrities and great men.

Almost as if they’re mythical heroes, demigods, totally

invulnerable to the same sort of problems as ordinary mortals.’

‘And aren’t they?’

‘Well, these two kind of bought into each other’s hype.

Vince was your typical captain of industry, a throwback to the

robber baron age, born in the wrong time ...’ He paused.

‘And Darius?’

‘Well, Darius is a charlatan. They were both charlatans,

larger-than-life con men. They just outdid each other.

Despite all the propaganda about his family tree, Vince was

a working-class lad who made it good because of energy,

determination, a restless intelligence and a bloody ruthless

streak. But he absolutely loved arty things. He craved

celebrity. Finding a tart like Darius was just perfect for him.’

He couldn’t help but wonder what Darius had made of

Vince’s death. They were once inseparable. But he

suspected that the film director, with his disturbed

imagination, which created proportionately disturbing

theatrical images, could never really be devastated over the

loss of another person.

Conscious of Sarah waiting for him

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Julie Ramsey
ADM JBR