#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Daniel Willcocks
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I’d like to welcome author, Daniel Willcocks, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.
Things you need for your writing sessions:
My wireless headphones, a pair of compression gloves for my fingers, my glasses (only worn for writing sessions), and a killer playlist of instrumental horror tracks on Spotify. I’m all about putting myself into that ‘zone.’
Hardest thing about being a writer:
Self-discipline is a muscle, and it requires work every day. The words don’t write themselves, and on the days where you’ve got no energy and all you want to do is relax, you still have to drag yourself to the keyboard to get the work in. It’s how the books are made. Blood, sweat, and copious amounts of coffee.
Something you’re really good at:
I’m pretty good at asking people the questions that make them think. I use Becca Syme’s “Question the Premise” method, and look for alternatives to typically accepted situations. It’s all about thinking outside of the box.
Something you’re really bad at:
Resting. I put workhorses to shame. I barely take days off, and I work until I burnout. It’s an endless cycle I’m working on, and hopefully I’ll be able to make it some day.
Something you wish you could do:
I’d love to play the drums. I’ve never had proper go to actually try. On the small opportunity I had, I sucked. I know I’d get there with practice, but who has a drum set just lying around these days?
The last thing you ordered online:
A tool to help increase the strength in your fingers. I want to look after my typing digits, and I’m also looking ahead to rock climbing in the future.
Things you always put in your books:
I will always put in ridiculously tough moral dilemmas. As a horror writer, I strip characters down to their core, and have them face the questions that are fundamentally human. No one cares how many followers you have when you’re standing on the brink of death.
Things to say to an author:
“I could not put your book down.” That phrase is like crack to an author.
Favorite places you’ve been:
Out of all the places I’ve been that stick with me, I have to say that climbing St Michael’s Mount in Edinburgh and overlooking the city at 6am, a sunrise and a cloth of fog over the city… That really hit the spot.
Favorite books (or genre):
Everything’s Eventual by Stephen King, Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon, The Troop by Nick Cutter, and The Ritual by Adam Nevill are always on my recommend pile.
Biggest mistake:
Waiting until I thought I was “ready” to start doing the things that scared me.
Most daring thing you’ve ever done:
I’ve jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet. I mean, it was either that or attempt a three hour road trip without making the four-year-old do a “safety wee” first…
About Daniel:
Daniel Willcocks is an international bestselling author, award-nominated podcaster, book coach, and speaker.
He writes dark fiction, spanning the genres of horror, post-apocalyptic, and sci-fi, and helps authors tell the stories they’re dying to tell.
