Interview with Mike Harling
Yesterday I reviewed the book Postcards from across The Pond. If you missed it, you can read the review here. Tomorrow I’ll be posting a contest featuring the book and some extra special bits n’ bobs so be sure to check back then. In the meantime, Mike Harling, the book’s author, has been kind enough to answer some interview questions. I think you’ll find his answers interesting and true to form, quite humorous. Thanks Mike!
1. First things first, what is your star sign?
Capricorn
2. Now that we have dispensed with the most important detail, let’s get down to business. Recently you did some book signings in Britain, how has your book been received by the British public?
Oddly, the book is doing a lot better in Britain than in America, even though it was written with an American audience in mind. That said, I’m really pleased with the reception it is getting here; people who have read it are telling me it was quite funny and had them laughing out loud. The British are a people who enjoy their comedy and are quite the humor aficionados, so I am really chuffed to be doing well in this arena.
3. What do you enjoy most about Great Britain?
That is so hard to say, but if I had to pin it down I would say I most enjoy being able to travel easily, both internally and internationally. Back in the States, I rarely took a vacation, but here it’s so easy to get to places like Prague, Krakow, Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam so I tend to take three or four holidays a year. I’m not really saying the thing I like most about Britain is that I can get out of it fast and easy, that’s what I like about the lifestyle here. For Britain itself, it would have to be the beer.
4. What do you like least?
To their shame, it is not a very clean country. Littering seems to be a national sport and it really sullies what is otherwise a beautiful country.
5. Besides your friends and family, what do you miss most about being home in the United States?
A porch. A big wide porch with a screen door opening onto the kitchen that screeches and thwacks every time someone goes in to get a beer out of the fridge. A porch deep enough to keep you dry while lightning flashes and hail bounces on the driveway. A porch you can fit a table on to sit around with friends on summer evenings. A porch you can sit on in the mornings to watch the sun rise over the Catskills. Yeah, a porch.
6. Like America, Britain is dealing with a recession. In what ways have you felt or witnessed its effects on British life?
Oh, it’s awful! There are people sleeping in the streets and living in shopping trolleys. The market last week had only a single chicken leg and three people ended up in casualty fighting over it. It’s so, so…boring.
Nothing much has changed except some things are actually getting cheaper to encourage us to buy them. Most of what is visible is occurring on a voluntary basis—people not taking as many holidays, or putting off buying large ticket items, or staying in their current home instead of moving. This has helped the economy to stagnate somewhat but, for the most part, not a lot is different.
7. How do you think the internet and social media like Twitter and Facebook have affected the publishing world and you personally as an author?
Before I launch into my grumpy old man speech, let me say that the new media has made the entire spectrum of writing/publishing much more exciting and versatile, and it has created an enormous amount of opportunity. And while all that is true, what it means is that the bar has been raised for everyone. The young people who can handle the new media have the advantage and us folks who grew up with manual typewriters have to hang on for dear life or face being left in the dust.
I can honestly say, without the new paradigm, my book would likely not have been published. All of my interactions take place on the internet these days and if I do sell another book it will be by e-mailing an attachment to a publisher, not printing off 400 pages, wrapping it up and sending it out by post. Thank God. But with so many web pages needing so many words practically everyone is a self-styled web writer these days and none of us are getting paid for it and most of us should really try to find something else to occupy our time.
Why I remember when I was a boy, we used to… (grumpy old man mode on/audience release activated)
8. What advice do you have for someone interested in writing their first book?
Depends what your goal is:
Make money? Get a job stocking shelves at Wal-Mart? Think you can do it better than Dan Brown? Have at it; you never know. Can’t conceive of not writing? Then you might be what they call “a writer” you poor sod. If you really can’t help it, go on and write the book. It won’t be any good, but don’t let that stop you, or stop you from writing the next one, and the next one. Eventually, they won’t be so bad, and if you happen to be blessed with a talent for marketing (which I am not), you might be able to convince an agent and/or a publisher to agree with you. Good luck.
