A little bit about you and your book…….
Okay, so my name is Alex Hunter and I have always, always, always written.
I have written the start of maybe a hundred books – never children’s books, though.
I have had so many really good ideas but have never had the ability to get from start to finish with loads of good stuff in the middle.
With Game Over it was very different.
For one it was a children’s book – aimed at 7-10 year old boys (my son was seven at the time) something I have never tried before.
And for two, (does that even make sense?) it seemed really easy to write. The idea came fully formed. It’s about a kid’s computer game, which I know plenty about, having played so many games with my son, so I knew I wanted levels, and
checkpoints, and evil creatures, and mini quests, mini bosses and finally, the big boss.
So Game Over was born. I knew I wanted a series of books and originally planned five, but ended up cutting it to three when the second book was too hard to write! So Walter and Hadrian (the third and fourth knights) were dead before they even got going, poor things!
What inspired you to start writing?
I think it was Enid Blyton. I read so many of her books as a child, but, then again, I also remember writing a book with a friend, when I was about nine or ten, that was almost an exact copy of Alice in Wonderland.
How has writing changed your life?
I suppose it’s given me a hobby that I love – one that I would love to turn into a career. If I could give up the day job, and write full time, that would be great.
I have met a lot of other writers (yourself included) that I wouldn’t have if I wasn’t a self published writer, trying to get noticed.
I am also more confident since writing the books. I have to believe in them and convince others of their worth so that’s all been good fun too!
What is your favourite book, ever?
It would have to be the Harry Potter books. They are aimed at children, but for me, are so full of magic and wonder and imagination that I fell in love with them. I can read them again and again.
What is the best piece of writing advice you could give, and why?
I suppose just do it. Unless you write, you’re not a writer. Write, re-write, play about with genres, play about with ideas until the right one sticks.
I think once you get a good idea, the book almost writes itself. Plus if writing is a battle and a struggle why would anyone bother? It has to be fun.
If you were a dragon, what kind of dragon would you be?
I would be a deadly one – with poisonous scales and a battle-ready heart. The opposite – I hope – to what I’m like in real life, but nice to have a change, I think!