Welcome to my Saturday author interview. This week I have a real treat for you. Please welcome Randy Williams, the author of Sherlock Holmes and the Autumn of Terror, who is about to reveal some interesting facts about his work, his Jack the Ripper theory and himself. So grab a coffee and enjoy!
Author bio:
Randy Williams is a
Pennsylvania-based private investigator and describes himself as follows. “I’m a fighter... AND a lover. Lover of martial arts, lover of true crime
novels, lover of word puzzles, lover of things Italian, lover of wine, lover of
horses, travel and foreign languages, lover of women, lover of Chinese culture
and above all, lover of a mystery.”
He is the owner of
Black Stallion Security and Investigations and the founder of the Close Range
Combat Academy, a worldwide martial arts organization with branches in the US,
UK, Europe and Asia. He has written nine
books on the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun Gung Fu, and Sherlock Holmes and the Autumn of
Terror is his second venture into
fictional writing.
Through his association
with Doctors Baden, Lee and Wecht, he has been able to apply all of the
analytical skills instilled in him by his lifelong martial arts and criminology
training into solving the age-old Ripper enigma.
Hello Randy and thank you for joining us today.
Let's start at the beginning, what
were you like at school?
Probably
not the teacher’s favourite.
Were
you good at English?
Yes,
that was my strongest subject. I
remember being marched into the Principal’s office when I was in Kindergarten
because my teacher could not believe the level of reading I was demonstrating
at that age. That was thanks to my
mother having taught me how to read well before I began school. I only wish I could read that well now.
What
are your ambitions for your writing career?
To
be honest, I’d love to go down in history as the man who solved the Ripper
case, or at least whose solution was the most widely accepted as being the
correct one, since it would be impossible to get everyone to agree, even with a
DNA match or its equivalent.
Which
writers inspire you?
Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle of course, George MacDonald Fraser and his Flashman works, and
Anthony Horowitz; particularly his Holmes books. I also enjoy true-crime books, particularly
those written by the late, great Ann Rule.
What
are you working on at the minute?
The Theotokos
Murders; Jack the Ripper Unveiled
What’s
it about?
The
process and results of my actual investigation into the Jack the Ripper murders
without Sherlock; just the facts, ma’am.
What
genre are your books?
They
are sort of all over the map; martial arts instructional, crime fiction/mystery
and true crime so far.
What
draws you to these genres?
Lifelong
dedication to the martial arts as well as a lifelong interest in true-crime, mysteries
and puzzle-solving.
How
much research do you do to add depth to your books?
Well,
I did 40+ years of martial arts before writing my last series of 3 books on
Wing Chun Gung Fu and about the same before writing about my real-life solution
to the Ripper murders.
Have
you written any other books in collaboration with other writers?
No,
Sherlock Holmes and the Autumn of Terror
is my first collaborative work. But I
must say, I really hit it out of the park scoring a dream team like I did (Dr.
Michael M. Baden, Dr. Henry C. Lee and Dr. Cyril H. Wecht).
Why
did you decide to collaborate and did that affect your sales?
Because
they are the world’s top forensic pathologists and criminologists with three
lifetimes of experience that helped me solve a case that has puzzled
investigators and amateur sleuths alike for over 125 years. As for the sales, I can’t help but think that
having them involved would add a lot of credibility to my solution and
therefore boost sales accordingly. Only
time will tell, but I’m very optimistic.
When
did you decide to become a writer?
My
first venture into writing for an international magazine was way back in 1982,
and those instructional articles continue to this very day. I decided to write my first book in 1987,
when I was living in Singapore. That
turned out to be a series of 6 volumes on the martial arts.
Why
do you write?
Mainly
to leave some sort of mark on this Earth and make some sort of contribution to
the fields I find most fascinating.
What
made you decide to sit down and actually start something?
In
the martial arts, the realisation that I had access to information that very
few non-Chinese in the world had, and wanting to share it. In the case of my latest book, the fact that
I knew that after 40+ years of investigation I had actually solved the world’s
greatest unsolved murder mystery with evidence no one else had managed to
uncover in over 125 years.
Do
you write full-time or part-time?
What
for me would equate to part-time might be considered full-time by some
people. But I also have a full-time
career as a private investigator and another as a martial arts instructor ha ha.
Do
you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?
I
do my best work very late at night, and that is when most of my UK colleagues
are up and about and free to have online discussions with me about various
items they might be researching or assisting me with. But I’m also at work most of the day doing
the mundane revisions and corrections that don’t require quite as much
creativity.
Do
you write every day, 5 days a week or as and when?
Over
the weeks and months I’ve been working on Sherlock,
it’s been 7 days a week, all day and most of the night.
Do
you aim for a set amount of words/pages per day?
When
the book was not yet completed, I would refine one chapter per night and create
one new one per night as well.
Do
you write on a typewriter, computer, dictate or longhand?
All
on the computer with a notepad beside me to jot down random thoughts or phrases
that occur to me for use in other areas of the book than where I happen to be
working at that time. I also awake often
with a thought that I then email to myself using my mobile before going back to
sleep.
Do
you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just to see where an idea takes you?
So
far, all my books began with chapter headings over blank pages that I then went
back and filled in. They would then
sometimes be re-ordered and supplemented with new chapters inserted in between
as needed.
How
do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
Slowly
enough that Darwin might have used me as an example.
What
is the hardest thing about writing?
I
hate to admit it, but I think it’s doing what you believe to be the absolute
best work you could possibly put forward in a field of expertise and then
having people who haven’t made a single contribution to that field rip it to
shreds, usually also involving the need to personally insult you in the
process.
What
was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?
Finally
accepting that the work was done and no longer trying to improve it.
What
is the easiest thing about writing it?
Making
it interesting; there are so many fascinating aspects of the Ripper case and of
the Sherlock Holmes character that the only difficult part is deciding which
items and details to leave out.
How
long on average does it take you to write a book?
A
lifetime of research, a year to complete it and another three to perfect it.
Do
you ever get writer’s Block?
Only
from potential publishers and agents.
Any
tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block?
It’s
a bit hard to advise on this point as I have never myself experienced it. But I will say, I got myself into the mood
for writing each night by making sure my office was neat and tidy, particularly
my desk, setting myself up with two monitors so that I didn’t have to leave my
page when I needed to do any internet research and having the music of the
Victorian period playing softly in the background while I worked.
If
this book is part of a series, tell us a little about it?
Well,
as of now, it’s a stand-alone work. But
I have already had requests to write a sequel, a prequel and even to pick up
and write another of the “unfinished” Sherlock stories alluded to by Doyle,
just as I did with The Bogus Laundry
Affair, a story-within-a-story featured in my current book.
What
are your thoughts on writing a book series?
In
a sense, I’ve already done that twice, but not in the fiction genre. I’m sure that I’d love to do that someday, if
I were ever to develop the right character and storyline to support a series
without becoming repetitive.
Do
you read much and if so who are your favourite authors.
As
above MacDonald Fraser and Horowitz. And
in the last 4 years, I’ve read everything written by Doyle I could get my hands
on, particularly his work on life-after-death and the paranormal. My favourite besides his Holmes stories was Round the Red Lamp – an 1894 collection
of short horror stories set in and around the medical profession.
For
your own reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books?
I’ve
only just begun reading eBooks, and thus far, I still prefer the old-fashioned
method. Particularly when on a plane,
where you might run out of battery and be unable to read your book the entire
flight.
What
book/s are you reading at present?
Baa Baa Black Sheep (1958) by Gregory “Pappy
Boyington. My father was part of his
squadron in WWII and I am enjoying reading about their exploits in an old,
yellowed paperback I found in my dad’s footlocker recently, a few years after
he passed away. There was a TV series
that ran here in the USA briefly about the squadron starring Robert Conrad from
the original 1960’s Wild Wild West
program.
Do
you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you?
Due
to the peculiar nature of my book being written partially in modern-day US
English and part of it in 1880’s British English as used by Doyle, I ended up doing
my own proofreading. But I must
recommend the “Speak” feature in Microsoft Word which allows you to choose from
a variety of accented voices that read back your text to you. In this way, errors that even spell check
won’t find are noticeable. For example,
if you have typed “that’ for “than” or “the,” spell check won’t always spot
it. But you do notice everything when
you listen to your work being read back to you.
Do
you let the book rest – leave it for a month and then come back to it to edit?
No,
neither my deadline nor my conscience would ever let me leave off my work for
any great length of time.
Did
you format your own book?
Yes,
but not because I wanted to, ha ha.
In
what formats is your book available?
As
of now only in eBook format. But
audiobook, soft and hard cover versions are coming soon.
If
formatted by someone else, how did you select them and what was your
experience?
I
initially solicited the help of a friend from Australia named Steven
Seeley. But he was far too busy to
continue, so he taught me all I needed to know to do my own formatting for the
rest of the book.
Tell
us about the cover/s and how it/they came about.
The
cover is an actual London Illustrated
News drawing showing two men that look (to me) remarkably like Holmes and
Watson pursuing a cloaked figure purported to be Jack the Ripper. The twist - I had a professional artist brush
out the figure’s face and replace it with the face of the man I now know to be
the head of the group that came to be known as Jack. The font used for the title is called
“Baskerville Old Face” ha ha.
Who
designed your book cover/s?
Three
people – Pablo Benavides and Asgard Paniagua in Mexico, and Vincenzo DeVirgilio
in Italy.
Do
you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process?
It
must, although we’ve all been told not to judge a book by its cover. I’ve been told that most do, however.
How
are you publishing this book and why? e.g. Indie, traditional or both?
My
eBook was published through Rukia Publishing.
What
would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing
against being published or the other way around?
With
self-publishing, you have to become an expert in all aspects of producing a
book. When my previous works were published,
all I was responsible for was the content and to ensure they had laid out all
the photographs and captions correctly.
With self-publishing, there is no one there to do any of that, nor to
market the book.
How
do you market your books?
In
the martial arts, I have written for so many international publications and
produced so many instructional videos that there isn’t much marketing
necessary, outside my publisher advertising them in said magazines and on the
internet via their own website as well as Amazon. As for this book, interviews I’ve done and
will continue to do for entities such as the AP, Reuters via The Lineup, radio shows like George
Noory’s Coast-to-Coast and Podcasts
such as Mike Huberty’s Paranormal podcast @othersidetalk
should help with that. I’ve also created
a Facebook page for the book and continue to contribute to Ripper- and
Sherlock-themed pages as well as mystery and true-crime pages. I suppose it helps to have lots of friends on
Social Media to help spread the word as well.
Why
did you choose this route?
It
sort of chose me. In the past, I was
approached by publishers in the martial arts after some little success in the
magazines. As for my current book, it
was remarkably more difficult than I expected to obtain a publisher. But now that I have, and with the publicity
my theory is now receiving around the world, there seems to be no shortage of
publishers interested in my Ripper work.
Ironic that some are the same ones that turned me down initially.
Would
you or do you use a PR agency?
Most
definitely. I haven’t yet, but would
certainly consider it, as they are specialists in a field very important to an
author trying to get his work out through as many outlets as possible.
Did you do a press release, Goodreads book launch or anything else to promote your work and did it work?
None of those, but I did have the book featured one chapter per week on the website of the English Informer in the UK, and the English Informer in France, an online magazine for English expatriates living in France or other places abroad. That, I believe, helped stir up interest in the book. The website interviewed me as well.
Do
you have any advice for other authors on how to market their books?
Approach
every possible site with even the vaguest connection to the subject matter of
your book via Facebook, Twitter, etc.
That seems to have helped me a great deal.
What
part of your writing time do you devote to marketing your book?
Almost
none until I had finished the main part of the work. That may or may not have been a mistake. Time will tell. But now all day every day.
Any
amusing story about marketing books that happened to you?
I
approached a site that markets new Sherlock Books and asked if they’d like to
see and review mine. It turned out that
the site was run by the author of most of the books they featured and his
brother. He returned a horrible review
to me which I was surprised to read, not only because of its vehement
negativity, but because he had managed to read my book in just a few
hours. But after I found out who exactly
had reviewed me, I googled his own work and lo and behold! I found a very negative review of his latest
Sherlock book. And it was (drum roll)
word-for-word the negative review he had sent me about my own work ha ha.
What
do you do to get book reviews?
The
book has only been out for 5 days, so I’ve only had one review so far. But I have asked a number of people I know to
be reading the book to do a review of it for me when they’ve finished.
How
successful has your quest for reviews been so far?
Those
that I have asked to do so have tentatively agreed, but there is only one that
was done so far (a very good one, I might add, but it was done in German on the
German Amazon page) and only one other that is actually in progress that I know
of at the moment.
Do
you have a strategy for finding reviewers?
Yes,
as a private investigator and martial artist, I have special strategies for
finding those that write bad reviews, running them to earth and then using
ancient combat techniques for exacting my revenge upon them. That was
what you meant by the question, wasn’t it?
What
are your thoughts on good/bad reviews?
Well,
to paraphrase the great Oscar Wilde, “Any publicity is good publicity.”
Which
social network worked best for you?
So
far, it’s been Facebook. But Twitter
seems to be the biggest trend in book publicity now that I’m really looking
into it.
Any
tips on what to do and what not to do?
Write
the book in the way you believe is best.
Do not let others convince you that you should change from the concept
you envision and believe is best in the long run.
Did
you get interviewed by local press/radio for your book launch?
Yes,
quite a number, too many to list here, but here are a few of my favourites:
Links
to all of the various interviews I did can be found on my Facebook page:
Is
there any marketing technique you used that had an immediate impact on your
sales figures?
I
think being fortunate enough to have had my theory featured on the cover of
Ripperologist Magazine’s October 2016 issue, which was released on the same day
as the Kindle version of my book (31 October, 2016).
Did
you make any marketing mistakes or is there anything you would avoid in future?
Not
so far – that I know of, at least.
Why
do you think that other well written books just don’t sell?
There
could be many reasons. Lack of public
interest in the subject matter would likely be the first; if one wrote The A-Z of Rubber Band and Tinfoil Collecting,
I doubt it would matter how well it was written.
What
do you think of “trailers” for books?
I
think that would be the best way to transport large quantities of them.
Do
you have a trailer or do you intend to create one for your own book/s?
Do
you think that giving books away free works and why?
Yes,
but only to a certain extent to get the ball rolling and to get people
talking. For an example, back in the
80’s, I gave a set of my 6-book series on the martial arts to one of Bruce
Lee’s top students. As it turned out, he
was reading them on the set between takes of a movie he was doing stunts for
that featured a new, up-and-coming action star.
That star happened to see my friend reading the books, and asked him
about where he could get a set. My
friend contacted me immediately and told me he thought this guy was going to
make it big, and advised me to send him a set of my books, which I immediately
did. That, in turn, led to my meeting,
and then working for Steven Seagal in the years that followed.
How
do you relax?
I
love nothing better than a pipe and a good glass of dry red wine in my armchair
with my Saint Bernard Brewster asleep at my foot next to a roaring fire with a
good book.
What
is your favourite motivational phrase?
“There
are more old drunkards than old doctors.”
As
for motivational music, it’s usually classical or operas such as Tales of Hoffman, Carmen or Aida for
writing and for martial arts practise, the music of a band I train and am
friends with called Five Finger Death
Punch.
What
is your favourite positive saying?
“Learn to do the things you
hate. That is the sign of a strong
person. Weak people only do the things
they like to do.”
Dante Benedetti – beloved USF coach and famed San Francisco
restaurateur
What
is your favourite book and why?
Probably
The Pyrates by George MacDonald
Fraser. Fraser called it “a burlesque
fantasy on every swashbuckler I ever read or saw.” It is a hilarious farce that intermingles
action and comedy with real-life historical figures and events that teach the
reader a little bit of history along the way while entertaining them
immensely. I tried to capture a little
of that spirit in my newest book, and even included a couple of tips of the hat
to my favourite author.
What
is your favourite quote?
“God
is dead” – Nietzsche, 1882
“Nietzsche
is dead” – God, 1900
What
is your favourite film and why?
It’s hard to name any single
film, but I love all the old 1940’s detective film noir movies such as the Boston
Blackie, Charlie Chan, Thin Man and Crime
Doctor series’ as well as the Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe movies that
capture the intrigue and glamour of a by-gone era.
Where
can you see yourself in 5 years’
time?
Oddly,
I don’t really aspire to having any more in life than I already have. So in five years, I’d like to have had enough
success with my books to be able to remain here on my ranch in the mountains of
Northeast Pennsylvania, writing away happily, surrounded by my three dogs, six
horses and my donkey, Deuce, otherwise known as “The Zonk.”
What
advice would you give to your younger self?
“You’re
going to live to be at least 60. Take
better care of yourself. Only drink on
days that end with a Y.”
Which
famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?
Bruce
Lee. He was the single greatest martial
arts innovator of all time. Everything I
have and everything I have accomplished is in some way related directly to him
and to the martial arts he inspired me to pursue.
If
you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been
and why?
What
advice would you give to aspiring writers?
It
is said that journalism (specifically sub-editing on a journal) is the best
training for an author. In my case,
writing countless instructional pieces for magazines and then nine books on the
martial arts are what I believe prepared me for the momentous task of writing
Sherlock Holmes and the Autumn of Terror – certainly the Magnum Opus of my own
literary career.
Where do you see publishing going in the future?
Although
so many people in the industry keep telling me that eBooks are the wave of the
future, my own experience tells me different.
About 9 out of 10 friends tell me they aren’t interested in reading an
eBook and that most people (including myself) prefer the feel and weight of an
actual physical book in their hand. In
fact, most of my friends are waiting for hard cover copies of Sherlock for me to sign that they can
add to their libraries. And so I predict
a great decline in eBooks in the years to come.
Is
there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?
I
think by now, any reader that hasn’t fallen asleep by this point knows more
about me than my mother does.
How
can readers discover more about you and your work?
Here are my Social
Media & Website Links:
Twitter:
@CRCAWC
Book
Links:
Sherlock Holmes and the Autumn of Terror
:
So,
what other books have you written?
Close
Range Combat Wing Chun – Volumes I-III
Where
can we buy or see them?
Martial
Arts books:
http://www.wing-chun-shop.de/
Wow, thank you Randy that was a great interview I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to join me today.
Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper fans be sure to check out Sherlock Holmes and the Autumn of Terror and don't forget to leave a review.
If you have a question for Randy please post it in the comments below.
Have a great weekend,
Sarah Jane
