I do not often do more than a cursory intro for my Guest Authors. I am impressed with Mr. Curry's efforts to assist Authors in telling their stories. Please have a listen to this video feature also and help me welcome Tim Curry as Guest Author to the Writer's Journey Blog this week.
I don’t read enough, but when I do read I feel like something magical happens. I find myself intrinsically connected to people I have never met; as their words transport me to different times and places. Upon finishing such works I often ponder the unanswerable question of what makes a writer great.
People often say that to be a great writer you have to read prolifically, maybe that is true for some but, for others, circumstances may be the dominant force in their process. Some people have profound experiences, which shape their writing. Dimitri Bontinck, a guy I did a writer profile with, on my Youtube channel, falls into this category.
In 2013 he went to Syria to save his son, Jejeon, from Islamic fundamentalists. Jejoen, a Belgium national, had been quickly radicalized and taken off to Syria earlier the same year. Dimitri, a former Belgium soldier and UN Peacekeeper raced to rescue his beloved son. This experience helped Dimitri tap into the deepest parts of his soul, compelling him to write a beautifully honest memoir about his journey. During our interview, he explained to me how writing had changed his life, and given him hope moving forward. As he spoke to me with such childlike enthusiasm about what he had written I remembered having similar feelings during my unfolding journey as a writer.
Several years ago I wrote two novels, both taking me around two months to complete. Before this I had traveled all over the world, meeting many weird and wonderful characters along the way. I also had a degree in archaeology, which I had never really put to any use. Writing presented me with an opportunity to merge my experiences and skills while satisfying an underlying urge to create.
Around this time I was living in Varna, Bulgaria, I used to spend most of my spare time reading or taking long walks. I had been reading Ham on Rhye, by Charles Bukowski, one beautiful spring morning, gripped by his uncompromisingly honest style. I was about halfway through and I decided to take a stroll in the sea-garden; a very exotic two-kilometer park stretching along the coastline. As I walked I started thinking about another fantastic book I had read several months earlier named ‘The Gaze,’ by Elif Shafak.
I began to retrace the story, before moving on to consider how different Shafak's writing style was from Bukowski's. My mind raced, thinking of this unlikely duo, and I suddenly felt compelled to write. It was such a strange feeling, that two people, opposites in so many ways, from totally different places, served as my inspiration: one was dead and one very much alive; one was a relatively young and beautiful female writer from Turkey, while the other was a grumpy old alcoholic from the states who had passed away some years earlier. I felt that their work was perfectly in tune with my contrary nature.
I raced home and started writing that very day. I had no fear, I wrote from the heart, pulling at my past and present to create a Bulgarian fantasy adventure story. Over the following weeks, I sat and typed for several hours a day, and before I knew it I had written my first book. I pushed it on twitter, for about a week, but then grew quickly tired of begging people to buy it. I also realized that my efforts were futile, as nobody knew who I was. Without a reputation or backers, it is quite difficult to sell one's book. Instead, in early 2018 I got on with writing my second book, which I self-published the same year.
Towards the end of 2018, with my 40th birthday fast approaching I found myself in need of a new adventure, I decided to buy some filming equipment and learn how to use it. And, in April 2019 I started up my Youtube channel, designed to delve into the minds of writers. I have always felt drawn to writers and I am intrigued by what provokes people to sit down and write.
Despite the many differences amongst the people I have interviewed so far the one thing that binds them is that they followed through with their promises to produce a complete manuscript. Many people have stories to tell, but they often lack the patience, and vision, to sit down and write their stories to the best of their ability.
My advice to people who want to write something would be, do not procrastinate, sit down and write from the heart, and do not let others dissuade you. The reward in writing is, more often than not, the writing itself… not the idea that you will earn lots of money from it. Most people don’t get paid to read, they do it for the love of reading, the same principles should be applied when writing.
Write for the love of writing and maybe, just maybe, you will produce something that many people want to read and you will become extremely rich. But, remember many a great artist died in poverty… so, I reiterate write for the love of writing, and what will be will be.
At present, I am writing a screenplay in Bulgaria, which should be completed later this year. Please check out my channel for updates on this exciting new project.
BIO: Tim Curry is a writer from Liverpool England and the author of two novels, The Shadow’s Apostles, and The Shadow’s Soundwaves. At present, he resides in Sofia, Bulgaria, working as a freelance cameraman and editor. He has recently started a project on Youtube named ‘The Shadows Project,’ which endeavours to promote writers around the world, for free. He is also working on a screenplay to be released in early 2021.
Tim's Books: Available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadows-Apostles-Tim-Curry-ebook/dp/B0767QQ2QG
If you would like more information on the project you can contact Tim via a DM on
Twitter @TSP_Youtube
or drop him an Email: rubycurry@hotmail.com
Show your support to other writers by visiting his Youtube page, hitting like, and Subscribing.