A Fevers of the Mind Quick-9 Interview with Lee Hall

with Lee Hall:

Q1: When did you start writing and first influences?

Lee:

My writing journey began when I was around twelve years old. It was a rainy Sunday afternoon when I first started typing stories about robots in the future on a Windows 98 computer. The majority of my teen years were spent sporadically exploring the concept of writing stories while I did some all-important reading.

Influenced heavily by science fiction with a tech theme Michael Crichton was an author who grabbed my attention a little later on but the first real immersive adult book I read was ‘The Lost World’ by Arthur Conan Doyle. The majority of my story telling influences came from television and cinema with shows like ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and films like ‘The Faculty’ and ‘Final Destination’.

Q2: Who are your biggest influences today?

Lee: These days I tend to be influenced more by a collective than just one individual. Because I am so busy writing, blogging, reading and trying to support fellow authors I hardly have the time to really concentrate on what anyone else is doing for that influence so I’d say the wider writing community across social media is my biggest influence.

Q3: Where did you grow up and how did that influence your writing? Have any travels away from home influence your work/describe?

Lee: I grew up on the outskirts of West London in a small place called Sipson which is just outside Heathrow Airport. The nearby High School I went to shaped much of my writing influence for my debut book ‘Open Evening’ a fast paced survival horror. My experience and the wider school scene was not great, in fact it was a tough environment that could be compared to a survival horror with and it took some years to process – it was that bad and the writing served as some great therapy. If you really want to know how bad it was then of course ‘Open Evening’ would be a great place to start.

With the backdrop of planes taking off near enough all day by Heathrow I initially thought I’d be destined to be on one of them and I was but as a cleaner working my first job. That is where I found a book called ‘Timeline’ by Michael Crichton which inspired me further to write and was a pinnacle writing influence destiny moment – many of my destiny moments were from reading experiences.

Q4: What do you consider your most meaningful work you’ve done creatively so far?

Lee: My recent release ‘Consistent Creative Content’ is probably the most meaningful thing I have done in writing so far. It’s a part-memoir part-guide for authors and bloggers that focuses on most of the lessons I have learned on my journey. Instead of being the usual self help book full of empty and quick fixes that just tells others what to do it highlights what I have done, what I have achieved and how I did it. There seems to be this philosophy in authoring where nobody shares their results or lessons but I believe in being open and clear with what I have done to find success while being happy with the results.

The early reviews suggests it’s hopefully going to be success and more importantly help others.

Q5: Any pivotal moment when you knew you wanted to be a writer?

Lee: Most of my pivotal moments came as a reader or viewer. I’m a fan of immersive and powerful stories that celebrate inclusion and ordinary people fighting for extra ordinary things. That immersion into stories is something I experienced while reading and is something I constantly chase in my own writing

Q6: Favorite activities to relax?

Lee: I enjoy exercising regularly which is a great way to unwind while also looking after myself. These days I’m into yoga, running and of course a long walk. Like a majority of people I have streamed quite a lot of television over the past year and I really enjoy a good true crime documentary. Of course when I’m not writing, blogging, reading or working I do enjoy sleeping

Q7: Any recent or forthcoming projects you'd like to promote?

Lee: Having already mentioned my self-help book I’d like to also mention what is becoming a writer’s favourite book ‘The Ghost Beside Me’. 

Q8: What is a favorite line from a poem/writing of yours or others?

Lee:

A quote from ‘Consistent Creative Content’
“The hardest thing about being an indie author is letting the world know your book exists…”
“The best thing is convincing the world one person at a time this is your dream!”

Q9: Who has helped you most with writing?

I would say my awesome social media following has helped me the most with writing. Without their loyalty and ever growing base of support I would not be where I am today. Thank you loyal engaged following and thank you for the opportunity to be interviewed!

Links:

Website: Lee’s Hall of information – A blog and journey in publishing (leehallwriter.com)
Twitter: @lhallwriter
Amazon (universal link): author.to/leehall