‘Tulips and Other Stories’ author Mark Noyce on his new book ‘Immortal Space’

In 2013 Mark Noyce published his first book, a collection of short stories, known as Tulips and Other Stories. Last August Mark released his second book Immortal Space, and he’s currently working on various other works including more short stories, and a third novel.

During his spare time Mark enjoys a mixture of music and video games, as well as reading. He resides in England and occasionally volunteers at his local Barnardo’s charity shop. It is his firm hope that his stories are as enjoyable to read, as they were to write. He also hopes to reach out to others with his writing.

A few days ago I had the pleasure of having a little chat with Mark and I found out how much an interesting person he is. Here is what we talked about…

– Who exactly is Mark Noyce?

“I’m just a small time writer from England. Almost the exact centre actually. I write, read, play games, and listen to music. I’m a great listener but not so much of a talker unfortunately. The upside is that because I take in so much of the world around me I find it easier to create a whole world of my own in my books. I just then have trouble talking about it to others. No one can find you if they don’t know you exist so you can see how that can be bad.”

– How did you decide to pursue a writing career?

“One of the reasons I decided to pursue writing was because of my depression. Here’s a small secret; I was never actually very good at writing when I was in school. I was never as imaginative as I am now. So I always thought I was a bad writer. Then one day I started writing my emotions out and writing a blog. The people who followed the blog encouraged me to write fiction and it’s because of them I gave it a go. It turns out I’m actually really good at it. Nearly everyone who reads my writing has enjoyed it and you can’t please everyone.”

– Was getting published hard?

“I’m self published so I didn’t have much difficulty getting published. It’s not all that easy though as you still have to format the book properly to get self published. Actually there are some platforms that I’m still not published on because I just can’t get the document of the book to format the way they want. That can definitely be difficult. I never attempted to get published traditionally because of my self-confidence issues so I can’t speak about the publishing world. I know the books are good enough, but you can quickly forget that during a three month waiting period.”

– Are your characters based on people you know?

“I think everyone takes a bit of themselves and puts it in their book. One quote I like about writing is, and I’m paraphrasing, that the author shows you more than they intend. Sometimes a spade really is a spade and sometimes it isn’t, even when the author is sure that it is. The two main characters, Trent and Geoff, are sort of based on myself. One of the female characters is based on my female friend too. Though I’ll never tell her which one.”

– What genre are your books?

“Immortal Space is a science-fiction adventure book. It’s more fiction than science though. It appeals more to people who like fiction as a whole. Though science buffs will still enjoy it. One of the biggest fans of the story is a computer geek friend of mine who has enjoyed pointing out the flaws in some of the technology but he still loves the story and characters as a whole.”

– Which of your books is your most favourite?

“My favourite book I’ve written is my short story collection Tulips and Other Stories. I’m very proud of some of the stories in there, especially Tulips and A Conversation With God. I feel bad about Tulips at times though as two people who have read it are parents and said it made them cry.”

– Do you have a specific writing routine?

“When I write I put my butt in my seat and try not to leave it until I’m done. I also listen to a music playlist I have made on iTunes. I have two for writing; one filled with happy and fast paced music that keeps me perky and energised. The other is a playlist of sad songs to help get me in the mood for particularly tragic scenes. I’m a very empathic person so I find music greatly influences me in all aspects, not just my writing.”

– What are your current projects?

“I’m currently working on my next novel. It’s a fantasy adventure I call The Spirit. It’s set in a world where people have a Spirit that is an entirely separate entity. What you think is your intuition is actually another being that lives inside you. Of course that’s just the premise and the story itself will be a lot more than that.”

– What’s next for you?

“What’s next is to promote Immortal Space more and get through The Spirit. I have ideas for even more books after that. So I shouldn’t expect to stop writing any time soon. I just do the best I can with what I have, and what I have is the ability to write.”

BUY LINKS

Immortal Space: http://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Space-Mark-L-Noyce/dp/1515381013/

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH MARK NOYCE

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Mark_Noyce

Mark’s personal blog: www.theramblingperson.com

Author Page on Amazon where you can find all Mark’s books: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00BIH0T50