10/02/2024
𝕎𝕖'𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜 𝕓𝕖𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕥 ℍ𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕠𝕜𝕚 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕒 𝕗𝕖𝕨 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤.
Here is our John.
John Clewarth - Author 🅂🅃🄾🅁🅈🅃🄴🄻🄻🄴🅁 🄰🄽🄳 🄷🄾🅄🅂🄴 🄾🄵 🄻🄾🄺🄸'🅂 🄼🄰🅂🅃🄴🅁 🄾🄵 🅃🄷🄴 🄼🄰🄲🄰🄱🅁🄴.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿?
I find that I get inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. I have a real love of story-telling. I mean, think about it: writers create their own worlds, their own cast of characters, and get to decide everything that happens – wow! I get inspired about the idea that something that starts off as a thought in my own head can transform into something different and very real. It’s a creative process that helps me grow a little more every day - so whether you enjoy writing, or if you prefer drawing, painting, or making models, or dancing, singing, acting or all of them combined, then you’re a creator, too. It’s a fantastic feeling – go for it!
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴/𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀?
The best thing about being a writer is being able to share my stories. As a boy, I used to love going to the library and wandering along the forests of shelves, browsing the magical worlds of books, then making my selections before curling up at home with a new set of adventures. So, being able to share my stories with you is a kind of natural progression from that. I still read loads, from authors long gone, to authors new and fresh – it’s a form of time travel in a way. And it’s a privilege to share my own tales, and hopefully enrich the lives of others.
𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝘁𝘀?
I don’t have any pets at the moment, as my wife and I are out and about quite a lot. As a boy, I used to have a Jack Russell (well, he was mainly Jack Russell, but he was a bit of a mixture really!) and he was as mad as a box of frogs! He had floppy ears, one of which was permanently inside-out and he had the sweetest brown eyes. He was so crazy, he even ran into a wall once and broke his nose; from then on, he had this cute snore, like a flute and his paws would whirl about as he ran in his sleep! He used to smile, as well. Unfortunately, for anyone who didn’t know him, he looked as if he was snarling because his top lip used to rise up and expose his teeth – and because he’d broken his nose, he used to snort when he smiled. Loopy, loveable and I miss him like mad. Love your pets like there’s no tomorrow – they really are special.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵?
It’s important to be kind to yourself when anything gets tough – including writing. That doesn’t mean you’re being weak or soft: kindness is strength. Kindness to yourself and kindness to others. So, when it gets tough, I ask myself why I started doing it in the first place, and I think of all the things I said above – and this helps me keep going. I also find being part of a community really helps. My advice would be to surround yourself as much as possible with other people who enjoy the same things. Whatever fires the passion in your heart, join groups, clubs, teams of others who share that passion. It really helps, because you see you’re not the only one who is struggling at times – and your friends, your community, will help you through. Similarly, they will cheer you on when you’re flying high. That’s what friends are for, right? I call my writing community my ‘writing tribe’, and the House of Loki team are a big part of that. Whatever you do, don’t quit when times get tough – these times will pass and good times will come.
𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰/𝘁𝘃 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴?
Oh, my days – yes! Some of if you may never have heard of. For example, if I’m writing a spooky scene in a dark forest, or a graveyard or something, I just google ‘spooky forest music’, for example, and Youtube will pop up with something. I’ll select music that fits the story mood and then it’s on with the headphones and go with the flow as I write. If I’m
writing an action scene, I tend to choose a heavy metal soundtrack; Iron Maiden is a go-to for me on these occasions, though AC/DC, Motorhead etc are also faves of mine. Quite simply, if I want to write a scene that grabs the reader and puts them on a rollercoaster ride, I’ll choose music that grabs me by the lapels and throws my in the air! Superfun! (PS – I’ve even listened to Enya when writing gentle scenes. But don’t tell anyone, okay?)
W𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗸?
Snacks, do I love snacks! Big snacks, small snacks, everything in between snacks! To pick a favourite is probably the hardest question of the whole interview… How do I choose between the mouth-watering loveliness of a bag of cheese and onion crisps, the silky wondrousness of a caramel-filled chocolate bar, the tantalising taste-explosion of mini-flapjack bites, the gooey gorgeousness of a custard-loaded donut, the… G’ahhh! Malfunction! Malfunction! I’ve blown a gasket! I’m heading for the snack cupboard right now – Byyyyeeeeee!
