Hello Mr Reeman, once again, many thanks for giving us this interview.
Can I ask what first inspired you to write?
When I started writing, I was living aboard my own boat, and I've always been a great reader, especially nautical stuff, but I don't know if I actually thought of it until that day. I was listening to a chap reading a book on the radio and I said to the boatyard foreman, "I could do better than that!" He said, "Why don't you?" I said, "I don't have a typewriter." He didn't say much, but he came back a few days later with a typewriter, one of the old sit-up-and-beg types. I wrote two short stories based on my experience in the Royal Navy, and both were published, so I thought I'd write a book, which was A Prayer for the Ship
.
I'd like to say that when I started, which will be fifty years ago in 2008, you didn't have this awful morass of people you had to get through to reach "the publisher". I just sent it to three publishers who had published books I liked, one of which was a novel about minesweeping called Proud Waters, by a man named Ewart Brookes, who later became a friend of mine. And about three months later one of the publishers called me in and said, "We quite like it. What are you writing now?" And that was it. I knew nothing about the publishing world at all, which was probably to my advantage.
Approximately, how much time a day or a week do you spend writing?
Ideally, every afternoon through week, and I have been known to work on Sundays as well. I don't write in the morning, I don't have the feel for it then, so I do other stuff. Writing is a business and there are a lot of office things to do, and personal things as well.
What do you write on - computer or pen and paper?
I own an electronic typewriter. Not a word processor. My wife edits the manuscripts and word processes them and puts them on disk. Publishers these days, I gather, won't accept anything typewritten, and certainly not handwritten! It all has to be word processed. And although I've gone through many typewriters since that first one, it still sits in the loft in honourable retirement.
Do you use an agent or communicate directly with your publishers?
Both. I have a very good relationship with both of them. My agent came to me some years ago and asked if she could represent me-- I hadn't had an agent before that. But due to increasing overseas sales and some personal problems in my life at the time, I was glad to hand over to her. But the whole business of publishing is much less personal these days than it was, unfortunately.
Do you keep a journal or notebook for your ideas?
Both. Every single book has its own journal and notebook. My notes nobody would understand, but they mean something to me. For example, I have one that says only, "flag and DCs". That means we have to have an Italian flag in this next piece I'm writing, and the DCs are depth charges, which will be used in the piece. I don't quite know what they're going to do yet, but we'll find out. I also have the name of an island scrawled on a piece of paper the other day by my Sicilian gardener, so that's related as well.
Which era do you prefer to write about, World war II or the times of Bolitho?
Difficult to say. Obviously I prefer Bolitho because the story goes on. I always feel very lost when I finish a Reeman book-- you get to know everybody and they just go. But writing as Kent, I'm returning to familiar places and friends.
Lastly, as you have been in the game for quite a while, do you have any words of wisdom or a morale boosting anecdote for our Readers?
That's an article in itself! Always have faith in your work. Get your facts right, particularly these days, as people have been everywhere. Also, those who are so willing to hand out "advice" or criticism to writers are usually the ones who've never seen anything or done anything.
The most important person to keep in mind, man or woman, is the person who's going to pick up your book and read it. You may not even know what age group your work will appeal to-- there may not be an "average reader". There isn't an average Bolitho reader or Reeman reader for me: they're all ages, both sexes and many nationalities.
And on a purely personal note, I'm luckier than most because my wife is also a writer, and she understands exactly what I do and how I work. I don't know how people manage without a kindred spirit like that in their writing lives, as this can be the loneliest job in the world. But also the most rewarding. I can't imagine doing anything else.
Thank you Mr Reeman, as a fan, that was great. As a Struggling Author, that was fantastic!