For my latest interview I’ve lined up bestselling action author, Steven Moore.
Steven is a 47-year-old Englishman, who grew up in a working-class family by the seaside in Lowestoft, England. He’s an avid sportsman, painter, photographer and reader, though those loves are only trumped by his love of travelling and writing. To date he has visited 60+ countries and lived and worked on five continents. Highlights have been trekking in the Andes and Himalayas, scuba diving all over the world, teaching English in Korea, and trying all the local adult beverages, wherever he happens to be. Steven first left to explore the world in 1994, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever stop. He now divides his time between his home in Mexico, and a rented place in the Pacific North West, though they are all moving their home-base to the UK in the new year and the start of a new adventure. His wife Leslie is a travel writer, and they have two rescue cats, Ernest Hemingway & F Scott Fitzgerald, and a rescue pup named Charles Dickens.
GJ: Can you tell us about the sort of books you write and a little about each series?
SM: First of all, thanks for the great interview questions, Gareth. The series I’m best known for, featuring archaeologist-turned expedition leader Hiram Kane, can best be described as action adventure thrillers, perhaps a cross between Indiana Jones and Clive Cussler. I have been fortunate enough to have lived all around the world, and I like to set my books in places I’ve either lived, or at least spent a lot of time. Thus, I have novels set in Bali, Mexico, Korea and Australia, as well as many other cool locations.
I have a few other series too, some co-written, which are a bit more thriller-esque, with more serious themes and kickass female protagonists. There’s also an action series, that focuses on wild treasure hunts and feature some outstanding bad guys, such as the cult leaders and the Illuminati.
GJ: Do you write full time?
SM: Kind of, yes. I’m not quite successful enough yet to live entirely on royalties from my books, but I supplement my income by working as an editor for other clients.
GJ: As you’ve just touched on, you also run Condor publishing. Tell me about the services you provide?
SM: Condor Publishing offers a range of services, including copy editing and proofreading. I also offer an independent author mentoring program, in which I guide people through the entire process of completing and publishing their books.
GJ: Can you describe your journey to getting your first book published?
SM: When I first met my now wife Leslie in Korea almost 11 years ago, I had been dabbling with a little writing. I knew she was a travel writer, and in a ridiculous attempt to impress her on our first date I told her I was a writer too.
“Oh yeah,” she said. “What have you written?”
“Um, nothing really,” I replied, very sheepishly.
“Why don’t you write a novel?” she said, issuing a challenge.
So, I did. I wrote a literary coming of age story during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and that story subsequently became my first published book in 2014. It’s called “I Have Lived Today”, and remains the book I’m most proud of.
GJ: What inspires you to write in your genre(s)?
SM: As I mentioned, I love to travel and go on mad adventures around the world. I also have a degree in archaeology and art history, so I love to combine all these elements in my stories, which lend themselves to fantastic, fun action adventure thrillers.
GJ: If you weren’t a writer, what profession do you think you would be in?
SM: I used to be a teacher of English as a foreign language, and spent 6 years living in South Korea. If my writing career hadn’t taken off, I would probably still be teaching English abroad.
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GJ: What do you find the hardest part of the writing process?
SM: Actually, I don’t find any one thing especially difficult. I’m never short of ideas. I write clean and quickly, as I am a meticulous plotter. I’m also an editor so I don’t have to worry too much about grammar and punctuation, or the technical aspect of writing. I guess the most difficult part is sitting still long enough to get a sufficient number of words out every day.
GJ: What is your favourite aspect of being an author?
SM: It sounds a little cheesy, but when I receive emails from fans telling me how much they loved a book, or a particular character, it really makes all the hard work worthwhile. And sales, because what author doesn’t love selling books?
GJ: If you were to have your life again with regards to writing, what would you change, if anything?
SM: I would definitely start my writing journey earlier. If I hadn’t been challenged by Leslie all those years ago, I may have never written a novel. But given what I know now, I would have started many, many years before I did.
GJ: One for fellow authors out there. If you can give one piece of advice as to how you can get your books in front of readers, what would it be?
SM: I think my newsletter is my biggest weapon as an author. I have worked hard on growing my subscriber list over the last couple of years, and now when I have a new book out, I can inform 13,000 people about it with a simple email. Oh, and good looking, professional covers are absolutely essential.
GJ: Do you have a favourite character to write and why?
SM: I have to say it’s Hiram Kane. Kane is essentially me, living my best life. We have the same degree, from the same university. He’s obviously far better looking, but we share the same moral code and a love of scary adventures. So, when I’m writing brilliant action scenes, I am imagining myself in the same situations, which is a lot of fun. Except the gangsters. And terrorists. And earthquakes. Kane can keep those for himself.
GJ: What type of books do you like to read and what are you reading right now?
SM: I actually have very eclectic reading tastes. I enjoy reading the classics, but I do read a lot of books in my own genres, often by my author friends. I like to know what others are doing so I can learn from them. I’m currently re-reading The Book of Human Skin by Michelle Lovric. Absolutely brilliant storytelling.
GJ: What can your fans expect from you in the next couple of years?
SM: I am definitely going to continue on my author journey. With the full support of my generous wife Leslie, I am determined to write and publish at least 8-10 new books next year, and the same again the year after that. I will continue adding to my existing series, but plan on branching out with some new characters, more in the thriller genre. I’m also working on a co-written series with a HUGE name in the action thriller genre, and we hope to have that series available by the summer at the latest.
GJ: Thank you Steven for taking the time to speak with me.You can check out Steven’s website at https://www.stevenmooreauthor.com which includes details of his author services, plus if your want to try out Steven’s writing he has an origin story for the Hiram Kane series at 99c/99p until 27th December, links below.
GJ Stevens 
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