Today I am very happy to welcome Alex Blackmore to the blog, taking part in my “Why We Write” ongoing feature as part of the official blog tour for “Killing Eva” – a novel I will be reading very soon and then hopefully asking her some questions about – so look out for another visit from Alex very soon.
‘Why We Write’ by Alex Blackmore
“There are no laws for the novel. There never have been, nor can there ever be.” —Doris Lessing
Trite as it may be these days to start anything with a quote, this one by Doris Lessing (The Golden Notebook, The Grass is Singing) is a great way to explain why I’ve ended up with my name on a book cover. From a very young age I was not a fan of being told what to do. Few children are, let’s be honest. As I got a little older this turned into a stubborn sense that the world could be as I interpreted it and that just because people were older didn’t mean they knew better (which sometimes made me seem incredibly insightful, sometimes rather arrogant). In short, up until about the age of 21 I’d take my perspective over yours any day. Of course, as you get older, you have to allow that others might (sometimes) be right and that your intuition might occasionally let you down. But if you’re that kind of person who loves being the author of your own world – free from the restrictions of others’ ideas and laws – there’s no better career than writing.
I also write to explore ideas, some that are a little obscure and others that I just think need more air time. I’ve been fascinated by the concept of perception in Killing Eva, what it is that makes a brain ‘see’ and what seeing means in terms of engendering trust. Trust is something that opens so many doors and there’s a lot you could do with that if you were criminally minded with access to some science.
Questioning the world is another motivation – what are the consequences of a totally free market? As our world becomes more technology driven how vulnerable are we to highly skilled cyber criminals who manipulate for gain or terror? Or even to those who are meant to be protecting us from them? So I also write because my stories can ask questions I might not otherwise not.
Wider than my own motivations I think words are probably the most powerful tools that we have. There’s a common conception that what you need to be powerful in this world is money or beauty or status. But words can do almost anything. We write to get a message across and the most powerful of those messages really can change the world. Whether you’re adding your voice to a petition to stop the horrific and inhumane Yunan dog meat festival or you’re penning a piece about transgender experiences your words could set another being free, save lives, inspire, comfort and motivate. And if you’re looking for reasons why we do things, there are few better than those.
Killing Eva by Alex Blackmore is published by No Exit Press, Paperback £7.99 and ebook
About the book:
Witnessing a dramatic death at London’s Waterloo Station triggers a series of events that shatter Eva Scott’s world. Dying words awaken a history she had thought long buried, and soon, Eva’s life is out of her hands. A genetic key is keeping her alive, but foreshadowing her death. People she’s lost materialize and then disappear, testing her sanity. Linked to her survival is the potential takedown of an economic power, on which hang the lives of many others. Eva’s life is no longer her own.
Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Killing-Eva-International-Conspiracy-Thriller-ebook/dp/B010KNCY9G/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Find out more here: http://www.alexblackmore.com/
Follow Alex on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/AlexPBlackmore
Follow the Tour:
Happy Reading Folks!
