Part One: Interview with Brian L Porter

"Brian L. Porter has taken his amazing imagination, a lot of research and strong talent to create a tale that shows the ordinary as the extraordinary. The same unique style so apparent in his shorter works doubles in this must-read latest. Glastonbury is guaranteed to entertain and ensnare." ~ Kristina Dalton, Author of Vampire's Lover, The King's Right, The Ring, BooksOnboard bestseller Taken, Unleashed, and Untold

Brian L Porter
Glastonbury
Rain Publishing Inc.
Spring 2008


Interview with the Author: Brian L Porter

Q: Where are you from?

A: I live in the United Kingdom

Q: When and why did you begin writing?

A: I began writing many years ago, initially poems for friends and family. I progressed to short stories three years ago, beginning my first novel just over a year after that. I began writing on a semi-full time basis due to a series of illnesses which prevented me from working in the normal sense of the word. My writing began as therapy, and became a passion.

Q: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

A: When my short story, ‘The Voice’ was accepted for publication in an anthology by Forward Press (UK).

Q: What inspired you to write your first book?

A: My novel ‘A Study in Red – The Secret Journal of ‘Jack the Ripper’ was inspired by many years of interest in, and research into the Whitechapel murders of 1888. It would still not have become the eventual novel if a friend hadn’t read a poem I’d written called ‘A Study in Red’ which I’d written as an imagined insight into the mind of Jack the Ripper. My friend thought the poem would make a great introduction if he ever wrote a book, and asked if he could use it. Instead, the poem became the launch pad for the novel, and ‘A Study in Red – The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper’ was born!

Q: Who or what has influenced your writing?

A: My writing is influenced greatly by many of the superb authors I’ve had the honour of reading over the years, notably Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, Tess Gerritsen, Clive Cussler and Jeffery Deaver.

Q: How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?

A:I can’t honestly say that either A: my environment or upbringing has colored my writing, except perhaps the fact that my childhood years in post-war Britain during the 1950s gave me a wealth of personal knowledge on which to draw when writing my latest as yet unpublished work, ‘Pestilence’, currently under submission with Rain Books.

Q: Do you have a specific writing style?

A: I tend to write in a style that I would describe as bordering on the edge of the mind, trying always to go deep into the minds and psyches of the characters I create. I love exploring the ‘dark side’ of human nature, and in so doing I try to make my characters, even the heroes, flawed and as fallible as the next person. I try to avoid ‘cardboard cut-out’ or stereotyped heroes and villains.