Interview with Francis H. Powell

Occasionally I get to interview another author and post it here on the Site. Like now. With author Francis H. Powell.
Powell was born in 1961, in Reading, England. He attended Art Schools, receiving a degree in painting and an MA in printmaking. Then in 1995, he moved to Austria, teaching English as a foreign language while pursuing his varied artistic interests adding music and writing. Currently he lives in Brittany. Powell has published short stories in the magazine, “Rat Mort” and other works on the internet site “Multi-dimensions.” Now with that done, let’s get on with the interview…

Miro: Basics first. Where were you born and how did you start writing?
Francis H. Powell: I was born in Reading in the UK, but I currently live in Brittany, in France. I can’t really remember when I started writing (apart from short stories at school). I can say that my writing began to flourish, while I was living in Paris.

Miro: How supportive has your family been with your writing over the years? Any naysayers in the bunch?
FHP: Not much from my family back in England. I am sure my mother would like my work in parts, but would also be equally shocked

Miro: What aspect of writing do you find the hardest? The easiest?
FHP: The first sentence can be easy, but finishing it is hard.

Miro: When did you finally get your first book published?
FHP: April 7, 2015, Flight of Destiny.

Miro: Who influenced your writing style the most?
FHP: Roald Dahl; I read his stories when I was a child, I guess they stuck with me. I love to put twists at the end of my stories.

Miro: What kind of books do you generally read?
FHP: I read a lot of children’s books to my son, but don’t have much time to read for myself.
I like to read all different kinds of books, including biographies about people who have had interesting lives.

Miro: Who is your favorite author?
FHP: I love the work of Rupert Thompson.

Miro: Okay now, to the meat of it. What is your latest book called and what is it about?
FHP: My latest book is called “Adventures of Death, Reincarnation and
Annihilation”

Set in a different time in a variety of settings and time periods, the past,
the present and the future, the book explores the inevitable unknown that
lies before us all: death. Death can be arrive in a multitude of forms.
Each part of the book explores different themes.
There are characters who following their demises have to face up to their lurid pasts. There some
who face annihilation and others who are in a crazy pursuit of world
destruction. We are living in an age in which it appears that the doomsday
clock is ticking ever faster, as we teeter over the edge of world
destruction.
The book aims to contain some ironic twists. Even as young
children we build up nightmare visions of what death involves. The reader
is often left to distinguish between what is real and what is not, as
stories reside within stories and the story tellers can never be fully
trusted. Not all the book is doom and gloom, there are Elsa Grun’s bizarre
encounters with men and Shellys’ hapless husband Arnie.

From secluded beach houses, to obscure motels, to visions of heaven, which
takes the form of the Hotel Paradiso, to the world of the future death is
always a wild adventure, that can’t be ignored.

Miro: And what inspired you to write it?
FHP: I think “death” is a subject that interests me. I find funerals most bizarre, not that I have been to many. I used to walk to the metro from where I was living, and sometimes there would be a funeral going on. I wondered who was the deceased, who were the people who were attending, these kind of things. I think in the west funerals are very particular, the mindset totally different to what I have seen of documentaries about India. The most different funeral I have been to was for a work colleague I hardly knew, but felt obliged to go to his funeral, since he died very suddenly. He was American and his parents flew over. We congregated at Pere Lachaise, the famous grave yard It was a cremation service. There was music which boomed out of a sound system; I recall a Madonna track, (which was used while the coffin disappeared to the incinerator) as well as some kind of dance disco track. His boyfriend was there. It was all very surreal, but moving. I felt so sorry for his parents, who seemed so brave and dignified.

Miro: What are you working on at the moment?
FHP: I have a book I am working on called “I am the priest killer”. It is set in
different places and times, like Italy and Celtic Britain, as well as the
future. It is very dark and shocking in places. It has involved quite a bit
of research. It includes elements I have not written about before, like
battles. I hope I can finish it next year.

Miro: Okay, a couple of fun questions now. First, if you had one book you could take on a dessert island, what would it be?
FHP: Probably some kind of history book, I love history.

Miro: Second, a question that has plagued Mankind for decades: In the original classic movie The Time Machine, at the end he returned to tell his friends of his adventures then left with three books. It was not said which three books, but what three books would YOU have taken back to assist the Eloi?
FHP: The Origins of Species. Author: Charles Darwin, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. The Analects by Confucius.

Miro: Finally, what are some links to your work?
FHP:
You can find me at my website: https://francishpowellauthor.weebly.com/
I am also on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4112090.Francis_H_Powell
And on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dreamheadz