Today, we’re speaking with Inkubator Books’ author Daniel Hurst. Daniel is the author of The Passenger and The New Friends.
Inkubator Books: When did you start writing?
Daniel Hurst: As soon as I could hold a pen! I would often write stories for my parents to read when I was a child and some of them have survived to this day up in their attic, not that they should ever be allowed to surface again! But I’ve always had a passion for creative writing and after reaching my thirties and realizing it was never going to go away, I started to take it seriously, eventually quit my ‘sensible’ job and never looked back!
IB: What does a typical day of writing look like for you?
DH: I’ll usually write for 2-3 hours in the morning then break for lunch and some exercise. Either a walk or a jog on my treadmill if it’s raining outside, which it always is! Then I’ll do another 2-3 hours in the afternoon. I try to give myself a word count target, so I’ll just stop whenever I hit that. Some days it’s early, some days I procrastinate, so it’s later!
IB: Do you base your characters off people you know or are they all the product of your imagination?
DH: Half and half. Some are completely created but some are made up of different parts of people that I might have known over the years. Old work colleagues are often a rich source of inspiration! I spent a lot of time ‘people watching’ when I worked in an office rather than doing any actual work!
IB: What’s the most difficult part of your writing process?
DH: Re-writing. Making a change in one chapter might mean having to trawl through the book and change several other things so it makes sense again. Then I get paranoid that I missed something, so making big changes to the story after the first draft is done can often stress me out. But it’s just one delightful part of the editing process!
IB: What comes first for you – plot or characters?
DH: Plot.
IB: Which of your books is your favorite? Why?
DH: I wrote a psych thriller call Til Death Do Us Part in late 2020 and I think that will always be my favourite because it was the one that allowed me to quit my job and become a full-time writer!
IB: How would you describe your ideal reader?
DH: I’ve had all sorts of messages from readers of all ages and backgrounds, so I’m not sure I could! I would say that my writing style tends to lean itself towards simpler plots without too much description and background clogging up the pace of the story, so those who like a fast, easy read tend to enjoy my books.
IB: What are you doing when you aren’t writing?
DH: Daydreaming about writing!
IB: What does your writing space look like?
DH: It’s a pretty sparse spare bedroom with a sit/stand desk and a fake bonsai tree for company. I have a dartboard on the wall near my desk so I can throw things if my writing isn’t flowing! I need a simple, tidy room to write in and I think that’s because my mind is so cluttered!
IB: Have you ever traveled to research for a book?
DH: No, unfortunately not as the beginnings of my writing career coincided with the world going into lockdown, so all of my books have just been written from home. But I’m very much planning on taking a few trips overseas to get some new inspiration and I have used previous experiences as material, like living in London or travelling around Australia.
IB: What genres do you like to read? Who are some of your favorite authors?
DH: I’d love to say psychological thrillers, but I don’t read as many of them anymore because I find it impossible to switch off after writing in that genre all day. I’m a big sports fan so I read a lot of sports autobiographies, as well as a few self-help books. Some might say I need the help!
IB: How do you come up with names for your characters?
DH: I ask my wife to give me a name whenever I need one! That’s about as technical as I get with it! Some of the ones she comes up with are hilarious!
IB: What was your favorite childhood book?
DH: I used to have all of the Goosebumps books by RL Stine and there were a lot of them, but one that I remember to this day was called Say Cheese Or Die, where the main character discovers a camera that records an image of how the subject in the photo will die! They were actually pretty scary books for a child to read!
IB: Have you ever abandoned a book you were writing? How did you know it was the right thing to do?
DH: Not since I set my mind to doing this professionally. I have notepads dating back years with all sorts of half-written things in them and I was notoriously bad from jumping from one story to another without finishing anything, which might explain why I didn’t get anywhere back then! But these days I always push myself to finish whatever I am working on.
IB: Do you have any tips for first-time authors?
DH: Try not to edit/re-read as you go along as it can bog you down and increase the risk of not finishing. Just keep writing the book because you can always go back and change things later. Better to have a rough first draft than a very polished but incomplete story!
IB: Who inspires you?
DH: Anybody who followed their dream and got there through perseverance and hard work, whether it be other writers, athletes, businesspeople, actors, etc. The film The Pursuit of Happyness is very inspiring too!
IB: If you could eliminate one thing from your daily life, what would it be?
DH: Sleep! I think there’s so much to do in life and lots to be entertained by, so I find it quite frustrating that I have to stop what I’m doing, lie down and close my eyes for 8 hours a day! I’m a night owl too, so that doesn’t help!
IB: Do you have any pets?
DH: No, but we’re hoping to get a dog soon. And then another. And then another…
IB: How do you approach your genre in a unique way?
DH: I often just come up with a title and then build a story from there. For example, I have a book called The Woman at The Door. I started that with just the title and then crafted a story from the questions it conjured up. Who is the woman? Whose house is she at? What does she want? Will she get it?
IB: How do you manage the “whodunit” aspects of your story as far as clues and revelations? Do you outline?
DH: I didn’t used to outline and managed to come up with some pretty good twists that way that even surprised me when I got to them! But I outline everything these days because it’s less stressful that way. Working with Inkubator has helped me develop that side of things and explore all sorts of options for the story before I begin writing and it does help for setting things up ahead of time.
IB: How do you relax?
DH: I watch lots of sport and have been known to frequent a pub or two in my time.
IB: Who are your first readers when you write a new book?
DH: It always used to be my wife, but she can’t keep up with all my books these days! I have a team of advanced readers for my self-published books and the guys at Inkubator have the first read for my titles with them.
IB: What’s one thing you wish your readers knew about you?
DH: I hope they already know it and it’s how grateful I am for each and every one of them. Without my readers then I would still be taking up precious space in an office somewhere and nobody wants that, least of all the people who used to employ me!
IB: Which do you enjoy writing more: dialogue or internal thoughts?
DH: Internal thoughts. I could ramble on all day with them and often do!
Thanks to Daniel for sitting down with us today.
Want to read Daniel’s books? Check out his titles on Amazon.
You can find him at the following places:
Website: https://www.danielhurstbooks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danielhurstbooks/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielhurstbooks/
