Comedy and crime writer, Pete Sortwell, is in the booth with his latest book: Who Likes Short Shorts?

Can you tell me about your new book?

My new book Who Likes Short Shorts? is a collection of short stories. I’ve decided to release them and eventually, once the systems do their job, set the book for free. I’ve included samples of all my other books, so hopefully people will enjoy the stories and reading a little bit about how I came to write them.

What sparked the original idea?

I first wanted to write shorts before I finished my first novel as I had a fear of getting 70 thousand words in and realising it was utter shit. Then I moved on to seeing what I could offer perma-free without taking food straight from my baby girl’s mouth.

What research, if any, was needed to write it?

Just a few Google searches and reading blogs on how to make books permanently free on Amazon; there wasn’t much else to be honest.

Can you share about the writing process – did you plan in advance or write it by the seat of your pants?

Most of my writing is done on the day I sit down. I have ideas in my head but rarely make notes of them. During the writing process, I’ll leave little notes for myself, but not before. I think it was Wilbur Smith who said, “if a good idea’s worth remembering, why do you need to write it down?”

Could you describe two or three of the characters from the book and explain how you created them?

Okay… there is a kid in Noang-lish who is someone I wanted to get into the mind of, someone who grows cannabis in an inner city house that’s likely to get caught, and I wanted to understand what would make someone risk so much.

Then we have Simon Brewster, who is the main character in my novel, So Low So High; he is someone I made up but who is very real and very relatable to a lot of people. I came up with him as a way of presenting the illness of addiction.

Is there a particular message in the book you’d like readers to understand?

Only ‘buy my other books’ 🙂

Where can people buy the book?

On Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Where can you be found online?

Twitter: @petesortwell

Email: petesortwell@googlemail.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Pete.Sortwell.Author

• Pete Sortwell’s ‘Writing Life’ interview can be read here.