I struggle sometimes to find quality content to post here.  My friend Anthony gave me the idea of doing an interview and posting it here.  Enjoy the interview.

Cindy: At what age did you know you were going to be a writer Anthony?

Anthony: I was always scribbling away even whilst at junior school, I recall one of the teachers telling my mother that I had a very vivid imagination. I used to love words, I could almost ‘feel’ them. I remember scrounging typewriter carbon-paper to dupicate little handwritten stories and swopping them with friends for sweets. I suppose the first serious idea for writing emerged whilst I was married to my first wife, in my twenties. Unfortunately, she discouraged me to the extent I put the idea away.

My second wife encouraged me when she understood, and it went from there. I guess I’d be in my late thirties when I first tried to get published.

Cindy:  Can you give a brief synopsis of your latest book?

Anthony:  WITHOUT REPROACH is about intrigue, deception, and self-torment, the struggle between the arrogance of man and the inner strength of woman, a story of emotions and dark secrets. Jenny, from middle England, inherits a part-share in a huge Spanish hacienda, from an artist, she has never met, never heard of and is not related to. Jenny’s problems begin whilst on her first visit, when she discovers a nude painting of herself in the entrance hall. Her problems are compounded when the artist’s half brother learns about her inheritence, and wants the place for himself.

Cindy:  Do you have an idea for your next book and if so, can you give us a little hint?

Anthony:  The next book is a sequel to WITHOUT REPROACH, picking up a few threads but introducing new characters. It will be a stand alone novel though, and is in no way a ’serial’. It will be centred around the fashion industry. I am lucky enough to know an ex fashion model, who has pointed me in the right direction.

Cindy:  What inspires you to write?

Anthony:  I honestly don’t know. There is just a drive in me to communicate by written word. Maybe it’s because I’m a bit shy, and find it easier to write than talk.

Cindy:  How do you deal with writer’s block?

Anthony:  I plan my stories. I make complete dossiers of my main characters, and an outline of the story before I start to write. In that way, my writing tends not to block.I know where it’s heading and why. If I change my ideas partway through, I make another plan before writing.

Cindy:  Do you have a schedule that you keep in your writing?

Anthony:  Not in the way that I plan to finish on a certain day, or do a set number of words in a day. My schedule is, I rise before my wife and write. I work around the house until lunch, then I write again for a while after lunch.

For more information on Anthony James Barnett and to read exerpts from his novel, please visit his website Anthony James Barnett.  You can also find him at  Bedlam, and Tell Me A Story.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief interview with my friend Anthony.