Michael Evans
Published Book
Shadow Lives (Nov 22) BUY ON AMAZON = amzn.to/3TVLN7e
Who are you? Tell us a little about yourself...
Apart from two years as a teacher in a prep school in Sussex, I have been a journalist all my working life, including 16 years on the Daily Express when it was a big-circulation broadsheet and then moving to The Times in 1986. I have had a truly exciting career, as defence correspondent, then defence editor and then for three years as The Times’ first Pentagon Correspondent in Washington. During this time I covered six wars as a war correspondent: in Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Nothing can prepare you for covering a war on the front line but you learn how to take risks, who to trust and above all, how to react when confronted by a potentially life-threatening situation. Never panic but stay cool and calm. I was lucky; it worked every time. During the many years of adventure as a reporter, I managed to write books as well, often scribbling away in a large notebook in between assignments. First With the News was a memoir of my life on the front line, and Shadow Lives was helped by the unique experience I gained as a defence specialist with contacts in defence, intelligence and Whitehall. I am married with three sons and seven grandchildren and live in London.
What first inspired you to start writing?
Both my parents inspired me to write. My dad wrote short stories and poetry, and my mum fantasy stories and children’s stories. I always knew that whatever job I did, eventually I would always write, too. I guess that’s why I chose to become a journalist rather than stay as a teacher. My dad, who was a teacher, told me that journalism would provide me with a much wider picture of the world to give me the ideas and breadth of experience to write books. My first attempt was at university—Queen Mary College, London University, where I studied English Literature. If nothing else, that attempt at a novel proved that my dad’s advice was sound. It was too early!
What made you want to work with Rowanvale and be published?
Publishing a book is the biggest battle for a would-be author. The big-name publishers and literary agents I have come across over the years always gave the impression that they were so overwhelmed with manuscripts they couldn’t cope with any more—especially during the two years of the pandemic. Either they didn’t reply at all to my submissions or they just wrote back a standard letter saying that they had too many authors already but good luck! Rowanvale Books, on the other hand, were instantly welcoming and respectful of a would-be author’s gifts for writing and basically boosted my hopes by saying yes to a manuscript. In other words, they never replied with the sigh that Rowanvale Books was not open for business for new authors.
When you're not writing, what are you reading?
I am an avid reader of newspapers, both British and American. As a journalist I need to keep abreast of the news everywhere and I do, every day, seven days a week. But I also love reading books and there is never a time when I don’t have a book to read at some point in the day. I love thrillers more than anything else, particularly those by Lee Child, Michael Connelly and David Baldacci, all of whom are preeminent in their field. But I am also an avid reader of Ben Macintyre’s books on spies and espionage. I am currently reading a totally different book, the exquisitely written Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan.
Which work are you most proud of?
I am actually equally proud of all the books I have written—nine so far. But because it had so much of me and my life as a reporter contained in it, I am probably most proud of my memoir First With the News. Writing a memoir is tricky because the last thing you want to do is bore your potential readers with lots of material about childhood and schooldays, none of which is that interesting for readers unknown to me. So I concentrated on my life as a Fleet Street reporter to appeal, I hoped, to a specific audience—my fellow reporters. But I am also very proud of Shadow Lives. I had written a comedy thriller, Double Lives, published on Amazon in 2011, which I loved writing. Publishers informed me that while the book was “brilliant”, there was no market for a comedy thriller. It had to be one or the other, or as one publisher put it, either a John Le Carre or a Tom Sharpe. So Shadow Lives was written as a thriller and I think/hope it works. It was fun writing it.
What's your best advice for handling writer's block?
I started writing Shadow Lives with a different title, Shadow Force, some years ago with a similar beginning but then diverting off into all sorts of different plots. I abandoned it because I had no idea where it was going. So, if you like, I had writer’s block with this particular book for several years and focused on my memoir instead. Then I had a sudden flash of enlightenment while riding my bike in Richmond Park. I could use the first two or three chapters of Shadow Force and then focus it much more, deleting the following two chapters altogether. Eureka! It worked and off I went. So the answer is, never give up; writer’s block is not permanent. While it lasts do something else to prove that you can still write and then go back to what you were doing when your mind suddenly went blank. It was a revelation for me.
What's one thing you always have with you when you're writing?
I never work in isolation. I don’t mind noise, family interventions, phones ringing. I guess as a reporter I have had to work in many noisy environments, sometimes with bullets, mortar bombs and artillery shells whizzing around me. But when I am writing at home, I always have classical music playing on the radio. It keeps me calm and focused. I don’t have a study; I sit at the main table in the back room and just get on with it.
What is one book you would take with you if you were stuck on a desert island?
There is one thriller which is so brilliant and so well crafted and so exciting that I have already read it twice and could read it again and again, perfect for a desert island. The book is I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. It is woven with so many plots and sub-plots that every time I read it, I get more out of it.
What is the best part about being an independently published author?
Independent publishing is a huge growing industry and being personally involved in the publishing process is so rewarding. My only regret is that many bookshops still have this old-fashioned idea that independently published books don’t deserve the same treatment on their shelves as “traditionally” published works. I hope this will change over time.
What's next for you?
So many people who have read Shadow Lives have contacted me to ask whether there will be a sequel. So I am currently working out ideas for just that. At some point I would also like to write a love story. I have one in me, I know.
Shadow Lives (Nov 22) BUY ON AMAZON = amzn.to/3TVLN7e
Who are you? Tell us a little about yourself...
Apart from two years as a teacher in a prep school in Sussex, I have been a journalist all my working life, including 16 years on the Daily Express when it was a big-circulation broadsheet and then moving to The Times in 1986. I have had a truly exciting career, as defence correspondent, then defence editor and then for three years as The Times’ first Pentagon Correspondent in Washington. During this time I covered six wars as a war correspondent: in Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Nothing can prepare you for covering a war on the front line but you learn how to take risks, who to trust and above all, how to react when confronted by a potentially life-threatening situation. Never panic but stay cool and calm. I was lucky; it worked every time. During the many years of adventure as a reporter, I managed to write books as well, often scribbling away in a large notebook in between assignments. First With the News was a memoir of my life on the front line, and Shadow Lives was helped by the unique experience I gained as a defence specialist with contacts in defence, intelligence and Whitehall. I am married with three sons and seven grandchildren and live in London.
What first inspired you to start writing?
Both my parents inspired me to write. My dad wrote short stories and poetry, and my mum fantasy stories and children’s stories. I always knew that whatever job I did, eventually I would always write, too. I guess that’s why I chose to become a journalist rather than stay as a teacher. My dad, who was a teacher, told me that journalism would provide me with a much wider picture of the world to give me the ideas and breadth of experience to write books. My first attempt was at university—Queen Mary College, London University, where I studied English Literature. If nothing else, that attempt at a novel proved that my dad’s advice was sound. It was too early!
What made you want to work with Rowanvale and be published?
Publishing a book is the biggest battle for a would-be author. The big-name publishers and literary agents I have come across over the years always gave the impression that they were so overwhelmed with manuscripts they couldn’t cope with any more—especially during the two years of the pandemic. Either they didn’t reply at all to my submissions or they just wrote back a standard letter saying that they had too many authors already but good luck! Rowanvale Books, on the other hand, were instantly welcoming and respectful of a would-be author’s gifts for writing and basically boosted my hopes by saying yes to a manuscript. In other words, they never replied with the sigh that Rowanvale Books was not open for business for new authors.
When you're not writing, what are you reading?
I am an avid reader of newspapers, both British and American. As a journalist I need to keep abreast of the news everywhere and I do, every day, seven days a week. But I also love reading books and there is never a time when I don’t have a book to read at some point in the day. I love thrillers more than anything else, particularly those by Lee Child, Michael Connelly and David Baldacci, all of whom are preeminent in their field. But I am also an avid reader of Ben Macintyre’s books on spies and espionage. I am currently reading a totally different book, the exquisitely written Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan.
Which work are you most proud of?
I am actually equally proud of all the books I have written—nine so far. But because it had so much of me and my life as a reporter contained in it, I am probably most proud of my memoir First With the News. Writing a memoir is tricky because the last thing you want to do is bore your potential readers with lots of material about childhood and schooldays, none of which is that interesting for readers unknown to me. So I concentrated on my life as a Fleet Street reporter to appeal, I hoped, to a specific audience—my fellow reporters. But I am also very proud of Shadow Lives. I had written a comedy thriller, Double Lives, published on Amazon in 2011, which I loved writing. Publishers informed me that while the book was “brilliant”, there was no market for a comedy thriller. It had to be one or the other, or as one publisher put it, either a John Le Carre or a Tom Sharpe. So Shadow Lives was written as a thriller and I think/hope it works. It was fun writing it.
What's your best advice for handling writer's block?
I started writing Shadow Lives with a different title, Shadow Force, some years ago with a similar beginning but then diverting off into all sorts of different plots. I abandoned it because I had no idea where it was going. So, if you like, I had writer’s block with this particular book for several years and focused on my memoir instead. Then I had a sudden flash of enlightenment while riding my bike in Richmond Park. I could use the first two or three chapters of Shadow Force and then focus it much more, deleting the following two chapters altogether. Eureka! It worked and off I went. So the answer is, never give up; writer’s block is not permanent. While it lasts do something else to prove that you can still write and then go back to what you were doing when your mind suddenly went blank. It was a revelation for me.
What's one thing you always have with you when you're writing?
I never work in isolation. I don’t mind noise, family interventions, phones ringing. I guess as a reporter I have had to work in many noisy environments, sometimes with bullets, mortar bombs and artillery shells whizzing around me. But when I am writing at home, I always have classical music playing on the radio. It keeps me calm and focused. I don’t have a study; I sit at the main table in the back room and just get on with it.
What is one book you would take with you if you were stuck on a desert island?
There is one thriller which is so brilliant and so well crafted and so exciting that I have already read it twice and could read it again and again, perfect for a desert island. The book is I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. It is woven with so many plots and sub-plots that every time I read it, I get more out of it.
What is the best part about being an independently published author?
Independent publishing is a huge growing industry and being personally involved in the publishing process is so rewarding. My only regret is that many bookshops still have this old-fashioned idea that independently published books don’t deserve the same treatment on their shelves as “traditionally” published works. I hope this will change over time.
What's next for you?
So many people who have read Shadow Lives have contacted me to ask whether there will be a sequel. So I am currently working out ideas for just that. At some point I would also like to write a love story. I have one in me, I know.
