First off tell me about yourself?
I’m Andy Meeus and I write stories in my free time for almost Five years now. Writing is my daily routine, I write stories, poetry, and texts in general. By now I have a degree in Scenario writing as well as Copywriting and I intend to get a job in that branch. My other hobby is playing music. I play a little bit acoustic guitar, combined with a bit of singing and I also play drums. When I’m not busy writing or playing music, then most of the time I’m watching movies which is my other passion.
Now tell me about some of your favourite authors and why you like them?
My favourite authors are J.K. Rowling, of the Harry Potter series, as well as James Dashner, author of the book series called: The Maze Runner. Those two authors Have a beautiful style of writing which I intend to use in my stories too. I am huge fan of the harry Potter series since the beginning of it and I’m still reading the books or watch the movies every once in a while. James Dashner also has a great storyline, his books always keep asking questions which keeps you focused and willing to know what is going to happen. That is why I love those book series the most.
How many books have you written?
I have written three books by now. My first two books are written in dutch and available with the dutch distributor: boekscout.nl. With my third book I originally started writing in dutch, but when the first version was finished I couldn’t find happiness in it. That was the moment I realized that I should be writing in English to be able to reach out to a bigger crowd and then I rewrote the first version with a lot of extra features within the storyline.
What is your writing process like?
I usually have an idea in my head and write it down on paper. Then I start brainstorming about the storyline and the characters and write that down in order of appearance within the story. When the plan, the idea and the big lines are complete, I start writing the story from scratch. I’ll start with Chapter one, and when I gain other ideas for the chapters I write those down on paper too, so that get a short text for all the chapters and give them titles. Those short texts help me remember what every chapter will be about.
When a story is done, I read it critically and when something bothers I overlook it again and possibly change that part. When I’m done with that, I give a couple of friends a proof version to read and let them read it critically too. And if that part is passed, I’ll start thinking about the way to publish it.
What market/demographic do you write for?
My first two books are published by a Dutch distributor and for me at that time I didn’t was planning to get much sales yet. With my third book however, I did had more ambitions and that is why I went to English and placed it at Amazon at first. while I was looking for a distributor for my last book I came to the idea that from here on out I’ll be going to distribute them myself by using Amazon which I have discovered recently, while searching for a distributor.
What genre do you tend to write in?
My favourite genres to write and combine are romantic, which I use almost in every book, I also like to add a bit humour in it and I recently discovered the genre Drama, which is combined with romance, a perfect duo in my opinion.
Are you working on anything right now?
I am! I’m currently working on two other scripts. One is about two young friends who are skaters and live in the Bronx in New York. Their goal is to become professional skaters and they are therefor doing everything they can to reach that goal.
Another story I’m currently working on is a story about a writer who decides to go on a world trip after his wife dies due to cancer. He soon became a known man around the world and he inspires people everyday with his writings.
I also have another couple of ideas who I carefully have placed away for the time being until the ideas around them come into my mind.
Where can potential fans get your books?
The first two books are available at the website of the publishers house in the Netherlands: boekscout.nl. The first book is called ‘Tempelrijk’ and is currently only available in dutch. The second book is called ‘Casa Musica’, it is also distributed by the same house, however it is also available in English as kindle ebook on amazon.com. For the third book, you can find it also on amazon, under the name: ‘Shivers’, as well as on the website of the publishing house: United PC Publishing.
What advice do you have for other writers?
My advice to other writers is keep follow your dreams and one day you will find happiness in what you’re doing. Keep write whatever you want to write, don’t be afraid about. Don’t ever think to yourself: “Is what I’m writing something that anyone would read?” Someone, somewhere will always be interested in your ideas. That is the beauty of writing. You are in charge of what you write, and no one else can say, that has to be something else, because that is their opinion, and you your own opinion. Think about this sentence when you have an off-day: “Everyone on this planet is unique, no one’s the same.”
What does literary success look like to you?
To me literary success is when someone who is a stranger to you says that your work is perfect. And off course Chen you can make a living out of writings, that would be just amazing!
What’s the best way to market your books?
Nowadays, the best way to market and promote your work is the online region. You can reach everyone in the world who has a computer, just by using the social networks who are free of charge. That is the best way to reach your public these days.
And last questions, how do you deal with writer’s block.
If I have a writer’s block then I will probably try working on another story, and if that doesn’t work then i’ll drop my pen for a few days, do something else. Read a book, watch movies, play music. You will see that when you pick up your pen again a couple of days later that your thoughts will be refreshed and that you can carry on from the point you have stopped earlier.
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