My first novel, The Alchemist's Portrait, was published in 2003 and I began writing on a serious basis a few years before that. The Shadowzone series was the first one that I self-published. The series involves the discovery of a grim dystopian version of Earth that’s ruled by a totalitarian dictatorship, the threat of a deadly virus, and a race against time to save the lives of millions. The three books in the series are Shadowzone, Into The Web, and Black Dawn and you learn more about them on my website at simon-rose.com.

The Stone of the Seer is an exciting historical fantasy series of adventure novels for young adults, primarily set in the turbulent period of the English Civil War.

The Stone of the Seer, book one in the series, features the Vikings, Leonardo da Vinci, and the political turmoil of the 1640s. At Habingdon House, Lady Elizabeth Usborne, Kate, and Tom encounter a magical black stone, mysterious ancient manuscripts, and the incredible time viewing device known as the tempus inpectoris, all while under constant threat from the murderous witchfinder, Daniel Tombes.

In Royal Blood, book two in the series, Lady Elizabeth, Kate, and Tom are in the heart of London in early 1649, as King Charles prepares to face his accusers at his trial in Westminster Hall, while Elizabeth, Kate, and Tom desperately attempt to evade capture by the witchfinder.

The third novel in the series is entitled Revenge of the Witchfinder, which will be published later this year.

I always have a current project or two and right now I’m writing another historical fantasy novel series set in World War II. I'm also working on sequels to the Flashback series of paranormal novels, which includes Flashback, Twisted Fate, and Parallel Destiny, which you can learn more about on my website at simon-rose.com. In addition, I'm working on screenplay adaptations of the Shadowzone series and have also completed a number of picture books for younger readers, which I hope will be published soon.

Not precisely, but my first novel, The Alchemist's Portrait, was one of my earliest ideas. However, other novels such as Flashback, the Shadowzone series, and The Sphere of Septimus were also among my earliest ideas for novels and just took longer to fully develop.

Smashwords has helped me to ensure that my books are available more widely on many different platforms, increasing the chances of more sales and better visibility for both my books and myself as an author.

I enjoy many aspects of being a writer but I think the best thing might be seeing your ideas develop and a project coming to fruition. Writers usually have lots of ideas for stories but not all of them become fully developed or may not have that much potential. Once I’ve had the initial idea and started to think about the characters and the plot, there’s usually a stumbling block of some kind that threatens to derail the project. It’s a wonderful feeling when I suddenly resolve the problem and the ideas flow even faster than I can get them down on paper or onto the computer. That’s usually the moment when the project becomes very exciting and I know that writing the novel is going to be a great experience.

There are no set rules or routines, but for novels I usually create an outline before I start writing. I like to make sure that the plot works well before I begin work. The outline might certainly change during the writing process but it helps to keep me on track and to write the novel more quickly.

I look for something that not only appeals to me, but more importantly will appeal to the reader. This is a crucial aspect of ensuring that your ebooks get noticed among the millions of other ones online.

Cluttered in some places, well organized in others, but I usually know where to find things :)

I grew up in the UK and this has influenced some of my work, particularly my historical fiction novels and the early chapters of The Sphere of Septimus, but it's perhaps also inspired some of my other ones as well in subtle ways. I think any author's life experiences are always going to be part of their work in some way or another.

It can be, but only if you have enough material for multiple books. If readers are sufficiently interested in the story and the characters after completing the first installment, they’d usually like to read more. However, the story or theme has to be strong enough to warrant more adventures. It’s important to remember that the reader won’t appreciate any novel that’s overloaded with filler, just for the sake of creating a series, and might easily avoid any books by the same author in the future.

I think it’s because I have so many story ideas and really want them to come to life. Many of the first ideas I ever had for stories have become now novels but I still have plenty more yet that I’d like to work on.

When my children were small, I started reading children’s books again for the first time in many years. Some of the books were wonderful and I wished that I could write something similar. However, some of the books were very poor and I was surprised that they’d ever been published. This made me wonder if I could write stories of my own. I started thinking that I should write fairy tales and picture books for younger children but after reading the first three Harry Potter novels, I realized that I wanted to write for the age group that those books are aimed at. I wasn’t interested in writing about the same things, such as magic, wizards, and imaginary creatures, and instead focused on themes that I was interested in, such as science fiction, fantasy, time travel, history, comic books, ancient mysteries and civilizations, superheroes, other dimensions, and the paranormal.

I don’t really have writer’s block in terms of having ideas but do sometimes need motivation to work on a project and get it finished. If I’m having trouble getting started I simply work on something else, whether it’s a short story, some marketing work, planning a class, and so on, just to get me working at the computer. That helps me to get in the mood to get started on a creative writing project if I’ve been putting it off.

Many new authors decide not to listen to advice regarding their story and suggestions regarding how it might be improved or how to fix problems in the plot, believing that they know best. You don’t have to make those changes if you don’t agree with them, but as an author you at least need to consider them. Some new authors, especially those that self-publish their books, also often don’t do enough editing and checking of their work before they make their book available to readers and this should be one of the most important aspects of the process, no matter how a book is published.

On a variety of places online if I'm looking for something specific. I'm also subscribed to a number of newsletters that offer suggestions regarding new ebooks.

I remember many of the first comic books I read while growing up and they had a big impact on me with regards to developing a love of science fiction, fantasy, superheroes, other dimensions, time travel and so on.

Science fiction, fantasy, nonfiction, history, lots of things really.

I've tried so many over the years, with varying degrees of success.

I've been traditionally published until recently and I decided to give self-publishing a try in order to get more of my work out in the world more quickly.

I don’t think that I have a least favourite part about writing. Perhaps the editing process toward the end, when you’ve already gone through the stories so many times, but editing and revision is a vital part of the writing process and always makes the story better.

Fans and readers are extremely important and perhaps the most important part of being a writer.

I don’t take a lot of time off since I do enjoy what I do, whether it’s crafting new plots and outlines, writing books, or doing all the marketing. Since it doesn’t really feel like work there isn’t as much motivation to get away from it, I guess. However, my dog also insists on going out for walks on a daily basis, which pulls me away from the computer. Nevertheless I always seem to be thinking about stories while we’re out, but I guess a lot of writers appreciate those times when they can let their mind wander while appreciating the great outdoors. I also watch movies, keep up to date with current events, read a lot, and enjoy the company of friends whenever I can.

You need to have an interesting story of course, as well as a compelling title and cover, but the key is to grab the reader’s attention right away with a dramatic beginning. You then need to pace the story in such a way that you retain the reader’s interest and have cliffhanger endings for the chapters to really keep the reader hooked until the end.

It can be a lot of work and sometimes I don’t feel like doing it, but promotion, publicity, marketing, promotion and book signings and other events have to be done if the books are going to sell. Like editing and revision, it’s an essential part of being an author so it has to be undertaken.