Author Profile: Feroze Engineer
We had a chance to catch up with one of our new authors recently, here’s what he had to say about his life, his writing, and a bit about us!
Tell us about yourself.
I grew up in Mumbai, where I studied Mass Media and worked as an advertising copywriter, before moving to the UK at 20 to study. Today I live in North London with my wife and 3 year old son. Unfortunately for my writing, I have a day job at Adobe that I enjoy and enables me to be creative during the work week.
In my free time, I enjoy jazz, reading thrillers (obviously), and whisky – often at the same time! Other hobbies include cycling and hiking in the English countryside.
You may also often find me in one of London’s galleries or museums. I’m particularly fond of Japanese woodblock prints. Finally, I’m a keen student of the Middle East and enjoy travelling.
How long have you been writing and what does your process entail?
I have always been a writer in some form – enjoying penning down essays at school, then starting my marketing career as an advertising copywriter. This is my first novel,and I have been writing it – on and off – for a long time.
One of my favourite authors, Ken Follett, says he gets the ideas for his historical fiction during the research phase – he simply reads about a subject he finds interesting which, invariably, is always a rich source of ideas. After all, everyone knows truth is often stranger than fiction.
Similarly, my writing process is all about the art of getting ‘productively distracted’ - there’s something to be said about going down online information rabbit holes, for no reason other than sheer curiosity, or for the joy of it. When I’m researching for my novel, reading one thing always leads to another and before I know it, I’ve spent all my free time reading, and haven’t written a word! But, in the process, I soak up information and ideas that emerge in unexpected ways.
I am neither an architect nor a gardener – I plan and innovate on the fly in equal measure. Often, I enjoy writing in the Windows Notepad app, so I’m not distracted by typos, grammar and punctuation, but can let my fingers fly over the keyboard and get into a “flow state”. Later, I paste into MS Word and edit carefully. Coffee and jazz contribute to my writing greatly.
What inspired you to write this book?
Having been an avid consumer of fiction, particularly thrillers, I had always toyed with the idea of writing a novel. Then about ten years ago, I came across a few interesting strands of history.
The first strand I came across was a news article about Uday Hussein. I was fascinated by the level of sheer depravity he exhibited in his daily life, enabled by the absolute power he enjoyed as Saddam’s eldest son and heir. Some aspects were almost comical, like banning the import of Ferraris into Iraq, so he could be the only one to own them, or having his chosen car for the day painted exactly the same shade of pink as his suit. Then there were the disturbing rumours of rape and torture – things he did on an almost daily basis with utter nonchalance. He was also, at times, in charge of an irregular military force.
The second strand of history I came across was about an anonymous blogger in the early days on the internet in Iraq. As a rare source of information from Baghdad, the blog quickly gained an international readership, but the author’s identity remained a secret. With good reason – discovery by the state would mean torture and execution.
Even though the character of the blogger in my book is completely made up, the seed of an idea about some who spoke out from the shadows at great personal risk was planted.
Finally, and most importantly, I came across the most fascinating object in the novel - the ultra-rare and valuable 1936 Mercedes Benz 540k Special Roadster, with baroque coachwork by Erdmann & Rossi - one of only two ever created and the very pinnacle of pre-war engineering. Part myth, part legend, the car is said to have been purchased by King Ghazi of Iraq, owned for a time by the King of Jordan, before finally landing in Saddam’s collection. Then, mysteriously, the car disappeared. What happened to it?
Slowly, all of the above fermented in my mind and formed a plot that I simply had to write down. Ten years later, the story is finally ready – and I’m delighted to say that it is available now in eBook and paperback on Amazon.
How was your experience with The Spun Yarn?
The Spun Yarn was an important part of my writing journey – a service that I recommend to all authors that are serious about their craft, particularly debut authors. Unlike a regular paid beta reader, The Spun Yarn uses a number of readers to prepare their report on your draft – statistically this provides a more reliable and valid commentary on your novel, according to your genre and target market. This also takes care of the baggage or biases that may come from a single paid beta reader. However, they go a step further and present the qualitative and quantitative data in a format that’s easy to digest, with key feedback themes summarised by the report editor.
Additionally, and totally unexpectedly, the readers also provided me with a couple of great ideas for scenes that I hadn’t even thought of!
Last but not the least, it was so good to read the quotes from all three readers stating that they really enjoyed the novel and why they enjoyed it. Even though it was clear the novel needed lots of work, I knew I had achieved what I set out to do – which is create a tightly plotted, unusual page-turner with a soul. This provided me with the encouragement to carry on and finish the job!