Getting To Know...Dane Cobain

Today on Getting To Know... I'm bringing another excellent author, Dane Cobain, who has kindly answered my questions, 

Your debut novella, No Rest For The Wicked, is a supernatural thriller, what drew you to that genre in particular?

That’s a tough one to answer! I write in a lot of different genres, but I don’t necessarily start with a particular genre in mind – in fact, I’d never actually categorised it until it came to release it. No Rest for the Wicked was inspired by a nightmare that I had about the Angels – I developed the idea after going back over the notes that I made, and it just sort of turned into a supernatural thriller when I worked on the story line and the Angels’ backstory.

Your collection of poetry, Eyes Like Lighthouses When The Boats Come Home, was released earlier this year, do you have a preference between writing a novel or poetry?

I like them both, in different ways. I tend to write a poem a day on my cigarette breaks, whilst a novel takes at least a year to plan, write and edit. I memorise my poems and perform them and so a poetry collection pretty much writes itself over time, so I guess it’s a little easier. I usually say that the difference between No Rest for the Wicked and Eyes Like Lighthouses is that the former represents my heart and the latter represents my soul. Please don’t make me choose between them!

Novels written in verse are very popular at the moment, will we ever see you combine the two?

I have no immediate plans, although I did start a project like that about ten years ago, when I was first starting out. I have done some work on an epic poem based on the story of the Titanic and so that might surface at some point, but it’s not a priority at the moment!

You also have a fabulous book review blog, Social Bookshelves, what inspired you to set this up?

I work in social media marketing, and so I thought it’d be a good idea to set up a blog site so that I could get a little more practice. I love books (all authors do!) and so it seemed like the natural thing to write about. In the end, I decided to review every book I own – which is every book I’ve ever read!

When you are writing, so you have to set a certain mood or be in a set place depending on whether you are writing poetry or a novel?

I suppose that different moods and settings help me to be a little more efficient, but I can write at any time in any place. Plus, with poetry, I just distill whatever I’m feeling into whatever I’m writing – if I’m sad, I just write a sad poem.

When you're not reading or writing, what would we find you doing?

I’m almost always either reading or writing – if I’m not doing that, I’m probably either at work or at the pub. I also play guitar and sing, so sometimes I do that to blow off a little steam.

Do you have a favourite author?

It’s hard to pick just one, but I love Graham Greene, Charles Bukowski, Ernest Hemingway, Phillip Pullman, Terry Pratchett and a bunch of others. I’m also getting heavily into Stephen King at the moment – I’m in the middle of reading his Dark Tower series at the moment.

Have you always known that you wanted to be an author?

Pretty much – when I was a kid, I wanted to be a rock star, but then as I grew a little older, I realised that it wasn’t really achievable. Besides, writing is my passion – writing songs and making music is just a facet of that.

I believe that you're also a musician, what instruments do you play and can you sing?

I like to think I can! I mainly play guitar and sing, although I dabble with other instruments when I’m recording – mainly bass, a chord here and there on a keyboard and some percussion on a cajon.

What can we look forward to from you in the future?

I’ve got loads of stuff planned! My next release, a non-fiction book called Social Paranoia: How Consumers and Brands Can Stay Safe in a Connected World, came out on August 22nd. After that, I’m working on a horror novella and screenplay called Come On Up to the House and an anthology of new writing with 21 other authors, which will be called Subject Verb Object. I’m also writing the first draft of the first book in a detective novel series, which should be out sometime in 2017. It’s all busy, busy, busy!

Thank you so much to Dane for taking time out of his SUPER busy schedule to answer my questions!

To connect with Dane

Twitter - @danecobain

Blog - Social Bookshelves