Profile
Name: Danny RhodesFrom: Grantham, LincolnshireLives: Canterbury, Kent
Bibliography: Asboville (2006) | Soldier Boy (2009) | The Knowledge and Other Stories (2011) | Fan (2014)
Connection to CCCU: Creative & Professional Writing Lecturer (Fiction)
So Danny, your latest novel “Fan” was released last month. How would you describe the book?
The intention is that it’s a relentless, hard-hitting semi-autobiographical novel about a man trying to come to terms with his past; the things he did; the things he saw; the things he’s lost…
Would you say that “Fan” has something for everyone, even if you’re not a big fan of football?
It’s not just about football. It’s about what makes us what we are and how we deal with living when those things are no longer a part of ourselves. It’s about love. It’s about fear. It’s about men and women. It’s about truth.
What’s your favourite part of the writing process?
All of it really but most of all that incredible feeling you get when you write a sentence and you know you’ve hit it perfectly so that it rings true and honest. As long as I get that feeling I’ll continue to write.
Do you prefer writing novels or short stories?
No preference. Novels are important for a writer I think, to show they can, to show they have the staying power to stick at something for 2-3 years and see it through from conception to birth but short stories are a significant other in my life. I take the same pleasure from producing both and I love to see my short work presented alongside other stories by other writers. Short stories also give me the opportunity to explore different genres and ideas. I am not an established horror writer for instance but I love the horror community and the magazines that feed it. To get my work into these publications is really important to me as horror was perhaps my first love as a reader.
Did you always want to be a writer?
Since I was a teenager, yes. Even before that I loved writing stories at primary school. I got my first typewriter when I was about 17 and started to knock out passages of novels that would never be completed. It was a crucial part of my development.
How long did it take for you to get your first novel published?
I wrote all the way through University. When I completed my degree I spent the next two years working in restaurants earning just enough so I could write on my days off. Those were great times. I was living in Canterbury then. It’s a city that offers a lot to a creative mind and its culture supports a writer finding their way. Eventually though I had to press on with a career so I chose teaching. It kept me around books. I wrote through the first six years of my teaching career and eventually got my first novel published in 2006. I was 35.
What’s your favourite thing about lecturing at CCCU?
I love working with new writers, to offer them the advice, support and skills that I have gathered from so many sources over the years. I like the writing course at CCCU. It’s academia but it’s also very practical and I think a new writer needs the practical skills and knowledge if they want to succeed.
And finally, what advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Write write write. Read read read. Draft draft draft. Submit submit submit. Keep telling yourselves that ‘If I’m receiving rejections then I really am a writer.’ Eventually you’ll get an acceptance. Then start the process all over again.
For more on Danny, check out his website or follow him on Twitter (@danrhodesuk).