Not all heroes in this world are the same and with great power comes the possibility to go viral! This is a story that will unite humanity… Kurt Wiseman is The Teleporter!
Are you ready to meet The Teleporter? Of course, you are! Meet the mind behind The Teleporter, as author Lee Hall and I chat about this superhero tale. Lee, it’s been almost a year since we last had the chance to talk about your writing career. What’s been happening?
Well, I’ve been reading a hell of a lot more, mostly indie books, being an indie author means I know what the struggle for distribution and reviews is like, hence why I’m here using this wonderful site! I also wrote a play that got performed in front of 600 people, so that’s pretty cool.
That is pretty cool! Having a play that has been performed is a wonderful addition to your body of work as an author. What else have you been doing to build up your author brand?
Well this whole author brand of mine is active on the main social media platforms, and I normally produce something daily. I blog often and review as many books, tv shows and films as possible.
I find myself doing way more than just writing these days… I churned out 4 books in a little under 2 years so I kind of ran out of content. My whole social media interaction has increased, I’m friendly now, and try to support others, the world needs more well-wishing. This has even led to my blog being nominated for the ‘Liebster’ award!
Congratulations on your nomination for the ‘Liebster’ award! It’s fantastic that you’re seeing recognition for all of the hard work that you’re putting in. Has all of this hard work changed your author voice or approach to writing?
It’s the same voice, just more refined and easier to hear. More hours spent writing does lead to a better quality of work. You just have to sit down and do it.
At the end of the day just sitting down and doing it really is the key. So tell us about how you sat down and turned out The Teleporter. What’s The Teleporter all about for readers who haven’t heard about it before?
So the whole deal with the Teleporter is to first and foremost make readers laugh. Everything is way too serious these days and comedy seems to be slowly disappearing, I mainly write horror and thriller, so as a writer I wanted to take a journey with way more fun.
The Teleporter turned out to be a bunch of highs and lows because the story explores the journey of main character Kurt Wiseman, a chancer and boozer, he has to overcome his own demons as well as face the responsibility of having a superpower. Really the story is about the responsibility of power in the modern world, but you’ll laugh trust me.
We all need a reason to laugh at the moment! Once you were convinced that you needed to make a fun book for readers where did you put your focus to start developing the needed humour?
I had the character of Kurt Wiseman in my head for quite a while, his story grew over a few years, there’s a lot of his traits in my own personality, the booze and the being lazy.
The Teleporter however started life as a stick figure comic book series that I will never let see the light of day, mainly because it was way back when and probably awful…
I’ve seen many a stick figure that was pretty awesome, so I’m not convinced that your first steps into writing were all that bad. I’d love to hear about how your characters evolved from their initial stick-y selves to the more rounded characters we meet in the final book. What can you share about them?
Well I based the villain mostly on a well known President of the United States. That’s a relatively safe choice for a baddie. Everyone else has at least one trait of someone I know or a character I have come across in TV or film.
Very early on there is a character introduced as ‘the bitch across the hall’, again this comes from nobody particular just from experience with neighbors.
Looking back do you feel that a large part of the book has come from parts of your own life?
Certainly, every single story I write is based mostly on an element of realism, just with the volume turned way up. Many of the social situations in the Teleporter are based on situations I have been in, you just gotta change the names slightly… this is how you avoid the lawsuits…
Yep, avoiding lawsuits is pretty important! Other than keeping yourself out of the courts, what do you feel that learnt during the process of getting this book published and ready for readers?
You can’t just write a book and think people will buy it. There is a ton of work writers must do to market the damn thing. Hence why I am here celebrating a year since the Teleporter came out, here I am hoping for more than 13 sales this time around and some more reviews!
Congratulations on marking a relase since your book’s release Getting that first bit of traction with your work is always incredibly difficult, but I’m glad to see that you’re still trying hard to get the ball rolling. You must love writing to keep at it. With such a strong love of writing, do you still feel exhausting by the writing process, or does it always pick up your energy?
Both. I am engendered to write but then the process does exhaust you. Drafting is the hardest, that takes the most energy. I only commit to drafting stuff for about 7 months of the year, the rest is spent editing or as I like to call it ‘the fun part’.
What do you think about as you’re knee-deep in drafting, writing and editing stages to keep your mind focussed?
Mainly the story and how I am going to get myself and the characters out of this mess. I also like for my books to have a message or something to say in a way that isn’t preachy but subtle, kind of like brainwashing but in a nice way.
What nice brainwashing should readers be looking for in The Teleporter?
Use moderation and treat power responsibly. Friends are important also.
Friends are great for dealing with people and perhaps even monsters who don’t use their power with responsibility. If you could create your own monster what would it look like and what would you call it?
Well you’ll just have to check out my first novel Open Evening which is full of monsters I invented, they don’t have a name though…
We’ll have to do just that. And while myself and the readers are delving deep into both The Teleporter and Open Evening, what new work can we look foward to see coming from your curious mind soon?
Right now I am writing a science fiction story called ‘Jack Thorn’. You can read some of it via my blog. This is the first book I ever wrote back when I was 12. Now its back and rebooted, because everyone loves a reboot right?
Reboots are awesome, especially if they’re rebooting and refining unpublished work. You are going to have so much fun writing the reboot that I can’t in good conscience keep chatting, you need to return to your reboot. Lee, thanks so much for sharing an anniversary tour of The Teleporter with myself and the readers, and hopefully we’ll hear even more exciting progress with your author brand next year.
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Excited to read the book we discussed today? Find it here on Amazon: ‘The Teleporter ( ASIN: B07CKFXDP4 )‘.
Want to find out more about Lee Hall? Connect here!