7 Things I Want My Readers to Know About Me

14 December 2022

Martin Treanor Author of The Logos Prophecy: Fall of the Ancients Book One Published 23 January 2023

I have a liking – maybe an obsession – for fun facts. I love finding out new things, even if those things are fairly unimportant. Like: it is illegal to die in the UK Houses of Parliament, or it’s impossible to lick your own elbow (if you feel like licking someone else’s, that’s totally up to you, whatever floats your boat). Anyway, I gather facts like a kid collects Pokémon cards and I hope it makes me a more interesting writer. Oh, and, did you know that the terrifying Vikings gave kittens as wedding presents?

I love Christmas. Not for the whole season as determined by modern commerce but, when we get to the start of December, my Yuletide neurons switch on big time. I love the lights, the shops all aglow (see, I even use the terminology), the special cakes in coffee shops, putting up the decorations (something we leave until the first week in December), going to the theatre to see a play (by the way, Charles Dicken’s great, great grandson performing A Christmas Carol is a must-see), seasonal movies on TV. Anyway – I love it. And, fun fact: if you received all the gifts in the ‘12 Days of Christmas’, you’d have 364 presents… nice!

I love animals – absolutely. It’s why I am vegan. They are special to me – all of them, from our cat: Kitty (otherwise known as the Queen of Everything, She Who Must be Obeyed, and Little Miss Fluffy Fuzzy-paws), to the myriad of wildlife you see around. For me, they are individuals, the epitome of innocence and something to be protected. I have built my life around doing so. Fun facts: dolphins have names for each other and goats have regional accents.

As mentioned above, I like coffee. And need cake to come with it. I love muffins, and tarts… in fact, anything with fruit in it. Not so much of a chocolate guy (I know – I’m well aware of the blasphemy in that statement), but I really like a blueberry muffin, a raspberry crumble slice, apple and cinnamon pie, Danish pastries. Actually, I like ’em all – and even chocolate if nothing else is available. Oh, and a slice of Victoria sponge – something we couldn’t get for many years as vegans, but is now coming in everywhere. Fun fact: the sponge cake was first created by Mrs Beeton in 1796 but not called ‘Victoria’ until the monarch’s reign.

And, while we are circling back, without the aid of Kitty, I probably wouldn’t get to writing as quickly in the mornings. Every day, when I sit down at the keyboard, she’s there, waiting, at the edge of my desk or, in my old house, sitting on the windowsill behind the screen and, if she wasn’t there, for at least the first fifteen minutes – she usually gets bored, or annoyed with the tapping (I’m heavy-fingered) and heads off to snooze in the bedroom – I would probably spend too much time mucking about on the internet. After all, those fun facts don’t find themselves And, speaking of which: cats have less toes on the back paws than their front.

I have rule whereby I self-edit anything I write, even articles and short stories, at least seven times. That doesn’t include readthroughs. With the first few drafts, I work heavily on honing the story and characters, then comes the whittling and refining, followed by fine-tuning and just getting it right. In the past, I’ve even done twelve passes. For me, giving a reader the best possible story is the most important aspect of the craft and, like a cartoon conscience, an imaginary reader always sits on my shoulder, calling the shots, getting it right. Most writers have a similar process, using whatever method works best for them. Fun writing fact: before going to his job at the Post Office, which he maintained regardless of the success of his novels, Anthony Trollope began his writing day at 5.30 every morning. He would write 250 words every 15 minutes, pacing himself with a watch.

I’m tidy. My desk looks like an exhibit in a museum. The notebooks, piles of paper, coasters, phone-stand and every one of the geeky toys that are dotted around my desk and office are carefully positioned to my exact liking. And there is a reason for it too. It helps me focus. I feel at peace in the tidiness, even if my accumulation of general geekdom can get a tad out of hand. Anyway, when I close my office door (with a gap to let the cat get out, of course) I feel cocooned, ready to work. It’s my writer’s bubble. Oh, and another fun writing fact: ‘Scrabblement’ is a rare 17th-century word referring to writing of a rambling character like that of a mad person – says it all really.