insideKENT Magazine Issue 22 - January 2014 | Page 30

ARTS CREATIVE KENT cont. Martyn Barr Paul Hurst Where in Kent do you live? Blean, near Canterbury. Where in Kent do you live? Brenchley. Published Titles: The Young Person’s History Guide to Canterbury (2009) Lewisham’s Got History! (2010) To Be A Bee (2012) Garden Science (2013) Paintings in Light (2013) Published Titles: Fortune Reading with Tarot Cards (2012) Business Survival & Prosperity Guaranteed (2012) Publisher(s): Gatton Books. Genre: Non-fiction. Publisher(s): Out of the Box Publishing Ltd, my own company. When did you write your first book? In 2009, I self-published the first edition of Business Survival & Prosperity Guaranteed. Genre: Children’s educational, but also with strong appeal to an adult readership. When did you write your first book? In 2009. Being a PR/marketing consultant, graphic designer and history buff, I’d always fancied combining those skills and interests to create a book. Who or what inspires you when it comes to writing? Subjects that interest me inspire me. Most of my work is with ebooks and relates to my work as a musician. What's next for you? I have just finished a BSc in psychology with the Open University and have started on a path to a MSc in psychotherapy. I'm sure there will be a few books along the way. Tell us a little about that process. I found there were no history guides to Canterbury targeted at young people, so with financial support from Whitefriars, I set out to write one. I have three children and saw how uninspiring some of their schoolbooks were, so I was keen to try and make my book attractive, engaging and informative. What's the dream? To carry on as I am now, selfemployed and working from home with a portfolio of different part-time incomes. Who or what inspires you when it comes to writing? Dorling Kindersley books set the benchmark for visually compelling children’s books and I wanted to try and emulate that. What's next for you? I've published two books to support Canterbury in bloom: To Be A Bee and Garden Science. I'm hoping to produce another next spring on the wonders of water. Tell us a little about that process. Having worked as a part-time selfemployed bookkeeper for 20 years, I was concerned that business newbies kept making the same mistakes, hence my first book. What's the dream? I’d like to produce a whole series of Young Person’s History Guides covering all the UK’s major cities. Top of my list is York. What would be your number one tip for a budding author? Write what readers want to read, not what you want to write. 30 What would be your number one tip for a budding author? As Steven King said, 'read a lot and write a lot'. Write from the heart in your own style.