#BlogTour: Fight or Die by James Hilton

Release date - 13th June 2017
Book length - 356 pages
Publisher - titanbooks.com
Book Depository - www.bookdepository.com
Amazon UK - www.amazon.co.uk
Amazon US - www.amazon.com

ABOUT THE BOOK

When the Gunn brothers Danny and Clay answer a call to help old friends, they are plunged into a volatile and potentially deadly situation. Larry and Pamela Duke own one of the most popular nightclubs in the Spanish resort town of Ultima, but a local gang known as the Locos are determined to take it for themselves. Danny and Clay are hired to protect the club, but soon new adversaries enter the game. Against such odds there are only two choices: fight or die..

Author Bio:

James Hilton has written several short stories that have appeared in anthologies both in print and as e-books. A lifelong martial artist, James has studied various arts and is currently ranked as a 4th Dan Blackbelt in Jujitsu and Kempo Karate. He is a frequent visitor to the USA, being particularly fond of all things Floridian and Caribbean. James lives with his wife, Wendy, in the beautiful but rugged north of England. Search and Destroy is his first novel.
​For more information:
Twitter - twitter.com/AuthorJHilton
Facebook - www.facebook.com/jim.hilton.3388/

I am delighted to be involved in this blog tour where I have a fascinating guest post from James Hilton about his writing process. I want to thank the author James, and Phillipa at Titan Books, for the opportunity to take part in this book tour. Now over to the author....

GUEST POST

My Writing Process
I guess every writer both amateur and professional follows their own path. Some just set off writing and see where the story takes them, others are meticulous in their outline (some nearly as detailed as the finished novels). There is no right or wrong way, only what works best for you.
I like to sketch out an outline in the barest of detail, kind of like a film storyboard but much less exact. Each ‘block’ lists the major event or scene in the chapter. This helps me navigate through the riptides and marshes as I get down to the physical task of writing. 
The overall theme and inspiration of the book differs each time. My first Gunn Brothers novel Search and Destroy was written with the theme ‘how far would blue collar tough guys go to stay alive?’
Once the general theme is in my mind then comes the details. I sketch out the storyboard, usually about two sides of A4. When I’m happy that I’ve got a definite direction, then begins the writing. I keep all of my notes and storyboards after the novel is finished and compare them with the finished draft. Sometimes they are almost the same in detail and direction but sometimes during the writing process the story changes. A good example is in the storyboard my first novel, the character Tansen Tibrikot was to have a fleeting mention, just a convenient guy to help the story along. Yet sometimes, as other writers will tell you, your character can grow legs. This was definitely the case with Tansen. Suddenly his back story grew, as did his quirky penchant for old west memorabilia. The drama just seemed want to follow him onto the page. Who was I to stand in his way? 
Any ideas or scenes that I discarded (or were exorcised via Holy Water by my wonderful editor) are filed away for future consideration. I think of them as deleted scenes, again much as in a movie production. Sometimes these are best left on the metaphorical cutting room floor and other times they get filed away for possible future use. 
When I finally get down to the day to day business of putting words on a page, I often do so while listening to music (via headphones so as not to disturb the neighbourhood). I am a big fan of movie scores and as these often last up to two hours they fit my writing sessions well. I have unbridled respect for composers and musicians. The skill and effort that must go into composing a film score is, to me, nothing short of miraculous. The music of Basil Poledouris, Hans Zimmer, Bryan Tyler, John Williams and Ennio Morricone is timeless. Occasionally I will switch it up and play some frenetic tunes, thrash metal, techno rave and the likes. Like my characters on the page, I am a man of contrasts.
When I have finished the first draft, I step away from the book for a week or so then read it through and make notes of any glaring errors or inconsistencies (they pop up in the unlikeliest of places). Then begins the hard work; getting it ready to submit to your editor. 
Then like the Greek king Sysyphus who rolled the stone uphill for eternity, we get to do it over again, albeit with a nervous smile.