Shane Dobbie From Scotland

Shane Dobbie from Scotland has a sense of humor like no other. I will share his quote from his profile, “ If writing is a performance art then I’m tap dancing in wellies.” He made me laugh the whole time, I was interviewing him.

https://vocal.media/authors/shane-dobbie

Let’s begin this interview.

Mariann(New York, USA): Hi Shane, I started an interview blog. Would you mind if I give you a interview as a writer on Vocal?

Shane(Scotland): Hi Mariann, not sure I’ve earned that honour yet, but might be fun.

Mariann: I think it would be fun. What is the best time for you? I am on eastern time .

Shane :I’m good now for several hours. It’s mid afternoon gmt

Mariann: Where are you from?

Shane: Easy one to start. A little village called Thornton, in Fife, Scotland. Spent most of my adult life in Edinburgh, and now reside with my family (Wife, dog, cat, chickens and a budgie. Have a daughter but she lives on Islay so I’m not counting her) in Broxburn, West Lothian.

Mariann: What’s a Budgie?

Shane:You might call them parakeets. Steve the budgie. He sometimes annoys me when I’m writing but shouting about something or sitting on my monitor and pooping.

Mariann:It’s always nice to have a assistance when you are writing, lol .

Shane: He’s less annoying than a farting dog and a cat who likes to sit on my laptop the moment he sees it open. Dog - Bodhi (named after Patrick Swayze in Point Break) and Hop the cat. She was a rescue and that was the name they gave her. We couldn’t be bothered changing it.

Mariann: When did you realize you wanted to write?

Shane: I’ve been a reader my whole life. As a single child books were a good escape and fed my imagination but it was falling in love with movies (a theme will will probably come back) that got me thinking about writing.

I knew that the only way to get the movies in my head out into the world was to write them first. I wrote a screenplay called ‘Sugar Rush’ in my early 20’s with the intention of making it over a summer with friends. This was before you could shoot and edit a film on your phone though so finances (procrastination and a lack of self belief) made it a pipe dream.

Life then got in the way until my wife twisted my arm in my mid thirties and made me go to university. I followed my dreams rather than the money and did a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Film. The collision of those two worlds - my love of film and newly discovered love of literature put me on the path to where I am now.

As much as I love the spectacle and visual artistry of film it was always great dialogue in the mouths of great actors that made me return to them over and over.

I figured books are mostly just people talking and much cheaper to make than films so I started to have a go at it.

Mariann: What’s the best word to describe you?

Shane: Do you watch Ted Lasso?

Mariann: Sound familiar, I will look him up.

Shane:I don’t have the anger issues but this is me:

There’s a character in the show, Roy Kent, that is very much me. If you haven’t seen it then ignore this. Just made me think which character from a movie or TV show I’m most like.

https://youtu.be/bYuP4CCyW3s

Best word to describe me?

INTROVERT.

My online self is nothing like my real-life self. I’m quiet and thoughtful most of the time.

Online I’m AFFABLE, ARROGANT (Neil Gaiman says you need a bit of this as a writer and I’m not going to argue with him) and … VERBOSE. 😂

Mariann: What is your real life schedule and how do you fit writing into it?

Shane: I’m lucky as my wife is smarter and more skilled than me so she’s the bread winner in the family. I work part-time to help pay the bills and the streaming services. I have plenty of time to write but manage to fill it with meaningless nonsense. Most writing is done after kicking a story/scene about in my mind for a few days (dog walks and showers are great for creativity) and then furiously written while lying on the sofa in the evening.

Mariann: What do you like most about writing?

Shane: Readers enjoying it. That magical thing that happens when a bunch of words and punctuation form worlds and characters in someone’s head and they talk to me about it like it’s a physical thing they’ve experienced.

Even more so if they take something away from it that I never expected, or intended.

That’s the best thing about it. The thing I enjoy most is writing dialogue. My favourite writer is Aaron Sorkin - the first four seasons of The West Wing are a masterclass in writing characters and dialogue. He always inspires me and it’s in dialogue that I find my characters.

Mariann: What is your goal in writing ?

Shane:To be a best-selling novelist. My wife is a casual observer of my writing. She looks forward to me becoming a best-selling author so she can retire and drink gin in the garden with our chickens. She gives good notes - most recently for the mirror challenge where she noted that my ending was rubbish and suggested a better one. She was right, as always.

I’m currently working on a second draft of a novel (first chapter, such as it is on Vocal) and then summoning up the courage to send it out to professional publishers 😬

Mariann: What type of novels you like to write about and why?

Shane: The one I’m trying to finish up is an urban western/guy walks into a bar thriller. It’s inspired by my love of 80s action movies but, with hindsight, is a Jack Reacher knock off. I figured that kind of thing would be “easy” to write and, if all else fails, there’s always an audience for that kind of thing on the Kindle store. I now have two thinly sketched sequel ideas in my head and a horror novel based on a movie idea I’ve had for decades. We’ll see how far they get.

Mariann: What does your writing space look like?

Shane :I usually write slumped on the sofa in the evening. Not ideal but it works.

I have a proper PC set up with a nice clacky keyboard but it feels solitary locking myself away there so I prefer to write with my wife as company; that way I can ‘tsk’ dramatically when she asks if I’m planning on making a cup of tea at any point 😂

Mariann: What topic do you like to write about?

Shane: I’ve started writing a blog thing about my favorite movie. They’re my favorite topic.

Fiction wise: I’ll have a go at most things - not really one for poetry or ‘flowery’ literature but Vocal has been great in getting me out of my comfort zone and trying new things. Otherwise, I’m either going for a laugh or a shock. I like getting a reaction.

Mariann: What’s the favorite story you wrote?

Shane: I just finished ,The Reader, I really like - it’s very ‘Me’ and was the first Top Story I got, which was really exciting.

Mariann: what is your most proud of accomplishment in your life and in your writing?

Shane: I’m Scottish so we don’t do well with questions like this. I’m reminded of a great gag by Frankie Boyle (Scottish comedian and author) where someone congratulates John Logie Baird for inventing the television and Baird replies, ‘Aye, but there’s fuck all on.’

Quintessential Scottish reply to praise.

I’ve raised a daughter and she’s now out in the wild as a fairly well functioning adult. I’m pretty sure she’s not a serial killer so I’m calling that a win and something to be proud of.

Ran three half marathons when, previously, I could barely run for a bus. I was proud of those.

Writing wise, and a similar experience to the half Marathons, was completing a whole first draft of a novel. If I can get off Vocal long enough to complete it properly then I’ll be even prouder.

Mariann: My bonus questions : Who is your favorite Vocal writer and why? If you can interview a vocal creator who would it be?

Shane : My Favourite vocal writer, Scott Wade. My first experience of his writing was arrogantly taking an example of his work out of context for a rant I did about ‘Hooptedoodle and Flim Flam’. Wasn’t my finest moment in community building although it got my point across, and when Rick Henry Christopher finally forgave me he invited me to be an admin for the Vocal + Assist Facebook group.

I like Scott’s stuff because there’s an effortless quality to his prose. A lot of times on Vocal I can see the gears churning behind the writing but Scott is a natural. Reminds me of Stephen King.

Can I also shout out Beth Sarah? This should have been up there in the mirror challenge. Fantastic writing

https://vocal.media/fiction/playing-cat-and-mouse-in-the-house-of-mirrors

Mariann: So , how do you like being an admin in Vocal +Assist Facebook group?

Shane:Its a lovely group and it’s great to help promote as much writers as possible. I wasn’t sure about doing it initially but I’m glad I did.

Mariann:I really had fun interviewing you. Can’t wait to get it published. It’s the waiting in submission.

Shane :Cool. Top Story ahoy 😂

Was fun to be interviewed. Gonna be a great series for our little community.

( I hope you enjoyed my interview with Shane Dobbie from Scotland, I was not going to put this part in the interview but his sense of humor make me laugh out loud.)

Mariann: Thank you, What are you most proud of in regarding your country, Scotland ?

Shane: We invented scenery 😂

Enjoy his latest Vocal Creations ,

Thank you for reading, Vocal Blog Fans 🙂