Dissecting Tim Law
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tell us about yourself. When did your passion for reading and writing start?
I’ve always been a storyteller, following in my mother’s footsteps (she was an early primary teacher). She would read at bedtime to my brother and me and often made up stories on the spot. As I got older, I offered to do the storytelling, and my passion for this medium grew from there. My mum must have known something was in the cards. She always told me to Dream Big, while my dad’s advice was that I get a “Real Job” first. My love of books began at home and developed at the country town primary school, where my educational journey began. Halfway through my first year, I could fluently read Billy Goat and His Well-Fed Friends by Nonny Hogrogian. I still have a soft spot for that book.
What drew you to your preferred writing genres?
As an introvert, moving to a new town and new school when I was eight, and a love of reading and writing made me a bit of an outsider. The school library became my haven, and the librarians there my good friends. I found escape in adventure and fantasy stories like the Naria series (all seven books, not just the popular ones), visiting Earthsea with Ged the mage, I found an interesting one-off sci-fi called Dicing with Dragons, and an intricate seven-book series that examined reincarnation, Persian folklore and political power struggles. In fantasy, I discovered a whole new world different to my own. For a long time, I believed that the only stories I could write were fantasy. Thankfully, Black Hare Press, the Furious Fiction prompts from AWC, and other opportunities lifted the veil and helped me to discover my knack for horror and other genres.
Have you ever based a character on someone you know?
Ha! Funny you should ask that. Early on, when I first started getting stories accepted, I would not dare base any characters on people I knew. One family holiday, though, I was observing my nieces and saw they were glued to their tablets. The twitching of the eyes, the change of mood, this behaviour really struck a chord with me. I wrote a children’s story, sci-fi with androids on a spaceship, which mimicked the behaviours I was witnessing. I even went as far as naming the androids after my nieces (and my daughters, too). Since then, I have not hesitated to find inspiration from friends, family, people I run into or happen to observe. Great characters are everywhere.
Have you ever considered writing under a pseudonym, and why or why not?
A pseudonym has gotten me into trouble. My darker and more erotic stories I have sent out under the name of TJ Gallasch (TJ being my first initials and Gallasch being my wife’s maiden name). I thought I had gotten away with it until family let my wife know. She was not at all happy (I got the silent treatment for a week). Now, TJ writes drabbles for the monthly Dark Moments calls. Nothing erotic or so dark that my wife could take offense. I’m more likely these days to write under my own name too, being proud of every acceptance, regardless of how dark, weird, or erotic. My colleagues at the local council where I work know about TJ and those past successes. I, and TJ, have nothing to hide.
What do the words “writer’s block” mean to you?
“Writer’s block” for me is a sign that I’ve stopped listening to my characters. I never plan or plot (sorry, Dean!). For me, a story or poem begins when a scene randomly pops into my head, or I hear someone say the perfect line. Without warning, my mind just races. I need to find a quiet spot to get everything down, and sometimes I find I just can’t write fast enough. When everything grinds to a halt, I have that moment of panic we all know so well, wondering what went wrong. But then I take a deep breath (or a couple), delete a sentence or two, and think to myself what would that character really do, or actually say? For me, the ideas stop flowing when I think I know best. Now I’ve learnt to just trust the characters. When I listen to them, the story tells itself.
What’s your favourite or least favourite part of the writing process?
I love it all. Editing not so much, but I understand the importance of it. Writing the first draft is exciting, being the first to hear a brand-new story. Reading a finished, polished, final draft is truly rewarding. You cannot believe what you have achieved, and you are so truly grateful for everyone who has helped you to get there. Some parts of the writing experience are more challenging than others, but, if I am truly honest, I can say I enjoy every moment of the process from first word to final print run. Each part helps you improve as a writer. Something I would love to get better at is promotion, though. Self-promotion and product marketing I fear is my Achilles’ heel.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Being Me by Tim Law
Edward Browning is stuck—broke, directionless, and drifting through life while everyone around him moves on. When a strange man in an olive trench coat offers him an “experience money can’t buy,” Ed brushes him off… until a mysterious business card turns up in his pocket.
Curiosity leads him to an abandoned cinema where the impossible becomes real. On the silver screen, lives unfold like films—and with a single command, Ed can take control of the person on display. For the first time, he feels powerful. In charge. Alive.
But every performance has an audience, and every show demands a price.
As Ed returns for another taste of control, the line between spectator and star begins to blur. The rules aren’t as simple as he thought, and the crowd doesn’t always play nice. When the spotlight swings his way, Ed must confront the terrifying truth about the gift he’s been given—and the cost of trying to rewrite his own story.
Dark, unsettling, and laced with pitch-black humour, Being Me explores identity, power, and the dangerous allure of living someone else’s life.
BLACK HARE PRESS LINK
BUY LINK
What sparked the idea for this story?
I’ve never watched the movie Being John Malkovich, but I’ve shelved the DVD at the library where I work on many occasions. The cover art gave me the idea for Being Me, that and a Sesame Street skit with a guy in a trench coat trying to flog off the letter or the number of the day. Combining those two things got me wondering about what it would be like if I had a run-in with trench coat guy. What could they offer me that I might say yes? If I could one day be John Malkovich, or anyone else, how would I do it? What could I influence? What kind of person would end up succumbing to this kind of temptation? The story just flowed from there.
Did you plot or pants this story, and would you change your process if you had to start again?
I’m a pantser, and I fear I always will be. I admire those writers who have a chapter outline, a perfect pitch, a board covered in pictures with red wool linking moments to locations and a cast of characters who are there to play a part. I don’t have the ability to stop and create that. When an idea strikes, it is all go, until I’m distracted by something else. I have a few stories that I began writing years ago, which I still think about today. They haunt me, beg me to finish them. I will, when the moment is right, and there will probably be not a single iota of planning involved for any of them. I just can’t get my head around how it is done. In the time it would take me to figure that out, the story is written, edited, and ready to send.
What came first? The plot or the characters?
When I write, I find that a certain scene pops into my head and refuses to go away. When writing Being Me, it was the playground scene right at the beginning. Sometimes I find my mind starts in the middle, or I imagine the end and need to work backward to find the beginning. This story started me off and then took me on a merry trip. I had no idea how desperately my protagonist needed a life change. I was unprepared for how the story ended. The chaos and the sadness for me added to the horror. The plot kind of creates itself as I allow the characters to tell me their side. I did not set out to write a horror story of this nature. But, as I read back over the words I’ve created, I am so damn glad I did.
How much research did you need to do for this story?
This story is all emotion. The research, if I can call it that, is my experiences growing up. It is scenes I remember, snippets of television, a DVD cover, something somebody said at a birthday party. I did turn to that search engine beginning with G for my locations as I’ve never travelled to America, yet, and I wanted to place my character somewhere familiar to the reader, somewhere real. Sometimes I will set stories in a place I have been, but on this occasion, I imagined a city in America. Not knowing where you are can often be scary. Hopefully, I wrote my scenes well enough that the city for the readers is real, the characters are interesting and relatable, and the story is worthy of a read or two.
How long did it take you to write this story?
After receiving the rejection email for the Bodies call, I panicked. Where else could I send such a story? Luckily, Black Hare Press publishes Short Reads. I realised I needed to trim scenes where I’d padded and expand scenes that were not yet perfect. Editing I find difficult, going back to a story and finding ways to make it better, without someone else pointing out the obvious. I’m like a lost little lamb. Getting Being Me ready for a final edit was the bit that took the longest.
How much did the story change from first draft to publication?
The manuscript changed a little bit during the rewrite and then the editing phases. The heart of the story remained the same, though.
How did you come up with the title?
To be honest, Being Me was very much based on that movie title, which started the ideas flowing. I did not have a name yet for my protagonist, and I wanted something that would catch the eye of the Bodies anthology proofreaders. Being Me was dreamed up quite early in the writing stages, and it just stuck. By the end of the story and the editing stages, the cover art and the blurb, it seemed like an appropriate title. It could have changed to Being Edward, but then it would have lost its connection to every reader. Being Me means this could happen to all of us, the highs and the lows. I liked the openness and the potential.
Which part of the story was the most fun or the hardest to write?
The challenge for me was writing the end. Originally, the story finished in that final cinema scene. When I went back over it for my Short Reads submission, I knew I needed to strengthen the ending. Having that extra bit to finish off the story and tie it all together, well, that was hard to come up with and harder still to get right.
What’s your favourite scene? Why?
The playground scene specifically was what I enjoyed the most. The absurdity of what was for sale and how Trench Coat was selling it. The niece and nephew in the scene helped to strengthen this scene, that innocence highlighting just how weird and wonderful that whole scenario was. Following this up with the ice cream van and the way that Uncle Edward was distracted, I thought this was a strong beginning from where I could tell the rest of my tale. I also like the family connection referenced in the lead-up to the visit to the playground. The brother and sister relationship between Edward and the children’s mother, and then the way it is continued through the interaction with the niece and nephew. The rest of the story is focused solely on Edward and the decisions he makes, but that first scene paints him as someone likeable.
Is there a particular message that you hope readers will take from the story?
Don’t trust the slogans on business cards. In fact, don’t trust businesses in general. They all want your money. You can trust Black Hare Press, though, as they just want you to read great stories. I guess that the main theme of this story is just how quickly power can corrupt, especially when someone feels like they have nothing to lose. Also, there is always something precious that you are risking with each decision you make. Think about someone other than yourself as often as possible. And if what you are planning to do will benefit them and you… Well, that’s a win/win situation.
THE STITCH UP
How do you celebrate when you finish a story?
If you could invite any three authors for dinner, whom would you invite?
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve used as a bookmark?
A letter opener shaped like a rapier.
What’s the oldest book on your bookshelf?
The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill by Dorothy Wall.
Hook me! Why should I read your book?
Want more? Catch up on all the Dissecting Author Interviews on the Black Hare Press website here: