Tim Pankhurst
Journalist and former newspaper Editor (The Dominion Post, The Press, The Evening Post, Waikato Times) and chief executive (Newspaper Publishers’ Association; Seafood New Zealand).
Author of Roughy on the Rise (Steele Roberts, 2017).
Long distance tramper (Te Araroa Trail), fisher, diver and voracious reader.
Do you try more to be original, or to deliver to readers what they want?
Hopefully, both.
But there are so many wonderful writers and great minds to draw on, happy to credit them.
How do you select the names of your characters?
They select themselves – I write non-fiction.
What was the first book that made you cry?
Probably the adventures of Robin Hood. How could such a hero die? And how awful was that Sheriff of Nottingham?
If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
Pay more attention in class and actually apply myself instead of coasting through. They say youth is a waste and old age is a regret and I couldn’t agree more.
Have you Googled yourself? Did you find out anything interesting?
Yes. And I found a splendid obscene attack on my character from a former prominent politician cum column writer who felt I had slighted him as an Editor in deciding to no longer publish his witterings. I hold him dear, admiring such venom.
Are there any secrets in your books that only a few people will find? Can you tell us one? Or give us any hints?
I am driven by the search for the perfect pie in traversing the country but, then, that’s not a secret.
Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym? Why?
No. Too ego-driven.
How did publishing your first book change your writing process?
Learned to be more disciplined and set a daily writing target.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
One published, one due (Every Effing Inch on Nov 8) and one that isn’t good enough.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
Yes but don’t take too seriously. It’s only someone’s opinion and if they really knew what they were doing they’d be writing their own books.