Welcome to Author Services Australia, Ivan Scott, and welcome to our author interviews! If you could start by introducing yourself to everyone, let them know where you’re from and some of your interests and hobbies.
Hello Australia! My name is Ivan Scott, and I am flattered and thrilled to be asked to speak with you today.
I am from Atlanta and am married to a genuine ginger, whom I nicknamed Red. She gives me lots of material for my stories and is my muse. We have two troublemaking kids and a rat terrier named Beesley.
I have four books published, with two more to come. They are all HEA’s. But also with the message of living life to the fullest and savoring those special moments we sometimes take for granted. 
For fun, I like to read and learn more about other authors since that helps strengthen my writing. I am a huge Premier League fan and support Tottenham. I also love American football and am a Detroit Lions fan. Both teams are perennial underdogs, so maybe that’s why I gravitate to them. It’s like Rhett Butler once said in Gone With The Wind: “I’ve always had a weakness for lost causes once they’re really lost.” I love Austrian Rules Football (Footy, right? Haha), and I like North Melbourne. However, I wish they showed it more in the States so I could see every team play.
I played goalkeeper for my college soccer team. I used some of those experiences in my third story, A Redhead in Tottenham. The premise is about the goalkeeper who is the best in the league but still feels the pain of losing a championship on a late goal that he blames himself for. I had one of those experiences in a game in 1988, and to this day, I still haven’t gotten over it, so it was a sort of therapy to write about it. But I still haven’t gotten over it! Ha-ha.
What inspired you to start writing?
I’ve always had a thing for wanting to stop time, and by writing, I can watch life and feel like I can hold on to it by writing about a moment, or a place, or a time, so it will live forever. For me, it’s also a way to keep my spirit and presence alive since no matter what happens to me, my words, thoughts, and feelings will live on long after I have left the world. It never ceases to amaze me that when we pick up a book, the author comes alive right before our eyes, so in that way, that person never really dies. When I read Hemingway, it’s like he’s sitting next to me, and we are talking about life and what we think about it. And when I read something from years ago, and it resonates with me, it makes me think, “Wow, that writer went through the same things I am going through and is feeling the same thing I’m feeling at this moment, and that always blows me away.
What is your preferred genre to write in?
I love the RomComs genre since I enjoy a good laugh and not taking life too seriously. And who doesn’t like a happy ever after? In the world, we see more bad than good, so being able to escape into a world where people can come out of it happy and fulfilled, it’s a breath of fresh air for me.
What is your writing process?
Since I’m Dyslexic, I tend to go a different route in the process since my brain is wired differently than most. I write everything in notebooks so I can use different colored pens, draw through sentences, write notes in the margins, and do whatever I want so I don’t feel like I am trapped in a box. There are other times I will break out the large-size paper and the Sharpie markers so I can draw boxes, color code things, and see the characters on the page, which brings them to life for me. Only then do I transfer it to a laptop. Also, another quirk of mine is I get so many ideas in the shower, and by the time I would get dressed and ready to write, I would forget the idea. So, I found a waterproof writing pad on Amazon that attaches to the wall by suction cups, and when I get an idea, I can write it down and not forget it. Hey, us writers can be a different breed of cats, you know? Ha-ha.
What is one thing you wish you knew now that you didn’t know when you started writing?
To be okay with a first draft. As Hemingway once said, the first draft of anything is shit, and it’s not the final draft that is going to be published. It’s a process, and the first draft is round one, with several more to go, so I now look at it as a marathon instead of a sprint.
If you use a pen name, why and how did you come up with it?
I use a pen name only because my last name is hard to pronounce. I took my first name and moved it to my last, then used my middle name as my first name. My middle name was my father’s first name, so I have it to honor him and his memory. The pen name flows much better, and it reminds me of my father.
Ivan Scott, which book is your favorite and why?
My favorite book is The Old Man and the Sea. I think that I resonate with the book since it focuses on an older man (I’m not that old…haha) who has lost the magic he once possessed as a fisherman. Then one day, he finds it and has one last day in the sun. He gets to relive all the glory of his youth, and then he returns to his life. But it’s enough for him to know that he had his day, and nobody can ever take that away from him.
What are you working on right now?
I am ready to release my fourth book in October. It is titled, The Redhead Who Loves Hemingway. I have two other books written and are ready to be edited, so I am excited to be able to have more books written for the world to read.
Thanks so much for taking the time to do an author interview, Ivan Scott! If you need any assistance with self-publishing, including ghostwriting, editing, formatting, or cover design, then don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us directly. Our friendly and professional team is always happy to help.
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Author Name: Ivan Scott
Genre/s: RomCom, Romantic Comedy, and Romantic Fiction
Author Website: www.ivanscottbooks.com
Social Media Links: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon Author Central, and Pinterest.
The Best Link to Where People Can Buy Your Book: https://amzn.to/3Nj8gtX
