Mike Lucas

Fact File

The best thing about my job:
I have three jobs. I’m an engineer, bookshop owner, author. And the best thing about my favourite job (author, of course) is seeing my books in the shops, libraries and the hands of the readers.

My favourite foods:
I love Italian – creamy, garlic pasta dishes. Or Mexican food – with chillies and jalapenos. Or Indian food. I just like food. But I am pescetarian. So the only meat I eat is seafood.

My dream car:
I’m not into cars at all. So, a yellow one. Like what I have.

My worst injury:
When I was sixteen, I jumped off a wall and landed on my heel. The shock went up through my body and detached my retina. Luckily, my eyesight was saved at the time by groundbreaking surgery. I’ve since had lots of laser surgery on both eyes because of weak retinas and, in 2018, I had another detachment, resulting in permanent loss of sight in one eye. But, while I was off work, undergoing operations to try and save it, I wrote ‘What We All Saw’. So, something positive came out of all that trauma.

My favourite colour:
Definitely red. It’s the colour of fire and life, danger and excitement.

My hero and why:
I could name lots. But sticking with literature, it has to be Stephen King. I’ve been reading his books since I was eleven and he has been the biggest influence on my writing.

My favourite possessions:
My vinyl collection, which I started at the age of twelve. Also, my wedding ring, the watch my wife bought me over twenty years go, my Tae Kwon Do black belt. And, of course, my books.

If I wasn’t doing my current job, I would like to be:
I would love to be able to write full time. Unfortunately, most writers need a second job to pay for the things they enjoy. And the bills. But I also would have liked to have been a primary school teacher.

The most important things in life are:
This poem that I wrote will answer that:

There are millions of people less lucky than me,
For I’ve had my breakfast, my dinner and tea.
I sleep in a bed and I wake in the morn.
I’ve lived lots of days since the day I was born.
My house has a roof and some walls and a door.
When I step outside there is no-one at war.
I visit a doctor when I don’t feel well,
And when I’m unhappy I have someone to tell.
I’m liked by so many, even loved by a few.
I always have lots of fun things I can do.
I hope if you’re reading this that you will be
Someone who is lucky in life just like me.

 

My Ambassador Reading Tip:
Try not to spend all your writing time trying to get the story perfect on your first draft. Or, even worse, to not put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) at all and sit there staring at some blank media. Just write. Whatever words you put down can be changed, added to, or deleted. The worst kind of writing in no writing.

Other information

Find out more about me here:

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