Today’s author interview is with the talented Francis H. Powell, author of Flight of Destiny. Please welcome Francis H. Powell to XterraWeb ~Books & More~. We hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did. Before we get started, we would like to thank Francis for taking the time to give us this interview. Buy Flight of Destiny on Amazon.

Amor Libris: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Francis H. Powell: Born in a commuter belt city called Reading and like many a middle- or upper-class child of such times, I was shunted off to an all-male boarding school at the age of eight, away from my parents for periods of up to twelve weeks at a time, until I was seventeen.

While at my first Art college I met a writer called Rupert Thomson, who was at the time in the process of writing his first book, Dreams of Leaving, through a friend. He was a bit older than myself, me being fresh out of school, but his personality and wit resonated despite losing contact with him. I had a stint living in Austria, where I began writing. It wasn’t until I moved to Paris, that my writing began to truly evolve. I discovered a magazine called Rat Mort (dead rat), and I sent off a short story in the hope it would match the seemingly dark world the magazine seemed to embroiled in. I got no answer. Not put off, I sent two more stories. Finally I got an answer. It seemed the magazine editor was a busy man, a man prone to travelling. It seemed my first story really hit the right note with him. His name was Alan Clark. I began writing more and more short stories, some published on the Internet.

Amor Libris: What is your favorite motivational phrase, and why?

Francis H. Powell: I am not sure it’s a motivational phrase but…

“Get up, stand up, stand up for your right.
Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight.”

~Words by Bob Marley

Amor Libris: What do you like to do when you are not writing?

Francis H. Powell: As you can see from my first answer, I come from quite a creative background. I still paint and make sculptures (from found objects, that I find around Paris). I have a YouTube channel, the Flight of Destiny YouTube channel.

I work as a teacher and work in different universities and some Architecture schools around Paris. I write music (electronic) with my computer, and I also make videos, which I post on my YouTube channel.

Recently, a friend, who has adopted a character called Lord Lupine, agreed to do a reading of one of my short stories Bugeyes with his Lord Lupine persona … Lord Lupine seems to like sherry and seems a debauched lord. The video is very Monty Pythonesque. I have been described as a renaissance man, and I try my hand at many creative activities. I have also written poetry and had it published.

Amor Libris: What books and/or authors have influenced you the most?

Francis H. Powell: I love the work of Rupert Thomson, who wrote Dreams of Leaving, as well as other books. I met him when I was a new student at Art College, and he and his writing have made a long-lasting impression on me. My style of short stories was influenced by Roald Dahl, (I loved Kiss, Kiss, which I read as a child.). I like to include a dramatic twist at the end of the story.