Tom Wood is probably the only author of fiction that I read. I don't normally read a book unless it's an educational book of some kind where I can hopefully self improve.

But when I do want to relax with a good book I reach for one of Tom's books and can be lost in its pages for hours.

'Victor', the protagonist in his books, is an amazing character that I simply can't help but root for.

I have read all his novels to date, some more than once and now that Tom has a brand new book out, called 'A Quiet Man', I decided to invite him to let Messenger readers know all about it and a bit about himself too!

I asked Tom what was his pathway to becoming such a successful writer? and here is what he had to say.

"To paraphrase a song, it was a long and winding road. I guess I took my first steps when I was still in primary school. I remember my teacher Mr Watson telling me I would grow up to be a writer when I was maybe ten years old. But he also went on to tell me all my stories were the same, so perhaps he thought I would be a one-trick pony.

"Fast forward many years and I was an achingly serious twenty something trying to write an achingly serious first novel.

"I think I wrote half a million words on this one book alone and just couldn’t get it right.

"Bear in mind that the average length of a commercial fiction title is probably ninety thousand words, so it’s fair to say I was going nowhere fast.

"I ended up hating it and giving up. I still wanted to write, however, and decided to try writing something I would actually want to read myself instead of writing what I thought I should write.

"Enter Victor, which turned out to be a happy accident because other people wanted to read about him too. The rest is just luck."

What is your life like? What do you do when not writing? How do you relax?

"I don’t think I’ve relaxed in about a year! The pandemic has obviously changed all of our lives and since I used to work at home beforehand, being then stuck at home constantly has felt like always being at work.

"When I’m not writing, I exercise quite a lot. I built a little home gym when the actual gyms closed and it’s been both a good way to stave off those lockdown pounds as well as a much needed sanity saver. Now life is getting back to normal I’m looking forward to taking my laptop out and writing away from home more and more." 

For those who don't yet know, who is Victor and where did the idea for him come from?

"He’s a professional assassin who is very good at his job. He has no friends and no family. He can be ruthless and merciless but he’s not cruel, and he never takes it personally when his enemies try to kill him. He’s pretty sanguine about the constant danger he’s in and sees little difference in a bullet ending his life or heart disease". 

"I couldn’t tell you exactly where the idea for him came from because I had him in my mind long before I actually wrote his first outing. Before I really knuckled down to write a book I would play around with short stories and scripts, and Victor came out of that process. 

"Originally, I imagined him as the antagonist of a different story. He would be a villain hunting down the heroes. Of course, by the time I decided to write about him in earnest I made him the protagonist."

You new book in the Victor series is out soon, so tell us about 'A Quiet Man'. 

"In this story, Victor is an accidental hero for a change. In a rare moment of empathy, he agrees to do a favour for a small boy. When that boy and his mother go missing, Victor starts to ask questions about where they’ve gone. This simple line of enquiry quickly spirals out of control and puts him at odds with criminal gangs who become wary of this mysterious stranger and what he wants.

"Unfortunately for them, Victor is far more dangerous than they could possibly imagine and he’s not going to let them or anyone else stand in his way."

A Quiet Man is available from all the usual outlets from the May 27. Messenger readers can purchase signed copies by visiting sevenoaksbookshop.co.uk/shop/a-quiet-man-by-tom-wood