Interview Q&A with Jim Wilson-Storey
We present our first exclusive Q&A Interview with Jim Wilson-Storey, whose literary works have graced our Spillwords pages and earned him the title of December’s 2025 Author of the Month.
- What does it mean to be selected as Author of the Month?
Being selected as Author of the Month is genuinely an honor. It’s a recognition of the time, energy, and heart that I and possibly every other writer put into writing.
- How have your friends and/or family influenced your writing?
To be honest, there wouldn’t be any writing without the encouragement of family and friends.
- What inspires and motivates you to write?
My brain is chaotic, spluttering out ideas that refuse to turn off until I give them somewhere to live.
- Can you tell us about the catalyst that sparked your writing journey?
My wife told me about an abandoned kitten she had found and adopted. With help from grandchildren, we wrote the story and had it published, primarily as a Christmas gift for my wife. That simple act of love opened the door, I never saw coming.
- Please share a glimpse into your writing process.
It’s messy! I don’t seem to have any structure. Ideas that appear always wait attention, most fade, to gather dust in the recesses of my mind. One or two ideas stay, haunting me until I write down a few words. Eventually, without any clear map, I begin to write, from one spark to the next. Once I have an outline, like a sculptor I begin to chip away at the draft, until to the best of my ability, I have a story worth sharing with.
- What do you find most fulfilling about the act of writing?
Writing is my way of expressing my thoughts, observations and experiences.
- How does the use of imagery contribute to conveying your story?
For me it’s everything. Creating scenes that feel alive and characters that feel real, is central to building atmosphere and tension.
- What is your favorite reading genre?
Literary historical fiction, where the writer emphasizes a sense of compassion for characters, especially those with human frailties.
- What human being has inspired you the most?
Wow! That is a hard question. There have been so many people that have inspired me. But if I have to choose one, it would be a former teacher, at my secondary school, Mrs. Heeley. Until Mrs. Heeley came along, I seemed alone in the world. Mrs. Heeley was steady, consistent, and deeply human. But, most importantly, despite my shortcomings she was determined to help me read and write, which had alluded me for many years, what with my dyslexia and which led me here.
- What message would you have for the Spillwords Press community that voted for you?
First and foremost, I would like to say, thank you. Your encouragement and support are not only much appreciated it is a key factor in helping me become a better writer.
- What would you like your legacy as a writer to be?
If just a handful of readers carry something I wrote with them, that would make my life meaningful.
- Is there anything else you would like to add?
Just a very big thank you to Spillwords, its readers and fellow writers, members of the Clever Park Road Writers Group, my wife and daughters, and all the wonderful friends I’ve been fortunate to meet along the way. May you never be short of a kind or thought-provoking word or two.
- Interview Q&A With Jim Wilson-Storey - January 15, 2026
- SHIMLA - December 8, 2025
- For King and Country - July 10, 2025
