Although my heart has always belonged to writing fiction, I have spent much of my working life as an expat in the Construction Industry. Fortunately my work has allowed me, my wife and daughter to travel the world and experience many different cultures which regularly influence my writing.

I tend towards darker tales of mystery, horror and the supernatural with the occasional irreverent story thrown in when things start looking too bleak.

I have written and re-drafted a novel that, if nothing else, has taught me what I need to do differently next time and how to deal with rejection letters from Agents and I am now working on a new novel, ‘Identity Thief’.

I love to write short stories to entertain my ever patient wife who, thankfully, remains my biggest fan.

I hope to one day spend my days writing at my beach front house in the Caribbean. All I need is the house, the finances, an agent, an editor, a publisher and a few hundred thousand constant readers!

Interview with Mike Davis, Conducted by Michele Agnew of micheleagnew.com

To say that Mike Davis is a fine writer - and make no mistake he is - is merely to say that he has an elevated ability to create sentences, paragraphs, and passages that intrigue and engage his reader. Mike is much more than a fine writer. He is a writer who offers a unique vision, a creative voice, and an attention grabbing presence. To say that Mike is also creative, intelligent, witty, opinionated,  and  addictive  - and make no mistake he is - is to suggest that you have already begun to understand and admire the man behind [the stories].

MA - You once started a blog so that no one could ever alter your words. Did this motivation keep you blogging, and have you ever had the desire to alter your own words?

MD - [I stopped blogging after a 12 month period] That motivation was very intense but also short lived. I read a blog condemning a news agency for exercising caution with the use of the phrase ‘suspected insurgent’. My comment on the need for the press to report facts and not act as judge and jury were drastically altered and this infuriated me so much that I started a blog of my own where I would have control over my own words.

While I started out with mainly politically based observations to counter the idiocy of what I read elsewhere, I soon realized that there were far more passionate and well versed commentators than myself on either side of the fence. In the end I found I was happier just avoiding the blogs of people I didn't agree with!

I have an almost constant desire to alter my own words. After realizing that my blog would serve me better as a means to improve my writing skills, I've used it to publish personal accounts, essays and short stories. The number and content of the comments and emails I receive in response to these posts help me to understand how I can improve my style and where my strengths and weaknesses lie.  I don’t alter the words in my blog but, based on the responses to my posts, I do sometimes alter the words and style in my other writings.

MA - Your dream is to one day be a best-selling author, if you had to choose between being publicly known or critically acclaimed, which would you choose and why?

MD - That's a question I've asked myself and avoided answering many times: Financially stable ‘paper-hack writer’ or esteemed pauper?

Critical acclaim must be a wonderful feeling. In the words of Blind-Dog Fulton: “All he ever wanted was for people to say ‘That boy could really play’”. On the other hand, Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime – to his brother – and I can’t help but wonder what good his critical acclaim did him or his family, then or now.

I feel that for myself, a guy with a family to support, being publicly known would be preferable and more likely to allow me to pursue my writing dreams full time. I would be a liar if I said I wouldn’t want to write a Bestseller and then rake in the movie rights from my novel but, in addition to that, being a popular author with a large audience of regular people would be greater vindication of my work than perhaps being held in high regard by a small group of elitist book snobs with dubious taste.

MD -  One of your most important roles is that of father to a teenage daughter. Name three things that you admire about her and how has she made you a better person?

MD - Firstly, my daughter is a marvelous diplomat, in spite of her exposure to my sarcasm and my Wife’s cynicism. She (mostly) seeks to calm rather than agitate situations.

Secondly, she has always adapted well to new environments. She has lived in West Africa, Europe and North America and each move has obviously meant a new house, new school and new friends but she has made each transition with admirable ease.

Finally, she has managed to maintain many of the friendships forged in each location we have lived and is dedicated in her efforts to keep those friendships alive, despite the distances and time differences. She writes regularly and calls on birthdays, without fail.

How has she made me a better person? She joined the small, elite group of people who stand between me and total egotism.