JimiJix Special Brew has been featured in more than four-hundred media outlets, here are a selection of the answers provided by Tom Dots Doherty when interviewed:

Question: JimiJix Special Brew follows a man shattered by the tragic loss of his wife and daughter. What was the inspiration for this story?

Answer: No single case was the inspiration for the setup in JimiJix Special Brew, although Killian Doyle, and the marketing mascot, were obviously inspired by Tom Dots Doherty’s experience in advertising. 

Question: Does Tom Dots Doherty think that there a single moment in everyone's life that is life-changing?

Answer: Change is often prompted by an event in someone’s life. It could be a career event, a relationship event, a family event, or some other event, but an event often prompts a person to change. 

Question: What themes are explored in JimiJix Special Brew?

Answer: While the story is primarily about how a relatively ordinary person has to change and use all their skills (their special brew) in order to obtain justice, other themes explored in JimiJix Special Brew are love, loyalty, and revenge.  

Question: Tom Dots Doherty had a long career in the advertising industry. How did his experience influenced his writing?

Answer: Advertising is a results driven business in which there is a deadline to complete a project. That gave Tom Dots Doherty the experience of working within a certain time frame.

Question: JimiJix Special Brew involves the murder of a restaurant's marketing mascot, a unique premise for a crime thriller. What inspired Tom Dots Doherty to centre a story around this concept?

Answer: While working in advertising, Tom Dots Doherty was involved in the recruitment of a marketing mascot for a restaurant chain. That experience led him to consider making a marketing mascot the focal point of a mystery story. 

Question: As Tom Dots Doherty has lent money to over two-hundred Irish firms and provided funding for various Irish start-up companies, how did his knowledge of business and entrepreneurship play a role in his stories?

Answer: Most things (some people would argue all things) are driven by money, so having a knowledge of business and entrepreneurship is not a bad attribute to possess in any venture. A business is often driven by the money that it brings in, and writing is too. Tom Dots Doherty contends that writers should analyse their sales/readership, only then will they know where and when their work is being read and by who, statistics that need to be reviewed frequently.  

Question: Tom Dots Doherty’s books are set in the world of crime and revenge. What draws him to these themes, and how does he ensure that his stories remain fresh and engaging?

Answer: Tom Dots Doherty’s stories focus on an average person being thrust into a world of crime and revenge as they seek justice. How he endeavours to keep those stories fresh and engaging is simple – he asks four questions at the end of each chapter – did the chapter move the story on? What were the turning points in the chapter that maintained engagement? Did the chapter contain a mini-drama? And, did the chapter convey a feeling or mood, did it contain sensory information (what was the environment like, what was the weather like, what were the sights like, what were the sounds like, what were the smells like, the tastes, etc.)? 

Question: Tom Dots Doherty possesses a diverse range of hobbies, some of which are meditative. Do those hobbies influence his creative process or help him to develop ideas?

Answer: Writing is a meditative exercise as you have to carry a lot of information around in your head, dream up scenes, while always thinking about the reader.

Question: With a background in both advertising and writing, what advice would Tom Dots Doherty give to aspiring authors who are looking to break into the publishing industry, especially in the crime thriller genre?

Answer: Tom Dots Doherty would recommend that any aspiring author works with a team – with the premier spot going to an agent or manager. For self-publishing aspiring authors, he makes the following observation. “Nobody is going to find your book unless you highlight its existence. Writing and then publishing a book is hard work, but it is a completely futile exercise unless you are willing to promote your work in some way. Otherwise, you are like someone who puts a product onto a supermarket shelf and then expects everyone to find it there and buy it.”