Conversations with Writers

[Interview] Jay Luke

2009-12-09T17:39:00.006Z

Musician, graphic designer and local historian, Jay Luke is a graduate from Marywood University. He is also a project engineer with the Olyphant Coal Miner Memorial Association.

His first book, When Coal Was Queen (Tribute Books, 2009), looks at the history of Olyphant, Pennsylvania.

In this interview, Jay Luke talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I began writing while in grade school. It was mainly lyrics. I would write these songs and kept at it as often as I could. I think, looking back, my earliest attempts are very laughable, but on the same token they were the springboard to better things. Without those early fearless attempts, I may not have had the courage to dive in later on in life. So I never gave up and kept refining my writing craft.

I think things really heated up for me during my high school years. I think it was where my creativity came into its own. With each song I'd write, I noticed they always told a story of some sort and that was when I decided maybe I can put together a real story that doesn't have to rhyme or fit into a musical score. So again I assembled parts little by little and eventually I got some short stories.

I put the writing on a shelf as my art career took off a bit and my band played continuous shows. My recent publication came about due to my activity in the town of Olyphant, PA. I'm a project engineer for The Olyphant Coal Miners Memorial Association. We set out to erect a bronze statue in town that would memorialize the countless men who'd sacrificed their lives in the anthracite abyss. When we accomplished that goal, the next step we planned was to put a little book out, as a "Thank you" to those who donated for the statue. Once I began writing, it quickly turned from a small project into a very tireless research project and it ended up as the greatest history lesson I'd ever had.

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

My writing, for the book I'm promoting now, is historical/documentary style. I took on the difficult task of delving in the origins of the town history of Olyphant. I learned relatively quickly that this was to be no easy task. Often during research I found dates from previous publications clashed with others, and spellings were inaccurate. It was sometimes a maddening experience, but it meant a lot to me to get this as accurate as possible. I didn't want others to have to go through as much trouble as I did in search of good information.

My target audience for this publication are people in the area of Northeastern PA. Not just Olyphant residents but even those of surrounding towns. I felt strongly that as more time passes, places and names of historical significance seem to disappear. That isn't as much of a problem for people of my generation and older, but younger kids today really have nothing to teach them what their town was like when their early ancestors first came here. We were fortunate enough to have had our grandparents tell us tales of the old days, and today it's a different story. So I was motivated to try to bridge the gap and help those who are curious of their area's origins learn where it all started.

Which authors influenced you most?

Being that this book is a history book, I really didn't have any authors that I could say were a direct influence. I kind of went from my heart on this one more than anything.

Had you asked me who influenced my upcoming novel, I would have said Dan Brown, Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason, and Elizabeth Kostova. (Hopefully I can speak more of that closer to publication time.)

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I think the most obvious answer here is that I grew up in this town and have been lucky enough to have spoken to countless people who had a great knowledge of the area.

Nothing beats first-hand accounts, and in a lot of ways, I look at the elders of the town to be like living national treasures. They know the real story, because writing about history is so hard since most of the writers weren't there. In my case, I've been lucky enough to have talked to those who were there and discussed the important events and facts about the subject matter.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My concerns were that when I finished this book no one would have to travel the difficult road I did in finding the information. I hoped it would be a great shortcut to accurate knowledge. I wanted this to be a great help to students and new residents of the area alike to find out more about the area.

My concerns as a writer were numerous. I wanted to make sure that the dates, spellings, and events were all accurately described. So many dates clashed and the biggest error I caught was that when researching the first woman ever to enlist in the U.S. Navy, Ms. Loretta Walsh of Olyphant, I found that her name has been misspelled on a historical marker in town for years. I found it to be a great injustice and hope that when I get some responses to the request it will be fixed. I mean, not everyone may read my book but every day people are walking by that marker and it is inaccurate.

So many things that have been previously published had data that didn't match up, so I really had to do my homework and live in libraries to trace things as far back to the sources as I could to get the final data.

Do you write everyday?

I try to write a little each day, most of the time if I'm too busy to do anything else. It'll be journal entries. They either begin in the morning or before I go to bed. I find writing before sleep can be better than a sleeping pill. Getting everything out before sleeping definitely helps get a better night's rest.

As for the right time to write, I have to say that it could be anytime. Inspiration hits everyone at different times, and in my case it'll take me by surprise and I have to hope I'm within quick reach of a pen and paper when it occurs.

How many books have you written so far?

As of this very moment, I have only one published work entitled When Coal was Queen, published by Tribute Books in August of this year (2009).

The book is about the origins of a town called Olyphant, PA. Interesting events that have occured through its history, famous residents and visitors, as well as its storied anthracite-rich past.

How did you choose a publisher for the book?

It was published through Tribute Books in Eynon, PA in August of 2009. The publisher was chosen because we wanted to keep this publication as local as we could, as that was a theme of ours, and also because I know the owner of Tribute Books very well. So it seemed the obvious choice to go with a reliable publisher rather than someone we had no connection with.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into When Coal was Queen?

I found the fact checking and editing to be the most difficult portion of the entire process. Right up until the hour it was sent to the publishers, I was still trying to go over everything with a fine tooth comb to make sure my information was accurate, and that was a good thing because that was when I noticed a name I had down was misspelled, not within my book, but on a historical marker for Loretta Walsh, the first woman in the U.S. Navy.

I was going over my information and looked at the plaque and thought something was out of place. It turns out the marker spelled her first name as "Lorretto." So it pays to really look over your subject matter thoroughly.

I enjoyed the researching and speaking to people about what they knew the most. Not only was it enjoyable to hear the stories, but the education it provided me was remarkable. Out of all my research, the oral discussions were the most informative. They gave the whole human element that can often be lacking in library research.

I also got to travel around town with my camera in very obscure locations which almost made it feel like an Indiana Jones style adventure.

What sets When Coal was Queen apart from other things you've written?

For one, I've usually only written fiction.

I have always had a serious interest in history but never imagined I'd one day write a book on it. I am the sort of person that will pass through a place and always wonder what it might've looked like 300 years ago. So this book is a stark contrast to my usual writing and songwriting.

It was a great departure but a very thrilling one.

What will your next book be about?

I might do a second edition to When Coal was Queen.

I am also underway with a novel I began some years ago. It is a thriller with a looming suspense throughout the book. It is about two childhood friends that grow up very differently and one goes on and accomplishes some truly miraculous feats. The greatest part will naturally be the climatic ending, which I hope you all get to read soon.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Aside from getting published, I would have to say it's been the warm reception I've been given. I had no idea this book would've struck such a nerve. Seeing people get very emotional when they come up to me is a feeling I cannot describe. People have such fond memories of the coal miners and it is a wonderful tribute to them to keep their memories alive, even if it is just by re-telling their stories.

On the opposite end, when younger kids come up to me and ask me for help or advice on Olyphant for their school projects that is the entire reason I started this process, and to see a goal continually get accomplished is one of life's greatest gifts.

I thank each and every person who has helped me along the way. This has been one of the best experiences of my life.

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[Interview] Patricia Fry: editorial consultant, publisher and freelance writer, Conversations with Writers, October 27, 2008

[Interview] Maureen Myant

2009-12-03T17:36:00.012Z

Educational psychologist and novelist, Maureen Myant was born in Glasgow where she currently lives and works.

Her first novel, The Search (Alma Books, 2009) has been translated into Spanish and Dutch.

In this interview, she talks about the challenges posed by juggling writing, studying and work:

When did you start writing?

My first attempt at writing a book was when I was about seven. I was in the garden and had just finished reading an Enid Blyton book (I think it was about fairies) and I thought 'I could do that.' So I ran inside, got some paper and a pencil and wrote about three pages. Then I was called inside for my dinner and when I went out again I found that the pages had disappeared - a wind had sprung up. I thought all I had to do was search my memory and what I'd written would come out again fully formed but of course it didn't.

After that early start, I didn't do much writing for years apart from some very bad poetry during my teens and some terrible attempts at short stories during my twenties and thirties.

I was 42 when I decided I really wanted to write. I also wanted to be published. I had spent much of my adult life studying and was about to embark on a professional doctorate when I had a 'lightbulb' moment and realised that if I was ever going to finish the book I'd started at seven I'd better get on with it. So I ditched the doctorate and started an evening class in creative writing. A writer called Janet Paisley was the tutor (Penguin have just published her novel, Warrior Daughter set in the bronze age and it's a terrific read) and she was inspirational.

A few more evening classes and I was confident enough to apply for the MLitt in Creative Writing at Glasgow University. I did this at the time when Alasdair Gray, James Kelman and Tom Leonard were the professors. It was a very exciting course. I have a strong belief that you can be taught creative writing. I think there has to be some sort of spark there to begin with but you can definitely improve what you have with good teaching. I can't remember who it was that said that writing is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, but that is something I do agree with.

It's been a long road to publication though. I have a drawer full of rejections from magazines and agents but I kept on trying and eventually my lovely agent, Diane Banks, signed me up. I think it's essential to have an agent who believes in you and your work and I would recommend this to any writer. Agents have so many contacts and can cut out so much of the waiting for publishers to get back to you.

How would you describe your writing?

I'd love to say that it's literary but I'm afraid it's not. Strong narratives which are well written and are psychologically true... that's what I aim for.

I think my target audience is me. By that I mean people who like reading, who want to be drawn into a story and live with and believe in the characters.

Which authors influenced you most?

That's a really difficult question. I have very eclectic tastes and sometimes I feel I'm very easily influenced by whatever I read.

I do like writing which is full of psychological suspense though and with this in mind I'd say that I've found certain novels of Ian McEwan's very influential, specifically Black Dogs and Enduring Love. In particular the opening chapter of Enduring Love was something I had in mind when I wrote the first chapter of The Search. The way it draws you in to the story, I loved that and I would hope that my first chapter also draws in the reader although the subject matter is of course very different.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I'm not sure that I use specific personal experiences much in my writing. The Search is not at all autobiographical and I think that's perhaps because I started writing properly when I was much older.

I think if I'd persevered with my early writing it would have been much more autobiographical. Having said that though, I do think that as someone brought up in the west, in the shadow of WW2 and the cold war, that this has influenced my writing in general ways.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

I want to write as well as I can. I worry that I write too quickly sometimes and that I'll let something sloppy slip past my internal editor. I tend to rewrite a lot, going over passages again and again until I'm happy with them. And even then...

My biggest challenge is finding time to write. I have to be very disciplined. When I'm working on a big piece such as a novel, I tend to write in the evening from 7 til 9 and one day at the weekend.

Do you write everyday?

I think I write pretty much every day, whether it's to continue with a story or write a brief review of what I've been reading or (very recently) to add to my blog.

The best piece of advice I was given was when I was doing the MLitt in Creative Writing was to write something every day and if that meant keeping a journal then do so. I started keeping a journal then and I have to say it's a pretty self pitying piece of work! It catalogues all the rejections and setbacks and it can be rather depressing reading it. Since getting the contracts for The Search however, I haven't written much in my journal I'm pleased to say.

I always write in my living room, with my laptop on my knee. I have a bit of a time wasting habit in that I'll play a couple of games of solitaire before getting started. I kid myself on that it's helping to clear my mind. As I said earlier, I work from 7 til 9 in the evening (sometimes 10 if I have a deadline) so the clock stops me. It's rare that I work beyond that time -- I have to speak to my family sometime!

How many books have you written so far?

The Search is my first novel. It was published by Alma Books in September 2009.

The Search is based on what happened to the village of Lidice during WW2. Following the assassination of Heydrich, the Nazis destroyed the village after having executed all the males above the age of 15. The women were sent to Ravensbruck and some of the children who looked Aryan enough were sent to Germany mainly for adoption. It's unclear what happened to the majority of the children but it's thought that they were gassed at Chelmno. The Search follows two of the children, Jan and Lena, who were sent to Germany to an orphanage. Lena disappears and Jan finds out she's been sent to a farm in Germany. There's a subplot which concerns the ordinary German family Lena has been sent to and how the war affects them.

I started the novel when I was in the middle of a PhD in creative writing and wrote about 30,000 words before putting it aside to finish the thesis. When I got an agent on the strength of another novel, I showed her what I'd written of The Search and she encouraged me to finish it. I think in total, it took about nine months but spaced out over about two years because of the interruptions.

It was first published in Spain as La Cancion de Jan (Jan's song) in September 2008 by Grijalbo Press (Random House Mondadori), then in the Netherlands by Arena Press as Zoeken Naar Lena (Searching for Lena) in February 2009. It's now been published in the UK by Alma Books.

My experience hasn't been that I choose a publisher -- more that they chose me! Seriously, the choice of who to send the novel to was up to my agent. I did a lot of googling though and I did like the look of Alma. I thought their list looked really interesting and now that I've read some of the books they publish I'm really chuffed to be published by them. Having said that, I'm very happy will all three of my publishers. Big publishers like the Spanish one have the advantage of a large organisation behind them but I do like the personal touch of small publishers like Alma Books.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into The Search?

I wanted to ensure that I was as accurate as possible in writing about a time and place foreign to me. I had to read many factual books about WW2 and the Holocaust. That part was emotionally demanding. I'm not sure how I dealt with it -- I suppose I just saw it as something I had to do.

Another thing I found very upsetting was that sometimes when I googled something, a Holocaust denial site would come up. This happened again very recently when I was trying to find the name of a film I'd seen as a teenager about Lidice. Up popped this ghastly link to a site which claimed the whole story of Lidice had been made up. I was livid. I've been to the memorial site, I've seen the photographs, listened to the testimony of those affected, watched the film that the Nazis made at the time. And yet here were these idiots claiming it didn't happen.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

I love writing. I love finding out what's going to happen to the characters. But I also really enjoy rewriting. It's great going back over stuff you've written and tweaking it until you're happy with it.

In what way is The Search similar to other things you've written?

The novel I wrote for my PhD is also set partly during WW2 and the Holocaust. In addition, there are common themes of separation and loss in most of my work.

The novel I'm working on at the moment is about a British tour group visiting the USSR in the late 1970s and the cultural differences they encounter there. There's much more of me in this novel as some of it is based on my own experience of visiting the USSR in 1979. At the time, I knew I should be writing down my experiences because it was so different to anything I'd ever experienced before (though I was only 24 at the time and quite naive) but I didn't and I really regretted it when it came to writing this novel. However it's been good in one way because I have to rely much more on my imagination.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

I started writing The Search while I was doing a PhD in Creative Writing. I look back on that time and can't quite believe how much I juggled: the critical aspect of the PhD (which was extremely demanding as my first degree is in psychology), a novel for the PhD, starting The Search and working full time as an educational psychologist.

I want to sleep for a week when I think about it!

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[Interview] C. Y. Gopinath, author of 'Travels with the Fish', Conversations with Writers, September 18, 2008

[Interview] Dylan J. Morgan

2009-12-02T14:37:00.004Z

Dylan J. Morgan was born in New Zealand and raised in the United Kingdom. Currently, he lives and works in Norway.

His books include the novel, Hosts (Wild Child Publishing, 2009; DJM Entertainment, 2009) and the novella, October Rain (Sonar 4 Publications, 2010). His short stories have been featured in anthologies that include Gentlemen of Horror (Sonar 4 Publications, 2009) and Wolves of War (Living Dead Press, 2009) as well as the January 2010 in Issue 9 of Necrotic Tissue.

In this interview, Dylan J. Morgan talks about the importance of growing as a writer:

When did you start writing?

I remember writing some books when I was still in school, but on those occasions they were just pieces of paper folded in half, stapled together and the stories were written in pen and they weren’t very good. Storytelling has always fascinated me and I started reading full length novels at an early age.

I’ve been writing seriously now for 6 years. Reading books and discovering I had a talent with the written word gave me the encouragement to consider getting myself published. That was probably a little more than 6 years ago, while I was still writing clueless stories just to satisfy my own desire to write.

I thought getting published would be easy; just write the story and send it in but that’s not the case. It’s hard, crafting a story that the editor will like (because first and foremost if you can’t write a story good enough for an editor to like you’ll never get anybody to read it).

I started at the bottom and worked my way up; writing stories I thought were good enough that ultimately were not. Being afraid to send that story in is not going to get you published. Just write it, polish it, edit it, and get others to critique it, edit it again, polish it once more, and then send it in. That’s exactly what I did to achieve my current status as a published author.

How would you describe your writing?

My writing is dark. Predominantly horror.

I’ve written a published novel about prehistoric killer parasites and unpublished novels about the Wendigo and another about vampires and werewolves.

I’ve written a novella called October Rain which will be released early next year which has science fiction elements in it, but which is also a very dark, tragic story.

My stories are gruesome yet entertaining but do tend to steer clear of Hollywood endings.

Who is your target audience?

I guess it would be quite broad, my target audience, if indeed I have a target audience at all. I hope most people are like me and read all sorts of material. That said, I prefer horror -- but I will read crime and thriller novels, erotic, even romance if there was nothing else to read.

With any luck, people who are interested in reading new horror authors will stumble across my name if they haven’t already done so, like what they read and want to read more from me. As long as anyone who reads my work enjoys it and finds it entertaining -- then, that’s all I’m after.

Which authors influenced you most?

Certainly a lot of Stephen King’s early stuff was a huge influence to me, and virtually anything by Dean Koontz.

James Herbert has provided some influence but not as much as the other two.

At the start King wrote stories that entertained me, made me enjoy the story and get deeply involved with the plot and the characters. I think he influenced me the most in my decision to become a writer. Koontz on the other hand has inspired me a lot more since I’ve started writing seriously. The way he crafts a story, builds the plot and the suspense; it’s like a master class with each book written. Koontz definitely inspires me to improve my craft.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I try not to let any personal experiences of mine come through in my writing or indeed to influence which direction I’m going. Saying that, a couple of my stories have been written from life experiences: a business trip to Poland; a boat trip in Oslo Fjord, but these are simply scene-setting occurrences.

I never consciously inject anything of myself, or my life experiences, or those of anyone close to me, in any of the stories I’ve written so far. Fiction is fiction, even within my world and it has to be like that.

I’m a family man and as such I have to separate what I write with how I live my home life.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concerns would be, first and foremost, writing stories that weren’t entertaining. Regardless of the venue the work appears in, and regardless of how big a name I do or don’t become, my main aim when I submit stories is to have them accepted and to have readers be entertained by the stories. If I fail that then I’ve failed in my duty as a writer.

The best way that I deal with such issues is to have trustworthy proofreaders. I never send out any stories if they haven’t had a few good edits done by myself and then been read (and sometimes re-read) by my proofreaders. They often catch things that I miss. It’s a practice I recommend to any up-and-coming writer. Don’t think your story is good enough if you haven’t let others read it first.

The biggest challenge I face as a writer is bettering the work I’ve just completed. I don’t want to write x-amount of books that are the same. I don’t want my next project to be inferior to the one I’ve just wrapped up. It’s important to me to grow as a writer, to continuously improve my craft, and it’s not easy to do. Writing what I want, what excites me. If the story enthralls me then hopefully it’ll enthrall others too.

Do you write everyday?

Yes, I write everyday -- at least I try to! Sometimes life gets in the way but for the most part I write daily and I try to accomplish one thousand words in a session.

Basically each session starts with me reviewing and editing what I wrote the night before and this usually drags me back into the story enabling me to pick up where I left off and continue writing. Sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes I envisage scenes from later in the book and I write those instead. I can have multiple scenes being written from different chapters. It’s all a bit jumbled but it works for me.

As stated, my aim is to write 1,000 words a day but as long as I write constructive prose then that’s all I ask for. I write until the flow has gone: either by family disturbances that require my attention or because I’m just burned out. There’s no point forcing the words. Once they stop flowing, I stop writing.

How many books have you written so far?

So far I have written three full-length novels and two novellas, although not all are available.

Only one of my novels has seen publication, Hosts, a biological horror novel set in a Canadian ski resort called Snow Peak during the worst snowstorm in living memory.

In the novel, a family of frozen First Nation people has been discovered on a mountainside near town and the archeologists examining the body allow it to thaw out too much. Something resides in the corpse; a prehistoric parasite that comes back to life and infects the town with disastrous results.

Hosts has had very positive reviews so far. It is available as an e-book through the publisher, Wild Child Publishing. And, complete with new cover art, the novel has been re-issued in print format by myself which is something I’m very excited about. More details can be found on my website.

My second published work is a novella entitled October Rain. It will be available in both print and e-book format in January 2010 through Sonar 4 Publications.

October Rain is a tragic story about Steele, a bounty hunter for the Martian government during a time in the distant future when the sun is a red dying giant and Earth is scalded rock. Steele has been promised one more assignment before he can leave Mars to start a new life with his beloved family. But he discovers a horrific truth behind the government’s intentions, and a torturous twist of fate leaves him fighting not only for his own life but for the people he cares most about. It’s an exciting read.

Of my other written works, the two novels are in various slushpiles and the other novella resides with proofreaders.

How long did it take you to write October Rain?

The first draft probably took me about six weeks to write, but this book was written four years ago so it’s had multiple drafts, countless edits, and at least four different proofreaders go over it. If it isn’t tight now it never will be!

Sonar 4 Publications will be publishing the book. I selected this publisher because of one main reason: they publish a blend of horror and sci-fi. I’m not a sci-fi writer, but with the book being set on Mars in the future there are obvious science fiction elements.

Sonar4 publish straight-up horror, or straight-up Sci-Fi or a mixture of both. There are horrific elements in October Rain, although none blatant, but this publisher seemed the best fit for my work. So far this has presented me with nothing but advantages. I’ve been very pleased with how my relationship is going with this publisher and I’d thoroughly recommend anyone else checking their guidelines.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into October Rain?

This is a hard question to answer. At times I struggle with my muse but generally I find writing an easy task, nothing is difficult when it comes to transferring the plot from my mind and onto the page. What is difficult for me is spending time away from my girlfriend and my kids while I’m writing.

I try to write at night, when the children are in bed and the house is quiet, but my ideas don’t always follow that pattern. Weekend mornings I use to sit down and edit and sometimes write, but always when I’m done I feel a tad guilty for spending time at the keyboard and not with those I care about the most. But then I try to make the most of the time I do spend with them.

What did you enjoy most?

The editing -- like I do with all my work.

I might be in the minority here but I seldom really enjoy the process of writing a novel/novella even though I find it relatively easy. For me, writing that last word is always a great occasion and is generally greeted with a sigh of relief and perhaps a celebratory beer.

Editing the story, watching it truly unfold into the final product is by far the part of the writing process that I enjoy the most.

What sets October Rain apart from other things you've written?

The one main difference with this book to any of the others I’ve written is that it is set in the future, in space, which is a destination I’ve never been before in my writing. I tend to keep things in the present (or the past, in some instances) and I’ve never gone outside the Earth’s atmosphere before. It’ll be interesting to see how this book is received.

In what way is it similar to the others?

It’s certainly my style of writing. I haven’t changed the formula from what I usually do when I write stories, so hopefully -- even though this is not strictly a horror story -- people will still be able to recognize it as being the work of Dylan J. Morgan.

What will your next book be about?

As of this moment, October Rain is my latest book and no others have been accepted. Of course, I hope this will change.

I have two novels at various publishing houses just waiting to be picked off the slushpile, so hopefully it won’t be too long before I have something else available for people to read. One of those is called Flesh and is about a Wendigo spirit terrorizing a Northern Wisconsin town.

The other novel, Bloodlines, is an epic novel which could easily be separated into a trilogy of novellas -- it tells the story of a centuries-old blood feud between vampires and werewolves who have crossed the bloodlines and created a monster race of hybrids. All three species are fighting for control of the supernatural world.

The novel I’m working on now is a bit secretive but I will say it involves angels, demons, and the end of the world.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Getting published is always a significant achievement for a writer and while this is right up there as one of my most significant, I feel that’s bettered by the simple fact that people have liked my work. Not everyone will, I know that, but to have feedback from readers saying they enjoyed the story makes all the hard work, effort, and time spent away from my family just that little bit easier to bear.

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[Interview: Part 2 of 2] Tonia Brown, Conversations with Writers, November 29, 2009

[Interview: Part 2 of 2] Tonia Brown

2009-11-29T09:00:00.002Z

Earlier, Tonia Brown talked about the books she's written and published.

In the final part of this interview, she talks about her concerns as a writer:

When did you start writing?

I have always written creatively in one from or another, for as long as I can remember.

I used to write a fair amount of poetry, and still turn to the task from time to time. I toyed for a number of years with the idea of writing longer works, a story or perhaps even a book, but always abandoned it after reading something from one of my favorite authors and realizing that I could never produce work that good.

Then, about four years ago, I was at my third shift job reading some new book by some new author, whose name I shall leave to the imagination. Even at four in the morning I could tell the book lacked substance, style and character. Yet I had paid full price for the thing and was reading it from cover to cover. It was at that point I decided that I had a story to tell and maybe it was time to get it out there.

So I penned a full-length novel in the next year and set about to find an agent.

The reality of how terribly hard it is to get published hit me hard, like so many other new authors to the craft, and I nearly gave up. A friend of mine stepped in and suggested e-publishers, and I gave it a shot.

I have had a moderate amount of success in the e-book field, with two full-length novels and several novellas accepted for publication so far. I also turned my hand to short stories, which have also been a great experience for me.

How would you describe your writing ?

Funny, sharp, horrifying, erotic.

I like to leave the reader with a sense of wonder or terror, depending on what the tale involves.

Who is your target audience?

Depends on which personality you address.

As Tonia Brown, I write for the speculative fiction audience. I lean toward horror, but have been known to turn out a sci-fi and fantasy piece every so often. I write for this audience because I am a part of it.

As Regina Riley, I write all forms of romance, from sweet to erotic. I began to write for this genre on a dare, and I enjoyed it so much I stuck with it!

Which authors influenced you most?

Neil Gaiman is the largest influence on me as a writer. I love his classic style and ability to cross genres as though the lines aren’t even there. I have said many a time, if there was one person I would love to have my work mistaken for, it would be Gaiman.

Along with Gaiman I am a huge [Edgar Allan] Poe fan. You have to love a man that can blame a murder on a monkey!

I’m also a fan of H. P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, and Isaac Asimov.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I grew up as a military B.R.A.T. and an identical twin, both of which really affected the way I view the world.

As a military family, we moved a lot. I never got the chance to make lifelong bonds with folks, but I learned that you had to make new friends quickly or get left out of the loop so to speak. I think this comes out in my writing a bit, especially the easy way new people meet and immediately open up without much prompting. It may seem unrealistic to some, but that’s how we grew up.

As a twin, I have always been slightly co-dependent. When I married, I shifted this burden onto my husband, and he bares the weight like an old pro. I feel this comes across in my work because I tend to favor characters that feel incomplete, until they meet their true love, of course!

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Making sure the reader can identify with a character. There is nothing worse than reading a book where you don’t care what happens to the characters. I try to give mine some personality, and history. Hopefully you come away feeling like you’ve read a detailed description of something that happened to a friend, as apposed to a tale about a complete stranger.

As an independent writer, I think the largest challenge I face is lack of self-confidence. I have trouble selling myself. I know my work is good. I can see it on the paper. I can feel it in my bones. But when asked if it’s any good I will more than likely say, “It's okay.”

Who wants to read okay?

I should scream how great it is, but my self-doubt kicks in and shuts me up. I’ve been trying to work on this, but I don’t know if I’ll ever overcome it.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

A reader once told me she had to take a smoke break between chapters because the scenes were so hot for her.

One reader let me know how much she cried at one of my books. She said this happened in front of a break room full of other employees who were very curious as to why she was weeping.

Another told me that her husband received some much needed affection after she finished reading The Blooming. She even passed along his thanks!

Any time someone reads and enjoys what I have written, I’ve achieved more than I ever thought possible. Anything else is really just icing. Although I must admit, I am an icing fan!

Possibly related books:

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Related article:

[Interview: Part 1 of 2] Tonia Brown, Conversations with Writers, November 28, 2009

[Interview: Part 1 of 2] Tonia Brown

2009-11-28T09:00:00.002Z

Speculative fiction author, Tonia Brown writes fantasy, science fiction and horror stories.

Her books include Epiphany (Sugar and Spice Press, 2009) and White Elephant (Sugar and Spice Press, 2009).

Her work has also been featured in anthologies that include Vicious Verses and Reanimated Rhymes; Zany Zombie Poetry for the Undead Head (Coscom Entertainment, 2009) and Tooth Decay: Vampires and Zombies stories (Sonar4 Publications, 2009).

In this interview, Tonia Brown talks about her writing:

Do you write everyday?

I try to write at least an hour a day, with Saturdays as a break, although I usually end up in front of the laptop editing some piece.

Depending on where I am in a story, I might work just an hour or so, or go for days writing hours at a time. I tend to get obsessive near the end of a tale, and all other aspects of my life suffer because of it. I like to call writing my second job. My poor husband has spent many a weekend completely ignored because of the second job.

How many books have you written so far?

Four full-length books, two of which are published, and three novellas all of which have been accepted for publication.

My first novel to be published was Epiphany and came out May 2009 with Sugar and Spice Press. The tale is full of sex, intrigue, violence, vampires, shape shifters, and nymphs. It’s a torrid tale of a woman named Chloe Bright who learns on her twenty-ninth birthday that she is part fairy with the remarkable power of the Epiphany. Anyone she sleeps with and brings to orgasm is granted a live changing flash of insight, but this comes at the cost of their interest in her. Can Chloe handle her new found talent while it wreaks havoc on her real world life, all while saving her only source of income?

My second book out is White Elephant and will be out late 2009 with Sugar and Spice Press. It’s the story of a teenage girl that can talk to house cats, and hates herself for it. Her world is turned on its ear when she finds a young man hiding in her broom closet and fate conspires to toss the two of them together. There’s murder, mayhem and a whole lot of teenage angst and flirting.

I have also penned two other books and am seeking representation for each of them.

My first novella was Flirting with Death and will be available with Phaze late 2009. Five years after the death of her husband, Anna is still in mourning. Her friend Trish takes her out on the town, where Anna meets and has a one night stand with a dashing man named Todd. It turns out to be the best night of her life, but he is long gone by the next day. Two weeks later, she sees Todd again and events lead her to suspect he is responsible for a woman’s death. When he comes to her to explain himself, Anna learns the truth is much worse than anything she could have possibly imagined.

Clockworks and Corsets was my next novella, accepted for publication with Lyrical Press. There is no publishing date set yet. This one is an erotic steam punk adventure that takes place aboard the airship The Merry Widow. Rose Maddigan and her girls sail the skies in search of adventure and pay, both of which are few and far between for the all female crew. A well paying opportunity takes them into the thick of an island jungle in search of abandoned treasure. What, or rather, who they find, forever alters the course of the Widow and the hearts of her crew.

My third published novella is The Blooming and is due out with Sonar4 Publications March 2010. This one is a bit different because it combines my love of erotica with my love of horror: When a documentary film crew is hired by an award winning botanist to film the wild life of a remote tropical island, they end up with more than just footage of trees and samples of bugs. The doctor is in hot pursuit of a rare and powerful flower, while the rest of the crew is overwhelmed with sudden desire and find themselves in hot pursuit of each other. But things take a turn for the deadly when they learn the flower they are seeking is not only a powerful aphrodisiac, it also causes a unique infection that changes its victims hunger for flesh from sexual, to literal.

How do you balance running for your life from flesh eating zombies, with the overwhelming need to screw the brains out of anything still alive?

How long did it take you to write The Blooming?

My latest project, The Blooming is an erotic zombie novella. It took an amazingly short three weeks to pen. I really don’t feel like I wrote it, so much as it wrote me.

How did you choose a publisher for the book?

I had worked with Sonar4 in the past with some short stories, and am proud to be part of their expanding family of authors. The owner, Shells Walter, asked me to write the novella, and I have enjoyed working with her on the project.

With The Blooming, the hardest challenge was working the sex into the story on a believable level, while staying away from the dreaded idea of necrophilia.

When Shells first suggested an erotic zombie story, I worried that she wanted the zombies to be the ones having the sex. I wasn’t sure I could pull that one off. But after a few emails, and assurances that she wasn’t looking for zombie love, we worked out a great plot line that really married the sex to the death and violence, without making it seem like the folks involved are just stopping in mid flee for a little poorly timed nookie.

I really enjoyed writing about the sudden and terrible acts of violence. I have no idea why I liked it so much. Maybe it’s the inner psycho coming out in me. All I know is the sexuality tied into the gruesome nature of some of the character’s deaths really got my creative juices flowing!

What sets The Blooming apart from other things you've written

The mix of eroticism and horror.

I usually limit my horror works to short stories, because maintaining a level of darkness required for me to pen a terrible tale for that length of time would drain me dry. So this is the longest horror piece I’ve done, and I do believe I shall do another novella length piece in the future.

The Blooming is similar to other things I have written in that the main couple carries that aching need to be made whole by one another person. I tend to write about that a lot.

What will your next book be on?

Not sure, but I’m thinking I might explore some overlooked mythology or fairy tale. I love the idea of re-working tales to modern times. With loads of either gruesome deaths or sexy sex, or both!

Possibly related books:

,,

Related articles:

Interview with Tonia Brown, Static Movement, Accessed November 28, 2009
[Interview] Brick Marlin, Conversations with Writers, November 27, 2009

[Interview] Brick Marlin

2009-11-27T20:37:00.004Z

Horror and science fiction author, Brick Marlin lives in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

His short stories have been featured in a number of print and online magazines, among them, Blood Moon Rising, Necrotic Tissue, MicroHorror and Sand: A Journal Of Strange Tales.

His books include Dark Places of Rest (Sonar 4 Publications, 2009); Saturated and Crimson (Publish America, 2009) and The Darkened Image (Publish America, 2007).

In this interview, Brick Marlin talks about his concerns as a writer:

When did you start writing?

I started writing at a very young age, back when I was in sixth grade. It was a few days before Halloween and our teacher gave us an assignment to make up a scary story. Most of the kids in class wrote about ghosts, pumpkins with smiling faces, and Frankenstein-like monsters, but I wrote one up about a serial killer murdering children for fun. (Yeah, I know, I'm a little disturbed) And, if I'm not mistaken, my teacher had a long talk with my parents afterward.

When did you decide wanted to get published?

A few years ago. Being published, I think, is a great achievement in itself. It takes a lot of hard work to not only come up with creative tales that will be of interest to an editor, but to make sure that your grammar and spelling is written well.

I started sending in short stories back in 2001, and was really not serious with it until 2006 arrived. Mainly, [I was] just happy to have a tale published.

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

Mostly dark fiction. I used to say I wrote in the horror genre, but I mix sci-fi and fantasy into my work.

Lately, I have been writing for a wider audience, not only for adults, but for the kids too.

What motivated you to start writing for this audience?

I would have to say Ray Bradbury, one of my all time favorite writers.

Which authors influenced you most?

Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett [because of] multiple reasons. Their creativity, their great writing, the chill along the spine, and what lies beyond the imagination.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I would say how people react to others. Some are nice and pleasant to talk with; while others still haven't grasped the fact to treat people as they would like to be treated.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

To write the very best that I can and hope that my readers enjoy my work. Right now I've collected a small group of fans in tow and I do hope that it'll becomes larger during time.

How do you deal with these concerns?

Read and write as much as I can. I think that is the key.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Writers block. It's rather odd, but sometimes ideas are fed to me one after the other; while sometimes I think the writing demons have a sick sense of humor, making me starve for words.

Do you write everyday?

I try and cough up about a minimum of a thousand words five days a week in between working 40 hours a week and, now, returning to playing music; though sometimes it doesn't work out that way, such as having the dreaded disease of writer's block.

How many books have you written so far?

I've written about eight. I have three published and two forthcoming.

Here's a list:

The Darkened Image (Publish America, 2007);
Raising Riley (Trunk Novels, 2008) (out of print);
Saturated and Crimson (Publish America, 2009);
Dark Places of Rest (Sonar 4 Publications, 2009), and
An Ensanguined Path (Double Dragon Publishing, 2010).

The Darkened Image, Saturated and Crimson, and Dark Places of Rest are all part of a series. It's my idea of an apocalyptic world where aliens have taken over the planet, murdering humans one by one, while keeping a small group around to enslave them to build a new alien world on the planet. Later, the humans form a Rebellion and begin sending warriors back in time to eliminate serial killers. They believe that if they can rid their terrifying history, the world's population will be larger before the arrival of the aliens, larger to fight against their race. What they don't realize is that the aliens are onto their plans, sending their own race back in time, possessing humans, turning them into serial killers...

Raising Riley is about a boy who is thrown into an abusive world with his father and the bullies at school. Not to mention what lurks inside his closet...

An Ensanguined Path is about a werewolf hunter who hunts down the lycanthrope. At a very young age her parents were slaughtered by the beasts and now, as a member of the Krimson Alliance, she takes revenge on their race...

How long did it take you to write Dark Places of Rest?

In this book, I explain how the aliens possess the humans of the past. It took about three weeks to write, trying to research a few things to make sure that the facts would be clear.

Dark Places of Rest was published through Sonar 4 Publications, and I chose this publisher because I had already published a few short stories through the web zine as well as having the opportunity to collaborate with the editor and two other writers on a fun project.

And I think the editor has done exceptional work on promoting me.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work that you put into Dark Places of Rest?

Originally the story called for me to research how to embalm a corpse, which I had to consult with a very good friend of mine who is a mortician. I was lucky he was around.

I loved the chill of the tale because some things that I write, then go back and re-read, gives me a bit of a scare.

What sets Dark Places of Rest apart from other things you've written?

Not really a whole lot. It still stays with the sci-fi genre.

What will your next book be about?

Well, I've already written a few more to add to the list, still not published, but I think I may dive back into the world of my werewolf hunter.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

I would have to say the enjoyment of hearing my small group of fans tell me how much they love my work.

Possibly related books:

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[Interview] Christian Saunders

2009-11-25T22:06:00.006Z

Welsh author, Christian Saunders has been published in several magazines and anthologies.

His first book, Into the Dragon's Lair: A Supernatural History of Wales was published in 2003. Since returning to the horror fiction fold, he has had a story run in Screams of Terror e-zine and another featured in the anthology, Return of the Raven.

His novella, Apartment 14F: An Oriental Ghost Story is available through Damnation Books.

In this interview, Christian Saunders talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I started writing back in 1997. Actually I always wrote, for as long as I can remember, but it was around then that I began to try and get my stuff published.

I remember telling my careers adviser in school that I wanted to be a writer and he just laughed at me, said I wasn't bright enough and tried to persuade me to join the army instead (I am from a strictly working class area, and the school I attended didn't exactly encourage creativity!). In a perverse way, I took great inspiration from that, and set about proving him wrong.

My first few short stories were published in the small press, which was at its peak in the late 90's. However, the small press didn't pay, and as I worked in a factory at the time, I needed a second source of income so I moved over to mainstream journalism for a few years where I was a real media whore. I wrote anything, for anyone who would pay me.

My non-fiction has appeared in Fortean Times, Enigma, Bizarre, Record Collector, Big Cheese, Maxim, Nuts, Urban Ink, Chat... Its Fate, and many others.

I also had a book published in 2003 called Into the Dragon's Lair: A Supernatural History of Wales.

As for how do I do it, the best advice I can give is: identify your market, then submit, submit, submit. Never doubt yourself and never be discouraged by the haters. Over the years I've had literally hundreds of rejection letters, and each one makes me stronger.

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

In recent years I have arrived at a stage in my life where I am not so motivated by money so I have been able to return to my first love -- horror fiction (though I am still a regular contributor to the Vital Football website where I write about the ups and downs of Cardiff City FC).

This year I've had several short stories published in different places and my novella, Apartment 14F: An Oriental Ghost Story was published on paperback and PDF by Damnation Books on September 1st.

Who is your target audience?

As a freelance writer my target audience changes and is dictated by the readership of the publication I am working for at the time. A smart writer will tailor his writing to suit the market.

When I write fiction I have no specific audience in mind, I write what I want and then try and find a suitable market when I finish. I believe it's the only way to stay true to yourself.

Which authors influenced you most?

I suppose my biggest single influence has been Stephen King. He is a master of the art of mystery and suspense. He doesn't get the respect he deserves in literary circles, but he is one of the all-time greats. I read my first King book when I was barely in my teens, I think it was Christine, and it totally captivated me.

Also, Dean Koontz is a great, prolific writer. With King it's about the story and characterization whereas with Koontz it's more about the words and language he uses.

I also like Joe Hill (Stephen King's son), Conrad Williams, Paul Kane and the late Richard Laymon.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Personal experience influences every writer, whether they are aware of it or not.

When I was in my mid 20's I left the small town in south Wales where I grew up and moved to Southampton to study journalism, living the city life was a huge culture shock at the time. After 5 years there I moved to China to teach English -- first in Beijing then Tianjin, and now Changsha (south China). This will be my third year there. China is a constant source of great material -- food, travel, culture, history, its all so different to the western model. I find it fascinating, this is why my new book is based in China.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concerns are not being original. I'd hate to ever be boring, and not give someone satisfaction for the time and money they invest in me. It's a great responsibility.

Also, I'd hate to write something that was factually inaccurate. I've been pulled up once or twice in my career for making stupid mistakes, and it's always embarrassing.

The biggest challenges I face are the same ones that every other writer faces I think... struggling to fit everything in -- finding time to research and write, then identify markets, pitch ideas, and if you are lucky enough to have a substantial piece of work accepted anywhere, then you have all your own promo to do.

There is no real way to deal with it, it's just something that comes with the territory. It's also sometimes hard to come up with any good ideas, we all suffer from the dreaded writers block at some point.

Do you write everyday?

Yes I try to write every day, though I don't always write anything useful.

My day starts with reading my emails, then replying to any that require a response. I am constantly pitching various projects to editors and agents so my inbox is always overflowing. I try to have several different projects on the go at any given time because that way if you hit the wall with one you can just move on to something else. There are also other things I do -- I do various pieces of ghostwriting for different clients, maintain a MySpace page (come and say hello!) and keep a professional log (which should really be an online blog, but I haven't got around to that yet) where I write ideas for stories, any developments, and keep a record of what I've submitted and where.

Anything I do has to be structured around my teaching job.

How many books have you written so far?

Into the Dragon's Lair: A Supernatural History of Wales (published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 2003). Four years in the making this is a compendium of various stories I found about wales, mostly with a supernatural slant.

I've written other books but none were picked up by publishers. At the moment I am looking for an agent to represent a Young Adult novel I finished this year, which is a kind of adventure mystery story, and I might do an anthology of some of my short stories at some point in the future.

What is Apartment 14F about?

Apartment 14F: An Oriental Ghost Story was published by Damnation Books on September 1, 2009. It's about a guy that leaves London to take up a teaching position in Beijing. When he moves into his new apartment he learns of the mysterious disappearance of his predecessor, and then things start going bump in the night. Yes, some of it is based on personal experience, though I made up all the ghostly stuff. Thankfully!

How did you find a publisher for the book?

I saw an ad the publisher had placed in a trade magazine, they were a new company and looking for authors to submit work. I had this story that I didn't know what to do with because it was an awkward length -- 10,000 words, so I submitted it and they liked it but told me to re-write it in novella form. So I went away, re-wrote parts of it, added about 5,000 words, and submitted it again.

What advantages or disadvantages has this presented?

At the moment the publisher is doing some very cool promotions. You can get free PDF's just by joining their yahoo group (just search yahoo groups for Damnation Books) and on release day, the first person to buy a copy of mine or another writer's book can get it for just 5 cents. After that the price will increase by 5 cents with every order until it reaches its full price (which is $4.50 for the PDF and $7.50 for the paperback). Its a superb marketing strategy.

Which aspects of the work that you put into the book did you find most difficult?

I found the editing process tough to deal with. I didn't agree with all the editorial decisions that were made, but I had to conform or else they wouldn't have published the book.

We'll have to wait and see who was right!

What did you enjoy most about the work that went into the novella?

I have always been fascinated by different cultures and I enjoyed using various characters in the book to illustrate the contrast between east and west. It's a far more complex and subtle way of doing it than just sitting there writing a travelogue.

What sets Apartment 14F apart from other things you've written?

It's the most substantial piece of fiction I have ever had published, and I am quite excited by it!

A lot of my work seems to have a recurring theme, whereby someone is searching for answers. Even a lot of my non-fiction work evolved around the great mysteries of the world. I've always had a restless spirit, and been haunted by this feeling that I'm supposed to be looking for something, though I don't know what it is iIm supposed to be looking for. Maybe a lot of people think this way, or maybe I'm the only one, I don't know. I've never really addressed it to be honest. A lot of my work, consciously or otherwise, reflects this.

What will your next book be about?

I'd love to write a zombie story! Just for the fun of it. I'm not sure how I'll do it, or whether it will be a short story, a novella or a full-blown novel -- there is only so much you can do with zombies, but it's a very popular sub-genre within the horror sphere.

I'd also like to write an apocalyptic End of the World-type opus, which might even be a trilogy of books, but I think I'll keep that for when I'm old!

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Probably my first book, Into the Dragon's Lair, for a variety of reasons.

It proved a lot of people wrong because not many people believed in me at first, so that was my big "F**k you".

Also, it got me a lot of recognition within the industry and opened all kinds of doors for me. Editors immediately took me more seriously and I won a place at uni purely on the strength of the book as I was a hopeless student at school and left without a single qualification to my name.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related article:

[Interview] Jeani Rector, author of 'Around A Dark Corner', Conversations with Writers, August 15, 2009

[Interview] Jonathan Vining

2009-11-17T18:09:00.005Z

Jonathan Vining is the author of Diary of a First Year Grad Student, a work-in-progress which he describes as a novel about "the absurdities of academic life".

In this interview, Vining talks about what his concerns as a writer.

Is Jonathan Vining your real name or a pseudonym?

It’s a pseudonym.

Why are you using a pseudonym?

Like other books, mine will primarily be met either with praise, criticism, or indifference. Since the latter two possibilities would not exactly enhance my academic reputation and career, I prefer that Jonathan receive them instead of me.

Seriously, I think there is a non-trivial possibility that if Diary of a First Year Grad Student gets much attention, it could lead to the sort of needless academic brouhaha described in it. Some of my colleagues have been caught up in these, and they are not pleasant. So using a pseudonym here is intended as pro-active damage control.

Under what conditions would you reveal your true identity?

I might do so if the blog novel, by some miracle, receives a lot of praise -- or perhaps even if it receives only a little. I will decide whether or not to reveal my true identity when I post the last installment of the blog -- which will be in September 2010.

When did you start writing?

I started writing in 1971, shortly after the start of my last year in high school. My father had just died and our family finances declined sharply. We had to sell our home quickly. At a time when life was in chaos, what I wrote or typed on a sheet of paper was one of the few things that I could control. I valued that immensely. I wanted to publish what I wrote, but I soon found, of course, that that wasn’t so easy. None of my early writing was accepted by a publisher -- for good reason, I am sure.

How would you describe your writing?

I do different kinds of writing: academic, journalistic, and creative. The creative includes essays, travel narratives, and fiction.

My academic writing is targeted at specialists. My journalistic writing is targeted at a broader audience concerned with policy issues. I do creative writing just to please myself -- though I hope it will please others too.

Which authors influenced you most?

When I was younger, I loved what I thought of as the classic comic authors: [Miguel de] Cervantes, [François] Rabelais, [William] Shakespeare’s comedies, Moliere, Jonathan Swift, Voltaire’s Candide, [Edmond] Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, and the like.

Later, I came to appreciate how George MacDonald Fraser weaved comedy with a deep knowledge of history in his Flashman series. I also love too many Irish comic authors to name, but especially Brendan Behan and Roddy Doyle.

More recently, I have come to appreciate some of the great 19th century English female authors: Jane Austen, all three Bronte sisters, and George Eliot. What I like about all these books is how the protagonist in each of them was able to overcome difficult circumstances partly by having a sense of humor.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

My fiction is based mainly on my personal experience with the many absurdities of academic life.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concern is not having as much quiet time as I need to write. I deal with it by writing when and where there is opportunity to do so.

The biggest challenge I face at present is that it is far easier for me to publish my academic and journalistic writing than my creative writing -- especially my fiction. Despite the absurdities of academic life that I alluded to earlier, one thing I appreciate about it is that if one’s academic writing is good, it is highly likely to be accepted for publication somewhere. Writing good fiction, by contrast, is not good enough to get it published. This is because, I believe, academic publishing is far less concerned about profitability than commercial publishing.

Do you write everyday?

Life is hectic, so I write when I can for as long as I can. I don’t have a set routine.

How many books have you written so far?

I am the author of five academic books and the editor of three more. I don’t want to talk about them here, though.

What is your latest book about?

My latest book is the blog novel that I am now posting: Diary of a First Year Grad Student. It is about the absurdities of academic life -- some of their own making -- that even what Americans call grad students (and Britons call post-graduates) can face. It only took about three months to write, but I never succeeded in finding a publisher for it -- which is why I am now publishing it as a blog novel.

The main advantage of this format is that since it is free, it is clearly accessible to anyone with an internet connection who wants to read it. The disadvantage, of course, is that blog novels don’t pay royalties (at least, not as far as I know). I am far more interested, though, in its getting some (hopefully positive) attention.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into Diary of a First Year Grad Student?

Two aspects of life in academia that my book deals with are, I believe, serious and sensitive issues.

One is how the concern that some academics express for the plight of minorities is based less on actual concern for them and more on a desire to use this issue for manipulative purposes, including discrediting others.

Another is how those charged with enforcing sexual misconduct rules at universities sometimes do not follow these rules themselves.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

As other fiction writers have reported, I enjoyed how the characters I created took control of the narrative as I wrote it. After a certain point, I felt that I was merely the instrument of their will. This helped make the writing process go by easily.

What sets Diary of a First Year Grad Student apart from other things you've written?

What sets it apart is that it is a work of fiction; what I mainly write and (more importantly) publish is non-fiction.

There really isn’t any similarity between writing academic non-fiction on the one hand and fiction on the other. Writing academic non-fiction requires a knowledge of what others have written. But fiction -- at least, the way I write it -- does not.

What will your next book be about?

I have written another novel about the trials and tribulations of the tenure process. I don’t think, however, that this one would lend itself to the blog novel format.

I started another novel about the hypocrisy of democratization efforts in the Middle East, but did not finish it. I was discouraged at not succeeding at publishing the other two novels, and distracted by increasing demand for my academic writing. If my Diary of a First Year Grad Student manages to receive positive attention, then perhaps I’ll finish it.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

That’s for others to judge.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related article:

[Interview] Bryce Beattie, author of 'Oasis', Conversations with Writers, July 6, 2009

[Interview: Part 2 of 2] Neil Marr

2009-11-10T23:58:00.005Z

Publisher and author, Neil Marr worked as a journalist for over 35 years before he and his son, Alex, set up BeWrite (a non-commercial writers’ website which offered free professional editorial services and optional online showcasing).

After three years, they transformed the website into BeWrite Books publishing house and have gone on to release over 120 paperback titles.

In this interview, Neil Marr talks the formation of BeWrite Books, the use they are making of print-on-demand technology and their plans for the future.

What made you decide to transform BeWrite into BeWrite Books publishing house?

Quite simply, the talent out there that wasn’t getting a look in. The big houses are swamped (that is not a criticism) and their slushpiles are never cleared.

We read every proposal. OK, 98% might be knocked back at first fence with no request for full MS, but everything gets a fair crack of the whip -- not by interns, but by one of four experienced pro editors. Often a rejection is accompanied by a line edit and masses of editorial notes to guide the author in revision.

What challenges did this transformation present?

Hard work. Twenty-four-hour days. Simple as that... sheer hard graft and ever-producing mindplay.

I’ve worked 62-hour shifts for this wee house regularly. Partner (and son) Sandy took a full year off from his high-paying IT day job to help put things together.

How has BeWrite Books been received?

We’re still battling against the stigma of producing mostly with PoD, which -- unfairly -- lumps us in with the vanity cowboys, to the uninitiated.

We’re getting over that.

Folks are beginning to see that PoD ain’t necessarily a four-letter word. You will never Google up a negative review of BeWrite Books. We’re listed in all the publishing ‘bibles’ and our reputation for editorial excellence and general square dealing is always emphasised.

Who are these 'vanity cowboys' you talk about?

Sadly, the revolutionary new print-on-demand production system was soon hijacked by vanity press operators who simply convert a raw manuscript into a print-ready PDF at the touch of a button, and the innocent initials PoD came to often mean Publish on Demand.

The internet is bursting at the seams with companies offering to ‘publish’ anything that comes their way... at a price. There is no selection process, no editorial input and no quality control. The only books these companies are interested in are authors’ check books.

There are companies releasing up to three titles an hour... and still claiming editorial input. Nonsense. I sometimes have a novel in edit for over a year. Even with a pro editorial team of four, we’re hard pressed to release a dozen titles a year.

Some Publish on Demand operators boast of being ‘traditional’ (whatever that means) and don’t charge an author up front or even offer a single dollar advance. Instead they ask the author for a list of family and friends and press them into buying. Few sales are made to the general reading public. But production cost with no editorial input is so low that they’re soon making huge profits by playing the numbers game. Such companies have become known as ‘author mills’.

Why is it a fallacy to associate all PoD with vanity publishing?

Vanity press self-publishing was always risky for the author. There was the cost of a short run of a few hundred books and the difficulty of distributing and selling the books. Hardly ever would a self-published author recover his expenses, and he’d be left with a stack of unsold books gathering dust in the garage. Print on Demand technology has reduced the risk for genuine small press but it also presents an opportunity for Publish on Demand outfits to cash in on the enthusiasm of unpublished writers.

I think there’s little chance of vanity press and self-publishing ever going away. In fact, it’s in its hay day. Word processing computers make it simple (too simple?) for someone to knock out 60,000 words, call it a novel and tout it around electronically at zero cost and effort. We’ll always see thousands of sub-standard books released this way every year. And even more as time goes by.

Why?

Simply look at rejection rates with a genuinely selective publishing house. Even a small company like ours accepts less than four percent of what we’re offered (often, even then, after full author revision before it goes into full edit). Bigger houses and agencies reject an even greater percentage of submissions (because they receive more, not because they’re more choosey).

Some authors will learn from rejection and improve their work. And that’s exciting to see. Many others think they know better and self-publish or go the publish on demand route to by-pass the critical selection process.

Having said all this, I must add that some self-published work is quite fine -- usually when its author has employed a professional editor. But that’s a tiny, tiny minority, and it’s swamped by second, third and fourth rate self-published or author mill releases.

What does PoD allow you, as publishers, to do that you couldn't have done had the technology not been available?

In our case, PoD is a print term describing a process by which books are instantly printed on order -- one single copy or a few dozen at a time depending on the day’s demand. We use the excellent Lightning Source print company and set our titles both at their US and their UK bases. Books are printed and despatched by the press closest to the ordering party. Distribution and exposure is usually via online sites like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.

This process allowed smaller companies like BeWrite Books to launch. Before then, publishing was a hugely expensive venture to set up with thousands necessary up front to pay for a mass print run. Then, of course, the books had to be stored and physically peddled around high street stores. And about 60 percent remain unsold and are returned or destroyed for a full rebate to the retailer by the publisher.

A PoD title costs relatively little to set up digitally for press, packaging and distribution is handled by the print shop, and there’s zero wastage. We covered all expenses -- not inconsiderable -- out of our own pockets for the first three years or so before starting to break even.

Our most valuable input, though, is not in money so much as professional editorial, technical and administration know-how. The editorial team of four, for instance, shares nearly 150 years of pro experience. I work long hours at least six days a week. But we’re not at the stage even now where we can afford to take salaries, which is why I occasionally have to moonlight for other publishers and -- like yesterday for Murdoch’s News International -- run a story for a big newspaper or magazine to go toward the household bills.

We do have working capital now, though, and we’re planning our first venture into short-run and stacking the shelves at physical (rather than online) bookshops with a thriller by David Hough called Prestwick (BeWrite Books, 2009) later this year.

What would you say sets BeWrite Books apart from other similar ventures (if that is the right word) that are out there?

In a word, editorial. There’s not a giant house to match our editorial expertise (almost two centuries combined experience), our eventual proofing. And we’re as selective as hell. The reader of a BB book will never be disappointed. We’re too darned smart for that.

What are your plans for the future?

Immediate future? A chilled beer and a tuna and cucumber sandwich.

Later this year, out first venture into short-run with David Hough’s Prestwick which we are short-run printing and plan to launch at all major UK airports over the next four months. One heck of a book!

Earlier, you mentioned that you started publishing with one or two co-authored collections from the BeWrite Community. What are the titles and characteristics of these collections, who were they by and are they still in circulation?

Actually, our first venture into publishing was an experiment to showcase the short story work of three particularly talented and prolific contributors to the website -- our first two members back in 2000, Peter Lee and Terri Pine (now Terri Nixon) and another regular poster, Andrew Muller. I added a piece to make up page count. We had no cover artists at the time, so the book, Chill (BeWrite Books, 2002) was covered by my son, Alex -- a fine photographer -- who used sugar to simulate ice with a ghostly image of a screaming skull showing through. Pretty effective.

A second collection by BeWriters was The Creature in the Rose (BeWrite Books, 2004), love stories with a macabre twist and co-authored by a whole bunch of gifted scribes.

We were becoming very, very busy on the publishing front by this time, though, and we had no choice but to close down the community and its forums. The lads and lassies all agreed that it was for the best. The BeWrite Community had done its job and it was time to move on to the natural second stage, helping authors into print. With a technologist pal in Canada, however, I opened a new writers’ group to pick up where BeWrite Community left off. Many old BeWriters meet up there and exchange work for critique. You’ll find it at www.bibliophilia.org.

These days, we no longer run collections and concentrate on full novels. Several genres (no horror or fantasy, chick lit, etc), but our main interest is in what’s become known as ‘literary fiction’: all about wordcraft.

Related resources:

BeWrite Books, website
BeWrite Books, blog

Possibly related books:

,,

Related interview:

[Interview: Part 1 0f 2] Neil Marr, Conversations with Writers, November 5, 2009

[Interview: Part 1 of 2] Neil Marr

2009-11-05T20:09:00.007Z

Publisher, author and former journalist, Neil Marr is the author of Bullycide: Death at Playtime (Success Unlimited, 2001), a groundbreaking book which exposed the epidemic of bully-related child suicides in the UK.

Bullycide received rave reviews around the world and sparked countless campaigns and Bullycide-dedicated websites, official studies, several follow up books and government and education authority action to combat school bullying in several countries.

In this interview, Neil Marr talks about his writing and the challenges he and his partners faced when they set up BeWrite.net, a publishing house that started off as a non-commercial writers’ website offering free professional editorial services and optional online showcasing.

How did the idea for Bullycide: Death at Playtime come about?

In the sixties, when I was a cub reporter of about seventeen or eighteen, I covered a huge police search for a missing child who lived just down the road from me. It was just after the horrific 1960s’ Moors Murders in England.

The search for Stephen Shepherd was the biggest UK police operation in UK history. When a child went missing, folks paled and talked of paedophile killings similar to those committed by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. Turned out that the wee boy -- twelve year old Steve -- hadn’t been murdered at all: He’d taken his own life because he could no longer face school bullies.

The media then lost interest and dropped the story ... no juicy murder.

I never did lose interest. It haunted me for over thirty years. This was Bullycide (a catchy word I had to invent to snatch attention and to conveniently fit newspaper headlines – it’s now entered specialist vocabulary).

I was driven to do wee Steve justice; tell his tale and that of others in his predicament. More than thirty years later I kept the promise I’d secretly made at his funeral to tell the whole truth.

How long did it take you to write the book?

Writing a non fiction book is not a problem. It’s like a news story -- off the top. Second nature as a journo. The heavy work is in the research, making sure that your claims are fireproof and that your publisher will catch no flak. Like the investigative journalism I spent so many years with for major -- and attractively sueable (that a word?) newspapers and magazines -- it’s a matter of being able to back up every single line with signed shorthand notes and tapes.

Every single line of what you read in my book was self-edited by the bereaved families involved to be sure there wasn’t the slightest error or misunderstanding on my part. No shocks or heartache. They became part of the effort. They became friends.

The process took three years -- and I don’t begrudge a day of it. It’s a sensitive issue and had to be handled gently and with profound understanding.

How did you go about it? What was involved?

Gosh. That’s a big question. Like a reporter, I guess. Someone who listens, probes and seldom intrudes. I’d been an award-winning investigative journalist, on the street for thirty years. You might as well ask Al Pacino to teach you how to act King Lear over the phone. My work rested on decades of experience. I just did the job I was built for.

Where and when was Bullycide published?

2000. Small press in Oxford.

How did you choose a publisher for the book?

I didn’t. The publisher chose me. A big mainstream publisher bought the book and paid me an advance of a few thousand pounds on the idea alone. That financed some of my travel and research (I’m in France, the story was in Britain). He later disagreed with my figures and methodology, so I went elsewhere to a small press in Oxford and pulled in a ‘qualified’ co-author to back up my findings; the late Tim Field.

Of course, it later turned out that I had my ducks in a row and -- if anything -- my startling numbers were conservative.

How was the book received?

Amazingly (am attaching early reviews). More than I could have dreamed of.

But there’s more...

On the back of the book have been several other book publications, countless internet campaigns, moves by education authorities and central government in several countries, plays, movies ... the book’s done its job. I’m chuffed with that. That was the whole idea.

Have you written other books since?

Oh yes, but I’m keeping those to myself because they’re mainly ghosted (fiction and non-fiction for other people to keep body and soul together) but I have edited/co-written 120 novels over the past ten years. Some authors acknowledge my input, others don’t bother. Fair enough because I’m a back-room boy by nature and don’t ask for up-front credit.

What made you decide to leave journalism?

Newspapers and magazines that pay worth a darn no longer compete with TV; they compete with the TV Guide. I was bored to tears and also embarrassed to be prostituted. Also, heart and vascular problems kicked in and I could no longer flit around the world as I used to. Can’t even catch a bus. Funnily enough, though, the Sun in the UK (rotten paper but great payer and I still have old pals there) called me today for 500 words on an Italian football yarn that will pay me more in an hour or so than I’ve collected from BB this year!

How easy or difficult was the transition from being a foreign correspondent to being an entrepreneur, editor and publisher?

Hey, I’m no ‘entrepreneur’. I’m just at old hack who knows his job and loves his writers and their words. The transition hasn’t been too traumatic because I apply the same principles I always did... are these pages worth reading? Health hassles slowed me down, too, so I’ve learned to live with those. These days, I hardly miss my suitcase.

What were some of the challenges that you faced when you first set up BeWrite?

Money. We were broke. And we were dedicated to keeping things in the black and absolutely independent. We’ve never been short of the cash to pay our dues, admin costs, print fees and royalties, but have resisted all outside financial help. We’re always a couple of books ahead of the shoe-shine and two steps away from the county line. I doubt that any one of our stable of writers realises that we’ve all worked for the past eight years without a salary, mostly covering our own expenses. That everything’s for free. Why should they when they’re coming up with the most valuable commodity of all -- the raw material? We’ve only just started to break even so that one book helps finance the next release (if it sells OK). Before now. every penny of expenses has come from the shallow pockets of the partners, me and Sandy.

There are other wee hitches, of course, but we can live with those because our authors and the other folks we deal with -- printers, distributors, publicists and reviewers -- very soon become good, trusting friends. We play from a square bat and it seems to count.

What reception did BeWrite receive?

Bewrite.net (the non-commercial website) had 3,000 members. There was free professional editing and enormous feedback (I handled over four million words myself). Everyone was happy. But we had to move to stage two -- publishing -- because so many people deserved that.

We started with one or two co-authored collections by BeWrite Community writers as an experiment while we got to understand the technology, then we moved on. When it comes to selection, BB is as tough as old boots, you know, but we do read every line submitted.

We would take non-agented work from writers who knew they were only almost there and work with it to make it spot on there ... at no cost whatsoever and with some tremendous results. BB produces beautiful books.

Related resources:

BeWrite Books, website
BeWrite Books, blog

Possibly related books:

,,

[Interview] Ulysses Chuka Kibuuka

2009-10-28T17:56:00.003Z

Ugandan writer, Ulysses Chuka Kibuuka has written and published three books: a thriller, For the Fairest (Fountain Publishers, 1991); a collection of short stories, Pale Souls Abroad (Fountain Publishers, 2004); and a novel, Saints and Scarecrows (Fountain Publishers, 2007).

His first novel, For the Fairest, won the 1993 Uganda Publishers and Booksellers Association (UPABA) Award for best fiction and was reviewed by The New Vision and Radio Uganda, among others.

In this interview, Ulysses Kibuuka talks about religion, writing and the state of publishing in Uganda:

When did you start writing?

I started writing when I was a kid in p4 (Uganda) but first got published 1991 even though I had written For the Fairest in 1980.

Uganda had a real hell of a time and education and all that goes with it went to the dogs -- hence the deficit in publishers or enthusiasts. The difference is not much today -- not in terms of security but in terms of respect for literature, writing, etc.

With the coming of the current administration into state power -- I was part of the guerrilla detail that captured the city Kampala and still serve in the armed forces aged 56! -- it was relatively easy to get a publisher. Fountain Publishers are new having began in 1990. I am their first (fiction) published writer.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

The challenges a writer in Uganda must face are poverty -- inability to afford paper or, worse still, a computer. The worst is that our publishers, very well and perhaps rightly knowing the difficulty in marketing fiction, only encourage us to write as long as we don't expect them to handle our manuscripts with any iota of urgency.

I wrote Fairest in 1981 and only got it published in 1991 after a lot of beseeching and cajoling the publishers. I am sure the print run of nearly 2,000 copies isn't sold out so many years down the road!

Who is your target audience?

I never targeted any specific audience. All readers of books were in my mind as I penned down my words.

I -- wrongly, of course -- believed there were many readers in Uganda and that there was money to be made from writing a thriller.

Because I loved what I wrote, I believe it would be loved by everybody, it was almost as if I expected them to know my book was sweet even before they opened it!

Who influenced you most?

I was influenced by early books I read as a child in primary school.

Henry Rider Haggard's Montezuma's Daughter, The Black Arrow and Treasure Island by R. L. Stevenson, Typee by Herman Melville and much later Alistair MacLean's and Mickey Spillane's thrillers helped sharpen my whodunit sense of the thriller.

MacLean greatly influenced my Fairest.

Have your personal experiences influenced your writing in any way?

Yes, my personal experiences can be found in much of my writing. Some I've been unable to conceal!

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My concerns as a writer are plenty. I hate organised religion, for instance, and know Africa might never get over the damage these 'faiths' have done to our spiritual and even moral fibre(s). In Saints and Scarecrows, I vent my anger at this and give my reasons which I am 100% sure nobody can dispute to win over me.

I am motivated to write by looking at all the wrongs we as man do fellow man unnecessarily. I see apartheid practiced amongst us Africans in extents nearly, if not as bad, as the Boers did in South Africa.

Do you write everyday?

I don't write everyday. I even spend months without noting down anything. The reasons for this are many but one of them is that I've been disillusioned with writing.

However, I have more than 20 books projected in my head! Writers' block? Maybe.

I want to try my hand at screenplay writing. There is money there.

How would you describe your latest book?

My latest (last) book is Of Saints and Scarecrows which came out in 2001.

I always find it easy to write on the subjects I choose. Of course, I put in a lot of research. I don't see any aspects of my book(s) that I don't find enjoyable.

My last book is a novel that touches on carnal love between a Ugandan Muslim trader and a Munyarwanda (Rwandan) Catholic nun exiled in Uganda. I can say I started that book two decades before the Rwanda genocide, but I cannot prove that I predicted most of the causes since my publishers only accepted it long after the horrors.

If you do decide to continue writing, what will your next book be about?

I have projected four novels. One is to be titled The Dekabusa Autopsy and is a thriller involving a Ugandan secret agent operating in Nairobi who uncovers a plot by a group of post-apartheid South African supremacists who want to use East African politicians to bring back a sort of colonial rule.

The second novel, Flight of the Termites takes place during the last days in power of Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada. The war that ousts him starts in Tanzania and enters southern Uganda. In a southern Ugandan town, an Arab man has left behind nearly a ton of gold and several precious stones. He hires an Idi Amin army deserter to collect together a number of men to pick this stuff from the deep south and bring it to Kampala before it crumbles...

Possibly Related Books:

,,

Related Interview:
[Interview] Gisela Hoyle, author of 'The White Kudu', Conversations with Writers, October 3, 2009

[Interview: Part 2 of 2] Dave and Lillian Brummet

2009-10-22T20:36:00.006+01:00

In the first part of this interview, Dave Brummet talked, among other things, about how most writers today are also having to play a bigger role in promoting and marketing the work that they are producing.

Lillian Brummet now gives her views on the work she and Dave are doing. Together they have written and published two "how-to" books, Purple Snowflake Marketing: How to make your book stand out in a crowd (2nd edition, BookLocker, 2009) and Trash Talk: Learn how you can impact the planet (PublishAmerica, 2004) as well as Towards Understanding (PublishAmerica, 2005) a collection of 120 poems on society, the environment and overcoming trauma.

They also host two online radio programmes, Conscious Discussions talk radio show and Authors Read radio program.

How would you describe your writing?

I began with the Trash Talk column because I really believe in the individual’s power to impact the health of the planet with really simple actions. The success of this column, and later the book that Dave and I wrote, was the fuel that got us going on the road we are traveling now.

For me, writing is about leading others by showing them just how easy it is to create a more peaceful, healthy world. Each of us has a legacy to leave behind and we already have the tools to do it, what we need is some inspiring, positive information that will urge us to get out of the rut of apathy and become more proactive in life. That is my passion, when it comes to writing. Our first two published books and most of our articles reflect this passion. The most recent book is a slight diversion from this focus in that we have provided a marketing plan development guide for fellow authors.

When you were thinking about Purple Snowflake Marketing, which authors would you say had the most influenced you?

Initially it was conversations on writer’s forums that got us thinking about releasing a book like Purple Snowflake Marketing. People were constantly asking us questions on how we were able to build the name recognition we have and how to go about each step of the marketing process.

As book reviewers and self-education enthusiasts we had ready access to writer’s resource materials, and from this we saw several areas that were really lacking in providing the key skills that help a writer develop a plan that suits their particular situation. We made note of any area we felt was lacking in other resource materials and made a great effort to create a well-rounded resource for writers, one they can use indefinitely to promote each piece they create.

We cover emotions, writer’s block and even how to handle the responses from the family and friends in our lives. Every writer we’ve ever met, either in person or Online, has been an influence in this regard.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Time management is a real biggie for me. There is always so much to do. Someone wants a banner ad, another radio show needs a promo ad, there’s guests to book on the radio show and outlines for their interviews to create… writing the column for Poetic Monthly Magazine, and articles for newsletters or blogs… emails popping in every few minutes for an interview, or networking opportunity.

Keeping records of all of this and making sure that everyone has been followed up on, while finding new contacts, new opportunities to reach an audience that has not yet heard of our work -- this can eat up a lot of time.

Part of the struggle is keeping up with the new technologies, each of these takes a little time to become accustomed to.

New book releases are the most time-constraining for writers, we need to find patience through this busy time and know that there will be time for writing again soon enough. Besides being patient, keeping good records is essential to ensuring nothing is left behind along the way.

How many books have you written so far?

To date we have three books available to the public.

Trash Talk discusses the 4-R’s of waste management and the proper order for them. This being Refuse, Reduce, Reuse Then Recycle… before we even consider sending the item to the trash bin. Trash Talk focuses on the third R, Reuse – which also saves people a lot of money (through reduced shopping, reduced utility bills...) and provides a way to make a real and measurable contribution towards a healthier planet - enabling readers to feel more positive in life and leave a lasting legacy. Trash Talk is currently available in both paperback & hardcover formats.

Towards Understanding’s revised edition is a collection of 125 non-fiction poems written in chronological order. It is a true story of a young pre-teen female growing up on her own, struggling to survive, breaking the chains of inner demons and finally growing towards understanding of her value & purpose in life -- but not quite reaching it. Thus the title… Towards Understanding.

The original version of this book is still available in paperback & hardcover. This new revised edition offers 5 new poems, creating an ending the author is more comfortable with, and updated author information – and is available through booklocker.com.

Purple Snowflake Marketing: How to make your book stand out in a crowd, is a reference guide for self-marketing authors who want to be noticed in a snowstorm of writers. This book provides reassurance to authors along with ample advice for avoiding pit-falls and setting a pace for marketing endeavors.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into Purple Snowflake Marketing?

I turn to Dave (she laughs). It is true! You see -- the benefit of our working relationship is his skills take over where mine falter, my abilities rise where his are not so strong, his talents shine where mine are listless. When he is feeling tired, I take over -- and vise-versa. I don’t think there is one thing that our office produces that hasn’t had both of us working on it in some way -- whether or not both our names are in the by-line.

What sets the book apart from the other things you've written?

Purple Snowflake Marketing, although it is a self-help, how-to book -- it is quite different from the other products we’ve produced in the past. This is a book geared for a specific audience -- writers… rather then a general audience of individuals looking for inspiration.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Getting published (she grins)! Winning all these amazing awards is pretty cool, all the acknowledgments from leading environmental and writer-education organizations continues to be a huge honor -- getting thanked by the Premier of BC for our environmental efforts was really amazing. But honestly when you strip all this away, the real addiction to this drug we call writing is the fact that it offers both Dave and I an avenue to leave a real legacy behind.

Now, let me clarify here that I don’t mean having our name in print and being ‘known’ or famous. When I say the word legacy I mean this -- answering questions like: Why we exist in this moment… What is the value of our life… How did this world benefit from our existence? These are the questions we hope to answer through our writing.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related resources:

[Interview: Part 1 of 2] Dave and Lillian Brummet

2009-10-19T00:14:00.008+01:00

Canadian authors, Dave and Lillian Brummet have written and published two "how-to" books, Purple Snowflake Marketing: How to make your book stand out in a crowd (2nd edition, BookLocker, 2009) and Trash Talk: Learn how you can impact the planet (PublishAmerica, 2004) as well as Towards Understanding (PublishAmerica, 2005) a collection of 120 poems on society, the environment and overcoming trauma.

In addition to writing, the Brummets host two online radio programmes, Conscious Discussions talk radio show and Authors Read radio program.

In this, the first of two interviews, Dave Brummet talks about the work they are doing:

When did you start writing?

I’ve been writing all my life.

I decided to become published around 1999 after taking a writing course and learning, most importantly, how to present one's self to a publisher. I just felt that writing was my calling and wanted to “follow my bliss” (from Joseph Campbell) -- so to speak. I also educated myself on the business and politics side of writing in order to query in a professional manner.

Who is your target audience?

Our target audience, with Purple Snowflake Marketing, is any writer -- because every writer needs the knowledge to be able to promote their work.

These days, as a writer, publishing companies expect authors to be willing to market themselves and their work, often with their own resources. We realized that there is a huge void in the information available for us, as writers, to do this.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Because we like to write about the things we love in life, for example gardening, cooking and outdoor recreation, these experiences become a part of each and every story. Even if it is a how-to article, I try to relay through the writing how I learned myself, as a first-timer, thus connecting with the reader.

I tend to write as if I am speaking to a person, often with some humor, rather than a textbook dictation-like approach. This seems to come across as more reader-friendly this way.

Do you write everyday?

Ideally I would like to write everyday but unfortunately editing, graphics, web maintenance, ads, radio promos, voiceovers, interviews (he laughs)… and life in general all have to maintain a balance as well.

When I do write I begin with outlines and well-thought out plans, I then extrapolate from there and size the article accordingly to the specified word count.

After the initial writing, an article or a book will need edits (often over and over) and the writers must take the time to get away and let their minds recover -- to come back to a piece fresh and proofread it.

At some point you have to stop editing because, with our ever-flexible English language, you could go on for forever. You need to trust in your talent and believe that it is going to be good enough for your market.

How would you describe your latest book?

Purple Snowflake Marketing: How to make your book stand out in a crowd, is our most recent release. The first edition was put out in 2007 and within 18 short months it had made the recommended reading list of a dozen writing courses.

We’ve created this new revised edition with updated information, hundreds of new resources and several new sections -- which is now available through booklocker.com We compiled it from our own market plans for our articles and books, which started back in 2004 with our first book Trash Talk.

We chose to create this project as an e-book specifically because writers are already at their computers and they benefit from the live links that link them to promotional opportunities and well-researched resources with the click of a mouse.

Which aspects of your work do you enjoy most?

I like the creative process of writing -- crafting a sentence out of nothing in order to convey what you want the reader to get out of the piece. To me this is the true art of writing, the reason why I got into it at first… this creative aspect of writing.

I also now enjoying the graphics and creative design of book covers, bookmarks, ads, business cards, radio promotion blurbs -- everything a writer needs to promote. I love the fact that we have more control and save a lot of money by doing this in-house. Graphic design work is not cheap.

What will your next book be about?

We have a series of garden, cookbook, animal rescue and landscaping books that we are currently working on.

As a musician and a drum-maker, I also have plans to share my years of knowledge and experience in these rather unique fields. I’ve repaired and refurbished a wide variety of instruments, built drums and taught students for 25 years -- this has given me a unique insight into the trade that I feel is worth sharing with readers.

Which one is next is a good question!

Related resources:

Possibly related books:

,,

[Interview] Gisela Hoyle, author of 'The White Kudu'

2009-10-03T01:55:00.012+01:00

Poet and novelist Gisela Hoyle was born in Barkly-West, in the Northern Cape of South Africa.

She attended Kimberley Girls High School and graduated with an MA in English from Rhodes University.

She taught at Rhodes University and then at various schools in South Africa. Currently, she lives and works in the UK.

The White Kudu (Picnic Publishing, 2010) is her first novel.

In this interview, Gisela Hoyle talks about her writing:

When did you start writing?

I have been writing since I was a child -- mostly poetry and mostly for occasions in the family or at school (I am a teacher).

I decided to get published about 18 months ago now -- because I had written my first complete novel, The White Kudu.

I took my manuscript to a Writers’ Clinic, where it was positively received, and I got some good advice on how to approach publishers; which I did.

How would you describe your writing?

Well I don’t think I’m a genre writer. I just write and let other people put it into categories.

The White Kudu has been described as both an Indiana Jones type of adventure story and a literary novel. I suppose this is because the plot follows this young geologist and his discoveries. These lead him to the local mythology -- which is what always seems to happen to Indiana Jones; and then the literary side, I suppose, has come from readers finding several layers of meaning in it, and perhaps the way it is written, I’m not sure. Also, because it is a story about stories and the role of narrative in defining identities, in the interaction between people and places.

Who is your target audience?

I don’t really write with a particular audience in mind -- I think ‘audiences’ are commercial categories for publishers, rather than real people. I’d like to think my writing would appeal to those -- of any age or gender or nationality.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Writing about South Africa’s past is a challenge. I want to do that compassionately and truthfully.

South Africa’s past (and present still) was fraught with conflict and violence -- brought on by deliberate injustice. There are so many stories and versions of stories and they each will have some element of truth, but they will each also be utterly subjective and almost inevitably biased.

When I was growing up there, everything you said, the most ordinary daily details -- like what you had for breakfast -- were politicised; placed you in a camp, somehow. It was extraordinarily tense and loaded. So, how can one speak about it clearly, fairly, objectively? I think this is what the Truth and Reconciliation Hearings were trying to address -- speaking about such a past is always a risk: it risks being unfair, it risks being misunderstood and yet if there is to be a future, it must be done and done in a spirit of reconciliation. It was abused, of course it was, but it was an astonishingly brave thing, too.

For me, writing about it now, from another country means risking rose-coloured spectacles and nostalgia on the one hand, and dramatisation on the other; both of which will skew the real, the human story. I have tried to focus on individuals within such a situation of strong group identification and the resulting violence -- what does it mean to live your life, and live it decently, in such a world?

In the writing you are doing, which authors influenced you most?

Probably mostly South African authors, such as Marguerite Poland, Andre Brink and Etienne van Heerden, who all share an interest I think in the mythology of South Africa and the relationship of various people (coloniser and native, missionary, shaman and farmer) to the land and the landscape.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Well, The White Kudu is set in the place where I grew up: a farm in the Northern Cape of South Africa. The place is a mission farm in an area, where land ownership was deeply contested -- and the questions of who the land belongs to, whether it can belong to anyone ; or whether it is not rather a question of people belonging to the land have always interested me. Also because of my own hybrid nationality. The time is the mid to late 90s -- so early post-Apartheid South Africa.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

I am interested in language: its role in defining our identities and how that works in multi-cultural or more specifically hybrid societies.

It is, I think, especially through stories that we achieve an understanding of ourselves and our societies. So The White Kudu is really a novel about stories -- their power over us, their beauty and their danger. But also their power to connect people and to help with understanding history.

You make reference to "hybrid nationality” and "hybrid societies". What do you mean by this?

I mean people and societies which are not defined by a single culture and that have been so for a time long enough to feel that they belong to both -- so, more than just multi-cultural.

I grew up in a German-speaking family with very close ties to Germany, as my parents worked for the Berlin Mission Society; but I also grew up in South Africa, went to South African schools, am ‘at home’ in South Africa. I belong to both. I think it is best expressed by a kind of ‘both and’; rather than ‘either/or’ approach to life -- it is always looking from two angles at once, and being OK with that.

Do you write every day?

I do try to write every day -- this is not always possible, especially during very busy times of term.

I get up early and write between 4 and 6 o’clock in the morning -- before school or anyone else in the family is even up. I love the quietness of that time.

I simply made a decision that a day in which I have not written is a day wasted and so I get up make a cup of tea and write.

At times I set myself a word target or just aim to get a certain scene or poem written. It ends because the rest of the day starts and I have to get to work.

How many books have you written so far?

The White Kudu is my first novel to be published.

It is the story of a young geologist, who is posted to a farm in the fairly remote rural area of the Northern Cape. He encounters there the legend of a white kudu as well as the story of his predecessor’s scandal. During his search for mineral wealth he uncovers an ancient skeleton, which adds another dimension the land claims battle raging in the area at the same time.

How did you choose a publisher for the book?

I chose Picnic Publishers because they stated very clearly that they were interested in the writing, the story or the poetry and not in the biography of the author. It is a small independent publisher, which is great as one stays far more involved in the entire process of publishing than I imagine one would with a bigger publisher.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work that you put into the book?

There is quite a lot of anthropology in the novel -- that was an interesting challenge to work into the story. It was important for understanding the resolution, but it is not the sort of conversation people outside universities have much. So, I needed not to get too involved in that -- but it was very tempting, because it is so interesting.

What did you enjoy most?

I really enjoyed ‘reliving’ many of the stories of my childhood -- also doing the research on them and finding them to be a part of the authentic mythology of San people of South Africa. So the most difficult was also the most enjoyable, really.

What sets The White Kudu apart from other things you've written?

The strong mythological content makes it very different to many other books. The only other work I published is poetry, so as a novel it is very different. As a story it is also very closely linked to very specific places in the world -- poetry is not like that, or my poetry is not.

In what way is it similar?

The interest in language, in the power of naming things is present in all my work and the power language has to make connections: between people and the place in which they live, between people. The way shared language can create a sense of belonging -- but also the power of language to confuse and alienate.

Questions around who owns the land and who the land belongs to are contentious in many parts of Africa. Do you see a time when these questions will be resolved?

Yes, land ownership is very contentious, because it goes to the heart of the injustice of South Africa’s existence. When I was growing up, it was something constantly looming over our lives. The Nationalist government at the time did not trust the Berlin Mission at all and were constantly threatening to appropriate the land. So I grew up knowing that ‘home’ did not belong to us -- we were outsiders, from all sectors of South African society, but that did not prevent the feeling of belonging to the place. And I think that is perhaps a useful distinction: people belonging to the land and the land belonging to people.

People, for various reasons, have a right to live in a certain land: politically in South Africa the white farmers as a group had no right, because they had come by that land unjustly. But then, when you consider a farmer individually, who has worked the land, has got to know the land, has loved the land and taken care of it, perhaps even suffered for it -- what does that mean for ownership?

On the other hand, there are traditional claims to land ownership, there are blood-ties to land -- and the facts of stealing and war and conquest in history remain, too.

The farm I grew up on had been ‘given’ by the queen to the Mission Society as a refuge for those Black people, who had become Christian and were being persecuted by their people for it. So it occupies an interesting, ambiguous place in that history: it was both taken from the people but also being used for the people. The descendants of these communities still live there and the process of establishing their ownership of it is underway.

I have no answer to these problems but think that if history is so intractable, why can we not think about it practically -- what would be best for the land? I do not think that individual people owning an unworkably tiny piece of land as restitution for the past is a practical solution or is even fair in any real sense of the word.

The more I think about it, the more I find the concept of owning a piece of the earth strange. Perhaps we should only own time on the land, rather than the land itself?

What will your next book be about?

My next book is a coming of age story. It is also set in South Africa, but in the Knysna Forest in the Western Cape and further back in time -- still in the Apartheid era.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

I think it is very much too early to tell.

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Related Interview:
[Interview] Jason Blacker, author of "Black Dog Bleeding", Conversations with Writers, September 30, 2009

[Interview] Jason Blacker, author of "Black Dog Bleeding"

2009-09-30T22:44:00.004+01:00

South African author, Jason Blacker was born in Cape Town but grew up in Johannesburg. He moved to Vancouver, Canada when he was 18 years old and currently lives in Calgary.

He spent some time at art college before getting a degree in English Literature. He has worked, among other things, as a police officer, a privacy analyst, a school bus driver and a Starbucks Store Manager.

His first novel, Black Dog Bleeding (Lulu, 2008) explores South Africa's apartheid era and the personal cost paid by individuals who found the policy abhorrent and resisted it.

In this interview, Jason Blacker talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I started writing as soon as I could pick up a crayon. In the early days, kindergarten, I started off drawing and exploring colours before learning to write letters and and words.

I think, for me, writing was a natural evolution from drawing. I love drawing and took a couple of years at art college. But to write words that are transformed into images in the reader's mind is a great thrill. Especially if you get that poetic turn-of-phrase.

In grade 7 or 8 I wrote a poem about a man looking into a mirror and the poem was written as a mirror-image of itself. My teacher loved it, gave me an "A" and wrote some really generous comments. It was that experience that really turned on the light bulb for me. My A-ha moment where I thought: "Wow, people can really enjoy this thing I do with words just for fun." And that was the beginning of my journey to being a published and financially successful author. Prior to that, I had just messed around scribbling my own comics -- in the vein of spiderman and star wars. Huge fan of both. I'd do the drawings and writing and just dunk myself deeply into those imaginary worlds. Still today, there is nothing I like better than getting immersed in the story of my characters.

In university I took an undergrad in English Literature to explore some of my favourite authors. One class was on mystery fiction and we had the option of writing our own story. I did this and the professor loved it. She gave me another "A" and encouraged me to publish [the story]. It was at this time that I decided to write my first novel. Up to this point I had written poems and short stories.

My first novel, Black Dog Bleeding, was born during these days. It has been self published and is available at Lulu.com. It was important for me to write it. It deals with the life of someone like Stephen Biko who I greatly admire. Although fictitious, I needed to come to understand the sacrifice and courage of the heroes -- both men and women, black and white of the apartheid resistance. And I wanted to share that with the world.

How would you describe your writing?

My writing is informed by my poetic experience. And what I mean by that is that because I started out writing poetry in its various forms, poetry infuses my prose. I'm very interested in imagery and metaphors. And I love finding that phrase that captures an image in a poetic and original way. Some of my influences would be the poets -- Dylan Thomas, e. e. cummings, [Charles] Bukowski and Walt Whitman to name a few.

Some of the writer's I've enjoyed would be [John] Steinbeck, [Ernest] Hemmingway, [Chuck] Palahniuk and Dashiell Hammett. I think all of these folks have influenced my writing to degrees.

Who is your target audience?

This is an interesting question, as I have two answers to it. I started out writing literary fiction and wrote stories that I wanted to tell. I had no real audience in mind. These stories were character-driven. Based on characters that came to me and wrestled with me like a monkey on my back. I had to tell their tales without much thought to who would read them. But if I was pressed I'd say my stories focus on the theme of the triumph of the human spirit under duress. I write about the hopeful and optimistic potential of humanity. Although my stories are infused with suffering. I guess my audience would be those seeking more understanding of the human condition, and what it means to live this human existence.

On the other hand, I have started to write hard boiled detective novels too. My audience there is certainly for detective fiction fans. Especially those who are more interested in character than tricky story development.

You mentioned a number of authors who influenced you most. In what ways did they influence you?

The poets, as mentioned above, influenced me not only in their wonderfully fresh and innovative imagery but also in their understanding and compassionate take on life. I think, that is, the most influencing flavour is the writer's understanding and ability to relate, through his characters, the struggles of what it means to be human.

I love to be entertained too. And for me being entertained is enjoying the writing and the characters. The style the author has. These, too me are more important than tricky plots or clever red herrings.

With Hammett, he infused in me an abiding love of the hard boiled detective genre, escalating to the level of literary fiction, in my opinion. Also, I have yet to find many others who can write dialogue as forcefully and ironically as he does.

A couple of others I should mention are Nadine Gordimer, J. M. Coetzee and Alan Paton. All three being South African writers and their styles and empathy and my affinity for them as a fellow South African expat draw me into their works. A fourth South African writer deserves separate mention. K. Sello Duiker, a bright flame extinguished too soon showed great promise and is a sad loss to the global literary scene.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concerns as a writer are what I would hope concern any caring and compassionate creative person. I am deeply concerned with the human condition. Especially the inequities and inequalities rampant even to this day within society. These affect me deeply and are what flavour most of my writing.

My goal in writing is one of uplifting the human spirit to greater heights, if that is possible, through writing -- which I hope and believe it is. I deal with my concerns through my artistic endeavours. Be they art, poetry or prose.

The concerns for my fellow man drive me in the pursuit of more generosity, more compassion and more equality as themes in my novels.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Well, as a first generation, white South African I have been affronted by the glaring disparities forced upon my countrymen. And both white South Africans as well as black South Africans were, I believe fractured by this disjoining. And to this day it creates difficulties that South Africa is confronted with and struggling to fix.

For me, even now living in Canada, I rage daily against these unacceptable disparities and they continue. I find solace in this sad state through the struggles my characters go through in their day-to-day lives.

Perhaps writers are mirrors to which society can see its faults and hopefully remove them.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

On a professional level, the biggest challenges faced are trying to find publishers and agents. The road at times is long and the incline terribly steep. This is likely the biggest challenge to most emerging writers.

On the personal level, it is finding the time and energy to continually stay focused on a daily basis. Especially when there are multiple distractions and expectations attached to me. My family and employment income are challenges that continually need to be juggled in order to find the motivation and time to write.

Do you write everyday?

When I have a book on the go I do write every day except for weekends. But if I'm in the groove I'll write then too. I just sit down with my laptop to write and I review the previous day's writing and make very brief edits. I'm just looking for spelling and grammar mostly. Doing this review gets me into the character and it is easy to start up again.

Once I've done that I just start writing away on my laptop with the goal of 1,000 words. I use words rather than time as I occasionally will drift off. So some days it may take me an hour and others it might take two. I will write at least 1,000 words and I find I like to stop when I'm really into the story and things are going along smoothly. It is then easier the next day to pick up again if I've left off when I would have liked to continue on.

How many books have you written so far?

I have written three so far. The first Black Dog Bleeding is self-published through lulu.com. I published it in 2008.

As mentioned above, Black Dog Bleeding is a fictitious account of what I imagined the life of Stephen Biko might have been like. It follows my protagonist (Steven Bankulu), same initials on purpose, as he deals with immense personal loss but yet even in the midst of all of this finds a way to fight for the justice of all South Africans. Even though he ends up in jail on trumped up charges of treason. The novel is set in the 70's and 80's in South Africa.

Livid Blue is my second novel. It is not yet published though I continue to seek publishers and representations. It is a novel that follows two protagonists. The first is Janko who is dying from complications related to AIDS. The second is Michael, the psychiatrist who spends many sessions with Janko in order for him to come to terms with his difficult childhood in order to prepare for a peaceful death.

Janko carries a lot of anger and resentment having been abandoned by his mother and not knowing who his father is.

The novel explores different types of relationships and the validity of them. Why are blood relations seen as so strong when in fact they are often the weakest and most antagonistic? These are the kind of questions the novel deals with.

First Feature is a hard-boiled detective novel and has also not been published. Anthony Carrick is the main protagonist who is an ex-LAPD homicide detective now working on his own. He has been hired to find out who killed a high-powered Holllywood producer.

All is not as it seems in pristine Beverly Hills. And Anthony's employer (the production company) are eager to find out any skeletons before the mass media have a chance to feed on them. This novel follows Anthony through drug-adled Echo Park, a hippie vegetarian restaurant with the coroner and a fashionable gay bar all for the sake of solving a murder.

An interesting tidbit about this novel is that Anthony is named after my father and Carrick in Ireland where my ancestry is from.

What is your latest book about?

I'll talk about my fourth book, Red Reign, which I am in the process of writing. It will likely take me about a year for the first draft. Six months, if I could focus on it full time. And perhaps another six months to do all the edits where I feel it is well-dressed and presentable to the public. And the public in this case being agents and publishers.

I would likely choose a publisher based on a number of factors. Most often how well I get along with their representative I am dealing with. Oftentimes money will also be a factor as well as some of the other authors they publish too.

Which are the most difficult aspects of the work you put into your books?

The most difficult aspects of my books for me is the researching. I usually start a novel with a character and they will present their story to me and I head off under the bunker and start writing.

I research as I find it necessary to do so. But the major drawback of this is the break of continuity and rhythm that occurs when this happens. I deal with this by stubbornly sticking to only the research I need to do and ignoring any drifting or extraneous research that might catch my eye.

What do you enjoy most?

I enjoy really getting into the story of my characters. I enjoy the times when the writing flows and time stand still. It is at times like this when the character's really take on a life of their own and it is as if I am getting to know real people. When this happens it is magic. And I'm at the top of my game.

What sets Red Reign apart from other things you've written?

I'm getting better at writing all the time. My writing feels more fluid and the character more palpable.

What sets this book apart is also the fact that it takes place under more current political conditions. It deals with terrorism and corporate greed.

It [is similar to the others in that it] deals with the similar themes that infuse all my writing. That is human suffering and indifference and lack of compassion. But also the overcoming of these things to a spiritual salvation if you will.

After Red Reign, what will you work on next?

I will return to my hard boiled detective novel. It will be called Second Fiddle and will have intrigue, death, perhaps some romance and, of course, greed and fear.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Just to be able to keep going under difficult circumstances. To keep it up after hundreds of rejections and many personal difficulties and changes in personal environments. To keep going at it while so many things rail against me. To not go gently into that good night as Dylan Thomas would say. And in the end... frankly, I'm just a stubborn bugger.

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Related Interview:
[Interview] Jennifer Armstrong, author of 'Minus the Morning', Conversations with Writers, September 27, 2009

[Interview] Jennifer Armstrong, author of 'Minus the Morning'

2009-09-27T23:15:00.007+01:00

Zimbabwean author, Jennifer Armstrong has worked as a martial arts journalist.

Her memoir, Minus the Morning (Lulu, 2009) explores what it was like to grow up in a white, Christian, Rhodesian family.

She is also the author of three e-books: Dambudzo Marechera (Lulu, 2009), which explores the link between Zimbabwean writer, Dambudzo Marechera, and shamanism; father, son, holy ghost (Lulu, 2009), which has been described as "a story of Oedipal knowledge and realisation, in Africa"; and, Skydive on Zimbabwe (Lulu, 2009), a poem in freeform verse. All three e-books are available to download free from Lulu.

Currently, Jennifer Armstrong lives in Perth, Australia.

In this interview, she talks about her writing:

When did you start writing?

The medium I had the most natural affinity for, at school, was art. When I begun to grow up, I had no idea what I wanted to be, so I gravitated towards the visual arts, only to find that I got much more of a thrill when explaining the concept of my art to others, as compared to actually making the art. That pointed me in the direction of philosophy and theory. It was my natural arena for questioning and developing ideas.

I began writing as an undergraduate in the humanities. Then I sprang into martial arts journalism.

I was still finding my feet as a writer and as a migrant from the Third World to the First World when my own, personal world came crashing down. I was bullied at work because of who I was, because of where I was from (Zimbabwe). That was when I first began to write as if I really meant it, as if something was at stake.

I wrote in order to figure out what was true and what wasn’t. To understand the world around me accurately was my greatest imperative. I wanted to know things accurately and not merely impressionistically, like before. So I began writing my memoir, but it was full of gaps that indicated that my knowledge of the world was still incomplete. I couldn’t make sufficient sense of my own narrative to write in a way that would have led to a swift completion of the memoir, because I had been brought up in a bubble of innocence -- innocent of politics and what that meant for me and the people around me (white and black), innocent of the ideologies and psychological torment that had been afflicting my father, I have very little conception of the world around me as a child growing up in Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe).

It seems that my culture had conspired to raise me as a Victorian child-woman, who would marry my rightful master, probably in all innocence about the biological intricacies of sex and gender roles.

Upon migration to the more sophisticated -- but more cynical and often mean-spirited First World -- I was totally at a loss as to what to make of almost everything around me. Nothing rang a bell. Everything was cold and life was seemingly driven by forces I couldn’t reckon with.

After enduring the workplace bullying incident (which had been driven by xenophobia, but also by a misplaced notion of political correctness -- that it was perfectly moral to bring a “white African” down a peg or two), I had to try to restore my physical health. It meant a lot of waiting around, and trying to build up the strength of my digestive system again. I had difficulty eating solids without my belly swelling up with air. (Even today, my digestive system has not fully recovered from that trauma.)

I had to wait twelve years for the bits and pieces of knowledge and the ability to conceptualise my experiences came together. The last pieces of the puzzle arrived in my consciousness late last year, and I was able to drop them into place.

After that, I was keen to publish the manuscript immediately, to get it out there, and out of my system.

How would you describe your writing?

I would say it is very difficult to describe the writing I am doing. It overlaps somewhat with my PhD interests, which is to study the psychology of one Dambudzo Marechera in the light of contemporary knowledge about shamanistic consciousness.

So, I am very interested in how people think, and why, and what enlightened thinking looks like.

What interests me a lot is to think about how we make unconscious assumptions about people, and act upon them. Where do these assumptions come from that are unconscious? They can be very racist or sexist assumptions, but somehow we often do not know we have them. So, I am thinking very much about identity, and how our views of our own or others’ identities do not seem to relate to rational processes very much, if at all.

Who is your target audience?

Ultimately, I've had so much negativity from some right wing trolls on the Internet -- (those who try to correct my thinking because it is not in tune with a narrow and obnoxious ideology of social conformity) -- that I decided to direct my writing to a non-populist level, to intellectuals and fellow artists.

In other words, I don’t want to direct my ideas to an audience who will only half swallow my thinking, to vomit up that which they have understood incompletely. I’m directing my writing towards intellectuals and academics of all sorts -- those who have a background of sufficient rigour to give my writing the consideration it deserves.

At the same time, I think there is a lot that can be readily ingested in my recently published memoir. There are some more difficult sections in it, but for the most part, anyone who has an appreciation for good literature should be able to read -- (and hopefully enjoy!!) -- my humble (but not-so-conformist) memoir.

Which authors influenced you most?

Of course Dambudzo Marechera would have to come to the top of my list.

I’m interested in other experimental writers like James Joyce. I really love philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche and Georges Bataille.

There is a lot of quasi-Freudian influence in my memoir, but I do not love [Sigmund] Freud or his later adherents and interpreters as much because they are prone to produce theories that are only narrowly psychological, rather than more complex and taking into account other dimensions of life like social and cultural conditioning, history and politics.

There is a strong feeling of an affinity with ‘Nature’ as a powerful force of inspiration in my life. I am beholden to [William] Wordsworth and Percy Shelley.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

As one whose identity was uprooted (after my family’s emigration from Zimbabwe in 1984), I have been exceedingly intrigued with the idea of identity, how identity is created, and how it can be undermined or destroyed at an emotional level.

I think identity is really a political formulation, but what is not so well known is that it can come under attack at any moment in a way that really is akin to the underhand way that spies and other ‘dark forces’ go about their business.

There are all sorts of indirect forms of coercion that work on our emotions at an unconscious level. Why are some identities considered more desirable than others? Why is it more difficult, in general, for someone who is female or who has black skin to get ahead in the world than for a white male to do so? What are the unconscious psychological forces that get us to treat these kinds of people differently, without necessarily even realising that we are doing it?

Dambudzo could not have a black, Rhodesian identity that had any self-determining qualities to it, since “black Rhodesian” and “self-determining” were contradictory qualities during the era of Ian Smith -- thus his anguish. Similarly, there are those who attribute rationality as being a quality pertaining to males, and not by any means to females. So there are members of my own family that are unable to consider me rational, despite the fact that I am doing a PhD and conduct myself with a level of bearing that is appropriate to my greater degree of knowledge and educational levels. In fact, my father is unable to recall what degree I’m doing, despite the fact that I have now been at if for several years. He wills himself not to know, because it contradicts his idea of womanhood that a female could be doing anything important.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

I’m concerned with understanding the real influences on human behaviour -- not what people claim to be influenced by, but what is really driving them to do what they do, and more importantly, what is also driving them not to do whatever it is they do not do.

I think there are broad as well as narrow political and historical currents that shape the characteristics of any people, in terms of their time and place in the global discourse. The degree to which we are not shaped by our conscious choices, but by the choices made for us by historical and social chance -- this largely goes unrecognised.

I think most people assume that we give ourselves our personal characteristics by the conscious, moral and political choices that we make. However, I couldn’t disagree with that notion more strenuously. I don’t think that’s the way it works at all!

My challenge as a writer is to try to convey that there are whole different mechanisms at work influencing our outlooks and behaviour, other than those that we would take to be rational. I take a look at the ‘pre-oedipal” or unconscious emotional dynamics that govern the way we relate politically to others in our social spheres. I use more than one authorial voice to get across this idea.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

My biggest challenge is that I am not speaking to an audience that is a ready-made demographic. My writing has yet to seek out and discover an audience for itself.

I eschew identity politics, and writing for a ready-made demographic, because I have been so damaged by it.

I cannot speak precisely for the “ex-Rhodies”, many of whom might have been quite normal conservatives in the past, but have since turned to the extreme right, in my view. I could try to speak for black Zimbabweans perhaps… but I am white! Yet, much of my way of thinking was influenced by black Zimbabwean culture, as I have belatedly discovered. Perhaps those irreverent cultural aspects to my character were what brought on the workplace abuse? They are certainly not typically ‘feminine’!

I spent the first sixteen years of my life in Zimbabwe, and the last four years we were assimilated, blacks and whites, at my high school, Oriel Girls.

My thinking is also somewhat off-kilter in relation to that of Australian, middle-class whites. I don’t relate to their materialist middle-class aspirations at all. I don’t relate to their submissiveness and laissez-faire attitude to social ethics. They are not involved enough in their own lives, and seem to allow others to direct their views of what it right or wrong too much.

It is all very perplexing!

I try to deal with this situation I find myself in by writing in a way that can reach different people at different levels -- although, unlike the one who ended up carrying a donkey on his back, because he wanted to please all his critics, I’ve decided to draw a line (at least in my mind) against trying to please all.

Do you write everyday?

I write every day. It really depends on how much I’ve been reading, and whether I’ve allowed enough time for ideas (that I’ve been exposed to) to percolate in the subconscious mind. Suddenly, the subconscious ideas will be ready, and I will begin to experience a mood of general agitation, which doesn’t stop until I’ve written everything that was in me down.

It must be like the biological process of giving birth -- something I never hope to replicate in a concrete sense.

Sometimes I write huge amounts, sometimes only little. But I write every day.

How many books have you written so far?

Just one book so far, I’m afraid! It’s Minus the Morning, published by Lulu (Amazon is selling an earlier version, due to my mistake). It was released in early 2009. It’s kind of an “out of Africa” memoir, concerning the first three decades of my life.

Of course, it has to do with the issue of identity, from an experiential and philosophical point of view.

How did you choose a publisher for the book?

I decided to go the self-publishing route, via Lulu, just since, as I explained before, I don’t have a ready-made demographic of readers -- which might be necessary to lure a commercial publisher into accepting me.

Also, there are things I want to say which are not for everybody’s ears. I am critical of institutionalised abusiveness, for instance. This is not something everybody wants to hear, and it has the potential to make some people -- those who are prone to untoward behaviour and ideological sniping -- very uncomfortable.

Furthermore, I’m not trying to seduce my reader with my lyrical prose, like the excellent Alexandra Fuller. I’m not writing in a traditional feminine way at all -- I’m trying to speak directly to two parts of the readers’ minds: their own innate sense of what it means to belong or not to belong on an emotional level, and their intellect!

Lulu is a very efficient and exciting publisher, from my point of view. I can get any number of my books ready at hand, just by ordering them and paying for them on the basis of need. Of course, marketing is a problem when you have to do it by yourself, but I’m simply happy to make the book available online. It’s great technology that is available to writers at last -- in the 21st Century.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work that you put into Minus the Morning?

The hardest part, for me, was writing about the hidden psychological dynamics that operate behind the dysfunctional relationship I have had (and probably still do) with my father. It was very hard because I didn’t know enough about his background, until much later, to be able to make sense of some of it.

There were a few family skeletons in the closet, which I have chosen not to reveal very much about, because my writing of this book has not been to cause people shame, but to elucidate my own responses to the situation of being brought up in a white, Rhodesian family, with a Christian ideology.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

I’ve enjoyed finishing it the most -- and seeing it in paperback. The whole thing took me more than a decade to write! It was a great relief to see it not as ether (something still in my mind) or as converted bits and bytes on a computer screen, but in a solid form -- in ink and paper!

Truly, it has been painful to finish in some ways, too. When I began writing it, I thought that if I made an exposé of some of the injustices in the world, that people would at least sit up and take notice. Nowadays, I thoroughly doubt that this is true or that it will happen.

Looking deeply into Dambudzo’s work, you can see that it is all about the injustice of having to accept an arbitrary social and political identity -- but people these days are still struggling to find that sort of meaning in his work. It is a difficult message to put across.

What sets Minus the Morning apart from other things you've written?

Merely that the other books do not exist as yet.

I do want to write a book that analyses the perversity of right wing consciousness, however.

I want to look into the psychology of bigotry and why bigots can be so efficacious at convincing others to get on their side and walk in lockstep with them. There is never a bully in this world except that he has those who take his side.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Not resorting to compromising with the truth, or giving in to my impatience to get the work done. I waited and checked everything, until after more than twelve years, I knew that what I had was really psychologically accurate.

In Minus the Morning, I tell the truth about what it is like to grow up as a white Rhodesian (and later Zimbabwean) in a family that later turned to the right.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related Interview:

[Interview] Esther David, author of 'Shalom India Housing Society', Conversations with Writers, August 25, 2009

[Interview] J. R. Reardon, author of 'Confidential Communications'

2009-09-15T22:57:00.005+01:00

Novelist J. R. Reardon is a Boston native; Suffolk University Law School alum, and former partner of Saltzman & McNaught LLP.

She has practiced law in many areas including civil and criminal litigation. She is active in several legal associations in both Massachusetts and the District of Columbia and is admitted to practice in the federal and state courts of Massachusetts, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

In addition, she has also taught insurance law and is published in the Suffolk University Law Review.

Her first novel, Confidential Communications (Xlibris, 2008) has been described as "...a compelling read that will keep you turning page after page, hoping that justice will prevail."

In this interview, J. R. Reardon talks about her writing:

When did you start writing? And, how did you decide you wanted to get published?

My mother encouraged my siblings and I to read early on, and we took regular trips to the library as children. I suppose that is one of the reasons why I have always had such an active imagination.

I began writing in grammar school -- a short story here, a short story there… and then when I was old enough to babysit I would tell stories to the children I was sitting at night.

My latest novel, Confidential Communications was written well over a decade ago. I was fresh out of law school, new to court appearances and had some down time. One night, the idea popped into my head and I found myself typing away feverishly at the computer. I printed out an 80-page draft for a very select group of people, had it copy-written, and then put it away in an old file cabinet. The story was well received, but life took over, my cases increased, and I became extremely busy.

In the fall of 2003, I married my husband David and moved from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. In January, we learned that we were expecting our daughter. Instead of taking on a job in the District, Dave suggested that I sit back and enjoy my pregnancy. I had been a partner in my own law firm for quite some time and it was the perfect time to relax, sit back and smell the proverbial roses. During that time, Dave also suggested that I revisit the book (he was one of the few to have received a copy and he truly enjoyed it -- having seen first-hand for years what a critical eye he has with books he has read, I trusted his instincts).

After reading Confidential Communications for the first time in years, I decided “why not?” The original program was so old however, that I was unable to convert it to Word. So, I re-typed it and began the process of expanding it. With another decade of life under my belt, I was able to add some depth to the characters, as well as a few more scenarios. Some of the areas Dave and I had actually visited, and a few we thought would be fun to visit, so I did some research online and included those as well.

Once we were happy with the final version, off it went to print. New to the industry, I had circulated some query letters around, but stumbled upon Xlibris upon the recommendation of a college in Pennsylvania while I was writing my law review articles. At that point, I decided, “It’s done -- why wait?” The positive reviews on Amazon and Goodreads [make me] sure glad I didn’t, and am excited for the upcoming release of the sequel.

How would you describe your writing?

That is a great question. I have always lived life with an open mind, curious about everything that is going on around me. One of the best things and most difficult things I had to deal with when practicing law was my uncanny ability to put myself into other people’s shoes. Doing so, I could better understand other people’s perspectives. I could argue cases easier in court, settle cases easier out of court, and truly empathize with the feelings of others, no matter what side they were on.

I try to do the same with my writing. I put myself into the character’s shoes and try to see what they see, feel what they feel, hear what they hear, think what they think and react how they may react. That way, I can make the reader feel, see, and hear what they need to in order to fully enjoy the story.

Who is your target audience?

When I first wrote Confidential Communications, I honestly didn’t have a target audience. In fact, I still don’t “target an audience.” I write my story, release it into the world and let the audience find it.

I enjoy telling stories and sharing them with others. It is a means of escape -- whether it be to another state, another country, another setting, another life. In a crazy world if I can help someone to escape for at least a little while, I have done my job.

Which authors influenced you most?

I can’t really say that I have been influenced by other authors in my writing. I have enjoyed many an author’s writing in the course of my life, and now that I have more time to read, I am enjoying more and more. The books I choose to read depend on my mood.

If I want something that is for me, a quick, easy read… perhaps someone who has chapters I can breeze through at breakfast or lunch, I may pick up a Robert Parker book. If I want more detail but still escape to Boston, I may read something by Dennis Lehane. And if I’m cleaning out the old Tupperware tubs, I may pick up an old Beverly Gray mystery book that I had never read before just to see how people saw the world in the ‘50s. Lately I have read a lot of extremely talented indie authors.

I will say that my husband, my parents, teachers I had in grammar school, high school, college or law school, as well as judges and insurance adjusters -- were those who influenced my writing the most. I am forever thankful to them for that. Those people actually have read my writing and either commented, graded, or simply understood my position. They made me explain myself fully -- again, I put myself in their shoes so that they may understand what I am saying, even if it is as difficult as explaining someone else’s position -- i.e. my client.

Have your personal experiences influenced your writing in any way?

The story and the characters of Confidential Communications are all fictional, although I will admit that by the end, the character, Joshua, has a little of my husband David (who is also an attorney) in him. Also, Justice McNaught is based in part on my late grandfather who sat on the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He was the person who originally inspired me as a child to pursue a degree in law and took ethics extremely seriously. I figured, heck, why not “tip my hat” as a little thank you to him and make him a Justice of the United States Supreme Court?

The character Rebecca Lawson also is extremely ethical. As an attorney, I have always strived to be such an ethical person as my grandfather, and other members of the bar who I have met, that still do. There should be more. I hate the fact that I get such mixed reactions when people find out my profession, and hate more the number of legal insults that are out there due to the inappropriate actions of a select few. It is my hope that someday people will see the legal profession as it was made to be: a group of ethical leaders who we can look up to, to make a positive difference in our community.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

I think I have always been concerned with the quality of my writing: is there anything I missed in the editing process? Have the editors missed anything? Have I described something enough or too much? I don’t want to read anything boring or that is riddled with mistakes, and certainly wouldn’t want to subject anyone else to that either.

I am also sometimes concerned with people reading too much into my work. It is after all, a work of fiction. Many family/friends naturally thought that the character Rebecca Lawson was based on me, and my personal experiences. Not so, although I did fall under a firetruck in law school. There were also other characters who family and friends were convinced were based on people I hadn’t even thought of in years. Part of the fun in reading a book is picturing a character, and it has been extremely fun for me to hear how others see one of my characters, whether it be based on an actor/actress or someone I perhaps knew as a child.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

There is not enough time in the day to do everything that I want to do.

Becoming a published author seemed to fall into place at the right time. I have met incredible people along the way and learned an incredible amount about the publishing process, marketing and promotion. Not long after Confidential Communications was published, I found myself typing away at the computer again with the sequel, and I’d love to share it with the world right now. But Confidential Communications hasn’t even been out a year yet and it has picked up so much steam that I’m doing a lot of promoting and answering fan mail from all over the world. Many fans are looking for the sequel already and I’m excited!

Do you write everyday?

I do write a little every day in addition to my daily emails, tweets, facebook, forums, blogs, etc.

Some days I write more than others.

Perhaps I only have time to jot a few notes on some stickies as I clean the house or take my daughter out somewhere, or it may be handwriting a 20-page chapter out on a legal pad during the course of a week to be typed into the computer later on a weekend.

My family always comes first. Writing is just a way to keep my mind fresh. But it is addictive. I am grateful that I type quickly.

How many books have you written so far?

I have written Confidential Communications, published by Xlibris in June of 2008, available through Xlibris, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and a number of other retailers. It is available in hardcover, softcover and now ebook versions.

The sequel to Confidential Communications is called Dishonored. It is expected to be released later this year.

While I was in the process of editing Confidential Communications, I was busy editing my first law review article with the Suffolk University Law Review. The title for that article is “Selecting Supreme Court Justices: Preserving the System, Protecting with Professionalism” and can be found in Volume 40, Book 4.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into Confidential Communications?

I think writing scenes which shock the reader are difficult, and there are a few in Confidential Communications. There were times that I worried my family and friends would over-analyze it, thinking they were true stories, or perhaps some reader would read it and not enjoy, but I just thought about all the other books out there with shocking twists and turns and just let it go.

It was also hard for me to take the original 80 pages of the book and re-type it, only to expand it and add things when I hadn’t done that type of project before. There is something to be said for finishing a piece of work. When you hit “save” and “print”, you want it to be perfect and done. After a while with the editing I had to take a break -- I was able to recite the first chapter and unable to find anything to change after a while. Taking breaks is highly recommended!

Then there was the difficulty of editing with my daughter at my side. She wanted my attention when I was working and I, of course, made time for her. There were many times I had to collect stickies at the end of the day where I’d jot down ideas or lines so that I wouldn’t forget to add them later.

What did you enjoy most?

I think I enjoyed shocking my husband when he took his first round of editing it once I took a break. He had read the original version and it was fun to have him tell me “I didn’t see that coming!”

I also love hearing the wonderful comments from my readers.

It was also fun seeing my daughter coloring at the table with me, pretending to “do her work” or “write a book like Mommy.”

Publishing a book was always on my “to do list”, although it is surreal to actually hold it and see people buying it… Here’s my philosophy in life: I don’t want to turn around at age 80 and say “I wish I had done that…” David and I want our daughter to live her life to the fullest in the same way. The world is a great place as long as you see it that way. If you hit any bumps in the road, maybe it’s a sign for you to slow down, open your eyes and your mind, and look at life in yet one more creative way.

What sets Confidential Communications apart from other things you've written

Well, writing a book is certainly different from filing a motion in court. A motion is based on facts and how the law applies to those facts, while this book is fiction.

My law review article also is based on law, public policy, civil procedure and legal history. Definitely a more serious type of work.

Are there any similarities?

Writing Confidential Communications, I was able to use a legal concept, and craft a realistic story around it, which ended up being scarily similar to stories on the news today. Like other legal thrillers, it involves ethical choices but I am told by many that it has a different perspective of the behind-the-scenes action that goes on in the legal world.

What will your next book be about?

As I stated above, my newest novel is called Dishonored, and is expected to be released later this year.

The synopsis is as follows: Federal Court Judge Rebecca Tameron seemed to have it all… a loving family, a prestigious career and the respect of her community -- that is, until her world falls apart.

Implicated in the disappearance of a Supreme Court Justice, and the shooting of a Federal agent, Tameron scrambles to uncover the truth. The problem is, each investigative avenue she pursues only leads to more questions, and every investigative avenue leads back to her. How can she clear her name?

While exploring the reaches, limits and dangers of our increasingly security-conscious and interconnected world, Dishonored questions the faith we place in both strangers and friends, and reminds us just how perilous our techno-savvy life can be.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

That is a tough question. Being published, being recognized, receiving fan mail and emails from all over the world, having the book sell well… the list goes on and on. And it hasn’t even been released a year yet.

I’ve received requests for signed copies and held book signings in the Mall. There is something new every day that I seem to be blessed with.

I will say that I loved seeing my daughter’s face when the first completed copy arrived at my house and she said “Mommy! That’s you on the back of that book!”

Related resources:

Author's website
Author's page, Xlibris

Possibly related books:

,,

[Interview: Part 5 of 5] John Miller, author of '2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah'

2009-09-10T00:30:00.002+01:00

Speculative fiction author John Miller has talked about how he started writing and the people and experiences that have influenced him. He also discussed some of his concerns as a writer and shed some light on the circumstances surrounding the publication of his novella, 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah (Sonar4 Publications, 2009).

In the final part of this interview, John Miller talks about his achievements as a writer:

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work that you put into 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah?

The most difficult aspect of this book was tying in the main bad guy (the evil Mayan priest) with the worldwide calamities. Why did he need Cal’s psychic employees? For what ends did he need them? And what type of spirit did he employ in his evil and priestly powers?

For me the answers came after a couple days of writer’s block. It wasn’t a creativity problem; it was a problem with the plot—making it as realistic and viable as possible for the readers as well as myself. If I didn’t believe in it, then I knew the reader wouldn’t, either. And I had to create motivation with the evil Mayan priest, and give him the power to destroy the world in a believable manner. To do this, I had to create a new type of spirit called Dark Alux. An Alux is similar to a nature spirit known to Mayans; a Dark Alux is something I created. This made the transitions between scenes easier, brought motivation to the evil priest and a sense of realism. The destruction of the world was already going to happen; the evil priest figured out a way to make time slip, like seismic plates in the earth’s crust, and bring what awaited the world in 2012 to manifest in 2010.

So the most difficult aspect was the evil Mayan priest’s abilities to do this in a manner allowing readers to suspend their belief, and nail the priest’s motivation down: why would he wish to do this? I couldn’t figure it out on my own, and it took some false starts and rewriting until inspiration’s wow! moment came. And it was such a relief when it came, because I knew that I knew that it was right. After I wrote it into the story, I felt a sense of satisfaction and I knew the reader would feel it, too.

Which aspects did you enjoy most?

Two parts:

the relationship between the two main characters, Calvin Thomas and Linda Orteganaldo, as they work side-by-side and grow, not only as characters, but into each other; and
the ending in which both Calvin and Linda, at the conclusion of the story, climb hand-in-hand up an ancient pyramid in Mexico, and the secret carved in stone waiting for them at the top. The ending is triumphant, echoing the resiliency of humankind as well as supporting the mysticism behind the Mayan calendar.

What sets 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah apart from other things you've written?

This is the largest thing I’ve written that has been published. I have written other novellas, and there is a lot of potential in those works, but this is the longest published work I’ve written.

Apart from that, 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah touched on so many more emotions and affects the reader more powerfully than the other stories I’ve published in various anthologies and publications. The main character loses his friend and employee of longstanding, Psychic Gladys St.Clare, and the angst of that, coupled with the terror of worldwide calamities and being chased by blue zombies, creates a creepy sense of dread and grief. But the way it ends, on such a triumphant high-note, gives readers something I’ve never done in any other story: a dark fantasy of terror and epic proportions ends (hopefully) delivering a smile to the dear reader.

In what way is the novella similar to other things you've written?

It’s similar in that it takes dark fantasy threads and runs with them, pulling the reader along a (hopefully) fantastic ride and leaving them breathless.

It starts fast like all my stories, and it ends decisively with all questions answered. There is no ambiguity in 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah. The reader isn’t left to figure things out on their own. While I enjoy reading books like that, because of the complicated mythos of the Mayan People, I grab the reader by the hand and shout, “Go!” Then we jump in together for a crazy ride.

What will your next book be about?

I have two novellas I’m working on.

One is about the factions of the Frankenstein Family and the monstrosities they create. The other is about an environmental group in Alaska that becomes a pack of werewolves. Both center on human relationships and depth of character, detailing the evolutionary process of change as the characters muddle through fast-hitting plots.

I haven’t decided upon titles.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Liquid Imagination is my baby. I love it. Editor Kevin Wallis and Poetry Editor Chrissy Davis have really helped me shape it into something special, in my opinion. And it led my buddy and friend, Karl Rademacher, to start up Silver Blade. This led to my work as General Manager of 2M Magazine. These are significant accomplishments, I will admit. And watching young writers bud and grow, and knowing I have something to do with directing them, is tremendously satisfying. I love helping new writers.

Apart from that, I must say I am most proud of 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah. I tried to convey the growth and depth of Calvin Thomas as he frantically tries to save the world, to show his growing relationship with Linda Orteganaldo at his side, but it is the ending I am most proud. I feel when I ask the reader to walk with me into the darkest night, I should at least have the courtesy to lead them into the light at the journey’s end. I believe I have done this with 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah.

Related resources:

Author’s page, Edit Red Writing Community
Author’s page, Sonar4 Publication

Interviews

[Interview: Part 1 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, August 31, 2009
[Interview: Part 2 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 2, 2009
[Interview: Part 3 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 4, 2009
[Interview: Part 4 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 7, 2009

Possibly related books:

,,

[Interview: Part 4 of 5] John Miller, author of '2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah'

2009-09-07T16:57:00.004+01:00

Author John Miller has talked about how he started writing. He has also identified some of the people and experiences that have influenced his writing and commented on his concerns as a writer.

In this part of the interview, John Miller talks about his novella, 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah (Sonar4 Publications, 2009).

How many books have you written so far?

I have one E-Book that was released by Sonar4 Publications in April 2009. That is it.

While I have written and finished novels, I have not allowed them to go public. The reason for this is because I have read novels by small press and the big boy publishers, and I find typos and/or problems that bother me as a reader. I have a responsibility to put forth the best possible work I can, and I will only put forth my very best work. 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah is the best story I have written.

And while I have other novellas and novels saved on my computer, I also have used the “ladder rung” theory to test my writing ability and what I’m ready for. Each publishing credit (to me) is a rung on the ladder. Each short story accepted and published at ezines and various print anthologies has been my way to gauge my growth as a writer.

I have chosen to climb the ladder slowly, learning about each phase of writing and attempting to master it, before moving onto the next rung or level. I did not wish to write and publish a novel two years ago, only to slip off the ladder. Everything must be successful in this slow journey upwards. This is where I’m at now and I’m happy to be climbing faster and stronger than two years ago.

I am also at the stage to finish one of my other works and begin another. This will bring the most satisfaction to myself as well as my readers; to bring both of us my very best work.

What would you say 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah is about?

A psychic crumbles in the middle of a séance as “something” attacks her. Belonging to a traveling group of mediums called the Psychic Circus, the psychic dies and her skin turns blue. This happens in the middle of a customer-packed auditorium. The Psychic Circus has appeared on Good Morning, America! as well as other television programs, and its fame has drawn a huge crowd as well as Linda Orteganaldo, a reporter from Time Magazine who comes from Mayan descent. While interviewing Calvin Thomas, owner and business manager of the Psychic Circus, they stumble into the psychic’s tent. “Sacrifices were painted blue,” Linda tells Cal. When Psychic Gladys St.Clare, now a corpse, stands with blue skin shouting, “Kin bin tin nah,” Linda knows exactly what it means: it’s the end of the world.

Calamity strikes. Earthquakes rock San Francisco. Volcanic eruptions. Giant locusts. But the year is 2010 and not 2012. Something is wrong. What?

The Psychic Circus, led by Cal and Linda, not only has to survive the calamities befalling the entire world, they have to dodge the attacks thrown at them by an evil Mayan priest and Cal’s former psychic employees, now blue-skinned zombies.

2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah is an epic fantasy with threads of horror based on Mayan beliefs and the Mayan calendar. While disaster strikes the world itself, the ending will surprise everyone, not with a sudden twist, but with a satisfying conclusion. Of all the things I’ve written, I am most satisfied with the ending of this story.

How long did it take you to write the book?

2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah took me three months to write. It flowed quickly from my wow! moments to the page. Sonar4 Publications published it in April 2009.

I’d originally sent it to a literary agent working for the big publishers. He’d been promoted in Writer’s Digest, and I contacted him immediately. By then—because of the article—he said, “It sounds very interesting, but unfortunately I have accepted too many clients because of the article.”

I continued working on 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah while looking for markets for it, because at that time Sonar4 didn’t publish novels/novellas. When they announced they would be publishing novels and novellas, I jumped at the chance to submit 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah to them.

Owned by Shells Walter, Sonar4 Publications has an ezine, quarterly print publication, and has begun publishing E-Books. Sonar4 has emerged so fast and so strong it reminded me of my own Liquid Imagination. I had already sent a short story to Sonar4 and within an hour and fifteen minutes it was accepted, so I was familiar with the publishing company when I sent them 2010: Kin Bin Tin Nah.

I develop a “connection” with certain publications, such as Fantasy and Science Fiction. I had developed a connection with Sonar4, and when Shells Walter accepted my manuscript I danced in joy. Sonar 4 was the perfect publisher to accept my story, and this was proven while editing it with Shells Walter, a professional in the extreme.

What advantages or disadvantages has this presented?

The advantages of having Sonar4 Publications accept my story has been the manner in which it was edited: via AIM. Both Shells and I had my manuscript ready, and she would give a page number or blocked portion of text. I found the text and marked the changes right then and there, or I saved the entire Instant Message in a document file. Editing in this manner superseded the methods I’d used in the past with editors, greatly enhancing and speeding up the work. What I assumed would take months of correspondence happened in a very quick and concise manner, no small thanks to Shells.

Disadvantages? None that I can see, other than the fact that Sonar4 Publications isn’t throwing millions of dollars into promoting my story because its not a major publisher. But the virtual tours, the cross-blogging, the trailers for my book, and the promotional work that Sonar4 Publications puts behind each accepted and published novel is mind-boggling.

Shells Waters puts such an incredible amount of work and effort into everything she does. I know for a fact other editors who publish books put in only a fraction of the amount of work Shells puts into her projects; she gets behind the products, and you can tell she believes in it. She’s out to make money and entertain readers, and she’s doing it in the most gracious and professional manner imaginable.

Related resources:

Author’s page, Edit Red Writing Community
Author’s page, Sonar4 Publication

Interviews

[Interview: Part 1 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, August 31, 2009
[Interview: Part 2 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 2, 2009
[Interview: Part 3 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 4, 2009
[Interview: Part 4 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 7, 2009
[Interview: Part 5 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 10, 2009

Possibly related books:

,,

[Interview: Part 3 of 5] John Miller, author of '2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah'

2009-09-04T20:16:00.006+01:00

Speculative fiction author, John Miller spoke about how he started writing and identified some of the people and experiences that have influenced his writing.

In this part of the interview, he talks about his concerns as a writer:

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My major concern is realism. In order for the speculative fiction that I write to be successful, I must do it in such a manner that the reader will suspend disbelief.

While writing about epics that change the world, it becomes more difficult to be realistic because we’re talking about changing not just the character’s world… we’re talking about changing the reader’s world. But if I can write it in such a way that the reader suspends his belief and accepts my explanations of natural disasters, calamity or scenarios, then my story may influence the reader more than another writer’s story. Because my story is about the world the reader actually lives in; it affects the reader’s life.

My short stories influence only characters or locations, but my longer works affect large areas, cultures and/or the world at large. To me, suspending disbelief about what goes on inside a haunted house is easier than suspending belief about what happens to the entire world the reader lives in. The challenge is exhilarating!

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Balancing the time spent writing and publishing the short stories of other writers. But I love being busy, and stress is something I seek out, vying to put more on my plate to test myself and promote the fiction of others through publication.

Balancing my own publishing endeavors with my writing is tricky. Many times my writing falls to the wayside as my time must be spent working on 2M Magazine put out by Dark Myth Productions. My own online publication Liquid Imagination pulls at me, as does promoting Liquid Imagination’s sister publication Silver Blade. Time management is the biggest challenge I have, but I think I do a good job.

To deal with this I have to create a daily agenda and a weekly agenda. Like goals, these “agendas” allow me to concentrate solely on the task at hand. When completed, I follow up on those “agendas” if that is what is needed and move on to the next project.

Writing is a world of its own in which writers and publishers are sucked into it, and sometimes there isn’t much time left for anything else. Writers tend to group together as do editors and publishers. Personally, I find myself associating with all three groups. This increases the challenge of time-management, but it is a necessary evil.

Do you write everyday?

I cannot help writing something each and every single day of my life. Short stories, novellas, novels and flashes. Sometimes I think my blood flows from my heart and transforms into the font of the written page; my heart bleeds into each story. If no one ever read anything of mine again, of course I would write. But I’m at the point in my life in which I have things I want the world to read. I’ve heard others tell me (insist, really) that I need to publish certain stories and tales.

I start each session before my computer and begin writing. It doesn’t matter what it is. Then, after two or three paragraphs (perhaps two or three pages), I pause and take a break. I stand on the front porch or take a walk, letting the story roil in the back of my mind without consciously going over the plot or idea or characters. Inspiration comes unexpectedly, but it flows rather quickly, and soon I am back at the computer, fingers typing furiously. Inspiration is wonderful! I don’t wish to type endless descriptions of a room or ten pages concerning the description of a house or street; I wish to convey what I felt when inspiration struck. I know what it feels like when the muse speaks to my heart, and that is the only idea I wish to convey with clarity upon returning to write at my desk. I will not fill the reader with what I believe to be powerful prose, nor will I use intellectual ideas or philosophies to entice the reader; I write only that which inspiration whispered to me. This is the what is most exciting to the readers, and this is what will satisfy them completely throughout the work.

Readers are not stupid. They recognize the wow moments a writer experiences while writing the story. If a writer is struggling for a hundred pages, the reader struggles, too. When the writer captures what I call the wow moment with clarity, the reader experiences the wow moment in detail. Personally, I believe inspiration should guide the beginning and ending of each chapter. Whatever the writer feels is what the reader will experience. It is a transference of emotions from one person to another, and if the writer isn’t experiencing high emotion in his wow moment… then I feel sorry for the reader.

I end my writing each day with satisfaction. I must conclude something of note and substance; I have to feel I have conveyed with clarity that day’s “wow” moment, and if I haven’t then I will not sleep well. When I have that feeling of satisfaction that I have conveyed with the utmost of my writing ability the “wow” moments, the ideas and subterfuges of the story, then it’s time for bed. This may be at two or three o’clock in the morning, but I’ve learned to not even attempt sleep until this sense of satisfaction and accomplishment is felt. Otherwise the story will keep looping in my mind, and I’ll dream it all night long in fitful sleep.

Related resources:

Author’s page, Edit Red Writing Community
Author’s page, Sonar4 Publication

Interviews

[Interview: Part 1 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, August 31, 2009
[Interview: Part 2 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 2, 2009
[Interview: Part 3 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 4, 2009
[Interview: Part 4 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 7, 2009
[Interview: Part 5 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 10, 2009

Possibly related books:

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[Interview: Part 2 of 5] John Miller, author of '2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah'

2009-09-02T01:02:00.003+01:00

In the first part of this interview, John Miller, author of 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah (Sonar4 Publications, 2009), talked about some of the factors that made him start writing.

In this, the second segment of the interview, he identifies the audience he writes for as well as some of the influences that have had an impact on his writing:

Who is your target audience?

I write for myself first and foremost, so I guess one could ask who I am. I’m a divorced father with three small children (as I’ve mentioned). And I’ve mentioned my different job experiences, but I think I’m a cross-section cut right out of America; the average individual living in America is a little bit of everything these days. We belong to multiple organizations, have various hobbies and pursuits, but we are knowledgeable about many different things. In today’s world, Americans may read a little horror and some literary as well as Time and Newsweek and People. As a member of a society well versed in various genres and styles, I have to consider what interests me first.

Regardless whether the writing is horror, fantasy or literary, the story must convey certain things in order for me to get into it. I am part of the video generation, and my time is short. I want it hard and fast (pardon the expression), and I want it now! The stories I read and write must begin close to the action. I want emotional relationships, characters with depth and relationships. You see, I’m busy. I’m involved in three publications, running two of them. I’m also involved in an organization just forming that is intended to help aspiring ezines and small press markets. Besides helping my three children with their homework, I have all these things going on. But I am not unique; I am representative of America. We’re busy. We’re tired. We don’t have time to wade slowly through a hundred pages intended to set the story; we want it and we want it now.

My target audience is America Itself. We’re busy raising kids. We want to something to help us get through another hectic workday. We love fantasy with elements of horror. We’re young-minded with big responsibilities. We have families and children and we work harder than we should to put food on the table. Long work weeks and callused hands or stressed-out nerves from arduous business meetings. We think about 2012 and its implications, neither believing nor disbelieving, until we have the facts (and we may not get them because we’re late for the next doctor’s appointment). We’re open, but hit us fast because we don’t have time to talk. Communication is delegated to text messages, instant messages, emails and blogs with profile pics.

This is who we are. I’m writing to younger adults who need it downloaded as quickly as possible. E-Books and burnt CDs and text messages. Stephen King fans and John Grisham readers. We want it all.

Which authors influenced you most?

You may laugh, but these are the authors who have influenced me the most. Authors I simply love like Sidney Sheldon. His work on the television program I Dream of Jeannie is astounding, but his novels show dramatic changes in characters over long periods time as in The Other Side of Midnight. I love authors who can deliver the goods, but who show characters changing through the course of the story. One of my favorite short stories of all time is Joe Hill’s "Best New Horror" in which the main character, Eddie Carrol, undergoes an inner metamorphosis that slams home by the end of the story while he’s running for his life, laughing in the exhilaration of the horror sweeping over him—fantastic story!

But the one work that has influenced my writing above all is John Myers Myers’ Silverlock. In no story I’ve read has the main character undergone such realistic changes from beginning to end. And that is most important to me in a story: how the characters evolve in realistic but life-changing circumstances. A character like Conan the Barbarian never changes; he is invincible and unstoppable from beginning of the story to the end. But I want characters that pulse with human frailty, but somehow end up saving the world (or the day). In Silverlock the world is changed as the main character changes, reflecting my mentality that the world perceived changes as we change. The world is viewed as a dark and lonely place by a dark and lonely person, but if that character changes, then the world brightens. Add fantasy or horror elements, and I am in heaven.

I believe everybody in the world should have a copy of Silverlock in their library.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

They say write what you know. Nothing could be truer for a writer. A young sixteen year old boy writing about being married for twenty years will not know the subtle intricacies a man who has been married experiences. Stephen King was seriously injured when an out-of-control van struck him while on one of his daily walks, and he became fascinated with such topics, writing about characters undergoing similar things. That is what we as writers do; we assimilate our lives and reprocess them with clarity for the readers. Some authors disagree, but a portion of our personalities go into the characters we create; we breathe into them and bring them to life. These characters may be based on our imagination or people we have known, but these images are still filtered through the writer’s mind, and thus it is the writer who imparts his own imprint upon each character, upon each word and sentence—the entire story is filtered through the keystrokes and thoughts of the writer.

Because of this, I see every character in every story reflective of some portion of the writer. Darth Vader in Star Wars reminds me of some untouchable movie mongrel, invincible, and I wonder what person or “type of person” George Lucas based Vader on. John Grisham’s criminal characters are believable, but don’t you think he understands in some measure how such characters think?

For me, no human is a saint and no person is entirely evil; we are shades and hues of varying grays, and while vibrant with intense colors, we all have flaws and shortcomings. Writers who delve into their own shortcomings to create characters in their stories are those authors who will instill within their characters very real attributes and demeanors. These characters will be three-dimensional, lifelike and live on in the readers’ minds. Even Superman had a flaw: kryptonite. Instilling those “kryptonite-flaws” based on the writer does nothing but create a more believable story, in my humble opinion. The more powerful the character, the more the writer has breathed life into that character based on real life experiences. Those experiences may be greatly exaggerated, as with Hannibal the Cannibal (I’m quite sure author Thomas Harris hasn’t dined on human flesh), but the author has somehow siphoned the darkness and light out of himself to bring the characters to life.

Related resources:

Author's page, Edit Red Writing Community
Author's page, Sonar4 Publication

Interviews

[Interview: Part 1 of 5] John Miller, author of '2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah', Conversations with Writers, August 31, 2009
[Interview: Part 3 of 5] John Miller, author of '2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah', Conversations with Writers, September 4, 2009
[Interview: Part 4 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 7, 2009
[Interview: Part 5 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 10, 2009

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[Interview: Part 1 of 5] John Miller, author of '2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah'

2009-08-31T00:11:00.005+01:00

Author John Miller has more than 40 publishing credits to his name.

His stories have appeared in magazines that include Necrotic Tissue; The Devil's Food Anthology; Three Crow Press; Tooth Decay Anthology, and Sonar 4 Magazine.

In addition to writing, Miller also edits the online literary magazine, Liquid Imagination as well as 2M Magazine,which is available in print. He is also on the Board of Trustees for Silver pen which is responsible for the Liquid Imagination sister publication, Silver Blade.

He is also the author of the fantasy/horror novella 2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah (Sonar4 Publications, 2009).

In this, the first of a five-part interview, John Miller talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I began writing twenty years ago, but I do not feel I actually became a writer until 2007. Let me explain:

Twenty years ago my best friend Rich suggested I start writing. We used our Comodore 64 computers. I just knew I was going to be a writer, and I received a Brother word processor for my Christmas/birthday present one year (my birthday is close to Christmas being January 1st). Next I joined Long Ridge Writing School, having passed their writing test to get in. In my mind, I was on my way.

Long Ridge used published writers as teachers, and students worked via snail-mail correspondence. I learned the beginning, middle and ending of a story, but I wasn’t mature enough as a man nor writer to absorb the information. I complained to Rich saying, “This writing course has ruined my ability to write.” In fact, what it did was begin to instill within me the components of a successful short story.

I sent two short stories out. The first one was rejected with a note saying the work was sought after by another editor at a different publication. I sent that story to him and he wrote back saying he would be more than delighted to publish it, but he’d been in a car accident and lay in a full-body cast in the hospital. His publication was doomed!

I gave up citing how I hated rejection. See? Not enough maturity.

I went through life, got married and divorced, and found myself with three young children living with me (full physical custody but joint legal custody). Many jobs from police dispatcher to church work to big-box grocery store management. Add to that factory and foundry work, and you have a strange assortment of job skills. How many people can say they can drive a forklift, use a hoist to lift 3 ton engines off conveyors and set them on metal skids, budget hours and sales for a business, and handle the stress of incoming 911 calls?

I matured.

In the process, I began playing a role-playing game with Rich called “Mage: the Ascension.” Like “Vampire: the Masquerade,” it was put out by the company called White Wolf. One aspect of the game emphasized “storytelling.” I wouldn’t do the same “game” over and over; I changed stories up, changed characters. I developed evil characters, good characters, and gave them different motivations. Some of my favorite characters came out of those roleplaying sessions, and I can recall Stephen Blackwell, Blake Edwards and Shung-Li (also known as Grasshopper). While I haven’t published anything with these characters, they live on in my mind.

Along the way I found myself at one of those websites promoted as online diaries. I used mine to blog about my life, but I also did poetry and fiction. I learned, grew, and utilized the characters I’d developed in role-playing. Eventually someone invited me to Edit Red. There I wove tales based on what I’d learned at Long Ridge Writer’s Group and role-playing. Something fused and melded into one cohesive theme: storytelling. Another writer had an idea to begin an anthology and it was “invitation only.” I was one of those invited, and it lit a fire beneath me.

That is when I began submitting stories to publications, back in September of 2007. In a year I had over 30 publishing credits, and my enthusiasm hasn’t waned; if anything it’s grown. So while I usually refer in my BIOs about beginning writing in 2007, my love affair with words began over twenty years ago. It wasn’t until someone expressed interest in my writing that I became serious and began submitting stories for publication.

I used the Writer’s Market put out by Long Ridge Writer’s Group to find publications to submit to. I also used Duotrope and sometimes Ralan. I made mistakes sending the same story to different online magazines who did not accept simultaneous submissions (and apologized profusely). I learned a painful story about proper formatting when Doorways Magazine wanted my story “Cat Eyes” if I would just format it right. I formatted it and sent it back in. Three months later I queried and was told they’d passed on my story. Lesson learned: read the guidelines and understand formatting manuscripts!

Now I have a private web office at Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope. Anyone can join the free website. There are writers like me as well as directors, script writers, artists and poets. We’re all critiqued and reviewed by our peers, creating stronger works. It has been the most wondrous place I’ve ever discovered! My private web office has no directors, but it has around 260 writers, editors, artists and poets. My online magazine Liquid Imagination was birthed in this office. Submitting stories is like rolling the dice; eventually someone will like what you write (or publish).

My online magazine Liquid Imagination had its debut issue September 26th, 2008 and as of February 27th, it has 100,000 internet hits. Our sister publication, Silver Blade came out December 15th, 2008 and it, too, has 100,000 internet hits. This led Dark Myth Production Studios to hire me as General Manager for the new print 2M Magazine.

So while I claim in my BIOs that I didn’t start “real” writing until 2007, I’ve been practicing my craft for twenty years. I keep learning and growing, and every six months I learn new and exciting techniques. It’s like, yippie!!! And the reader experiences whatever the writer does. It’s contagious!

How would you describe your writing?

I am writing in different styles, experimenting constantly, pushing my limits in every way feasible. Recently I read Poe’s Children edited by Peter Straub, and after that Best American Short Stories guest-edited by Salmon Rushdie. Realms of Fantasy Magazine is a wonderful read, too. I joined a literary writer’s group to experiment with literary prose. This is all to learn, grow and push myself as a writer and publisher; to know and understand literary fiction that is submitted to me, and to better understand what motives lay behind the fiction I read.

So I have a love affair going on with literary style writing, but my true love is speculative fiction. Specifically dark fantasy on epic proportions set in the modern world. This really gets my blood burning. Fantasy that breathes with epic proportions, tales like Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, and fantasy worlds linked up to our modern society—these are the stories that do it for me. And because I read such tales, it is only natural that I write them as well. This is what I do best. While I play with literary prose, my “home” is speculative fiction. Plot-driven stories in which only essential characters and elements to that plot drive this type of writing, and I love it! In today’s fast-paced world of fast food and instant breakfast—a world full of video-generation kids parented and grand-parented by baby boomers—we seem to want/need a quick fix in streams of consciousness via words and images. Speculative fiction has the capacity to do this, to pump the storyflow into the reader’s mind through pages which, like IVs, bring the constant drip-drip-drip of action, horror, suspense and emotions. Is it right? Is it wrong? It doesn’t matter. It’s life. And I love it!

Related resources:

Author's page, Edit Red Writing Community
Author's page, Sonar4 Publication

Interviews

[Interview: Part 2 of 5] John Miller, author of '2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah', Conversations with Writers, September 2, 2009
[Interview: Part 3 of 5] John Miller, author of '2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah', Conversations with Writers, September 4, 2009
[Interview: Part 4 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 7, 2009
[Interview: Part 5 of 5] John Miller, author of ‘2012: Kin Bin Tin Nah’, Conversations with Writers, September 10, 2009

Possibly related books:

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[Interview] Esther David, author of 'Shalom India Housing Society'

2009-08-25T20:25:00.012+01:00

Jewish-Indian author, sculptor and art critic, Esther David writes in English and Gujarati.

Her novels include The Walled City (Syracuse University Press, 2002); The Book of Esther (Penguin Global, 2003); The Book of Rachel (Penguin Global, 2007) and Shalom India Housing Society (Feminist Press, 2009).

Her work has also been featured in anthologies that include City Stories (Scholastic India, 2007); Growing Up as a Woman Writer (Sahitya Academy, 2007); and India’s Jewish Heritage, Ritual, Art and Life Cycle (Marg Publications, 2003).

In this interview, Esther David talks about her writing:

When did you start writing?

I grew up in our family house in the old walled city of Ahmedabad, where we had a beautiful library with leather bound books and I spent all my spare time reading whenever possible. At sixteen, I went to art school at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Vadodara, where I started writing. I realized that I could write. But I became a sculptor and could not change my profession as I soon married and divorced and was a single mother of two children, so I taught sculpture and art history in an art school in Ahmedabad.

In 1979, I became an art critic for The Times of India, Ahmedabad edition. Soon, I started writing for myself and at the age of 46 I wrote my first novel, The Walled City. I felt, it was a miracle that it was published and I became a full time writer as other books followed.

How would you describe your writing?

It is a sort of writing or literature, which has emerged from conflict of being Jewish in India.

My parents were not religious, so I did not have religious education, but at the age of 46, I felt the need of knowing Judaism and as a form of research for my novel Book of Esther, I took regular education from the cantor, Johny Pingle of the Magen Abhraham Synagogue in Ahmedabad. Later, I came to know his wife, Julie -- through her, I discovered traditional Jewish cuisine. I mingled with the Jewish community and made notes of their life styles. I am still not religious and uncomfortable during religious functions, but I like to observe and study the Jewish community of India.

I would say, I understand myself and my religion better, through my novels.

Who is your target audience?

My audience is the world, which is still ignorant about the existence of Indian Jews.

I was motivated to write as I was confused about my own cross cultural conflict of being Jewish.

Which authors influenced you most?

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabelle Allende, Amy Tan, Tony Morrison, Salman Rushdie’s novel titled Shame, R. K. Narayan for creating Malgudi and Arun Joshi who wrote The Strange Case of Billy Biswas … they write about loss of the homeland.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

My own cross-cultural conflicts and minute observations of the Jewish community in India has influenced my writing as seen with the belief of Prophet Elijah, so much so that now even I have a connection with the prophet. He appears to listen to me!

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Preserving the Jewish tradition, rituals and artefacts in India, the preservation of the heritage of architecture, oral traditions and cuisine, I also study the fast changing lifestyles in a micro-miniscule community and try to work out these problems, through my writings.

I find myself most comfortable while writing about Jewish subjects and that is my challenge. I solve this by mingling and mixing with the people of my community and listening to their problems, beliefs and stories.

Do you write everyday?

I make a general form, before I start a novel, but do not do any detailing. I start work at 3 p.m. I write my newspaper column in the morning. I have lunch and start work and go on up to midnight if possible with a tea break at 5 p.m.

Writing takes form on its own, when I switch on my computer, it is a secret, about which I myself do not know how it happens, but it happens.

My career as an author started in 1997 when my first book, The Walled City, was published by East West Books, Madras. Till then I had been a sculptor, an art critic for leading English dailies and a professor of the history of art. The Walled City, which has so far been translated into French and Gujarati, brought in much of the imagery that I had practiced as a visual artist and received critical acclaim. This was the story of three generations of Bene Israel Jewish women living in the city of Ahmedabad, India.

The book was translated into French by Sonia Terangle titled La Ville en ses Murs, and published by Editions Philippe Picquier. The French version was also short listed for the Premier Liste de Prix Femina in France. In Gujarati, it was translated by Renuka Sheth.

In the USA, the novel has been republished by Syracuse University Press in 2002. The Walled City is going to be republished with Westland Books in 2009.

Book of Esther is taught in the course of Gender and Literature Post-colonial South Asia and beyond, at department of English, George Washington University, USA.

All novels are researched by Shalva Weil for her chapter,” The author who grew up with a tiger” for her book, Israeli Scholarship in India, co-authored with David Schulman, Jerusalem University, Israel.

I also contributed "The Worry Box and the Laughing Lady", a short story for the anthology, City Stories, published by Scholastic India. [The] commemorative volumes by Penguin India for 20 years in publishing, [feature an] extract from Book of Esther. [In addition to this, I have also been] published in Jasbir Jains anthology, Growing Up as a Woman Writer for Sahitya Academy New Delhi, with my story "Nanki Chirai" in 2008.

[Other books I have written include] Book Of Esther [which] explores Jewish family life in India and is loosely based around my own family; India's Jewish Heritage, Ritual, Art and Life Cycle -- I was on the team of writers of the book edited by Shalva Weil for Marg Publications, Mumbai, January 2003; Book of Rachel (Penguin Viking, 2006; Penguin Global, 2007) translated into French (La Livre de Rachel, Editions Heloise d’Ormesson, 2009) by Sonja Terangle; My Father's Zoo (Rupa, 2006); Shalom India Housing Society (Women Unlimited, 2007; Feminist Press, 2009).

How long did it take you to write your latest book?

Man with Enormous Wings took me 7 years. It will be published sometime in 2009 or 2010 by Penguin Viking. It is about the riots of 2002 in Ahmedabad.

It was hard and needed research, so my research assistant Namrata Dwivedi helped me.

Which aspects of your work did you enjoy most?

My first novel The Walled City, because it had an element of mystery as I did not know if I would make it as a writer, so, it is my most precious book.

It was an abstract book and written as I felt at that moment, confused and in conflict of being a Jew in India.

It is different from my other books as it was written without research.

What will your next book be about?

Jewish life, food, love and loss.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

That my novels speak to my readers ...

Possibly related books:

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Related Resources:

Author's website
Author's page, Feminist Press

Related Interview:

[Interview] Masimba Musodza, author of "Uriah's Vengeance", Conversations with Writers, June 20, 2009

[Interview] Jeani Rector, author of 'Around A Dark Corner'

2009-08-15T12:29:00.005+01:00

Jeani Rector's stories have been featured in magazines that include, Horrormasters; Hackwriters; Bewildering Stories; Aphelion and All Destiny.

Her work also appears in the anthologies, The Ethereal Gazette: Issue Three (Lake Fossil Press, 2006) and Fiction Prodigies And Legends Volume 1: Interviews with the New Voices In Horror (New Voices In Fiction Magazine, Edition 1, 2008).

Her books include We All Fall Down (AmErica House, 2001); After Dark: A Collection of Horror (PublishAmerica, 2006); Open Grave: The Book of Horror (PublishAmerica, 2008) and Around a Dark Corner (Graveyard Press, 2009).

In this interview, Jeani Rector talks about her writing:

When did you start writing?

In fifth grade, I wanted to be an artist. My teacher told my mother: "Encourage her writing, not her art, because she is better at writing than art." How is that for a twisted endorsement?

I started by submitting short stories to magazines. I highly recommend that route for new writers, because no one takes you seriously unless you have a resume of where you are published. It is difficult to be published without being published; that old Catch 22. But magazines and online zines are the answer to that problem.

How would you describe your writing?

Most people do outlines first. I never do that. I just start typing and let the stories tell themselves. Of course, by using that free-form method, not all of my stories are winners. No indeed! I have a junk file of completed stories that would be an embarrassment to me if they were ever read by anyone! But once you write a good one, you know it in your gut. Those go into my "Good Stories" file.

Who is your target audience?

My audience is anyone who is interested, but my genre is horror. The most true thing I have ever heard is this: "Write what you love." So in essence, you should be your own audience.

The second most true thing is: "Write what you know." I always thoroughly research my subjects. Today's readers are highly sophisticated and if you don't get your facts right, they know it.

Which authors would you say influenced you most?

Absolutely Stephen King. King is versatile. He explores human nature as well as the scary stuff. And sometime that scary stuff is in human nature.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concerns are clichés. I feel I have grown a lot. I don't make cliché mistakes too often any more. But I have learned that by putting my work out to critics. That is how come I have grown. I listen to the critics. They don't hurt my feelings; they help me. Thank god for magazine and zine reviewers (and those on Amazon). If any of you reviewers are reading this right now, thank you.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Oh I just love this question! The answer is an absolute yes. For example, the story "A Teenage Ghost Story" out of my latest book Around a Dark Corner, I sat inside Kilgore Graveyard in Rancho Cordova and wrote the cemetery scenes. Kilgore is a haunted pioneer cemetery, all run-down and deliciously spooky.

But mostly, the characters are out of my life. People I know or have known. Sometimes they are myself. I won't reveal which stories are which, but some are autobiographies.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

The biggest challenge is that most magazines and zines want first rights to stories and do not accept simultaneous submissions or previously published stories. There are so many magazines that I would love to see my work in. However, I would have to spread myself pretty thin to have brand new material for every single magazine that I would love to be published in.

How many books have you written so far?

We All Fall Down (AmErica House, 2001). This is an old book, but a good book that people are taking a renewed interest in. This is the complete novel from which I took the Around a Dark Corner story, "A Medieval Tale of Plague." If any one wants to read Elissa's entire story about how she survived the 1348 black plague in medieval England, We All Fall Down is for you.

Open Grave: The Book of Horror (PublishAmerica, 2008). This is a good book with a bad publisher. I want every new writer to know: Never use Publish America no matter what. First, that publisher gets no respect with reviewers because I think PublishAmerica takes on just about anybody as a client, and second, they are a huge rip off. Third, Publish America puts such a hefty price tag on your book that no one in his or her right mind would pay such an exorbitant amount for a paperback book. However, you can pick up used copies of Open Grave: The Book of Horror on Amazon for reasonable prices.

Around a Dark Corner (Turner-Maxwell Books, 2009). This is my best work yet. So far, all the magazine reviewers who have checked in so far have liked it. And magazine reviewers are unbiased. I personally believe this is indeed my best work. Try it, you’ll like it. You can find this book at www.aroundadarkcorner.com.

Currently this book is published in England but it should be Coming to America (minus Eddie Murphy) in April 2009 through New Voices In Horror Press.

Do you write everyday?

Yes. Writers write. No excuses. I have heard too many people say "Some day I want to write a book." Some day is today. Good writers are obsessed with writing. They simply have to write. It is in their blood.

What is your latest book about?

Let me describe Around a Dark Corner as thus:

Imagine a world where there is only the daylight to banish the darkness. And when the sun goes down, what lurks in the shadows around a dark corner? This book of nine scary tales and one novella is storytelling at its finest, with the dark magic of Cabala and Palo Mayombe, haunted cemeteries, bubonic plague, maggots, madness, and the mysteries of what happens to bodies after death. Timeless in their style, these stories are relentless in their approach to basic fears. From dark fantasy and pure suspense to classic horror tales, this collection of nine short stories and one novella surprises its readers with Hitchcock-style, twisted endings. So let’s go around a dark corner to discover tales of terror.

Which aspects of the work that you put into the book did you find most difficult?

Honestly? In Around a Dark Corner, I branched out. I took risks. I became a bit more, well, free with descriptions of gore. I usually just stick the atmospheric fears, but in Around a Dark Corner, I went further. In this book, I went everywhere.

What did you enjoy most?

I just love plague. Bacterium and viruses are fascinating. I know that sounds strange, but think about it: wasn't Stephen King's The Stand his most amazing work? Now picture it as not a story, but as a real life event. That's "A Medieval Tale of Plague."

I also love true stories. Imagine a plane crash. What would people be thinking, feeling, experiencing, before the plane hits the ground? And what if these people live to tell about it? "Flight 529" from Around a Dark Corner is such a story, based upon a real event out of Atlanta, Georgia.

I have a good friend who is a retired County Sheriff. Now, wouldn't his be a great brain to pick? What happens when real cops find dead bodies? Not the movie cops, but real cops? That is where the idea for "Lady Cop" came about, again in Around a Dark Corner.

So, you see where I get my ideas? Ideas can be found everywhere. All’s you have to do is to play with those ideas.

What sets the book apart from other things you've written?

Around a Dark Corner is my best work. It is the scariest; the most visceral.

What will your next book be about?

Ha. Here is the thing. I have an idea about the 1918 flu pandemic. Again, bacterium and viruses are fascinating. I have already done Ebola in Open Grave: The Book of Horror.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

That's easy. Being read. I am grateful to my readers, who frequently email me. I freely offer my email address to anyone interested in talking to me.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related resources:

Author's Open Grave website
Author's Around A Dark Corner website

Get your copy of Around A Dark Corner from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

[Interview] Chris Wood, author of 'Sherlock Holmes and the Underpants of Death'

2009-08-14T14:12:00.002+01:00

Writer and journalist, Chris Wood lives in Manchester, England.

He has written about film and books for a variety of publications and is the author of The Ingredients Of A Good Thriller (LDB Publishing, 2008) and Sherlock Holmes and the Underpants of Death (LDB Publishing, 2009).

In this interview, Chris Wood talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I was fascinated with books when I was younger. Later on I found I had stories I wanted to tell -- just ideas to explore, usually, and one thing lead to another.

At first I did book reviews for a number of places, which I still do occasionally. After having no luck with regular publishers (except in France) I decided to publish my own. It means you can present things as you want.

How would you describe your writing?

It's very varied. I've written a genre guide and a humour book, and hope to have my first serious fiction out later this year, so fingers crossed for that.

My target audience is people who share my sense of humour, which is a really unprofessional answer, but it's true. It's not very focused, but I don't think I can give any other answer.

In the writing that you are doing, which authors influenced you most?

I think P. G. Wodehouse, because his playful use of language is incredibly funny and also massively inventive. Spike Milligan as well, because his approach included absolutely anything he wanted, no matter how surreal it was.

James Ellroy has an economy of style that makes his work very powerful. Each phrase has impact and in places, it's as though the author has reached out from the page and slapped the reader. It's so effective.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Not finding an audience is one concern.

Also, is the work too varied to build up a following? It might well be, but it's what I'm drawn to write, so I go with it. Provided I feel I've written a project well, and have taken pains to get that right, then that's the only way to deal with that concern.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Deciding how to approach different parts of the writing is a challenge. That feeling of staring at the computer screen and not knowing what to do next. Following a different direction or changing some aspect of the approach seems the best way to deal with that.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

That basically life is too short and uncertain not to be doing the things you want to. The projects people nurture in their minds mean a great deal to them, so not following that instinct is a mistake.

Do you write everyday?

I try to write everyday, and it ranges from a few small bits and pieces to long swathes of text. It ends when it stops flowing.

How many books have you written so far?

The Ingredients of a Good Thriller came out in November 2008, by LDB Publishing, which is my imprint. It's a guide to thrillers in books and films, for people who want to write them and just enjoy the area. I'm happy to say that feedback suggests it's a good read for people who just like thrillers, which is fantastic.

My second book is Sherlock Holmes and the Underpants of Death, which is a daft parody of the great detective. The first story can be found on the SlothJockey.com. The volume was published in February of this year, again by LDB Publishing.

How long did it take you to write your latest book?

My latest is Sherlock Holmes and the Underpants of Death. I wrote the first story twelve years ago, and in between more serious projects added a new story every now and then, largely for some friends and myself. Two years ago, some of the material was published in France by Edition Rivages, and it has appeared on some websites. As people responded positively, I love writing humour, I thought I'd put it out.

Publishing myself has been a lot of work, some expense and a huge pleasure. It does mean it's very limited in terms of distribution for bookstores, but at least it's on Amazon.

Which aspect of the work did you find most difficult?

Not knowing how many people would appreciate the humour and the range of jokes, as it varies from literary parody of the Holmes style to potty humour and slapstick, which doesn't usually appear in books.

I can only do what the people who enjoy them respond to, and hope others appreciate it too.

What did you enjoy most?

Selecting the pictures for the book. I used some of the original Holmes illustrations and set my own captions to them. For example, there's a drawing of Holmes studying a windowsill with his magnifying glass as two policemen look on, and the caption reads: "Look, he's found the window!"

What sets the book apart from other things you've written?

It's very daft, and most of my other work isn't.

In what way is it similar?

I enjoyed writing it.

What will your next book be about?

It's a political satire looking at parts of the War on Terror and the way the media has distorted some things. Parts of the press are a disgrace and highly misleading.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Whenever anyone posts a review or sends me an email saying they really enjoyed reading it. Then I feel ten feet tall.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related resources

Get your copy of Sherlock Holmes and the Underpants of Death at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Interviews

Interview With Author Chris Wood: A Look at Comedy, Self Publishing and The World of Crime, by Dulcinea Norton-Smith, suite101.com, April 16, 2009

Reviews

Sherlock Holmes and the Underpants of Death, the Boogle, July 2009
Shout outs: Cate Gardner, Chris Wood, Simon Bestwick's Blog, July 19, 2009