1. Why do you write?
Writing for me has always been my way to escape into a world that only I could see. It was my way to get lost in my emotion and to convey what I meant through my words. Sometimes, you can try to explain ideas and feelings to another individual, but the power is only heightened when it is read through words. With speech, we may feel the need to limit ourselves, but for some reason, through the pen I have no limits. I can go as far as I would like.
2. How many books have you written?
I have many works that are written that I have not released to the public. So far, I have released two shorts stories, and a novel. All three are available on Amazon.
3. What inspired you to write your (latest) book?
My latest book released, Revelations: The Eyes Of God, came to me one day while I was sitting in church with my family. I remember hearing the pastor preach on about God claiming not to judge one another, and yet, thirty minutes into the sermon, he began to claim we needed to judge if we want to deliver ourselves from evil. It was at that moment that my thoughts consumed me, dwelling on the hypocrite representation of his words. I began to think that no one knows how humans really got here, so who had the authority to declare what was right or wrong. Who had the authority to tell us how to live our lives. At this moment, a story began to play in my mind drowning out the words of the pastor. In this story, no religion was right and no religion was wrong. I began to envision a world in which everything was simply misunderstood and taken out of context. In this new world, we built our current society on what our ancestors were only trying to explain but didn't know how to put into words.
4. What is your favorite genre to read?
I love science fiction. Any other genre, I feel comes too close to reality and if I read and feel like I am still in reality, then I am not satisfied. I want to read and be able to escape into a world I would never have recognized if I hadn't opened up that book.
5. Is your writing style at all influenced by those of your favorite authors?
I personally love Stephen King and he was one of my idols growing up. I do admit I often tried to emulate his style, but as I got older, I found that to be disrespectful. I feel as if every writer, who is a true writer, has their own unique style that was derived from the emotions only they can feel. For me to borrow from or even mimic his style, in my eyes, would be the same as plagarism and disrespect; being that I could never be better than the original. So over the years, I developed my own style and learned to stay true to it as all authors should.
6. Which is your favorite book that you’ve written?
My favorite book written so far is Revelations: The Eyes Of God. I understand that from the title, many would believe it was a Christian novel, but it is far from the fact. I chose the title because one of the characters within the book reveals himself as the man who designated humans to be created on Earth. In the book he explains, that he is the one that humans seek because they seek their creator; but he isn't the one they worship on Earth as their almighty. Through this characters eyes, a strong foundation of disappointment toward human life is built, hence the title 'The Eyes Of God'. He is ashamed at what the Earth has become and he feels as if his main reason for creating human life has been defeated. He doesn't understand the religion's they follow or the beliefs they hold; but he has no pity for their lives because the world he is from is beautiful. The follow up to this book is titled Revelations: The Forbidden Wish.
7. What is your opinion of the art of writing?
It may sound corny to say, but writing honestly has to come from your inside and strictly channeled through your emotions. I feel as if you schedule yourself to write a piece, the writing wouldn't be as fluid and natural as if your emotions had spontaneously taken over your body. For all my pieces, I only wrote when my mind was inspired. Only when the story was triggered to play in my mind like a movie, my pen would see the paper to translate the words. I never make a schedule because I want my readers to feel the raw emotion I felt when writing rather than the struggle of me being forced to write.
8. What advice would you give someone who is just beginning their own novel?
I find a lot of times I see writers picking up a piece of paper to jot down ideas for their story, hoping it could piece together in the end of their pondering. I feel that if you cannot develop the story in your mind and have it play constantly as if you were watching a movie, from start to finish, then your story is not going to be solid. You should be able to close your eyes and see the characters interacting. You should be able to develop a whole life for each character as if you knew them since birth. In your mind you should know the conflict each one of them went through and be able tell the story you want to convey through any of their eyes. Each character should have potential to be the main character and this is based on the life you imagined them with. If you cannot see a brand new world filled with brand new people in your mind, then you are not ready to create a story. Once you have played that movie from beginning to end and feel as if you are satisfied, then you are ready to pick up your pen and write that introduction.
9. Do you have any funny and / or interesting stories about how you’ve come up with plots or characters?
I actually do. For the second book, Revelations: The Forbidden Wish, the protagonist remains the same but the story begins with him dealing with the aftermath of the horrific tragedy. Most of the time when I conjure these characters, I give them faces of people I've seen on television or in life. There is a character within the story, that while I was imagining the plot, he took life and began rambling on and on. For some reason, I couldn't imagine his face and his voice fluctuated from high to low. Meanwhile, in reality, I was watching the show "The New Girl" and one of the main characters began rambling on and on much to the other characters annoyance. Suddenly in my mind, the mystery man now had a face, and his voice had developed the perfect annoyance. And he kept rambling on and on. He is an interesting character and I think one of my favorites so far.
10. Coke or Pepsi?
I have been asked this question before and I never seem to have a good answer. I must truly not be human because they both taste the same to me. I honestly would go for which ever I can get my hands on first. Which is usually Pepsi.
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