Sunday 26 May 2013

Guest Author Interview - David Haynes

I often say that writers are readers too (or at least they should be), today as a reader we have a  special guest author interview David Haynes. I've not read his first book yet, although it is on my to read list. It's his more recent works of Victorian horror that attracted my attention.

I've loved the three releases so far, here are my reviews:

Mask of the Macabrehttp://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/book-impressions-mask-of-macabre.html

Ballet of the Boneshttp://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/book-impressions-ballet-of-bones.html

Seance of Soulshttp://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/book-impressions-seance-of-souls-by.html

It's encountering authors like this that makes being part of the indie author scene so exciting.



Please introduce yourself, who are you and what do you do?
Hi I'm David Haynes, a part time writer from Derbyshire in the U.K. I live there with my wife, son and retired greyhound.

Apart from reading, writing and spending time with my family, I like sports, particularly cricket and rugby. Nowadays its as a spectator only though, my body reminds me of that fact, frequently.

What first inspired you to start writing?
I loved the idea of creating my own worlds where anything was possible. Making up names and sometimes drawing what they looked like (badly) was really exciting. The earliest memories I have of creating my own characters was when I started making comics. The drawings were terrible but Spiddy the Spaceman was amazing, strangely he always wore a flat cap!

I couldn't really understand why everyone didn't want to write stories about characters they made up. I still can't!

And what attracted you to writing horror?
My reading tastes have always been eclectic. I'll read anything. However I always come back to one writer - Stephen King. Every year I read one of his books and I've never been disappointed by them. They are such fantastic tales and although I suppose they're not frightening, they are epic and have you on the edge of your seat.

I've only just started writing horror. My first couple of published books aren't in this genre at all. The reason was, I was intimidated. How could I ever write anything comparable to Stephen King? Perhaps I never will but I've decided to at least give it a try!

If you could spend a day with anyone from history, who would it be?
There's lots of people from history I'd love to meet! I reckon a day with Henry VIII would be a real adventure. You could end up in a real pickle but I think it would be wild!

What is your favourite song lyric?
I went through a phase of reading a lot of Edgar Allan Poe and I always associate this lyric with him. Its from A Feast of Friends by The Doors:

"Death makes angels of us all and gives us wings where we had shoulders smooth as raven's claws"
Sounds morbid but it's actually not. The reason it makes me think of Mr Poe is because of The Raven.

If you could turn any book into a film, which would it be?
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It's one of my top five books. I've heard the BBC were attempting to dramatise it so I hope they do it justice, I really enjoyed it. Again, it's a massively epic book.

Which author do you admire the most?
John Irving author of The Cider House Rules, The World According to Garp etc. His stories, like Stephen King are always epic. There aren't many authors who I would buy the book based on name but he's one. I pick up his books and I know the story will take me to places I would never even consider by looking at the title. They are all so different, that's what keeps me going back for more.

What are you working on at the moment?
I'm writing another horror story. Although it's a break from the macabre collection of stories, it's got some historical references too. It might be better described as a horror/thriller. It's still early days but it's coming along nicely.

Tell us about your latest work and how we can find out more.
My latest book is called Seance of the Souls. It follows on from Mask of the Macabre and Ballet of the Bones in style and content, although it's a single, longer story. They were great fun to write. You can read more about it on my new blog page - http://macabrecollection.blogspot.co.uk

Seance of the Souls is available to buy or borrow on Amazon.


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