The Black Beacon Book of Horror will be released on Friday the 13th of October; the Kindle version is available for pre-order at just $1.99 instead of $3.99 and you can add the anthology to your Goodreads list today. To get you in the mood for a particularly spooky Halloween this year, we’re interviewing the contributing authors. The first Black Beacon Book of Horror is bound to give you the creeps!
Hi David,
It’s all about having my own voice in the genre. I do love reading horror more than watching it on screen. When I read the genre, I have fun when it’s a captivating tale that provides goosebumps, and I enjoy taking on the challenge in the hope that others have that same experience when reading my work. We are all unique and have something to share, and my mind is always ticking away at, ‘how could I tell that story with my own spin?’. Horror has always been a genre I love reading, so in turn, I love writing it.
Is there a story behind your story in this anthology?
When I choose to take up the task of creating a short story, my mind goes into ‘gather mode’. What this means to me, is that I hunt for something, be it a spark, a light, a trumpet noise in my ear. Something that instantly grabs my interest and puts up in lights, ‘You’ve never written about this before, it’s new to you. This will be fun so let’s dive in !’ Such an instance happened to me during my son’s 14th birthday. We’d taken a trip for the weekend to Phillip Island. Whilst there, we visited the Amaze’n Things Theme Park. This was a glorious place, and I’m a kid at heart, so I was having a ball with all of the mazes and puzzles. After lunch, we ventured further into the park, when suddenly, after walking into the Illusions at Magic Manor, it hit me. I wanted to write about an illusionist. I was so inspired by the old style posters of Kellar and Thurston that I grabbed the first opportunity I got when I returned home to get stuck into reading about that period. This also weaved me through old movies of the 1940s, showcasing Illusionists and magicians of the time. This also lead me down the path of pursuing another untouched subject : The Gangsters of New York, and how I could combine the two worlds into the story. How demons, cults and dogs came into the mix, well, just put that down to my weird, creative lunacy, and there you have it : My story behind the story.
Do you have an all-time favourite horror tale?
Misery by Stephen King, hands down, that book scared me silly, and I’d read it again.
What books did you grow up reading?
I wasn’t much of reader when I was young. I was too obsessed with playing with toys and creating my own scenarios with my figurines. The Choose Your Own Adventure Series was a favourite, as this enabled me to contribute something to the direction of the story. I know I wasn’t the writer, but those books did empower me with some sort of control upon my own destiny when reading them. As a young and developing creative, it took me some time to surrender myself fully to reading a book, rather than creating tales of my own, and I quickly discovered, that reading was something I was missing dearly. Reading opened the floodgates that would’ve remained closed had I’d not taken the plunge, and I had never looked back. This all came under the advice of my English teacher. He’d read a lot of my writing and noticed that I lacked inspiration. He directed me the library and said, ‘Read what interests you, not only what the school wants you to read.’ That’s when I walked around the shelves, picked up a Richard Laymon book, and couldn’t put it down.
Do you have any writing rituals?
Oh yes. It’s all about keeping quiet for me. If there is music playing, then it needs to be instrumental and carry the ambience of the story I am attempting to write. In the case of The Great Invacation, I had old, instrumental, Broadway Theatre music playing, which helped me remain in the period. As long as I’m comfortable, my research with me and my characters profiled, I can write away and see what unfolds.
Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know yet?
I enjoy keeping up my fitness. It’s great for the soul and mental health. With the common challenges that life can through at you, there is nothing like doing a good exercise session to do your body and mind some good. I always have a great writing session after knowing that in the morning, I’d been active.
Where can we find you online?
You can find me online at davidschembri.net, or look me up on my author page on Facebook. Tap me a message and share what you think of my work, I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for answering our questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment