Q: In one sentence, tell me something that describes you as a person?
A: I’m a free-thinking, rebellious lost-soul, with a gypsy’s spirit and a philosopher’s heart.
Q: If you could “create” your own genre of what you write, what would you call your books?
A: I try to make my books unique, so I find pigeon-holing them into genres really difficult. I called my first book, Involution & Evolution, an “Epic Poem”. I classed my second book, Occupied, as “Magical Realism” and “Dystopian”. And I’ve called my new novel, The Little Voice, “Psychological Realism”. I’m not even sure what “Psychological Realism” is, to be honest. But that’s what “Crime & Punishment” is classified as, which is good enough for me! I suppose you could say all my books are “Fiction based on fact”, or “Faction”, if you want me to create a new genre.
Q: Without quoting your back cover synopsis, tell me about the last book you published.
A: The Little Voice is personal. Very personal. It’s inspired by things which actually happened to me whilst growing up, padded-out (with artistic license), to create an entertaining read. My life has been interesting, but hardly spectacular. And that’s important. It means that people will be able to associate with the issues which arise in the book, because they’re everyday issues which the reader will have probably experienced themselves. The book itself is psychological; it’s about the conflict we feel when the world wants us to be one person, but we just want to be ourselves. I guess most of us experience that conflict from time to time.
Q: Tell me something about yourself that is separate from writing.
A: I once saw Desmond Tutu dance.
Q: Who is your favorite Author?
A: Salmun Rushdie.
Q: What is the last book that you read? (Not counting anything you wrote)
A: “Catcher in the rye”. I didn’t think it was all that good though. Just before that, I read “Love in the time of cholera”, which was much better.
Q: When writing, do you have a system or something you plan, or do you just write?
A: My first two books were based on real world situations, so they required a lot of research. For Involution & Evolution, I read loads of books. For Occupied, I travelled around Palestine and Kurdistan, speaking to many different people. At the end of that period I had pages and pages of notes, a rough plan, and a good idea of what I was going to write. For The Little Voice, on the other hand, I just sort of sat down and started writing. But it ended up okay, I think!
Q: Why do you write?
A: To rebel. To break free. To express myself. To be me.
Q: Do you read your own work a lot? If so, what does it do for you?
A: No way! Once I’ve spent months writing a book, months editing it, and months promoting it, the last thing I want to do is read it again. The very idea makes me cringe! Maybe in ten years, we’ll see…
Q: What is your favorite type of music? Is there one genre (or song, band etc...) that brings out your creativeness more than others?
A: Afrobeat is my favorite genre of live music. I like to go for a walk each day, whilst listening to loud music, like grime/hip-hop, ska and rocky reggae. Sometimes I get ideas for my books whilst out on those walks. I also enjoy bits of world music, like electronic-tango, chanson and klezmer. And I like folk and chill-out music too. I’m not sure if they bring out my creativeness though. The one thing you could say is that I like variation. My musical taste shows that. And I try to reflect that in my writing; my books are pretty varied too!
Q: As an author, I find that the hardest thing to write (for me) is the synopsis that will be on the back cover or book’s description. When you write, what is the hardest line to write, the first line, the last line or the synopsis for the book?
A: The synopsis too! Trying to both sum up a book, and sell it, in just a few sentences, is a bit like trying to sell an album based on just two seconds of one track. If you’re book has got depth, if it’s unique, then it’s almost impossible to do it justice in your synopsis.
Q: Any final thoughts that you want to give to your fans or even future authors?
A: To my fans: Enjoy my books, spread the word, and don’t be afraid to get in touch via Twitter or through my website. I’m nice – I will reply!
To future authors: Good luck! Write to satisfy your soul, not to line your pockets…