On behalf of Halloweenpalooza, thanks so much for agreeing to participate. Let’s start with some quickies:
Favorite horror movie: Nightmare on Elm Street
Favorite guilty pleasure: Watching
Disney animated movies J
Dogs or cats: Dogs
Ever carve a pumpkin: Oh
yeah J Wouldn’t be Halloween without it!
Favorite Halloween candy: Skittles
Favorite color: Black
Favorite quote: “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us
just get up and go to work.” – Stephen King
Favorite monster: The boogeyman
1. What
brought you over to writing about the dark side?
I’ve always been interested in horror. Ever since I
watched Nightmare on Elm Street when I was five or six (my father had a sick sense of
humor), I’ve been fascinated by the scary and macabre. My parents taught me how
to read at a fairly early age, mainly to get rid of my hyperactivity and
channel it into something useful, and it was only a matter of time before I
found the many works of horror I enjoyed growing up.
I guess it’s a kick, really. I enjoy writing stories,
giving life to characters people can relate to, creating a story readers would
want to read, and scaring the hell out of them at the same time. It just felt
like the right combination.
2. What is
it about your work that you’d like readers to take away?
That it’s okay to be scared, and that you should know in
one way or the other, darkness exists everywhere, and it can be beaten. Even if
the sacrifice is a little too much, darkness can be overcome.
3. Could you
please give us a small excerpt from any of your books that exemplifies what you
do best?
From ‘Children to the Slaughter’:
Blake Collins hated the dark.
He had never been bothered by it
before, but ever since his mother’s death, it had become a suffocating
nothingness that he couldn’t bear. He pictured his mother, dead, eyes closed
forever in an eternal darkness, never able to wake up. It scared him, terrified
him, and he didn’t even want to imagine what that must be like.
That was why, when the small
night light beside the door flickered and went off, he was instantly sitting up
in bed. The wind outside had picked up, and through the window he could see the
dark figures of autumn leaves dancing, their beautiful morning colors replaced
by a dark gray that appeared and disappeared as they raced below the
streetlights.
The light that came in through
the window threw shadows across the walls, grotesque shapes he had learned long
ago were harmless, although he had never been convinced of that. The rest of
the room seemed like a dark void, black and forlorn, and as he waited for his
eyes to adjust, he heard a tapping coming from the shadows.
“Dad!” he called out, unwilling
to get out of bed. The bedroom door was across the room, in the darkness, and
he wouldn’t be caught dead walking into that.
“Dad!” he called out again,
concentrating to hear for any sign of his father’s approach.
The tapping came again, and
Blake’s head quickly snapped to the window, hoping it was a branch against the
glass. There was nothing there, though, and when the tapping continued, he
immediately knew its source.
Blake’s eyes fell on the closet
door. He could feel his skin crawl, and his breathing quickened. The tapping
was coming from behind the closet door, and he quickly tried to convince
himself that it was nothing more than his imagination playing tricks on him.
The tapping didn’t stop, coming
harder, more confident, as if whoever was behind the closet door was actually
asking for permission to come in. Blake looked over at the bedroom door, the
uninviting darkness, and then back at the closet. He was frozen in place,
unable to think clearly, completely forgetting about his father and whether or
not he was coming to save him.
Blake’s eyes widened as he
watched the closet door creak open, slowly, and a hand reach out from inside
and grasp the edge as it pushed it all the way. His heart instantly jumped into
his throat and his body began to shake, the tremors racing through him like
wildfire. He felt something warm spread out from where he sat, and a part of
his mind, the part that had decided that what was happening right now was just
a dream, wondered what his father would say about his wetting the bed.
The closet door swung open
completely, creaking outwards, and from the darkness within came a soft
chuckle. The voice that followed was harsh and raspy, reminding Blake of the
sound teeth grinding against each other made.
“We are going to have so much
fun.”
4. What
scares you?
Everything. Humans are the scariest creatures in the
world. The ability to do what we do to each other; that scares the hell out of
me.
And of course, monsters. I still make sure my legs are
well under the covers in case something reaches out from under the bed, or the
tapping at the window is something a little more than just the wind.
5. If you
were forced to spend the night at one allegedly haunted location, where would
it be and what would you hope to learn?
There’s this place in Alexandria, Egypt called the
Roushdy Building that’s allegedly haunted. No one lives there, and the people
who have either see pools of blood or hear mysterious sounds. One couple was
furnishing an apartment in there, and always came the next morning to find
their new furniture thrown out into the street. The rumors are numerous, but
apparently there are Djinn in there that really don’t want visitors. It’s
definitely intriguing, and would be quite a muse for horror writers – imagine
one night of non-stop horror!
6. You’re
walking alone down a dark alley, what’s the
one character you’ve created that you would most want to not encounter?
Why?
I wouldn’t want to encounter any of them. After what I do
to these characters in my stories, the good and the bad, I think most of them
are holding a grudge.
7. If you
could channel one master of horror that’s passed, who would it be and what do
you think the result of your collaboration would be?
Edgar Alan Poe. I
doubt there would be a collaboration; just more of me staring in horror and awe
as the genius works.
8. What’s the best memory you have of celebrating Halloween?
My parents once dressed me up in a large red coat and
drew blood running down my mouth. They didn’t have money for a costume, and
they convinced me that I was the scariest monster to ever walk down our street.
I asked them why and my father smiled and said, “Because you’re going as
yourself, and that’s scary!”
9. In terms
of your readers, do you like feedback? What’s the best thing a reader has ever
said or done?
I love feedback, especially when it’s constructive. I
take a lot from the feedback I get. If it’s a one-liner telling me my work is
either great or a waste of their time, I usually feel a pang of disappointed.
I’d like to know why they loved or hated it, which parts were their favorite or
their worst, how I could improve, all of it. Feedback is the best thing a
writer can get from the people who read their books.
The best thing: My wife read one of my stories, ‘This is
Gonna Hurt’, when we were still engaged. It’s a bit disturbing, and she hasn’t
read any of my horror work since, but I remember her sending an email, thanking
me for a wonderful five-year relationship and opening her eyes to what she was
really getting herself into. It was a hilarious email, and I still read it to
her every time we get into an argument just to tell her: “You knew, and you
married me anyway”
10. What’s
next for you? What are your upcoming plans?
I just finished a trilogy recently about how your sins
come back to haunt you, and how different people respond to ‘coming clean.’ It
has been one long ride, and it incorporated a lot of my own fears and horrors,
keeping me awake at night after I was done writing a chapter or two. It’s
called ‘The Sin Series’, and I’m really looking forward to the response for
that.
I’ve also been working on an audio graphic novel I wrote
a few years back called ‘Bottlecap’, and that should be up on YouTube pretty
soon. Unfortunately it’s not a horror story, but it’s definitely a dark
experience nevertheless.
And of course, more horror writing! I’m working on a new
trilogy and have plans for several more, so I’m sure I’ll be busy. There are a
few small projects here and there that I think I’ll be spending some time on as
well, but there’s always writing. I doubt that will ever change.
If you
were tantalized by the above excerpt, you’ll be thrilled to know that today’s
giveaway is TEN ECOPIES OF CHILDREN TO SLAUGHTER!!!!
To win: go to the
Official FB Event Page; find the post announcing today’s giveaway; and
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Melington
has changed.
There is
an evil lurking in the darkness, under the beds and behind closet doors. It
seeks vengeance and retribution and will not be denied.
No one
knows this more than Alan Carter. Returning to his hometown after a twenty year
absence, he is resolute in uncovering the truth behind his sister’s abduction
and the strange disappearance of children. Joined by his childhood friend, Alan
finds himself thrown into the middle of a conspiracy led by the town Council as
it desperately tries to hide its secrets from the world.
No child
is safe in Melington, and Alan Carter needs to stop the curse that has haunted
his hometown for generations. But as Alan’s brushes with death become more
frequent, he finds himself running out of luck.
AUTHOR BIO
At
the age of four, Ahmed I. Nasser’s parents decided that the best way to keep a
hyperactive child occupied was to teach him how to read and constantly bombard
him with books. Since then, the world of imagination has constantly consumed
him. He quickly decided that the only way to feel fulfilled was to spend his
time writing one story after the other, even opting out of a career as a
pediatrician, despite ten years of struggling through med-school.
Influenced
by Stephen King, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, he has been writing since the
age of 12 while travelling the world with his family. Now, finally settled in
Egypt, he divides his time between teaching Middle School English Literature
and finding the best ways to scare his family and friends.
Great Interview !
ReplyDeleteThank you for the Giveaway !
Great Interview !
ReplyDeleteThank you for the Giveaway !