Where were you born? What were your dreams as a child?
I was born in Calcutta, India. My dream as a child was to become a Storyteller and an Author like my father, Melvyn Brown.
What inspired you to become an Amazon published Author?
I was inspired by all the self published authors on Amazon and Smashwords to publish my writings on Amazon. Writing and publishing on Amazon was one of the best ways for me to have my writings ready to publish and share with all my loyal readers around the world.
What is the biggest mistake you've made as a copywriter?
As a copywriter and author it is necessary to make your content exciting for the reader. There can be no mistake in copywriting, as it is a continuous learning process. Every line needs to be tweaked to make it more effective and attractive for readers to want to own your next interesting novel, novellas, short story, comic or graphic novel.
How many hours a day do you work on average? How often do you write?
I work about three hours a day on my writing and illustrations. I write very often almost one hour a day.
Since how long have you been living in London, in the United Kingdom?
I have been living in London for a couple of decades and the years have flown in the blink of an eye.
Why did you choose Indie publishing? What challenged did you face to get your first book published?
I have chosen to be an Indie Author and Publisher as I have more freedom to write and publish my writings. The first challenge in self publishing was to get all the necessary items together, which was the manuscript, editing of the novel, creating an appropriate book cover and then finally it was uploading the work to the Amazon site. I have been self-publishing from 2010 and it has been a rewarding and enjoyable experience for me.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex? How do you select the names of your characters?
Perspectives and emotional reactions can be difficult sometimes, when writing characters of the opposite sex. But, observation and being connected to the character does make a major difference to the way I portray a character of the opposite sex.
I do a lot of research into names and the meaning of names when selecting the names of my characters. The name of a character should in a way also reflect the nature of the story and the challenges which the character will face. I am usually drawn to the name of a character, who I feel would be “just right” and most suitable for the story.
How did you come up with the idea of making "Neighbourhood" a collection of three Anglo Indian short stories?
I grew up in India, as a mixed-race (British-Indian) Anglo-Indian or Eurasian and I wanted to capture the essence of a typical neighbourhood in the city. The neighbourhood, I have created in my short stories is reflective of life in India during the 70 and 80s. The stories are filled with memories and give a reader familiar with life in India, an overwhelming experience of nostalgia.
My “Neighbourhood” was inspired by the graphic novel , “Dropsie Avenue: The Neighbourhood” by Will Eisner, which is a modern masterpiece. The graphic novel presents an exciting depiction of the lives of the residents as “a story of life, death and resurrection”.
What was the most challenging thing about writing "Unbreakable Unshakeable Unstoppable"?
The most challenging part of writing “Unbreakable, Unshakeable and Unstoppable” was to create more hurdles and obstacles for the hero to overcome, as he travels through time and space. Every obstacle he overcomes takes the hero one step ahead in the story to finally being able to discover his own freedom in life.
How did you come up with the plot for "Paranormal Presence"? Do you believe that the Supernatural exists?
There is so much interest in the supernatural in the world today. I had read so many news items related to incidents occurring in the natural world which are quite unbelievable. I wrote “Paranormal Presence” as an attempt to bring the stories of the supernatural from around the world together in one volume.
I believe that the Supernatural exists. We believe in electricity although we cannot see it. There are so many myths, legends and folklore from around the world related in one way or another to the supernatural, therefore it definitely does exist.
We are cannot see our soul or the souls of others, but we are alive because we possess a soul, which is energy. When a person dies their “soul” or energy is released back into the world.
In physics, the Law of Conservation of Energy states that “the total energy of an isolated system remains constant, it is said to be conserved over time.” This law means that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it can only be transformed or transferred from one form to another.
Therefore, as we are made up of matter, energy, molecules and atoms, we are also supernatural Energy beings existing in Life.
What is your writing dream? How close do you think you are to achieving it?
My writing dream is to one day become a bestselling author, with the opportunity to spend more time on writing more novels, novellas as well as creating interesting and thought provoking comics and graphic novels.
I guess that it will take a little more time for me to achieve my dreams. However, it is important to bear in mind that the more we want something in life and move towards achieving it every day, we will achieve that dream sooner than we imagine. Every dream could become a reality any day, as Miracles do happen every day in life.
How many unfinished or unpublished stories have you written? Do you ever plan on finishing/publishing them?
I have a number of unfinished and unpublished stories, close to ten or twelve. But, I have not abandoned the stories, as I have kept them as works in progress. These unpublished stories will be published at the right time. I notice, that when I leave a story for a period of time, it seems to evolve with new ideas and it makes the story more exciting for me to create and complete after a few months.
When researching for a book, do you prefer to talk to people or read books or articles for research? Or a combination of both?
When doing research on a book, I do online and offline research, as I feel that is is vitally important to get an authentic feel of the subject, which I am too handle in my story.
Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?
At present I am working on a novella as well as on a comic which is written and illustrated by me. I have always liked drawing and this is my opportunity to combine my storytelling talent with my artwork. I find comic story writing and illustrating are very fascinating. I wish that I can someday draw comics like great storytellers and artists of DC and Marvel like Will Eisner, Gil Kane, Jim Lee, Paul Dini, Joe Kubert, Garth Ennis, Neil Gaiman and Stan Lee. The comic I am creating is based on my thriller novel “Impostor Assassin,” which I had published last year.
What has your AllAuthor experience been like so far? What are some highlights?
I have enjoyed being a member on AllAuthor.
I especially like the book cover contest and the mock-up covers for published books.
