Author’s tour

Thanks to Jan Sikes for nominating me for this author’s tour and also for helping me edit my short story “Lost in Space.”

1.What am I working on?

I’ve been putting most of my writing efforts into my short stories (at the expense of my blog I must say), which I hope to culminate into a book. Despite being a positive and stable person, most of my characters deal with mental illness and feelings of captivity. Perhaps writing about it is one of the ways I deal with that which scares me the most in this world. I enjoy writing about the dark of life in hopes that the fears and tribulations of my characters will resonate with readers and make them connect with broader issues in their own life. I do believe that we must see and interact with the pain to embrace and appreciate happiness.

I had a great success this January when The Sand Hill Review accepted my story “Lost in Space” for their 2014 issue, to be printed later this year.

When I write for my blog, it’s  a much different story. I’m all about exploring the world and finding revelations in new places, people, cultures, and beliefs. I travel a lot, so most of my posts are about places I’ve been, although lately they’ve been focused around my spiritual quest for happiness and Truth.

I also write reviews about fitness finds in Singapore at www.citynomads.com.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

In terms of short fiction, my work is unique in the simple fact that the author is unique, just as every other author is. Every story is different. I base my fiction heavily on my own experiences, encounters, and emotions and then expand from there.

3. Why do I write what I do?

I write short fiction because it is a way for me to bring to life things inside me which cannot be satisfied any other way. I think in many ways, fiction makes more sense than real life, just as it can help us to make sense of real life. I’m always searching for Truth within a story. I like to make people think, and I like to hit people in their soul. It fascinates me how once a story leaves someone’s mind, is written, and then read, it no longer belongs to the author. It belongs to the reader, because how they interpret it and what they learn from it will entirely depend on the way they read it, rather than the way it is written. There is no guarantee that your audience will see the same things as you in a story. I love playing with the thought that my stories will be read innumerable ways, and it seems a bit less scary doing that with fiction than with non-fiction (although my next project will hopefully be a non-fiction book).

4. How does your writing process work?

Basically, I will be walking along day dreaming somewhere and all the sudden a story or a character will enter my head. I’ll give them a page or two of rambling, whether it’s dialogue, a character web, a description of their world, a scene from their childhood. Then, whenever I feel drawn to them I’ll continue to purge their story until I feel like I know where the story really begins and where it might head. I don’t like to plan my stories, because I believe that a reader isn’t surprised unless the author was surprised. I keep rewriting until I slowly get more information, revealing their true path. I’m shocked by where the story takes me. I love it. In this sense, I feel like my love of reading comes out in my love of writing, because I never know how a story will end when I start it.