1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I have always written, short stories and small standalone scenes just for myself and as storylines for artwork projects that I undertake but after my friend, author Jhedron Luckspar published his novel, Revenge of the Hrym, I was inspired to publish my own book and started with the short story Yankai’s Skull which I was writing at the time.
2) What inspired you to write your book?
I had recently visited the Ashmoleon Museum in Oxford, UK which is like Indiana Jones’s locker. There are all sorts of random exhibits from all over the world and jumbled together in such just such a way as to make it seem as if it were collected by groups of adventurers from a more romantic age. In one exhibit, there was a human skull that had been taken as a trophy after a brutal fight, the writing on the skull describes it as the skull of Yankai of the Nienching tribe somewhere in the Himalayan region. The story is my take on why Yankai’s Skull was removed from the rest of him and how it ended up in a museum.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
That’s easy. If you look at the dark side, it looks back. I think that may have been a quote from Yoda but that is essentially the message of the book. Even those with good intentions who study the dark side of the world will end up getting corrupted.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
The story unfolded itself and it turned out to be a mash up. I had no idea how to pigeon hole it but horror seemed closest and if you look at what Yankai experiences, that really is a horrific experience for him. Forget blood and guts, true horror likes in human behaviour and the demons that drive it.
5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
I would sit with The Poet and ask him about his experiences with Buddha. I would ask him what kind of man he was and what it was like to be around him.
6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
I have not done any traditional social media advertising as of yet so I can’t answer that but looking at them all, I would say Facebook seems to be the best way to develop a targeted readership. My current approach is to send copies of the work to people who may say something good about it and I hope old fashioned word of mouth, on whatever medium will lead to a growth in readership. It may seem counter intuitive but I’m going to see what happens in this approach, it allows me more time to be creative.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
Write for yourself as an artist. It may not seem like it but there are people in the world who will love your work and that will connect with what you are doing. How they connect to it in the first place is a dfferent thing entirely but I believe that if you are writing from a place of truth, then the story will resonate as a truth and its core message or experience will shine through.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
I have just come back from the Gothenburg Book Festival which was a huge success for many independant authors and publishing houses so judging by that, the future is exciting. Creatively, there are a combination of art projects and more stories that I will continue to advertise in weird and wonderful ways. Astrum, has also been published and is available on Amazon and there are 3 more stories just waiting to be published once the proofing and art have been finalized. It’s all very exciting.
Author Anthony Avina's Blog 