1. Tell us a bit about yourself as an author and as an individual.

Not much to tell, really. I'm just an average joe that loves video games, cosmic horror, comic books, kaiju, movies, science fiction, horror and fantasy with an active imagination. Not very exciting stuff lol.

2. How long have you been writing? And what influenced you to start writing?

I first started writing when I was fourteen with an old "Quake" fanfic, back in 2005. At the time, I was sort of introduced to the world of fanfiction through Fanfiction.net after reading a story involving a character called "Deadpool" - who I had later discovered to be a Marvel character - and I couldn't help being curious. After a bit of searching, part of me felt a little disappointed that there weren't any stories involving titles and/or characters that I liked on that site. I was admittedly hesitant about posting for a time, if only due to my busy schedule with university and also because I didn't know how well my stories would be received. That, plus the fact that I had ended up losing said-"Quake" story, which kind of left me discouraged. Eventually, I decided to take the risk in 2013 by writing and posted my first story, a "House Of The Dead"/"Resident Evil" crossover called "A Star's Descent". In some ways, I'm a little embarrassed by certain parts, but as the first story to have been posted and eventually completed following some slight hiccups, I'm kind of proud of that fic in that regard. Since then, I've been writing and posting stories on both Fanfiction.net, AO3 and here on Wattpad.

3. Are you a plotter or a pantser?

A little bit of this and that. Generally, I'm a bit of the former, but there have been occasions where I fell into the latter category for a given story.

4. What was the most difficult thing to write in your book? How did you finally pull it off?

For "No Man's Land", it was nailing the atmosphere; I really wanted to capture that sense of despair and hopelessness from that setting. In order to make it feel authentic, I had to read and research a lot about No Man's Land, including watching documentaries about that time period. I don't know if I have successfully captured the horrors of what happened, but I did try to be as true as much as I could.

In terms of "The Case Of Notre Dame Cathedral", the biggest challenge that I had with that story - aside from trying to balance the action and horror and not make the story feel too much like a video game - was also trying to make everything in it - the characters, the time period, the settings, etc - feel real. I wanted to be true to the video game that it was based on by (hopefully) delivering something to "TimeSplitters" fans that felt familiar yet also exciting and new. An enormous amount of time was spent reading and researching the time period, the Notre Dame cathedral, outlining the directions, the characters, etc. In some instances, I had to scrap and rewrite whole sections whenever I came upon new information such as the Parisian sewers and catacombs that contradicted whatever plans I had earlier.

5. Who is your favorite author?

H.P. Lovecraft is one of my all-time favorites, alongside Edgar Allan Poe, M.R. James, Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Robert Louis Stevenson and countless others.

6. If you could only take one book with you on an island, which one would it be and why?

"Phantoms" by Dean Koontz had always been one of my favorites as far as sci-fi/horror adventure stories are concerned, especially during summer. I love a good horror story.

7. What tips would you give to someone who is just starting out?

To quote Joseph Campbell and my mother, "follow your bliss" and "write what you know." Sometimes, the best stories are the ones that are the most personal, and while not every story that one writes has to reflect that, that sentiment very much applies when it comes some of the most powerful moments in a given work imo. If you want to write a story, tend to the details and map everything out as best you can. If there are things you are uncertain of, research, research, research. Whether it is the setting, the time period, culture, whether it is art, architecture, fashion, technology, etc, tend to the details.

The more you know, the more confident you will be in what you write. Learn through reading as much you can and by taking inspiration from a variety of different sources, be it from other authors, newspaper articles, artists, historical or modern settings, movies, etc, just so that you can expose yourselves to the different writing styles out there. Think about the kind of word play that you want to use, how you structure a given scene, what sort of atmosphere you want to convey, etc. In terms of writing characters, my advice is to write the characters as if they're living, breathing people with their own thoughts and feelings. A person is the sum of their own experiences; their cultures, their social class, level of education, successes, traumas, etc, and a person's behavior is going to reflect that in how they act, how they move, think, speak, and so on.

Think about what drives them or what their role in the story that you want to tell is supposed to be. If something doesn't work, take a step back and think about what went wrong and what went right. You don't have to be afraid of failure; everyone makes mistakes, including me. Not every work one produces is going to be a masterpiece; writing is a process that is very time-consuming, sometimes taking years to master, all about trial and error, so it is only natural for one to make mistakes along the way. One should not be ashamed for doing so, but at the same time, it's the author that gives a damn and who learns from their experiences and wants to produce the best possible version of their work that will succeed. But even more importantly, learn to have fun while writing. Writing is an adventure in itself, and it's always fun seeing a story's completion all the way to the end. If you have a story to tell, you should be the one to tell it, otherwise, how would anyone ever know?

Whether it is the setting, whether it is mythology, religion, a historical period or figure, culture, whether it is art, architecture, fashion, technology, etc, it is always important to tend to the details." Also, don't be afraid of making changes and/or needing to start from scratch; while it can be pretty frustrating and time-consuming, sometimes the best thing to do is to start over and think about where things went wrong in order to progress.

Last but not least, never feel afraid to admit when you need help or when you've done something wrong; I get it, nobody likes to be criticized, but the reality of writing is, there is no absolute guarantee everyone will like what you write, so you will need to develop a thick skin. It can sting, certainly, but my advice for new writers would be to not fear criticism, but rather be open to what they have to say and learn from it. Constructive criticism should always be welcome, especially since things happen, be it due to technical mishaps, disability, tiredness, stress, and countless other reasons.

My apologies for the long answer. *sweat-drops I hope that helps, though. :)

8. What motivated you to write the book that won the contest?

In the case of "No Man's Land", part of it came from watching that scene in the first "Wonder Woman" movie and thinking about the soldiers' perspective of that. I was sort of taken with the idea of a random soldier watching this and becoming inspired into taking action, even in spite of the overwhelming odds against them. I was also feeling rather troubled by recent world events, so, writing the story was partly as a way to alleviate those feelings of anxiety and anger that I felt. I wanted to write this as a way to affirm my belief that good will prevail over evil and that heroism still exists, even in spite of some of the things that are happening.

In terms of "Notre Dame Cathedral", part of that came from my thinking about the level from "TimeSplitters 2" on which it was based on and my wanting to see that played out as an actual story rather than streamlined as a video game level. To give you context, in that game, the protagonist of the story, Sergeant Cortez, goes back in time to different locations throughout history and assumes the body of a given character ala the "Quantum Leap" TV series in order to grab "time crystals" and kill the bad guys. Not a lot of depth, admittedly, but in some ways, I was kind of disappointed as a fan of the game, especially since in the sequel that followed, "TimeSplitters: Future Perfect", Cortez was able to act independently and interact with the other characters in a much more fully-realized cinematic story mode.

Because Cortez occupied the role of a given character in TS2, that had the effect of diminishing the latter since they were nothing more than essentially a "skin" for him to wear in a given level, so I kind of wanted to rectify that to an extent as a fan by expanding on both the scenario and the characters themselves so that they are much more realized. Another part of the reason why I wanted to write the story was because that level and its characters always resonated with me compared to other sections of the game; I love gothic horror, and the turn of the century setting always fascinated me growing up. I loved the gothic style of that level and the eeriness of its atmosphere. I loved the church setting and the religious iconography of that level, some of the dark undercurrents in that level. I loved the writings of Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Edgar Rice Burroughs, M.R. James, Algernon Blackwood and countless others of that period, and I've always wanted to do a story set in the nineteenth century. Likewise, I love science fiction, John Woo/Hong Kong action, superheroes, detective/film noir and comic books, and since Viola (the harlequin) was essentially a female Batman in nineteenth century Paris battling the occult, everything about that level, from its design, its music, etc really resonated with me as a fan, and I kind of figured," why not do a story based on that and see what comes of it?" I tried being true to the whimsical aspects of the game as much as I could, although I wanted to lean much, much more into the horror and atmosphere compared to the actual game. I don't know if I was a hundred percent successful in delivering, but I did try.

9. Do you experience writer's block? If yes, how do you cope with it?

Oh definitely! There have been plenty of instances where I found myself experiencing that. Sometimes I would step back from a given story and allow my brain to relax for a bit, then try to come back at a later time in a more relaxed/refreshed state so that I could see and think more clearly. Sometimes I would focus on other projects that I'm working on whenever I experience a block, usually one-shots or short stories that I know that I would be able to complete. Brainstorming and creating a general outline of the story can help as well, especially in terms considering the story that one wants to tell, where one wants to go, how the story will end, where one currently is, and possible directions to explore that would allow one to reach that point. It also helps talking with a friend and bouncing ideas off them on occasion in order to see what works and what doesn't, and whenever that happens, I always make sure to credit them in a given chapter or story for their aid.

10. What message or theme did you hope to communicate to your readers through your book?

In terms of "No Man's Land", I suppose the one message or theme that I wanted readers to come away with is to never give up hope no matter how dark things become. A cliched message, perhaps, but given today's climate imo, hope is something that is needed much more than ever imo.

I suppose that message is also apparent in "Notre Dame Cathedral" as well to an extent, although the main focus for that particular fic was just to tell a pulpy gothic horror story with some adventure elements.

11. For readers who are unfamiliar with your work, how would you describe your writing style and what distinguishes your book?

I suppose I'm somewhat eclectic in terms of the types of stories that I write, although I tend to favor horror and tragedy. I tend to be descriptive, if not overly so in order to make characters and settings spring to life for readers, although I try to make my stories easily accessible enough so that anyone regardless of familiarity with a given series or character would be able to follow. In terms of "No Man's Land", I wanted to do a very grounded, grim and gritty war story with supernatural elements that was ultimately about sacrifice, bravery and heroism. By contrast, "Notre Dame Cathedral" is more of a fun, moody, gothic pulp comic book/roller coaster ride with some moments of levity and quirkiness.

12. Are there any particular characters or scenes in your winning book that hold special meaning for you? Why?

Viola in "Notre Dame" has a special place in my heart as a character. In many ways, she is like a gender-swapped Italian Batman, only instead of using darkness as a weapon and as a motif, she takes a far more whimsical, absurdist, almost theatrical approach to dealing with things that go bump in the night. She's not the most mentally healthy of individuals - it takes a certain level of dementedness to prance around at night in a harlequin outfit while also wielding a shotgun - but she is certainly the most resilient, entertaining and heroic character that I've had the most fun in writing. Whatever horror she encounters, no matter the odds, no matter her troubles, Viola remains true to herself and to her faith, even when pushed to her lowest.

13. Do you have any future projects or ideas that you are currently working on or intend to pursue?

Indeed I do! On my Wattpad homepage, there is a link leading to my Fanfiction.net profile, and on there is a list of completed and in-progress works along with a number of stories to be written. As of this time, I am currently working on a one-shot called "A Thunder God's Lament", which is a tragic love story based on Raiden from "Mortal Kombat" and Japanese mythology.

14. What was the most surprising or unexpected feedback you got from readers about your book?

I haven't gotten a lot of feedback, unfortunately, so I cannot really comment on that at this time.

15. Is there a character you created randomly who received more attention than the main character? Why do you believe that happened?

I don't think that I've experienced that. Not yet, anyway.

16. What do you believe is the most important trait or skill that a successful writer should possess?

Along with a strong grasp of language and creativity, a writer should be reflexive in their thinking, possessing not only an imagination, but also dedication and a willingness to learn, especially from whatever mistakes are made along the way.

But even more important, however, is the need for patience, discipline, and passion; writing imo shouldn't be a means to an end - not always - but rather an end in itself. No matter how hard it might seem, no matter how long it may take, no matter the challenges, struggles or mistakes one makes or encounters along the way, a passionate writer will strive to produce the best version of the story that they want to tell. It can be an utterly draining experience sometimes, to be sure, but if it results in a work one can feel proud of, if not encourage and in turn inspire creativity and/or more interest in the things that one is interested in, that is reward enough.