Hello everyone!

Today we have ShaunAllan the writer of Sin and And the Meek Shall Walk with us.

Warm regards Shaun. Welcome to @TheCRYPTIC_ . It's our honor to interact with an inspiring writer like you. Thank you for choosing to join the team.

Thanks very much. I'm delighted to be here. It's a bit dark though. And what's with all the chanting?

First of all, tell us how you stumbled upon Wattpad and when.

Hi. It's so good to be here and to be included in your team. I joined Wattpad in June 2011. I had self published my novel Sin on Amazon, where it reached #1 in Psychological Horror, and wanted to widen its reach. Google was my friend. I hadn't heard of Wattpad at the time, but thought I'd give it a go. I originally uploaded Sin's prologue as I was unsure of 'giving' the book away.

I've learned my lesson! Wattpad is definitely my work's new home.

Wow! So what do you think about THE CRYPTIC's theme? What are your views regarding dark fiction?

I love it. I've written some humour and some children's stories, but dark fiction is where my heart lies. For me, writing the darker subjects is a form of therapy. Sin most definitely was. It's a way of exorcising any demons you may have. Plus, it's fun. I've always enjoyed horror and psychological books and films. Walking in the shadows seems to come naturally to me. And, of course, you can't have the light without the darkness.

What do you like to read? Do you have a favourite genre or any specific likes?

When I was younger, all I used to read was science fiction. My favourite books were by authors such as Asimov and Clarke. I then moved on to fantasy after reading Lord of the Rings when I was about 14. The Belgariad, by David and Leigh Eddings, is still one of my faves.

I'm not sure what my first horror book was. Probably something by Stephen King - I've read so many things by him (and even wrote a story where the main character meets him to learn his secrets). I like Dean Koontz too. His Odd Thomas books are great and the MC is very much like Sin in many ways. They always say 'write what you know' and the first book which made me realise I could do that was Clive Barker's Weaveworld. He spoke of ordinary back alleys, much like those around where I grew up. So, I began to set many of my stories in my home town. All of the settings in Sin are - or were - real places. The same goes for others. The woods in To Kill a King. The streets in Voice on the Wing. The hotel in The Door was where I stayed when I visited Wattpad HQ last year and the route walked is the one which takes you to the HQ building.

Horror doesn't... horrify me. I just, I think, like the shadows as I say. No-one would call me 'normal.'

What compels you to pick up a pen and scribble down your thoughts? Do you have any inspiration or motivation?

Life is my inspiration. I get ideas from anywhere and everywhere. My daughter likes to give me story ideas (And the Meek Shall Walk and Wings), and I have an ideas journal which I jot down quick notes when they come to me - even if that's in the middle of the night. When I was asked to write for The Purge: Anarchy film, my brain was fried. I was so shocked to be asked, I couldn't come up with an idea.

My wife couldn't sleep so asked me to tell her a story. i said I wouldn't even know where to start, so she said the words which I immediately wrote down and that became the opening to Mr. Composure. At that same moment, I wrote the very last sentence - I just had to make them fit!

Being a writer, what's the easiest part of writing and which aspect do you consider the most challenging?

The easiest part, once I start, is the writing. In most cases, it flows and I love the ride to discover what happens along the way. The hardest part is a lack of time. I work full time, have a young family and own a business. Writing is my escape, however, so I grab the time as I can. Fitting it all in is most definitely challenging.

But fun.

Sometimes I think getting an idea is difficult, but then someone will say something, or I'll see something, and I'll note it down and all of a sudden I have a new story!

What kind of environment do you prefer to write in?

I don't actually mind. I write often (as I am right now) during my lunch break at work. The office radio goes off, my team stay fairly quiet, and I wrote. Alternatively, if I take my children to a local indoor play area, they'll go off to the slides and ball pools etc. and I'll grab a coffee and spend the two hours or so writing. I'm fairly happy writing anywhere.

Why did you choose to become a member of The Cryptic's High Council?

I was invited by the amazing krazydiamond, and was honoured to be asked. How could I refuse a seat on the High Council? I get to work with people who GET me.

What's your first piece of writing, if you can remember? What thoughts does it bring to you when you look back at it?

I'm told I've written since being about 4 years old. That's a fair way back. My favourite lesson at school was English - the teacher was brilliant and Sin is part dedicated to him - and the first story I actually remember was written there. Well, there's three. One was about a fire, which the teacher thought was brilliant. One was about the end of the world, from the point of view of the last man alive, and it was good but it was pointed out how could he write it if he died. The third was my first attempt at a book. And it was DIRE. I can still remember some of the lines, they were so bad.

Ugh.

Tell us about your growth as an author.

Well, I have come a long way, I think! I no longer write lines I wish I could scrub from my memory. I'm not saying others don't feel that way still, but I think I've improved somewhat. Sin took me ten years to write and, in the meantime, I was writing other short stories. You can see my growth through them all.

For so long, I was pretty much laughed at for even thinking about writing. It was stupid. A waste of time. Why read the book when you can watch the film? It wasn't until only a few years ago when I received the support and encouragement to make me think it wasn't so bad. It wasn't a waste. It might even be something I could be good at! Now, Sin has won a Watty Award and Red Queen has won in the FCRAs! I'm eager to bring that out in others. People should follow their dreams, and if that includes pen on paper or word on screen, then HELL YEAH!

Loud'n'proud!

Do you have a favorite author or book?

Hmmm... That's so difficult. It's changed over the years. Asimov to Eddings to King to Barker. I loved the Odd Thomas books, as I said, by Dean Koontz. The Green Mile was another brilliant book. The Hannibal Lecter books were sooo much better than the films and they, themselves were mostly good. I would struggle to pick out just one.

Besides writing, do you have any hidden talents?

I can wiggle my ears. My wife thinks it's disgusting and my kids love it. I also know lots of things to do with hair and colouring hair and cutting hair etc. as the business I own is a barber's salon and, even though I can't cut, I've picked up a lot of information over the past 13 years of knowing my wife!

I'm a terrible singer but don't care and I once won a Dancing Dad competition at a holiday camp.

You're sitting in front of a brand new aspiring writer, what do you say?

Don't give up. Don't let anybody tell you that you should be doing it. I wasted years being put down. And remember, even JK Rowling and Stephen King had a mountain of rejections.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Don't be afraid to tell us something funny, we won't tell.

I don't get a lot of that. I love films so I tend to watch a lot of those. I enjoy time with my family and I am a real gadget geek. Alexa is my new best friend. And, of course, I love to write. I really do.

Now, the most awaited question of every young reader, do you have any childish habits? Do you like cartoons or chocolates?

Yes and yes. I have no problem watching kids films. Dory is one of my all time favourite characters. I will happily sit and watch Adventure Time with my children and chase them around the house. I like chocolate and other naughty things far too much, though the hypnotherapy I had last year has helped with that. I use to be terrible for picking snacks and things.

And, why aren't the swings at the park big enough for me any more?

Do you prefer sweet or salty?

Yes. Apparently bacon cake is a thing?

It was nice talking to you. Thanks for your precious time. We really appreciate it and hope you'll prosper leaps and bounds.

Thank you SO much. It's been an absolute pleasure.

Dead, dead, dead. Say it enough times and it becomes just another word.

What would you do? Could you kill a killer? Does the death of one appease the deaths of a hundred? What about that hundred against a thousand?

What if you had no choice?

Meet Sin. No, not that sort of sin, but Sin, crazy as a loon (you ask Sister Moon), and proud of it. Sin locks himself away in an asylum and, every so often, gets violent. That's only so they'll give him those nice drugs, though. The ones that help him forget.

It's a pity they don't work.

Sin, you see, has a serious problem. Well, it's not so much his problem, as ours - yours, mine and everyone else's. People die around Sin. He doesn't like it and there's nothing he can do about it. But someone else knows, and Sin has to stop them... and himself...

Flip and catch...

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Sin has been described as 'Dark, disturbing and amazing," and is a 2016 Wattpad Wattys award winner - the largest online literary competition in the world.