Today's Q&A is with Musician and Author Paul Nemeth. Very glad to have you today, Paul! Thanks for doing the interview!
Enjoy & Comment!
Why did you start writing and when did you decide to go professional?
I wrote stories to entertain myself as a kid, and everyone assumed I would go on to become a writer; however, in my early teens I got it into my head to be a musician and followed that track. Ten years ago, I still decided there was something missing in my creative life and got it into my head to start writing again. After a couple of starts and stops, I started working on what would become Cataclysm Children.
For now, I have the luxury of approaching writing as a hobby-something I’ve learned from my music career is that anything can turn into a grind if you let it. I’m just basically trying to entertain myself, and if others are entertained by it, great!
Do you write in more than one genre? Which ones and which do you like the best?
I would characterize Cataclysm as suspense, and I’ve got an anthology titled Nightscapes scheduled for publication through the same publisher, Stonegarden.net Publishing (www.stonegarden.net) next year with stories running the gamut from sci-fi to horror. I’m also wrapping up another novel, tentatively titled The Vault, that also straddles the line between suspense and science fiction, with horror undertones. The authors I’ve probably gotten the most inspiration from over the years are Stephen King and Pat Conroy, with a pinch of Michael Crichton here and there.
Like I stated earlier, this is for my own entertainment first-if I tried writing in a genre I don’t follow, like romance or quirky humor, it wouldn‘t be fun, and probably wouldn‘t come off well.
Do you read other author’s books when you’re writing? If so, do you read the same genre or something different?
Cataclysm Children was inspired by Lords of Chaos, a non-fiction book by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Soderlind, so I re-read that several times, along with some other non-fiction titles,
like Lucifer Rising by Gavin Baddeley.
Typically, halfway through a project I’ll get it in my head to read something, either to study the language and pacing, or to get ideas. In terms of scope, I’d probably compare The Vault (the book I’m working on now) to Dune, by Frank Herbert-I may re-read that in a bit. I also got a lot of inspiration, believe it or not, from The Grapes of Wrath, which I’d never read before. I read Atlas Shrugged up to about page 450 and then stopped-it inspired me, but probably not in the way Ayn Rand intended!
Author's Biography: Paul Nemeth was born in 1970 in Wheatridge, Colorado and raised in neighboring Arvada. The son of two music teachers and youngest of four siblings, Paul learned to read by age three and spent much of his childhood writing stories to entertain himself and his family.
A professional musician by trade, Paul maintains a busy schedule playing and teaching bass and lead guitar throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, where he now resides with his wife Tara and son John.
His writing, much of which centers on the power of music to influence spiritual and political thought, has been featured in the anthology Don’t Turn The Lights On (also from Stonegarden) and his short stories “They Come Here To Die” and “The Monkey In The Mirror” are featured in HorrorBound Online Magazine
Book blurb-Cataclysm Children
The brutal slaying of Father Dermott Cavanaugh tore apart the sleepy town of Hadley, Colorado.
More shocking still was the revelation that a cult of satanic metal musicians calling themselves the “Brotherhood of the Wolf” was behind the murder, as well as the arson that left Father Cavanaugh’s parish in charred ruins. Now, ten years later, the Wolf is rising from the ashes to terrorize Hadley once again, recruiting troubled teens to carry out a reign of terror involving music, mayhem and murder.
Exiled Brotherhood founder Ian Andrews has learned that his nephew Danny is about to fall victim to the evil that he helped create. Ian must stop the resurrected Brotherhood before they launch open war against society, and the streets run red with blood.
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1 comment:
Thanks for participating Paul, glad to have you!
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