| editor@ | Salim Khalid |
|---|---|
| I know you've recently published a novel. Here's an upfront chance to begin by telling us all about 'Master of the Estate'? | |
| Master of the Estate is a mystery sci-fi novel. It presents an engrossing
tale of candlelight intrigue, mysticism and forbidden romance. The
protagonist, Adam W. Deen is a black man who is addicted to heroin and a vagrant.
Circumstances compel the character to attempt heroin withdrawal. He re-enters the
addiction-free world only to discover that the addiction-free world is now
populated with new demons, and he believes that his encounter with a rare Egyptian
heirloom is the source of his difficulties. Eventually, the protagonist becomes somewhat of a reluctant hero, but thereafter he concludes that he is merely a pawn in a grand game of murder, intrigue, and illicit romance. He is faced with betrayal as well as the onus of an unwanted destiny. He determines that in order to survive the different elements that are now bent on his destruction he must ferret out clues like an amateur detective. As a result, Adam W. Deen is pursued by an explosive mixture of various groups with contending ambitions. Factor in the mysterious swamps of southeast Louisiana with their mysticism and folklore, and you have 'Master of the Estate.' |
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| What others styles do you like to write in? | |
| My novel is written in the first person, which many readers find engrossing despite the limitations it places upon the writer. The sequel, however, will be written in the omnipresent. | |
| Do you think form matters in creative writing? | |
| Without question form does matter in creative writing. Form suggests control, order and clarity, all of which are necessary to produce perspicuous writing that intrigues, rather than befuddles the reader to the point of frustration. | |
| How do you come up with the ideas for your characters? | |
| Some characters represent the particular styles of people we've encountered, seen on television, read of in novels, religious books and texts of intellectual curiosity, or heard of in raucous barbershop discussions. Other characters, without fanfare or warning spring into sudden existence at important junctures in the developing novel. They whisper to the conscious mind of the writer: It is time. Create me and I shall serve you well. | |
| How versatile do you consider yourself to be as a writer? | |
| The question of versatility can best be answered by the product. The novel is set in 1970, that period of dynamic social outcry and change. The characters represent a wide range of personalities with varied and conflicting desires. In order to build a foundation of historical relevance so that the novel approximates reality, we have treated specific subjects in ancient Egypt, the West African polities of the Middle Ages, specifically the Songhai and Mali empires. We have presented issues and events of the American Civil War, and something of the history of antebellum New Orleans. | |
| If your work was to be adapted, would it suit the stage or screen best and why? | |
| To be candid, and perhaps a tad subjective, 'Master of the Estate' is a compelling story that represents a successful blend of fiction and reality, fantasy and history. It is replete with colorful characters and preternatural events that will leave the reader aghast or astounded. It is readily adaptable for the silver screen. | |
| Is there a piece of your work that has a particular significance for you personally? Tell us a bit about it! | |
| Whenever a reader opens a novel, he or she has entered a world that approximates the real world, but it is not truly real. The vicissitudes that transpire, whether rooted in current events or not, only exist in the author's imagination which has been painstakingly downloaded to the written word. The ripples of a virgin stream and the rubbish of leaves floating upon it, an unobtrusive five mile an hour northwesterly breeze that toys with the moss dangling from an outstretched oak tree, are all of particular significance to the author, for it is from the mind of the author that this special world has been drawn. | |
| Who are your favourite authors and what works of fiction would you say have most influenced you? | |
| I enjoy the intellectual works of Cheikh Anta Diop, W. E. B. DuBois, Joseph Campbell, James Burke, Yosef ben-Jochannan and Warith D. Muhammad. As for fiction, my favorite authors are Brandon Massey, Robert E. Howard, Walter Mosley, Michael Moorcock, Tananarive Due, Edgar Rice Burroughs and others. Despite the racial limitations that may be found in his novels, the works of Robert E. Howard most influenced me. |