Interview With Author Alan Draven
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m very tall, lanky, and I was a bear in a past life. English is my second language, French is my first. I live in beautiful Québec City, Canada, but I spent a good 98% of my life living in Montreal, having been born and raised there. I’ve been writing with the goal of publishing some books for nearly twenty years, mainly in the horror genre. I’ve had a dozen books published including two anthologies which I edited, two short story collections, as well as a bunch of novels. My latest book, AMOK THE POWERFUL, which saw the light of day on November 26th, is my first foray into the Sword & Sorcery genre.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
AMOK THE POWERFUL. It’s a Sword & Sorcery book divided into eight episodes/short stories that are interconnected; it pretty much reads like a novel. I was inspired by Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories and by Titan Comics’ current Conan the Barbarian comic book series by Jim Zub and Roberto De La Torre. Amok is a throwback to the Sword & Sorcery tales of the ’70s & ’80s.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
In my early years as a writer, I was only inspired to write very late at night. Then I switched it entirely and would do all my writing from the crack of dawn until noon. Now I just write on weekends, usually on Sundays, and preferably in the afternoon.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Novelists: Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, David Morrell, Stephen King, Richard Laymon, Philip K. Dick, Dean Koontz, and Donald E. Westlake.
Comic book writers: Stan Lee, Chris Claremont, Roy Thomas, John Byrne, Frank Miller, Peter David, and Michael Fleisher.
What are you working on now?
Nothing. No seriously, I’m taking a long break from writing fiction. I have a music blog where I do album reviews, so I’ll be focusing on that in the near future.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
None, because hardly any of them ever work (from personal experience over the last 18 years). Word of mouth does wonders though. I hate promoting online, it sucks. I’m more of a “in-person” kind of guy: I love doing conventions and readings.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t do it! I’m only half serious, of course. Know what you are getting into and that it will be like climbing Mount Everest every single time you write a novel. It will also be an uphill battle to find readers to buy your books and read you. It’s an incredibly frustrating (and sometimes quite lonely) process, but it’s also wonderfully rewarding. There are very few things in life that match the feeling of typing THE END after having written 85,000 words.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write what you know and love. It’s pretty straightforward but it will always ensure that you write about what you’re passionate about.
What are you reading now?
“Conan: Cult of the Obsidian Moon” by James Lovegrove. I’ve got about 40 pages to go and it’s a fantastic read from beginning to now. I’m also revisiting the late, great Margaret Wander Bonanno’s original “Star Trek: Probe” novel; the unpublished version titled “The Music of the Spheres”, which she had personally emailed me back in 2008. I haven’t read it in over 15 years and felt like reading it again after all this time.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I honestly don’t know. If AMOK THE POWERFUL is a hit with readers and generates serious book sales (or is at least way more successful than my previous two novels) and readers want to read more about this character, I have a great idea for a novella that I’d love to write. But I need readers to manifest their interest otherwise Amok will continue to slumber in the recesses of my mind.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
1) Robert E. Howard’s Complete Conan Chronicles
2) Richard Laymon’s The Traveling Vampire Show
3) A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh
4) Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic
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