Interview With Author Sam Muller
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I love dogs and books. This is a tad complicated because some of my dogs also love my books. Page edges and the spines of old hardbacks for preference. This creates waves of disharmony, and quite a bit of heartburn on my part. I have a habit of reading several books simultaneously and leaving them around, on bed, on the floor, which is asking for trouble. Other than writing, my main preoccupation is navigating this difficult relationship between the two indispensable parts of my life, beloved dogs who want to consume beloved books, literally.
I will Paint the Night is my first book to reach publication threshold. I've written at least 2 more which sulumber somewhere in my room.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I will Paint the Night
Fairy tales. And the way my grandmother told them. Telling a story is an art and she was a virtuoso at it. She could make the world and the characters come alive. That was a while back, but the magic never died. Later I read that in the original Grimm version, the villainess in the Snow White story was not the stepmother (there was no stepmother in it) but the mother. Along the way I thought of a story where the stepmother is killed and the stepdaughter, who loved her dearly, becomes the main suspect. That was how the story began.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I guess not, except that I generally wait until my dogs are fast asleep to write. They have this habit of barking at any human within sight or smell, or anything that moves. I need silence to write and a sense of isolation. So I write early mornings mostly.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The list is too long, from Enid Blyton (fantasy and mystery stories) and E Nesbit (The Enchanted Castle etc) through Ursula le Guin (especially the Easrthsea series) and Terry Pratchett to Albert Camus and a range of non-fiction writers.
What are you working on now?
The sequel to I will Paint the Night which might turn out to be the second in series. The inciting incident is the mysterious vanishing of booksellers in Sammalore, a city-state which is known as a Republic of words.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is my first book, so I'm finding my way, taking baby steps. I made a list of book bloggers and am reaching out to them. Since money is tight, promotion options are rather limited. Once I've finished writing to all the book bloggers (I have a master list of more than 140 in my genre, and am willing to share this with any interested authors), I will try other methods.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
That would be a bit like blind leading the blind. But as I said, I'm willing to share my review resources list with anyone interested.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don't set barriers to your imagination. Write first and edit later.
What are you reading now?
Charles Freeman’s The Awakening of the Western Mind, Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman, and May Sarton’s The House by the Sea.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I am working on the next story in Allii's and Spooky's adventure. It's called People of Dust. The first two chapters are included at the end of I will Paint the Night.
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?
That is a hard question. If I must choose fast, it will be two fiction and two non-fiction books I have on my to-be-read shelf.
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