What's the story behind your latest book?
I have been a fan of vampires for as long as I can remember. In late 2010 I walked into a bookstore in Sydney and noticed that their vampire section was almost wall to wall with the same looking/sounding material.
I wanted to write a vampire story based on this, but needed an idea. What could I do that hadn't already been done? Vampires have been around since ancient times through myth and later, movies.
Then, I was listening to my phones tracks and came across a very old Australian folk song, "Give Me a Home Among The Gum Trees" which had the lyrics:
Some people like their houses, with fences all around,
others live in mansions, and some beneath the ground
With that, the idea came to me; what if vampires were in Australia, since day one? There were signs all around us but no one knew where to look, and those that did, ended up dead, or worse.
What motivated you to become an indie author?
I had a terrible introduction to publishing with Raider Publishing International back in 2009. Back then I jumped at the chance to sign a contract with the first company that showed an interest in my manuscript, even though it was a vanity publisher. I felt ashamed and cheated in dealing with them, so much that I gave up writing for a few years. The book was basically spat out months overdue, full of errors, and didn't feel like my book anymore. Correspondence went months without reply and I was lied to about the amounts of royalties I got, which they pocketed.
In this case, I have the ability to control almost everything that goes into Night Walker. While I would love to be able to generate enough money to support my family, my main goal is to have people read something they've never seen before, and are glad to do so
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