Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m from Cape Town, South Africa and have been writing since primary school. I write science fiction and political commentary. I began my writing career with my debut novel, Fall of Zona Nox, which I have upgraded ever since. I am now working on the sequel and prequel, both of which are almost done.
I am currently studying politics, philosophy and economic history at the University of Cape Town. All three of these are my interests. I mostly read fantasy, science fiction, history and philosophy. Hobby wise, I play Magic: The Gathering and many video games. I also enjoy hiking.
I have written and self-published two books so-far – Fall of Zona Nox and Cape Zero. These will soon be followed by Defiant and Devil Child.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Defiant is the sequel to Fall of Zona Nox and should be out soon. The book was inspired by many things, but mainly my study of revolutions and ethics. The name came from a theme in the book.
Of already published books, Cape Zero was inspired by the trend of zombie fiction at the time. The name comes from combining Cape Town with Ground Zero – to illustrate a disaster area.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
What is unusual? Writers tend to be eccentric at the best of times. Is something truly unusual if it is the norm?
The closest thing I can think of is my working on auxiliary information that will probably be of very little interest to the average reader. I spend a lot of time designing the technology, locations, characters and other entities in my books. A little too much time.
Another habit may be my creation of factions within my book. There tend to always be named and explicit groups that characters belong to. This may be as a result of my interest in politics.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
No author of fantasy or sci-fi is immune to influence from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. My main influences, however, are no doubt Raymond Fiest for introducing me to even larger scale world-building and Brandon Sanderson for his enthusiastic and creative writing across so many worlds.
What are you working on now?
I am currently finishing up Defiant, sequel to Fall of Zona Nox. It is a science fiction epic, continuing from where Fall of Zona Nox finished.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
It is all good and well when you can get traffic to your site or retail page, but means very little when none of that traffic even translates into a sample download. Amazon, Smashwords or any other retail page needs to be constructed well, with a good cover and blurb, so to attract customers and convince them to purchase your product.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what you want. Identify your goal in writing. Work towards that goal. Take advise, but don’t necessarily implement it. Criticism exists to improve yourself or your work. Only you know what you want to achieve. Criticism allows you to understand better how to achieve that.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write for yourself.
What are you reading now?
Karl Popper’s ‘The Open Society and its Enemies: Volume 1’.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I will be finishing up Defiant and then working more on marketing my author brand.
What is your favorite book of all time?
Very hard to say. I mostly read series, so it is hard to judge which is the best as the entire series is required to understand it. Series-wise, I loved the Rift War Saga and the Wheel of Time. While it has been a long time, as an individual book, I still have fond memories of Raymond Fiest’s Servant of the Empire.
Author Websites and Profiles
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