Multimedia is full of talented people. There are authors and artists that are out there that have produced some really good stuff. One of those talented people is Ren Zelen. Ren is an author and reviewer. She has a book out on Amazon for kindle The Hathor Diaries which you can buy at this link. Amazon Kindle Store Hathor Diaries She also has a website where you can read Pitchfork Red and all her other short stories and its called Lethal Lexicon . So here is Ren to answer a few questions about her work.
Describe to us about your digital book The
Hathor Diaries and how you came up with idea?
I got the idea for 'Hathor Diaries' while
listening to the 'Danger Days' album by My Chemical Romance. I was intrigued by
the idea of survival in a post-apocalyptic desert world and the possible
politics and conflicts of that world as survivors divided into 'tribes' or
groups that had different agendas and plans for how civilisation should be
rebuilt, and the means they might employ in their struggle for power or
supremacy. Also, I wondered what
physical effects the weapons deployed in the 'resource wars' might have had on
the worst affected parts of the population - the mutations that might ensue. I
wanted the writing to be very descriptive and 'cinematic' and have an element
of horror.
How did Pitchfork Red come about and will
it be finished someday?
I plan to finish 'Pitchfork Red' as soon as I
have the opportunity to sit down and get on with it. Editing commitments and
recent personal events have encroached on my time, but I hope to get around to
it soon. The next few chapters are already in my head and I need to get them
written down. Besides, I miss my protagonists, I want to see what happens to
them myself!
The idea for 'Pitchfork Red' came from my
fascination with quantum physics and my love of the 'old school' of sci-fi
movies, especially those of the 1950s - I call it a 'quantum Noir' - it has FBI
agents and missing women, double-crossing duplicitous characters and night-time
car pursuits, although almost everything in the story is not quite what it
appears to be at first. Also, I wondered about the possibilities if one could
'surreptitiously' control energy at a sub-atomic level.
Tell us about your Twitter story Trance Missionz
and how it came about and the uniqueness of the different authors?
Trance Missionz is the brainchild of the
writer Kneel Downe, creator of the 'Virulent Blurb' site, amongst other
projects. He contacted several writers, including myself, and asked us to place
ourselves in a scenario of his devising - in this case one where we were sent
through 'The Void' to various geographical points on a distant planet. We were
then free to tell our stories as we wished, to create our characters and their
backstories and the events that befall them on the planet. It is a writing
experiment being carried out on Twitter as each of the writers is given a
number to represent his or her character and then asked to add their voice to
the ongoing timeline. I'm 04, which has special significance for me, as I spent
time in China and know a little about Chinese numerology. My number informs the
character I'm creating.
I loved Kneel's idea, and it has been a
fantastic experience to read the voices of the other writers and see the
development of their individual stories. There are some stunningly talented
writers involved - they keep me on my toes! It has been a joy for me to
discover their work.
What authors have influenced you and have
had an impact on the way you write?
I studied English Literature to post-graduate level at university - with all of English literary history as a grounding. I ultimately specialised in Gothic literature and the birth of novel during the eighteenth century. Not sure if those eras actually influenced my writing.
Having said that, I have also been an avid
reader of science-fiction and ghosts stories since my early teens. I love
detective stories too, starting with Wilkie Collins and Conan Doyle, who shaped
the genre. I think reading those stories and watching movies might have had
more of an influence on what I write. How
I write is a mystery, even to me. I don't know where my characters or their
voices come from - they just tend to arrive on the page.
As for the writers I most enjoy and admire -
they are many and various: from Daniel Defoe to Thomas Hardy to Austen to C.S
Lewis to Angela Carter to Asimov to Philip. K. Dick to Stephen King, and I
haven't even mentioned the poets! Oh yes, I suppose I should admit to being a
graphic novel reader too - Alan Moore and Grant Morrison mostly.
Do you let music influence your writing?
You comment about it a lot on Twitter and seem to have a wealth of musical
knowledge if so what musical acts influence or inspire your writing?
Music has always been a big part of my life.
The area of Britain where I was born and brought up was heavily industrialized.
It's called 'the Black Country' and is credited as the place where Heavy Metal
music originated, so I grew up listening to that and Rock Music. I was never much interested in
the 'pretty boy' bands of pop. When I was a teen I wanted to be the first
female Rock Guitarist, but I hated the way my fingers bled after performing and
loathed the idea of 'touring' so it was never going to happen!
Even as a little kid, I used to make up
movies in my head while listening to music, and it persists as a source of
inspiration for me. It may be the atmosphere that a song creates, or a clever
turn of phrase in a lyric that jumps out at me and begins to ferment something
in my imagination. Some music is clearly intended to create visual pictures,
Dylan, Bowie, Kate Bush and Springsteen are obvious examples. Elvis Costello is
a phenomenally powerful lyricist. Jack White has a broad musical palate and a
quirky way with words. Underrated too are David Sylvian, Eddie Vedder, Michael
Stipe, Gerard Way, Julian Casablancas,
Alex Turner, Pete Wentz, who all have an individual style and come up with
vivid phrases and striking verbal imagery, but really, anything in a song might
spark something in the imagination. I've always listened to a lot of different
kinds of music.
You also review Sci-fi and horror books,
movies and shows.
Which genre do you enjoy the most and enjoy
reviewing?
I don't have a preference. I just like to see
something that is well conceived, well written and has some originality and
visual flair. I've been known to review other genres too. I reviewed all three
episodes of season 2 of 'Sherlock'. I'll probably review the next series too!
When reviewing horror novels I can draw on my
background in Gothic literature - I find that very useful. If reviewing movies
or shows I draw on the fact that I've been a devoted movie watcher all my life.
I admire a well written script, be it a
Marx Brothers routine or a screwball comedy of the 1930s, a 'noir' movie of a
Raymond Chandler book or the visual imagination and storytelling of Ridley
Scott's ventures or Christopher Nolan's films.
Besides your website where else can we
find your writing and reviews?
Way back when, I had some stories published
in anthologies, under different names, but we shall draw a veil over them! I
was a struggling post-grad at the time and needed the practice. Afterwards I
had a long hiatus from writing anything lengthy, as I worked for an American
magazine in Hong Kong, moved into academia and academic publishing and
concentrated on my family life.
When I had more time and a computer to
myself, I started writing again and found a vibrant artistic community on the
web. The immediacy and feedback that the web provides is a much more dynamic
environment for a writer. Conventional publishing can't offer that, although it
can offer a marketing department, which is something I'm really bad at myself!
I still edit on a freelance basis for my previous
employer, but the landscape of publishing is changing as more writers take
control of their own work and how it's made available.
What have you coming up or plan to do in
the future?
First of all, I shall finish 'Pitchfork Red', then consider the next writing project. There are several potential stories. I'm thinking of maybe creating a warped, darker, more ambivalent version of 'Beauty and the Beast' which has always struck me as a highly questionable tale. It may be timely to examine the ideas of moral responsibility and aesthetic convention.
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