What is your name, where were you born and where do you live now?
Hi, my name is Tom Sarega and I live in
Canterbury in the United Kingdom with my artist wife, Anisa Mandahiling. The
town itself is very old with cobblestone streets and buskers playing their
melodies come rain or shine. Canterbury was the inspiration for the town of
Monedel in my novel.
Did you always want to be a writer? If not what
did you want to be?
It was pretty much the only thing I wanted to be
when I was young. I even wrote a series of short stories called “The Adventures
of Alex the Ant” which I submitted to Walker Books at eleven years old,
although it was not picked up. So
Dreamcatchers is not my first but my second series! Nowadays I work a “proper
job” in marketing but I still make sure that it involves a lot of writing.
Did it take a long time to get your first book
published?
I self-published my first book as the plot of
Dreamcatchers revolves around the Mayan end of the world prophecies - I wanted
the story to be available to readers before the end of the Mayan Calendar on 21st
December 2012.
Do you work another job as well as your writing
work?
Yes – by day I work full-time as a Marketing
Manager for an Information Management consultancy and by night I write about
Mayans! Go figure.....
What is the name of your latest book, and if you
had to summarise it in less than 20 words what would you say?
My latest book, my debut novel, in fact, is
called Dreamcatchers - After Darkness Light.
Dreamcatchers is an intriguing fantasy about
five school friends who become caught in an apocalyptic feud between two Mayan
brothers.
How long does it usually take you to write a
book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?
The idea for Dreamcatchers originally came to me
in 2001. I was searching on the internet for a Portuguese art shop named
Destarte, back in the days when the internet was nothing but a mass of blue
links.
I accidentally clicked a link to a website about
dreamcatchers. On that website there was a quote by Thoreau –
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve
imagined.”
And then it hit me – what if you actually could?
And the basic idea for Dreamcatchers was born.
Have a look – I think the website is still
there.
Which of your books were easier/harder to write
than the others?
Dreamcatchers was quite tough to write as I
undertook a lot of research to help colour the lives of Iktaniki and Anunaki,
the two feuding Mayan brothers. I wanted to know what they ate, how they dressed,
what the typical family hierarchy was and what types of weapons they used at
war. I chose 11th Century Mexico as the Mayans and Toltecs were
involved in a number of battles at this time and so real history influenced the
plot that was forming in my mind.
Do you have plans for a new book? Is this book
part of a series?
Absolutely – After Darkness Light is Book One of
the Dreamcatchers Series. I plan to start writing book two at the beginning of
next year.
What genre would you place your books into?
Dreamcatchers blends the historical fiction and fantasy
genres, although, ultimately, I think I would call it a (darkish) fantasy novel
for young adults. I’m hoping that readers will be better at categorising my
book than I am!
Do you have a favourite character from your
books? and why are they your favourite?
All of the characters are great but my favourite
would be Kate as she is just so impulsive. I sketch the outlines of chapters as
I write them but I do let the characters work their own way through the plot. I
often had no idea how Kate was going to react to the situations I put her in.
Ronnie was also an interesting character to write as he had a lot to learn
about himself as the self-appointed leader of the five friends.
How long have you been writing?, and who or what
inspired you to write?
I wrote from about the age of ten and through my
teens, followed by a long hiatus until my mid-thirties because my career took
over. I draw my inspiration from school
actually - I remember being asked to stay behind after class one day and my
teacher wondering if the piece I had just written was autobiographical, so
immersive were the scenarios I had created. That has always inspired me to
believe that I could one day become an author.
Where do you get your book plot ideas
from?What/Who is your inspiration?
Iktaniki would
not be the type of man he is without my discovering a book called The History of the Indies of New Spain, by Diego Durán and Doris Heyden, explaining the
story of the warrior Tlahuicole, upon whom Iktaniki was orignially based. So I
think that research, as well as imagination, are essential to creativity.
Do you have a certain routine you have for
writing? ie You listen to music, sit in a certain chair?
I have two places that I write – either at Cafe
Rouge along Canterbury High Street, or at the Canterbury Christchurch
University library. The former has a constant hum that doesn’t distract while
the latter is blissfully quiet.
Do you gift books to readers to do reviews?
Absolutely....I hope that as many early
reviewers as possible will want to take a look at my work (it was published on
Amazon at the end of June 2012).
Do you read all the reviews of your book/books?
I will certainly endeavour to read all of the
reviews I receive.
Do you choose a title first, or write the book
then choose the title?
Dreamcatchers has always been the overarching
title to the series – in a way the five school friends represent us – we are
all Dreamcatchers. However, I didn’t decide upon the title of this novel, After
Darkness Light, until I had completed the story.
How do you come up with characters names and
place names in your books?
I wish I knew. The characters seem to pick their
own names - but I do like what I’ve come up with - Iktaniki and Anunaki are
perfect as the warring brothers.
Do you decide on character traits (ie shy,
quiet, tomboy girl) before writing the whole book or as you go along?
I wouldn’t say that I decide on character traits
at the outset, but it is pretty early on in the writing process. I knew within
the first few chapters that Kate would be the feistier of the twin sisters. I
knew that Ronnie would need to grow throughout the story.
Do you basic plot/plan for your book, before you
actually begin writing it out? Or do you let the writing flow and see where it
takes the story?
I do find that if I sketch a plot outline then
the story is more cohesive but I do let the characters lead me as I write. I
think it allows for more believable characters. Ultimately that’s why we read
and write stories – we’ve invested ourselves in the characters and in their
journey.
How do you market/promote your books?
I’m hoping to do more author interviews (thank
you for having me on the blog Jeanz),
blog tours and the like and will probably be doing promotions over the next few
months so add me on Twitter (@tomsarega) to keep an eye out for those.
Are there any hidden messages or morals
contained in your books? (Morals as in like Aesops Fables type of "The
moral of this story is..")
Yes - there is a significant amount of symbolism
in After Darkness Light. The object the protagonists seek, the Dreamcatcher, is
certainly a metaphor for something very relevant to today’s world. I will be
elaborating on that in the next book in the series.
Is there a certain Author that influenced you in
writing?
This has probably been said a thousand times but
if you want to become a writer – you should study writing. Stephen King’s “On
Writing” is an excellent book in this regard - it should be read by all budding
authors.
Did you have a favourite author as a child?
I devoured books as a child – I was into the
Secret Seven and the Hardy Boys, Asterix, Tintin and the Goosebump books.
If you could invite three favourite writers to
dinner, who would you invite and enjoy chatting with?
I think it would have to be Ernest Hemingway, to
find out just how he honed his writing technique to become one of the writing
greats, George Elliot on writing under a man’s pseudonym and Stephen King for
his astounding career to date.
Where can readers follow
you?
Your Blog details?
Your Blog details?
Your Facebook page?
Amazon
Your Goodreads author page?
Your Twitter details?
@tomsarega
And any other information you wish to supply?
I would just like to thank my readers for their support, and for spreading the word on sites like Amazon and Goodreads. Thank you for your readership - readers make a book, just as much as an author does.
Thankyou for taking the
time to take a look at this Interview Template, I hope you have decided to
contact me and go ahead and do an Interview.
Thank you for taking the time to take part in this Interview.
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