With each issue we will be bringing you interviews from some of Raider Publishing's most gifted writers. Please enjoy the selected Spring 2010 authors below...
Cindy Mitchell
Shows Us
The Dark Side of Revenge
____________________________
We
got the chance to sit down with Cindy Mitchell to talk to her about her debut novel
The Dark Side of Revenge...
What is The Dark Side of
Revenge all about?
This
story is about a happy, well adjusted young girl, brought up on a
farm by her father and mother, in an absolutely idyllic lifestyle.
Then one day, her world is suddenly shattered when something happens to her
father whom she adores. Melicia's mother remarries.
She
accepts Frank and his two children into her life, albeit for her mother's
sake only, although her instincts tell her otherwise. All seems well for
a while, then she notices changes in her step-father's behaviour towards her
mother. Not only that, her step siblings, although she never liked them
while growing up, sided against her in the abuse received from her
step-father, changing her view of them and her life, almost overnight.
Then
enters Brad - her Knight in shining armour, whose protection she embalms upon
herself willingly for a while, but sadly, he too leaves her.
Is it possible
that a seemingly happy, responsible, well-adjusted woman like
Melicia, with the horror and pain wreaked upon her and her family at the
hands of those she was willing to welcome into her life, can turn her into
a fiend, wielding dark revenge?
What inspired me to write
this book?
In 1992
I wrote a romance called "SWEET LUCINDA" and sent it to Mills and
Boon, in Paradise Road, who told me that they felt that I had not whipped
up the build up between the hero and heroine enough for what their readers
were used to and they felt that I should try again, not with the same book, but
to write another story. I admit I was a little disappointed... I was much
younger then! I did not write a romance again...but I might still....
There
is so much abuse in this world, how we deal with it is up to us.
Hopefully, sensibility prevails and we take the right route, but
sometimes......
In
2006 I was invited by my friend Rosemary Brunton to watch The Secret. Her
son Jonathan had given it to her and thought she might be interested. I
remember the day as if it was yesterday, a fabulous, sunny Saturday
morning. I entered Rosemary's home, which was always warm and inviting
and started watching The Secret with an open mind. I was blown
away! Somehow Rosemary knew I was ready for it as I had been searching
for a long time for something meaningful in my life.
I
went home and started googling people like Joe Vitale, Tom Dooley and
others that were mentioned in the
In
about August 2008 I started writing The Dark Side Of Revenge. I was at it
most weekends and sometimes got up in the early hours when I had an
inspiration to continue. I finished it in the middle of December 2008 and
hunted the internet for a publisher -- I found one --- Adam Salviani at Raider
Publishing International. I sent him four chapters of The Dark Side Of
Revenge and WOW! on the 20th December 2008, I received an email from him
advising him that he wanted to publish my book. I was blown away... and
as they say... the rest is history.....
Is Melicia based on a real
person? Were any of the other characters?
This
story has been written along the lines of truth but also a great deal of
fiction has been woven into it. I’ll leave it at that for the
moment!
What should readers expect
just before they sit down and read this novel?
Readers
should be aware that this read is not an easy one on the mind.
Some parts they may find hard to stomach, but they should open up
their minds, as it becomes an exciting, quick read. One that
will take their minds through a route march of happiness, pain,
love, torment and horror and then finally, happiness
again.
My
goal is to reach out to the abused in the world, in the form of seminars,
speaking from platforms in whatever means made possible to me and sharing
the pains and torment of those who need encouragement through what they have
been through.
Will "The Dark Side of
Revenge" be your last book or are there many more stories to come?
No,
this is not my last book. I have more to come.
I have
just finished Shadows On The Catwalk, which I shall send to you Adam, in the
hopes that you will like it enough to publish.
Then
I still have two other stories which I am writing: Circles of Pain
and Eclipse Of The Heart.
Available at The Raider Book Shop
www.RaiderBookshop.com
Abhay
Karandikar
Tells Us About
An
Alien
Affair
____________________________
Thank you for joining us. For those readers who don't know
you, please tell us about yourself...
I am 47 and live in Mumbai, India. I have studied Engineering
in Power Electrical faculty. I have been
working in the field of marketing of speciality tools for more than 22 years. I
have traveled all over India and Japan for my business. I read a lot and I also
listen to a lot of music. I have been writing short stories, poems and articles
as hobby. I have also written for a few industrial magazines.
Tell us a little bit about "An Alien Affair"
An Alien Affair is my maiden attempt which lightly touches the realities like soul power, relations and social values on one hand and imaginative alien world on the other. While it is hugely imaginative in depicting the unknown world, it uses the known science to be convincing enough. A relation between a man from Earth and a woman from another planet belonging to another galaxy has been created on platonic levels. In most alien stories, Aliens have been mostly shown as bad souls trying to rule the Earth; they are shown as ugly as one can imagine. In AAA aliens are friends, saviors; dependent on and closely connected to Earthians, who wish well for Earth. AAA will remind readers of what they have forgotten about humanity and change their views regarding inter-personal relations.
Why did you decide to write Science Fiction? What do you think of the genre?
I always had ‘An Alien Affair’ in my mind. It is about a relation between a man on Earth and a woman on another planet, many light years away. The reason for them to meet, their relation and the description of their worlds naturally became the part of the story. This all had to explained on the basis of known science, to be palatable. Thus AAA was genetically ‘a science fiction’ it couldn’t be any thing else.
Were you influenced by any other writers when writing your own book?
My
style of telling the story is my own. The central theme and the plot of AAA are
formed from what I remembered, understood and accepted from many books I have
read. It can be from books on ‘motivation, spiritual development, personality
development or works of saints & spiritual gurus and off course from my
text books in school & engineering. It is said ‘you can imagine what you
know’; so if I have written an imaginary story, it must have come from what I
know. I am not enlightened, so what I know is from what I have read, heard or
seen.
What do you want readers to take away from your book?
I would be very happy if readers understand the importance of meditations and yoga in improving individual and social life. They should then learn it in a systematic way from a well established school or teacher. My book does not teach how to perform yoga and meditation; the examples are illustrative and only as a part of the story. Purity of soul and using its enormous power for betterment of life is for everyone. It takes very little time & effort, has negligible side effects and is easy for all to practice anywhere, anytime. Life on Earth will really become better than the possible life in heaven, if every soul is purified. If readers can become more accommodative and overcome racial, regional & religious disparities, it will be a great achievement of the book.
Are you working on any other projects that you would like our readers to know
about?
I am working on the sequel of AAA. It would be dealing with
more incidental situations. The plot would be of future in the later part of
the century.
Available at The Raider Book Shop
www.RaiderBookshop.com
Also Available wherever fine
books are sold…