One of the nice things about Twitter is having the means to meet authors from all over the world. I was lucky enough to interview this author and get to know him a little better. I always find it fascinating to hear about the history behind the author. I love to gain insight into who they are. Enjoy meeting
Lazarus Infinity!
Cheers,
Lisa Forest
Instagram:@lazarusinfinity
Twitter: @lazarusInfinity
1.
What
started your writing career? I started writing back in the third
grade. My first love was always
acting-writing was something that was just always there even though I never
took it seriously. Being one of those
nerdy kids who’d always finish their work first, I’d write stories in my spare
time out of boredom. When my teacher
caught on to what I was doing, she encouraged me to ‘Just keep writing.’ Both she and my mother always told me I’d
write a book one day, to which I always laughed because I never believed
it. As time went on, I studied acting in
high school and college while my writing went from short stories to an award
winning one-act play and then screenplays.
It wasn’t until the fall of 2011 when I got laid off from a job I’d had
for 6 years that I caught wind of the independent publishing industry and
thought I’d give it a shot. It’s funny
to me now knowing all those years my mother saw something that I didn’t.
2.
How
many books have you written and what are the titles? So far I have 4 titles available, with at
least three on the way. They are as
follows:
EXODUS: A REQUIEM FOR JACOB
FORLORN-Dark Fantasy
REVELATION: THE RETURN OF JACOB FORLORN-Dark
Fantasy
OCCUPATION-Horror
THE
LITTLE BOY AND THE SEA-Children’s Fiction
3.
Are you
working on anything currently and if so what is it? Yes, my current work in
progress is a novel entitled PORN AGAIN.
Before I got into publishing, I worked for a major adult novelty
retailer in which one of the stores was located in New Orleans on Bourbon St. You can imagine just about any crazy thing
happening in that store and you probably wouldn’t be far off from the
truth. For years I was always asked the
question, ‘What’s it like working here?’
My response was always that I could make a movie or write a book about
what went on there, so here it comes.
What most people don’t realize is the fact that it’s not the people who
work in a sex store that you have to worry about…it’s the people who shop
there. You learn a lot about sex and sex
toys obviously, but you also learn a lot more about love and relationships in
modern-day America, and a lot of it isn’t always positive. After working there, there’s nothing about
sex or relationships anyone can tell me about that I haven’t already heard.
Here
is the synopsis for PORN AGAIN:
"What's it like working in
a sex store?"
That’s
a question that Harper ‘Happy’ Downman will soon learn the meaning of…in more
ways than one.
The
poster child for middle-class America, Happy is your typical button-down,
conservative Christian American with a quaint home, a lovely wife and a dull
sex life. At the height of the Great Recession, a drastic turn of events
in both his personal and professional life rock Happy’s world to its very core.
All seems lost…that is until his lecherous older brother comes to the rescue
with a ‘stimulating’ solution that’s sure to raise more than just eyebrows
within his eccentric family.
Relocating
to the decadent, hedonistic streets of New Orleans, he soon finds that he’s way
out of his league. In a world of porn, sex toys and interesting
characters, Happy takes a memorable journey of sex, love and relationships that
he will never forget.
Porn
Again is a funny and insightful romp proving that it’s not always the people
who work in a sex store that you have to worry about. Sometimes it’s the
people who shop there.
A tale of faith, love and sex
toys. Read it with someone you ****.
4.
What
genres do you write? I don’t
really have set genres that I gear toward. From the material I’ve put out already, I like
to experiment with different genres. For
me, it’s all about the story; if it happens to fall into the category of
Literary Fiction, Horror or Erotica, then that’s just where it goes. Ultimately I would like to be an artist that
can be successful writing in multiple genres.
It’s great when you can have work in the marketplace for everybody.
5.
What is
your preferred genre and why? Don’t really have one. Much like book publishing, I’ve also written
stage plays and screenplays. I try to be
as versatile as possible.
6.
Is
writing the only thing you do if not what is your “real” job? My current day job is as a graphics
installer. Anytime you ads posted in
storefront windows, malls, on office buildings or vehicles, that’s the gist of
what I do. It’s a lot of time on the
road traveling and bringing my work with me.
My laptop is never far behind, so once I’m done with the day’s work, I’ll
hit the gym for an hour and then get back to what I really want to do which is
write.
7.
Which
book is your favorite and why? The first is The Autobiography of Malcolm X,
by Alex Haley. While history will always
have its perception of who Malcolm was, his life story is a powerful and
beautiful one that all human beings can learn from. The fact that this man was once the lowest of
the low and evolved through spiritual enlightenment to become someone that
people all over the world wanted to hear speak had a profound impact on me. Growing up in a rough neighborhood in New
Orleans, I learned early on that it doesn’t matter where you come from or what
you look like. What matters is the will
to go out and define yourself no matter what the world thinks you can and
cannot do.
8.
What is
your writing style? I try to
be as visual as possible, with colorful, quirky characters that people can
relate to. Being a student of
playwriting and screenwriting, I try to bring all these different elements to
the table when I write; it just makes for a better, well-nuanced story in my
opinion.
9.
What
inspires you to write?
Art, music and film. Being a
native of New Orleans, I’ve grown up around all three, especially films, with
THE GREAT DICTATOR being my favorite of all time.
10.
What
advice would you give to new authors or inspiring authors? Definitely study the craft of writing and
never give up. I tend to liken the
independent publishing boom today much like the growth of Hip-Hop years
ago. There was a time when you really
have to be great to be successful, but as the industry flourished, more and
more people figured out ways to make money without necessarily being good at
what they do. Indie publishing has
followed that route to a tee. The market
is so oversaturated with material that it’s becoming more and more challenging
for authors with great stories to get attention. Aspiring authors should definitely follow the
best practices of their favorite authors and strive to put out material that
can sit on the same shelf and compete.
Everything from great storytelling to editing and formatting and cover
design plays a huge part. Most of all,
NEVER GIVE UP.
11.
Do you
think any of your books could be translated to the big screen if so why? Definitely OCCUPATION and PORN AGAIN. OCCUPATION is a short story dealing with a
zombie apocalypse that takes place in New Orleans during the week of the Super
Bowl and Mardi Gras. If you know
anything about filmmaking, that is high concept if there ever was. The screenplay is already finished and I will
be shopping around for an agent soon.
The same goes for PORN AGAIN.
While there have been movies and television shows that deal with the
adult industry, none have really gone inside what happens in a sex store. Let’s face it-sex sells.
12.
Share
some of your hobbies other than writing. Aside from writing, working out has quickly
become a huge priority for me. Not that
I’ve ever been seriously out of shape or anything like that, but as I get
older, the urge to reinvent myself has taken on a new shape and it’s fun. The acting bug has begun to bite me once
again, so another goal of me is to get back into acting school and hopefully
make back to the stage one day. Other
hobbies of mine include photography and filmmaking.
13.
Favorite
Films
The Great Dictator-Charlie Chaplin
Do The
Right Thing-Spike Lee
Malcolm
X-Spike Lee
The
Dreamers-Bernardo Bertolucci
Im
Juli-Faith Akin
Rear
Window-Alfred Hitchcock
Le
Diner de Cons-Francis Veber
The
Usual Suspects-Bryan Singer
The
Godfather-Francis Ford Coppola
Amelie-Jean
Pierre-Juenet
La
Dolce Vita-Frederico Fellini
Life Is
Beautiful-Roberto Benigni
Rashomon-Akira
Kurosawa
Angel
Heart-Alan Parker
Rocky-Sylvester
Stallone
14.
Music
Playlist
·
Just
Friends-Amy Winehouse/Back to Black
·
Jimi
Hendrix-Third Stone From the Sun/Are You Experienced?
·
Copernicus
Landing-Kid Cudi/SATELLITE FLIGHT: Journey to Mother Moon
·
Without
You-Lapalux
·
Represent-Nas/Illmatic
·
Cherry
Wine-Nas feat. Amy Winehouse/Life Is Good
·
Nirvana-You
Know You’re Right/Nirvana
·
In My
Head-Psapp/Early Cats and Tracks
·
Solar-Thunderball/Hotel
Costes 4
·
No
Jive-De Phazz/Hotel Costes Vol. 1
·
Gutter
Rainbows-Talib Kweli/Gutter Rainbows
·
Black Boy
Fly-Kendrick Lamar/Good Kid Maad City
·
Si je
meurs ci soir-MC Solaar/Cinquieme as
·
Memories
Live-Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek/Reflection Eternal-Train of Thought
·
The
Blast-Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek/Reflection Eternal-Train of Thought
·
The
Heretics-Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross/The Girl w/The Dragon Tattoo Sdtrk.
·
Don’t
Explain-Billie Holiday/Verve Remixed
·
Blood-Velvet
Acid Christ/Lust for Blood
·
Come
Together-The Beatles/Abbey Road
·
House of
the Rising Sun-The Animals/Retrospective
·
Glad to
be Unhappy (DJ Logic Remix)-Billie Holiday/Remixed & Reimagined
·
Me &
The Devil-Gil Scott-Heron/I’m New Here
·
Slip and
Slide (Suicide)-Kosheen/Resist
·
Shiny on
the Inside-Leona Naess/Thirteens
·
Let
Go-Frou Frou/Details
·
When the
Levee Breaks-Led Zeppelin/Mothership
·
Communication
Breakdown-Led Zeppelin/Mothership
·
Kashmir-Led
Zeppelin/Mothership
·
A New
World in My View/King Britt & Sis. Gertrude Morgan
·
Walking On
Space-Smooth
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