Author Dean Mayes

Hi all!

Please help me welcome Author Dean Mayes to my blog today and thank him for joining us!

Here are my interview questions for him:

Tell me a bit about yourself:I'm on the wrong side of 35. I am a Pediatric Registered Nurse specializing in thefields of Intensive Care, Emergency and more recently Haematology and Oncology. Ilive in Adelaide, Australia with my wife Emily and our two children Xavier 6 andLucy 3. When I'm not working, I'm usually chasing after my kids, trying to be a goodhouse husband and fighting for the TV remote.What type of genre do you write?I would describe my writing thus far as fundamentally literary fiction but I amintrigued by aspects of the paranormal as well as romance. My first novel, TheHambledown Dream (2010) explored reincarnation as a subtext while my latestrelease, Gifts of the Peramangk (2012) is a much more literary novel that is drivenmostly by its characters.What genre to you personally read?I am pretty much open to any genre so long as it has well drawn characters and aconsiderately constructed plot. I'll bounce around from literary fiction to sciencefiction to the odd romance novel and of course political thrillers are right up there.Tell me about your latest?Gifts of the Peramangk was released by Central Avenue Publishing back in Octoberand it is described as a sprawling family saga, taking place across two time periods inthe harsh Australian Outback and the struggle streets of its suburban fringe.In 1950s Australia, during the height of the divisive White Australia Policy, Virginia, ayoung Aboriginal girl is taken from her home and put to work on an isolated andharsh outback station. Her only solace: the violin, taught to her secretly by the kind-hearted wife of the abusive station owner. However, Virginia's prodigious musical giftcannot save her from years of hardship and racism.

Decades later, her eight year old granddaughter Ruby plays the violin with the passionVirginia once possessed. Amidst poverty, domestic violence and social dysfunction,Ruby escapes her circumstance through her practice with her grandmother's frail,guiding hand. Ruby’s zeal attracts the attention of an enigmatic music professor andwith his help, she embarks on an incredible journey of musical discovery that willculminate in a rare opportunity. But with two cultural worlds colliding, her gift andher ambition will be threatened by deeply ingrained distrust, family jealousies andtragic secrets that will define her very identity.What sparked your passion for books and the art of a good story?It began when I was very young and I suppose that reading was one of the first pasttimes I can recall engaging in. I was also introduced to movies at a young age and Ican remember the first movie my Dad ever took me to - that being Star Wars back in'77. That had a profound influence on my imagination and from then on I becamerenowned for having a vivid imagination and love for story telling...which could beseen as both a good and bad thing I guess (laughs!).Is there a particular book that changed or affected your life in a big way?I think one of the first important books I read was Walter Lord's A Night ToRemember about the sinking of the Titanic. My mother bought me a tattered oldpaperback copy at a hospital jumble sale - which I still own - and I still find it anelectrifying account of that event. Lord's ability to transport the reader onto the decksof that very experience stands as one of the most powerful I have observed and I thinkthat his book is a remarkable example of a story - an account - being driven by itscast.Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?Gifts of the Peramangk documents in a very real way, the struggles of indigenouspeople in the modern day setting but despite these struggles anyone, who has thecommitment and the passion for something, can rise up and achieve greatness.What challenges have you faced in your writing career?Marketing has been a particular challenge for me and one that has been the source ofa lot of frustration. I have been targetting a lot of mainstream media outlets in thepromotion of Gifts of the Peramangk but, for the most part they have been ambivalentto pretty dismissive. Of course there is a much greater pallette upon which to marketmyself today but I have continued to approach big media in the hope that I can cutthrough. It has been a pretty deflating experience.What has been your best moment as a writer?Receiving the first shipment of my debut novel The Hambledown Dream back in2010. I like to call that my George McFly moment (in reference to the scene at theend of Back to the Future where Marty McFly's transformed father receives his firstshipment of books as a successful author).

Who is your author idol?I'm not sure that I have an idol as such but there are a number of authors who I admiregreatly. I often quote Simon Winchester (The Map That Changed the World,Krakatoa) as a particular favorite. Timothy Zahn, who has written many books in theStar Wars universe, is another favorite of mine for obvious reasons and Molly Ringle,who is a colleague of mine who is published with Central Avenue, I've come to regardas a fine, fine author who I'll admit to holding a candle for in the writer sense. Shebalances really well crafted stories with vivid characters and is kind of the benchmarkfor me as a writer.Do you see yourself in any of your characters?I've often said that The Hambledown Dream is my most personal work and, incrafting the dual protagonists of Andy DeVries and Denny Banister I imbued themwith aspects of the bad and good sides of myself respectively. When writing the storyI really spent a lot of time exploring the dark and light within me to flesh out thecharacter in each of them and inevitably what I eventually saw on the page was areflection of aspects of myself. It was a good exercise actually and a little confrontingtoo - on reading back.Do you feel like your dream has come true or is there much more to do?Oh there is definitely much more to do. In a way, I have achieved my dream but Irealized that that was only the beginning. The work involved in supporting bothnovels is considerable and if I am to build upon my success, I have to keep talkingabout them, getting them into the notice of as many people as possible. That said, hadanyone told me four years ago that I would have two published novels out there in theworld I would have found it very hard to believe.What does your workspace look like?A complete pig sty! I have papers and post it notes and stuff clipped to the walls withbulldog clips and pictures of all kinds of things torn from magazine pages taped nextto those clips. And I know exactly what each piece of paper and ephemera is so woebetide anyone who messes with my ordered chaos. The nerve centre of my office ismy Dell laptop which has served me really well for 5 years. It's running Windows 7quite comfortably and, of course, I use Scrivener to manage all of my writing projectsnow.Have you ever had a day when you just wanted to quit?Oh most certainly! I often find myself getting bogged down in the frustration of themarketing side of my book business and, as I mentioned earlier, I've found it reallyhard to crack the shell of the mainstream media. I remember having a really darkmoment just before Christmas last year when Mike Tyson jetted into Australia onsome sort of promotional gig for his motivational speaking tour. The mainstreammedia - including the *quality* public broadcaster - were falling over themselves toget access to this guy and I just threw my hands up in the air at one point and spat awhole bunch of expletives at the television screen. The obvious observation one could

make is "then why just cut the mainstream out of the equation and focus on the widermarketing potential offered by the internet?" - I guess I'm just stubborn and refuse togive up on any opportunity.What do you do when you're not writing?I'm an avid podcast listener and count Keith &The Girl, Doghouse Bastards Radioand RebelForce Radio among my favorite downloads. All three are very topical, oftenhilarious and they really do offer an escape from the busy life I lead. I fancy myself asa cottage vegetable gardener and have had some really good results with my tomatoesthis year as well as a variety of herbs which I've grown from seeds. I also have apommegranate tree which looks set to yield quite a good harvest this year and I'vebecome adept at extracting the juice from the fruit - quite a time consuming task.What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?Being able to step away from it and switch off from it. To not allow it to consume allof your time. Sometimes, I'll get so involved in the act of writing, I'll lose all track oftime which is met with considerable consternation by my family.Did you have a moment when you realized you were meant to be a writer?It was a gradual realization I think whereby I found myself constantly thinking aboutstory ideas or character archetypes or aspects of scenery. A lot of this came fromobservations about life all around me. I began to take a lot of notes and built uponthose - not with any definitive sense that I was going to write a novel. But when I didmake the transition, it seemed a natural progression.What advice would you give to aspiring authors?Any story must start small and revolve around a core idea. Build upon that ideagradually, exploring all of the possible permutations and introduce to it additionalideas - characters, scenes, plot. Don't be in a rush to pen your story. Rather, take yourtime with it and really give it a chance to grow organically through the brainstormingprocess.After this book, what is next?I'm in the process of beta reading a manuscript for author Molly Ringle which I amloving and can't wait to see it released. That has been a really enjoyable thing to doand I feel good about being able to help out a good friend and author who I admire alot. I'm also developing a new project which carries the working title of "TheRecipient". At this point, all I'll say about it is that it is going to be set in Melbourne,Australia and is described as a nasty little murder mystery thriller. The early work I'vedone for it has been really encouraging and I have high hopes for it.Your website?http://www.deanfromaustralia.com

Your blog?http://www.deanfromaustralia.comOther websites?http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dean-Mayes-The-Hambledown-Dreamer/263088081779http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3337737.Dean_MayesWhere can your book be found?http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Gifts-Peramangk-Dean-Mayes/9781926760803http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009SX8QOC/http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Gifts-of-the-Peramangk/book-AnYIKUWxrUCWwihTZuNaMA/page1.html