I am in the process of getting a copy of Allan Stratton’s book, “The Dogs“. I had read an excerpt of the first few chapters and now I need to find out what is going on! I decided to contact the author for an interview. I hope you all check out his writing. If you have already read “The Dogs”, please let me know your thoughts! I can’t wait to read it!
Allan: I’m a happily married full time author who likes spending time with friends and my four cats. All the blah blah blah about my work is at my website: www.allanstratton.com
Sierra: When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?
Allan: I started wqriting before I could spell, sounding out the letters. My first professionally published work was a play written when I was eighteen and produced on our Canada’s national radio network. My first novel, Leslie’s Journal was written in 2000.
Sierra: Tell us a little bit about your first book.
Allan: Leslie’s Journal is about an at risk girl who falls in with a very dangerous boyfriend. It was an American LKibrary Association Best Book and has come out in the states, Canada, Korea, France, Germany and Slovenia.
Sierra: How did you choose the genre you write in?
Allan: I write in a variety of genres. Each depends on the subject matter, characters andpremise that attracts me to the project.
Sierra: What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write?
Allan: The car ride Cameron has with his father. It creeped me out.
Sierra: Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?
Allan: My dad was an abuser. My mom fled with me when I was a baby. But fiction always messes with what’s real and what’s not.
Sierra: Is there an author that you would really like to meet?
Allan: Shakespeare, Dickens, Emily Bronte, Dostoyevsky and Fielding. Sadly they’re all dead.
Sierra: Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?
Allan: No, although the authors I mentioned above have all written books that make me think about life.
Sierra: Do you ever experience writers block?
Allan: Sometimes. It’s usually a function of fear. Deal with the fear of it and it disappears.
Sierra: Will you have a new book coming out soon? If so, can you tell us about it?
Allan: The Dogs comes out in the US in September. It’s about a boy on the run with his mom from a psychotic father. At the rented farmhouse where they stay, our hero, Cameron, becomes convinced he’s talking to the ghost of a boy who was murdered years ago by his father. Is Cameron solving a cold case or is he un hinged and projecting the ghost because of his own father-fears.
I’ve been lucky to get a starred review in Kirkus. “A monstrous, stalking father, unhinging nightmares, a ghostly boy, wild dogs, and a moldy basement add creepy deliciousness to a murder mystery and tale of a boy who, in trying to solve a mystery, may just discover what a loving family might be. An engrossing blend of murder mystery and family story.”
Sierra: If you could go back and do it all over again, is there any aspect of your first novel or getting it published that you would change?
Allan: I never re-read my work after it’s published, except when doing public presentations. Too busy working on new stuff.
Sierra: Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?
Allan: Read, read, read. Write, write, write.
Sierra: Is there anything you would like to say to your readers and fans?
Allan: I hope you have as much fun reading my books as I’ve had writing them.
