Inside Writer Studio: Arshad Ahsanuddin

Please help me welcome Arshad Ahsanuddin to Bat Country. He is a wonderful independent author and was kind enough to stop by for an interview.

What genre do you write in?

I write gay paranormal romance/urban fantasy.  Alternately, you could say I write speculative fiction with gay characters. 

Tell us about your book.

The basic premise is simple:  What if vampires and vampire slayers were killing each other in the shadows of the world for millennia, and then were exposed on national television.  How would the world change?  Would peace between us be possible, or war inevitable?

The major subplot is a gay love story, in which the main character, afraid of love, must let go of his fears in order to find the person he’s meant to be with.  Emphasis on the love, however, I don’t write explicit sex.

What is your process? (do you plan, outline, let the characters guide you, research before or during, etc)

I use a variation on what has been called the snowflake method (http://www.snowflakemethod.com), which is essentially a cycle of outline, write, and re-outline.  The structure of the loose outline prevents the story from wandering too far off point, but the freedom to revise the outline allows for plot twists that develop during the writing process to be incorporated into continuity.

Do you listen to music while you write? What is your favorite song for emotional scenes?

I listen to a custom playlist that selects random songs from the Backstreet Boys and Shinedown.  Yes, I realize that is borderline psychotic.  It’s just what I like.

What have you published and what are you currently working on?

I have published three full-length novels and one novella in the current series, Pact Arcanum.  I am currently working on a second novella, and a fourth full-length novel.

What is your favorite book?

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho.

What is your favorite TV show?

Babylon 5

Which of your characters is your favorite and why?

I think I like Nick best, the main character, for his romantic hang-ups and loneliness in a crowd.

PROUST Questions:

What is your favorite word?

Appalled

What is your least favorite word?

Faggot

What turns you on?

Confidence

What turns you off?

Arrogance

What sound or noise do you love?

Singing/Voice

What sound or noise do you hate?

Rap/Synthesizers

What is your favorite curse word?

Fuck

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Well, I’ve tried medicine, photography and writing, but I would love to be a musician.

 What profession would you not like to do?

Soldier

 If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

“Come in.”

Author Bio:

Arshad Ahsanuddin is Canadian-born, but lived in the United States for most of his life. He is currently a practicing hematopathologist, a physician who specializes in using biopsies and laboratory data to diagnose diseases of blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes, such as leukemia and lymphoma. Yeah, a blood doctor writing about vampires. The irony is not lost on him.  It certainly amuses his colleagues.

Social Media:

Website:  http://pactarcanum.com/

Blog:  http://pactarcanum.com/blog/

Facebook Page:  http://www.facebook.com/pactarcanum

Twitter Handle:  http://twitter.com/pactarcanum

Amazon.com Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004YNJKKA

Goodreads Profile:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4759071.Arshad_Ahsanuddin

Book links:    

Kindle edition:  http://www.amazon.com/Sunset-Pact-Arcanum-ebook/dp/B005SIXXB2

Nook edition:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sunset-arshad-ahsanuddin/1030617301?ean=2940012314819

Smashwords edition (multiple formats):  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/61128

Print edition:   http://www.amazon.com/Sunset-Pact-Arcanum-Book-One/dp/145635485X

Video Trailer:  http://youtu.be/zdvchNFqSu4

Book Blurb:

Los Angeles, 2040. The terrorist Medusa and her followers threaten to destroy the metropolis with a nuclear bomb. One individual, the vampire Nicholas Jameson, comes forward to oppose them. As Nick takes on the terrorists, the fragile peace between the races hangs perilously in the balance as the supernatural peoples are exposed.  Can Nick lead the four races into peaceful coexistence, or will the final war destroy them all?
With millennia-old magic, emerging romance, and ever-shifting allegiances, this inventive new series unveils a scintillating, homoerotic world of Nightwalkers, Daywalkers, Sentinels, and Humans, who battle for world dominance in the not-too-distant future.

Thank you, Arshad, for stopping by!