Tell us about yourself.:
I'm very tall, lanky, and I was a bear in a past life. English is my second language, French is my first. I live in beautiful Québec City, Canada, but I spent a good 98% of my life living in Montreal, having been born and raised there. I've been writing with the goal of publishing some books for nearly twenty years, mainly in the horror genre. My latest book, AMOK THE POWERFUL, which saw the light of day on November 26th, is my first foray into the Sword & Sorcery genre.

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?:
I grew up in a very residential area, middle class, an only child. It didn't influence my writing per se; it was mostly the movies I watched and the comic books I read growing up that influenced me the most.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
In my early years as a writer, I was only inspired to write very late at night. Then I switched it entirely and would do all my writing from the crack of dawn until noon. Now I just write on weekends, usually on Sundays, and preferably in the afternoon.

What authors have influenced you?
I grew up in a very residential area, middle class, an only child. It didn't influence my writing per se; it was mostly the movies I watched and the comic books I read growing up that influenced me the most.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don't do it! I'm only half serious, of course. Know what you are getting into and that it will be like climbing Mount Everest every single time you write a novel. It will also be an uphill battle to find readers to buy your books and read you. It's an incredibly frustrating (and sometimes quite lonely) process, but it's also wonderfully rewarding. There are very few things in life that match the feeling of typing THE END after having written 85,000 words.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Write what you know and love. It's pretty straightforward but it will always ensure that you write about what you're passionate about.

What are you reading now?
"Conan: Cult of the Obsidian Moon" by James Lovegrove. I've got about 40 pages to go and it's a fantastic read from beginning to now. I'm also revisiting the late, great Margaret Wander Bonanno's original "Star Trek: Probe" novel; the unpublished version titled "The Music of the Spheres", which she had personally emailed me back in 2008. I haven't read it in over 15 years and felt like reading it again after all this time.

What’s your biggest weakness?
I can't decide between dark chocolate and red wine.

What is your favorite book of all time?
Fiction: Richard Laymon's "The Traveling Vampire Show"; one of the most magical and atmospheric coming-of-age tales ever penned.
Non-Fiction: Elizabeth Gilbert's "Big Magic"; I couldn't think of a more apt title for this book about creativity that is a must read for anyone creative, from writers to painters to actors.

When you’re not writing, how do you like to spend your time?
About seven months a year, I love watching the Chicago Cubs play baseball. Apart from that, I'm an Audible junkie and consume most of the books I read as audiobooks. I also listen to a lot of music; not a day goes by that I don't spend at least a few hours listening to music.

Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
Not the first story I read, but the first short story that cemented my desire to pen dark tales was Robert Bloch's "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper." It captivated me from the first to the last sentence and I immediately wanted to read everything Mr. Bloch had written.

What has inspired you and your writing style?
My writing style is very cinematic. It's dialogue-driven probably due to the fact that I used to be a movie junkie from the age of about 5 to 40. I've seen way too many movies for my own good; films in all genres from the silent era to the late 2010s. Nowadays, I hardly ever watch movies or series for that matter.

What are you working on now?
Nothing. No seriously, I'm taking a long break from writing fiction. I have a music blog where I do album reviews, so I'll be focusing on that in the near future.

What is your favorite method for promoting your work?
None, because hardly any of them ever work (from personal experience over the last 18 years). Word of mouth does wonders though.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I honestly don't know. If AMOK THE POWERFUL is a hit with readers and generates serious book sales (or is at least way more successful than my previous two novels) and readers want to read more about this character, I have a great idea for a novella that I'd love to write. But I need readers to manifest their interest otherwise Amok will continue to slumber in the recesses of my mind.

How well do you work under pressure?
When it comes to writing, I thrive under pressure. I work best when I have clear self-imposed deadlines to finish writing a book.

How do you decide what tone to use with a particular piece of writing?
It all depends on the genre I write in. Although, it's very hard to stray too far from your roots. I've always said about myself that you can take the writer out of the horror genre, but you can never take the horror out of the writer. It always seems to creep back up in one form or another.

If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be?
I write the literary equivalent of junk food. It's nothing deep or sophisticated like Duck à l’orange, but I guarantee you'll never be bored reading one of my books. It's like pizza; it's always fun to eat! My stories are meant to be light and fun, to entertain the reader and take them away from their worries for a few hours.

Alan Draven’s Author Websites and Profiles
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