First of all, I'd like to thank Jayne for this opportunity of getting to know some of her readers while talking a little about my writing.It's probably best to start off by letting everyone know that English is not my native language. But I guess that should be easy to figure out after a few sentences. I was born 32 years ago in Portugal, and have yet to leave thecountry for any decent length of time. For some reason, I grew an interest in English and American literature from an early age, and eventually went on to study English Language and Literature in college. Over that period, I started writing fantasy/sci-fi/horror short stories as a hobby. Most of them were character-based and introspective, so it took a while for me to incorporate the narrative theory notions I picked up in college. It paid off, however, to study the way both classic and modern authors set the pace for their books and employ cunning devices to keep the reader hooked. It certainly helped me structure my stories a lot better, though I'm still partial to seizing those rare moments of inspirational bliss and milking them to oblivion.My professional life took a rather tight corner a few years later, as I got a degree in Statistics and Data Management. Nowadays, I'm probably what people call an "analyst", though I dabble in some other tech-related fields, such as web design and artificial intelligence. It's a cliché, but… my day job satisfies the geek in me, so I can let loose my dark romantic streak at night, whenever I get the chance to write.I'm mostly inspired by classic and pretty obvious masters such as Poe, Lovecraft, and Tolkien, but the likes of Kim Newman and Neil Gaiman also make for some pretty enjoyable sleepless nights. My writing is also very influenced by what some people call 'movie language'. Right now, everything about Aronofsky's "The Fountain" is of an almost religious nature to me, much as "Donnie Darko" was about a decade back.My short stories are still pretty introspective, but I've been working on some wider storylines, featuring a larger array of characters and settings. So far, each story deals with a specific theme or mood, but this may change as I attempt to shift towards the novelette format or even - gasp - a full-length novel.My first published story, the Lovecraft tribute 'Weird Chronicle' was part of an anthology called "Bound for Evil", by Dead Letter Press, which came out in 2008. In the following year, I signed with Midnight Showcase, nowMelange Books, who came to publish my own short story anthology, 'Era of the Spectre', in 2010. This has been, thus far, my greatest accomplishment as far as writing goes!The book, an e-copy of which I am donating to a reader who comments this post, is a collection of eleven short stories and a poem, all of which phantasmagorical in tone and subject matter.The atmosphere in most of the stories is bound to negativity, made bearable only by the main characters' decision to embrace their sadness and surrender to the whims of fate.Still, I sense some eroticised optimism in the poem 'The Cold Burn', creepy though it can feel. As for 'Demise', I believe it is the only source of true, unhindered joy to be found in the compilation.For more information about Rui, check out hisBlog:
http://bloggy-doom.blogspot.com/Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/Rui.Cruz.writeror email:
ruirfcruz@sapo.pt
Thank you for your great post Rui!
GIVEAWAY
To win a digital copy of The Era of Spectre by Rui Cruz please complete the form HERE.
The only condition to enter is to be a follower of the blog (Twitter, Email, RSS, Facebook, Goodreads etc). This is an INTERNATIONAL giveaway. Entries close 13th July, 2011 and will be drawn via random.org
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. The winner was announced on July 14th.
Blurb: "A set of short tales depicting the emotional journeys of beings who live challenged by a murky universe, sad memories or gripping desires. Unreal landscapes and an ever-present nostalgic atmosphere serve as backdrop to the unravelling of their fates."
Era of the Spectre is available for purchase from Melange-Books, Bookstrand and Amazon.
If you would like to feature on Guest Blog Wednesdays at The Australian Bookshelf- whether you are an author, reader, writer, blogger- drop me a line at jayne.fordham(AT)live(DOT)com.au.
