Author interview

Tell me a little bit about yourself, O. Stefan. What do you do for a living? What part of the world do you live in? How long have you been writing? That sort of thing.

I live in Sydney, Australia and I've been writing on and off for the past 10 years. 

Tell me a little about The Deadly Caress.

The Deadly Caress is a fast-paced story set in California. Suspenseful and thrilling, it is holds a mystery that Amanda Blake, a freelance photographer, must unravel.

Amanda tracks down her birth mother, the multi millionaire Jean Campbell. Hours after her arrival, Jean is murdered.

Amanda sets out to discover her mother’s killer. Her quest takes to Australia to find the man she thinks holds the answer to the killer’s identity. While visiting this man, she has to run for her life under a hail of bullets. Someone will stop at nothing until she is dead. If she thought things were bad enough, they are about to get much worse. 

What was the genesis of that work?

It's what captured my attention at one time from a newspaper article and it started me thinking...what if a person was to discover that the woman she thought was her mother wasn't. How would she feel? What if this mother was murdered? What would this person do?

Then there's a scary scene with Amanda driving down a mountainside and that comes from my memory banks. I grew up across the road from a very bad intersection and every weekend there would be at least one horrific accident. Some of these were youths speeding and chasing each other. Drunks and careless or not drivers who had miscalculated the sharp turn and careened into an oncoming car or the nearby light post. My dad would run over to see if an ambulance was needed, as we were the only family in the street to have a phone. He'd take blankets over if the person/people was badly injured and I would help him. My sister and my mother would be too upset to be of help and didn't go.

I find my characters everywhere and nowhere. 

I was intrigued by how you go from the female protagonist's viewpoint to the creeper's viewpoint. Can you tell us something about the process you follow to accomplish that?

I did get upset when I had to put Amanda in difficult situations, as I’d grown fond of her. I find writing about the evil people easier than writing about someone who’s good because it’s harder to make the honest person shine but it does make you grow as a writer.

Did this project take a lot of research?

The Deadly Caress took a fair amount of research into police procedures and the prison system. I emailed a detective in Monterey who was very helpful. And for what it was like inside the prison system in the US, I did all my research online by reading blogs from prisoners, to online diagrams of layouts inside and articles posted online from newspapers.

What are your plans for the book in the near future?

I self published “The Deadly Caress” early this year. Currently, I’m working on polishing my next thriller “Lurking in the Shadows” which is scheduled for release in the latter part of this year.

Your art work is striking. Who did the cover for you?

I found a graphic designer on fiverr.com to design the cover for me. I’d researched the covers I liked so that made it easier for the designer.

Link: The Deadly Caress

Web site: http://onstefan.weebly.com

Wise truths

I came across this while surfing the internet when I should have been writing. I'll share it below...

19 Incredible Wise Truths as told by Mark

Since first appearing in 1924, Winnie the Pooh has innocently stumbled through the Hundred Acre Wood, leading friends and readers on curious and memorable adventures. The lovable bear is the brainchild of A.A. Milne, inspired by his son, Christopher Robin, and his toys. While Pooh is often seen as a bit dopey and soft-spoken, his humbleness has lead to incredibly profound wisdom over the years. This is only a fraction of the inspiring words the story left us. Yet, it’s plenty to live by.

 Piglet: “How do you spell 'love'?" Pooh: "You don't spell it...you feel it."

2. "You are braver than you believe. Stronger than you seem. And smarter than you think."

3. “The things that make me different are the things that make me.”

4. "If the person you are talking to does not appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in this ear."

5. “If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together keep me in your heart. I’ll stay there forever.”

6. "As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen."

7. “Sometimes the smallest things take the most room in your heart.”

8. "Some people care too much. I think it's called love."

9. “Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”

10. “If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”

11. Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them."

12. “I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can be together all the time.”

13. “You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

14. “Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would, I'd never leave.”

15. “A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference.”

16. “A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside.”

17. “Love is taking a few steps backward, maybe even more… to give way to the happiness of the person you love.”

18. “A day spent with you is my favourite day. So today is my new favourite day.”

19. “How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

Thank you Pooh. This wisdom is everlasting.
http://news.distractify.com/culture/winnie-the-pooh/?v=1