Introducing y1’s kindred spirits and “The Cult of Me”

I’ve enjoyed interviewing fellow indie authors on my other blog for the novel x0, and have decided to try the same here.   I will be featuring authors who are writing about any of the many themes touched upon in the novel y1. While my own novel focuses on the merits of appreciating ones uniqueness, please consider this intriguing tale about the darker side of that same theme.

The Cult of Me is a supernatural thriller about a man who has spent most of his life tormenting the people around him. He has a unique ability to enter their minds and bend them to his will. Over the years he grows tired of this game and decides to end it all in a final bloody stand. He surrenders himself and plots to gain control of the prison. But while he is there he discovers that he is not as unique as he once thought.

Author Michael Brookes says “although I am a new author I have enjoyed writing for many years. For most of that time I focused on short stories, only recently have I started with novels. Naturally I am an avid reader, mostly science fiction, but I do enjoy books of many genres. My favourite story of all time is Paradise Lost and my favourite novel is Excession by Ian M Banks. I work as an Executive Producer for one of the UK’s leading game developers.”

The Cult of Me is available from Amazon and a paperback version is coming soon!

Michael was kind enough to answer a few questions just for this blog:

1. The Cult of Me is your first book and part of a trilogy. Are you finding that it was harder to write the first novel, or it is harder to write the second one?

I’m finding the second book (Conversations in the Abyss) harder to write. I’m not sure I can put my finger on exactly why. I’ve followed the same preparations – I’m a great believer in planning the book out in advance. I think I have learnt many things with writing the first book and I’m trying to avoid them now with the second.

2. There are a lot of different classifications for speculative fiction and the boundaries blur. I notice that you call your book “occult and supernatural”. What pushed it into this classification for you?

This for me is one of the frustrating elements of book classifications. The Cult of Me, like many books, does not fall easily into a single category. It has a supernatural theme, but also has techno thriller and horror aspects. In my reading I cover different different genres and I find they all have something to bring to the mix.

3. You work for a game developer. Has that background guided your writing and if so how?

Games are a young and developing way of telling a story. I’m looking forward to see how it matures. In my job I often have to provide punchy and interesting descriptions of the projects I run, this has helped me focus my writing, to make it tighter. I also have to be aware of the bigger picture and knowing how to plan things does come in useful.