David A Neuman

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Tell us a little bit about yourself, your hobbies and interests.

Reading, of course. And my four-legged girls who generously allow me to live with them. Besides that, strange as it may seem, I have a love affair with star gazing, which leaves my fascination wandering the universe and asking the burning question: Just what is out there? Ultimately, writing is my passion as it allows me to become part of each character and brings out the child in me, more often than not, when the world was full of mysteries

When and why did you start writing books?

It's always been in my scope of creativity to open doors into other worlds and leave behind the one currently inhabited. Inside these worlds a certain kind of magic allowed me to cope with real life insecurities as a kid, the kind many face but often keep secreted from the domain of adults. And now the magic is no less potent and the urge to create something totally fresh is stronger than ever.

What made you decide to tackle writing as a career?

Of all the forms of entertainment medium, I can't go past literature - books. How many times have we heard 'Oh, the movie was good, but the book was better?' A well-written book has depth. You are, in essence, living and breathing it, invited into the lives of people you never knew until you turned over the front cover. They are the ultimate in escapism. They aren't over in ninety minutes or so and there you are gripped and you can't let go.

Which one of your books or characters is your favourite?

In Kaleidoscopic Shades, I'm in awe of several characters for the way they dig deep and find something special hidden inside of them: the courage to face horrors that you know have the potential to rip you apart, one way or another... to do a radical tap-dance across your life and leave it in tatters. For that reason, Joshua Triplow, our ten year old hero, is hard to go past. When it comes to the latest book I am writing, The Penny Arcade, none other than Benjamine McLevy, constable in a small rustic township, is an amazing concretion of humor, grit and a sense of justice. She's no swashbuckling hero and has her own baggage - but then, who doesn't?

Which one of your books was the hardest to write and stretched you the most as a writer?

Kaleidoscopic Shades was challenging as it crossed the time zones of Australia and America on several occasions and being a little anal when it comes to getting parameters, such as time zones correct, I fussed over it; the closer to the truth you get, the more believable a work of fiction becomes. The Penny Arcade has been a two year journey and the third book, which isn't a sequel to the first two, is still some two years off and whilst they have gone through multiple drafts (The Penny Arcade some 50) the same holds true in getting the elements correct, but, unlike Kaleidoscopic Shades, I don't have to resort to the equivalent of chronological trigonometry to figure the exact time zones across continents and the differences when it comes to daylight saving, standard time, central time etc. etc. etc..

Who is your favourite author and book?

Stephen King gives me liberty whereas Dean Koontz gives me guidance. As far as favorite books are concerned, I know a lot don't like The Tommyknockers by Stephen King - and, yes, it could've been culled to some extent - I'm not one of them. IT and Lightning by Dean Koontz are great contenders, as well. However, that's limiting it to a few when, in fact, there are countless.

What book are you reading right now?

I'd rather allow the reader to imagine what I'd be reading rather than act as a guide post. I usually have two or three books on the go at once. It's the characters... them worlds that aren't too different from ours. When fiction assumes reality is when the adrenaline kicks in.

Where do you get your inspiration for your books?

Nightmares... looking at the world through the eyes of a child... to find monsters under the bed and ghosts restlessly roaming the dark recesses that by day are nothing more than a corner with a vase of petunias in it... to wonder what it'd be like if we could reach out and tear open the layers between dimensions

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Spare time? Running between entertaining my three gorgeous girls, rehabilitative work in the aged care sector, getting my head around marketing Kaleidoscopic Shades, which I'm really bad at, and writing the second and third novels, when I do have spare time, I settle myself in a nice warm position, have the radio playing quietly in the background and pick up one helluva belter to lose myself between the pages.

Do you have any new books in the works?

The Penny Arcade is a finished product up to manuscript stage and has gone through about fifty odd drafts. I could give a brief outline of this sequel, but I have gone with the following synopsis. I hope you enjoy. On the outskirts of a small rustic township in South Australia the misery of the past continues to scream across the land... For here nothing truly dies... despite efforts to erase what haunted residents past, it now claws into the psyche of those present with devastating effects... An impossible phone call in the dead of night compels Joshua Triplow to return to that place of ancient misery and tragedy… to the very same township of Kapunda whose constable, Benjamine McLevy, is plagued by visions of the tortured, visions she can't arrest, of things that have no right to be amongst the living.