What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write The Penny Arcade: Mother's Care Orphanage?
The origins of The Penny Arcade: Within Mother's Care Orphanage is exposed in the opening of Kaleidoscopic Shades: Within Black Eternity: Suppose, just for a moment, that time does not merely exist on a single plane, but is multi-layered; and what we see, what we experience, is to the exclusion of a vast majority of possibilities. Like a multi-story edifice erected in haphazard fashion, there are time zones merrily ticking away in the past, present and future. There's nothing quite like bending the rules on what we, perhaps, arrogantly perceive as reality... to poke through the thin veil between that in which we seek comfort from familiarity and through to what otherworldly realities lie beyond... out of sight, but so terribly close... And no other form of entertainment can transport and envelop the viewer as that of books, where the viewer is apt to lose themselves entirely... to become one with the characters, to run with them, removed from this world into that.
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of The Penny Arcade: Mother's Care Orphanage, what would they be?
For Joshua, he's doing some dance, all right, and whilst he doesn't know it, Cozy Powell from the '70's is smacking away at the drums, producing heavy beats in which nasty guitar riffs strum and surreal chanting fades in and out. He's running, and has been since he was born. He's running and the run becomes a 'Dance with the Devil.' As for Constable Benjamine McLevy - huh! - nothing but Hilltop Hoods' 'Nosebleed Section' could describe more eloquently her predicament. She's in the thick of it and moshing it with the dead.
What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
Horror, paranormal, thriller with a healthy dose of suspense. Is that unusual for someone who awakens some mornings feeling as if they'd crawled inside of Mr. H.P Lovecraft? A reincarnation for the day... or, at least, unless the two of us go our separate ways.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
I've been meaning to read Rose Madder by an author you might know, but I'll keep his name a secret... he's rather shy. That's the immensely fabulous thing about books: they never die. And because the movie blossoms inside your head with each word read, the stage is fresh, the scenes are now and not deprecated by the weathering of time.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
When Benjamine McLevy is investigating the house on 27 Southern High Streets... the tension, trepidation and the unknowing... She's not alone in the house, in the shadows... and others are waiting... watching... listening... It truly displays human vulnerability. And this girl's got guts; she understands she stands alone...
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
Yeah, I've got three gorgeous girls who simply love to play and bark their brains out (yeah, they're dogs... my family) when I'm losing myself to the writing, which is difficult enough since I'm blessed with constantly working on a piece of crap called a computer... miserable thing should've been put out to pasture - oh, let's say, when Maharishi Yogi was transcending it with the gets of rock n' roll! Otherwise, does getting out of bed at 4:30 in the morning suffice as quirky? How about talking to oneself?
Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?
Never give up. Never give in. If you have the desire, forge on and don't allow the voices of others who would like to stymie your path the time... Everyone finds their own way; what works for one may be the complete opposite to your experience. Trialing them is a given. Learning from them is a must.
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
The entire experience of having embarked on a trek into other worlds. As it is with Kaleidoscopic Shades: Within Black Eternity, The Penny Arcade: Mother's Care Orphanage shuns the readily available and often influential call of reinvention. The worlds on offer here get inside your head and make you wonder. And the wonder of life is exquisite and seems, sadly, in short supply.
David A Neuman is the author of the new book The Penny Arcade: Mother's Care Orphanage
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