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Interview with David Samson

Hello, David – please tell us a little about yourself …

Being a lazy bugger I have pasted my website blurb here:

David M. Samson was born in Wallasey (near Liverpool) in 1957. After graduating from Bath University with a degree in “Mathematics with Computing” he worked as a computer consultant in Bristol, Saudi Arabia, Manchester, New York, Hannover and Hamburg.

He now lives in Hamburg, Germany, with his beautiful wife and two daughters.

He has had various articles published.

Dave is an enthusiastic sports person. When he is not creating or attending a gym class he is a computer consultant.

What inspired you to write?

Reading and storytelling. I used to make up bedtime stories for my younger brothers.

How many books have you written?

I don’t really know. I would have to search my cellar for long lost works. To date I have published five. I am working on my sixth. Two more are hankering to be written after that.

Briefly, give us the lowdown on what they’re about, including genre and
titles.

Sorry, I am going to be lazy again:

Silent Violence (biography):

In 1984 Dawn Marie travelled with her husband to Saudi Arabia. He had secured a job replacing the outgoing foreman of a secluded farm near Riyadh. Almost two years later she would return. Alone. Broken.

In Silent Violence she tells us of her journey: a long downward spiral. From the first inklings of things not being right, a pet killer in the expatriate compound, clandestine excursions by the farm crew, through to the rising hysteria within the expatriate community, then the killings at the farm, the ensuing imprisonment, moral deterioration, government procrastination and eventual deliverance.

Without question her story is harrowing. Yet it contains a great deal of humour too. For humour was the life jacket that kept a displaced person buoyant in a strange culture.

After years of psychiatric treatment she was persuaded to write her story. The road to publication is a story in itself. Ultimately the book was suppressed in the interests of international relations.

Silent Violence should be a warning to prospective expatriates. Its portrayal of Arab mentality could help policy makers too.

The book has been co-written by David M Samson.

Nails (urban literature):

There is little one can say about the plot. Succinctly put, it is the story of one day in the life of a car mechanic. Admittedly, not much in itself. But it’s hard, raw, violent, sexy, sensitive, funny, poetic and philosophical to boot. It’s a page-turner that grabs you by the short and curlies.

If you liked the work of Charles Bukowski, then you’ll love this book.

Bottle (urban literature)

In Nails Kevin was a prisoner of frustration, middling, but waiting for who knows what. In Bottle he’s liberated with the proverbial “kick up the arse” he needs.

This book has got everything. Even the kitchen sink! It’s teeming with life and death, tears and laughter, sex and violence, parents and children, brutality and tenderness, anger and contentment… But why should I go on? Look up further antonyms yourself. Or save yourself the trouble and simply read the book.

Although Bottle is the sequel to Nails it can be read in its own right.

Deutschisch (Detective/crime novel)

“If you’re living a lie, then you’ll lie to live.”

What starts out as a routine task of collecting the body of a German national murdered at a Turkish resort becomes an emotional odyssey for Oberkommissar Dannaks (of REX: Racism and Extremism).

Intent on contributing to the investigation he is confronted by a wall of silence from the hotel staff. The Turkish police aren’t giving anything away. And if that wasn’t enough even his companion Reupke (from Homicide) is happy to treat the trip as a holiday. Finally, the resort begins to seduce Dannaks, culminating with the distraction of a fledgling romance.

Then when a girl, missing since the murder, gives herself up and confesses to the killing, Dannaks appears to be the only one to believe she is lying.

Back in Hamburg he unexpectedly finds himself suspended from duty. Using the time to investigate the girl’s past he uncovers not only her terrible secret, but also a mistake by Reupke’s Homicide colleagues. His emotional odyssey turns into a quest for truth and justice that takes him to Berlin and Central Anatolia.

…and the man who loved cats (short stories):

is a collection of nine haunting stories:

A woman is stalked by a caller;

a young couple move into a house besieged by cats;

a commuter is uplifted;

a family man with dubious motivation aids an attractive neighbour;

a backpacker vets prisoners’ letters;

a jilted man becomes suicidal;

a woman kills her husband and uses acid to dispose his body;

a man worries about his wife’s fidelity;

a blinded neo-Nazi discovers a new life.

Where can we find your book/s?

online or through my website www.davidmsamson.com

What or who is the driving force behind your creativity?

Vocation, calling, delusion

What was your first reading experience that ignited your imagination?

Difficult. Probably reading and telling stories at a young age.

What’s your favourite meal?

Difficult. Probably a pie (apple, chicken, steak and kidney) because you don’t get them here in Germany.

How do you feel about e-publishing compared to traditional publishing?

Fine. It’s another medium. I feel sorry for some of the great covers, but this is the way of DVDs, CDs and the digital revolution. I do hope books hang around.

What’s your favourite movie?

Difficult, because there are so many. I guess Schindler’s List could pip other favourites.

What’s your all-time favourite read?

Oh dear. Another difficult one. Perhaps Women in Love, DH Lawrence.

Who is your favourite author?

This is unfair. I like DH Lawrence, William McIlvanney (earlier works) and Michael Connelly.

What other interests do you have besides writing?

Film, photography, art.

Chocolate or candy or neither?

Neither particularly. I like to keep fit and rarely indulge. But chocolate beats candy any day.

Do you draw from personal experience when writing, such as situations and
settings?

Yes and no. I worked in Saudi Arabia (but not as a woman on a farm). I am not a car mechanic, although I spent one summer at a garage doing the accounts. I am not a detective, and so on…

Are the characters in your books based on real-world people (you don’t need
to name names!)?

Yes and no. Perhaps a better answer would be partly.

If you could morph into any animal, what would it be, and why?

A dolphin perhaps. They appear to be free and have an intelligent smirk reminiscent of Buddha. Goodbye and thanks for the fish.

What kind of music do you listen to?

This is torture. I listen to classical radio in the car. Otherwise I like the Waterboys, Dylan, Cohen, The Stones, Ccrannberries, Echo and the Bunnymen, Amy Winehouse, Adele, The Clash, The Doors, U2…

Where’s your favourite place in the world, and why?

Home. It’s where I have everything to hand.

Technophobe or technophile?

As a computer programmer the latter, as a person the former (the pace of change is worrying). Hey, why should you have it easy.

If you could sit down with any author and have a chat, who would it be, and
why?

Michael Connelly, because he respects the reader.

World peace or a piece of the world?

The former.

Do you use social networking such as Facebook and/or Twitter, and if so, how
do you find it and can we have your details?

Facebook.

If you won the lottery what would you spend it on?

I wouldn’t spend much, but I would travel more often.

How do you market yourself and your book/s?

Facebook, word of mouth. I have yet to conquer goodreads. I give out freebies.

If you owned your own planet and the laws of physics didn’t apply, how would
you have it?

This requires more thought than I am willing to invest. I would say, unimaginatively, like this one.

If you could sum yourself up in one word, what would it be?

Driven

If others could sum you up in one word, what would that be?

Quirky (esp. here as an Englishman in Germany)

What does the future hold for you and your writing?

More books

Lennon or McCartney or neither, and why?

Lennon. Because McCartney’s stuff reminds me too much of jingles.

Who is your #1 hero and why?

Oh dear. DeNiro, Pacino, Brando (hmmm, any name ending in o?)

If you were stranded on a desert island, and needed to burn books for
kindling in order to survive, which of these would go into the flames
first – The Bible, Catcher in the Rye, the Complete Shakespeare or War and Peace?

War and Peace, because I have read it.

Thank you, David, for your your Interview responses!
Please support our Indie Authors by checking out his work.