Interview with Stewart Bint
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I was born in the dim and distant past (I’ll admit to 1956 under extreme torture). My Dad died when I was 11, and I believe that pushed me into maturity much younger than most people, and was responsible for me retreating into the worlds I created with my stories at that time.
Writing takes up pretty much all my time in three different guises. As well as my novels, I also write a column for a fortnightly local magazine, and I’m a Public Relations writer for the world’s leading industrial CAD/CAM software developer. I trained as a journalist and worked as a radio broadcaster reading the news and presenting current affairs and phone-in shows for ten years.
Tell us about your most recent book.
In Shadows Waiting is published by Booktrope.
It is a ghost story that gets darker by the page, revolving around an ordinary family who find themselves the victim of an ever-increasing onslaught.
It starts gently, building to a shattering climax. During a spate of burglaries in their village the family start seeing fleeting movements in their garden. Then things happen in the house. The police can find no sign of intruders.
What was simply annoying becomes frightening. Then dangerous. Then deadly. It’s clear there are supernatural forces at work.
Three things inspired the book: Firstly my own experience of the supernatural. I actually saw the apparition I describe in detail in chapter 15, Confrontation. It stood at the top of the stairs at around 4.30 a.m. one cold November morning when I was leaving my lodgings to go to the BBC for my job at the time, of early morning newsreader on a BBC radio breakfast programme.
Secondly, although my book is not a vampire story, I have always been fascinated by the concept that vampires can only enter a house by invitation. In my book the apparition is outside first of all, and then makes its way into the house.
Thirdly, my previous house stood next to a field containing a second world war bomb crater. I wove those three aspects into the story, and In Shadows Waiting was born.
Is one of your main characters a supernatural creature that is traditionally considered “evil?” If yes, how does this character break that traditional stereotype?
Difficult to answer this question and the next one without giving too much of the storyline and ending away, so I’ll pick my words carefully. The supernatural entity could be considered evil through many of its actions.
But the reader will have to decide whether it is truly evil, merely misguided, or if it was right in what it did. So, breaking the stereotype would come if the verdict is that it is misguided, and definitely if the verdict is that it was right all along.
What do you think are the heroic qualities your supernatural creature possesses?
Heroic in that it knows what it wants, and has set out on a specific course of action to achieve a particular goal at that particular time. And while it starts more as an observer, it quickly takes positive action…whether that action is for good or evil remains to be seen.
It has a strong, single-minded purpose as it moves relentlessly and unwavering towards its goal.
Is there any respect between this character and the hero/heroine of your story?
Maybe a grudging respect on the final page when Simon finally understands what has been motivating and driving the supernatural character.
If you could give this character one piece of advice, what would it be?
Think carefully about the effects your quest is having on the Reynolds family. With hindsight, I believe I know what motivates you. But your actions have had devastating consequences for my family.
Who is one of your favorite fictional villains (can be from a book, movie or television)?
Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes’s nemesis, because he only appeared directly in two of the original Conan Doyle stories, but plays a much greater role in modern Holmes adaptations. A delightful twist in one current television series is that Moriarty is a woman.
Who is one of your favorite fictional antiheroes?
James Bond. And yes, to me he is an anti-hero, not a hero. A ruthless killer, a womanizer, but someone who is passionate about his country and his mission…yeah, definitely anti-hero. But I’m sure every boy, and probably most men, want to be him.
I know I did, when I started reading the books in the late 1960s.
What is one of your favorite paranormal creatures and why?
Apart from my apparition in In Shadows Waiting…??
Pennywise, the clown, in the Stephen King novel, IT. Clowns frequently have a creepy aura about them…but Pennywise takes it to the extreme with its ability to transform itself into its prey’s worst fears, allowing it to exploit its victim’s phobias.
Anything that can be so scary just has to get my vote.
Blurb:
Young Simon Reynolds lives a bucolic life at his family home, White Pastures, surrounded by a loving family and a charming community. Simon finishes his A levels and looks forward to unwinding while his sisters work on their tans.
Meanwhile the tiny community of Meriton has been plagued by a spate of burglaries, and White Pastures seems to be next. A shadowy figures stalks the house, but the police can find no signs of an intruder.
Inspired by the author’s real-life experience with the supernatural, In Shadows Waiting recounts a summer that changes the Reynolds’ lives forever. As the summer progresses, the shadows take on an altogether more sinister implication, and White Pastures begins to reveal a terrifying secret.
The epicenter of an event that has scarred an entire community, White Pastures grows more and more dark, possessed by a shadow that yearns, a shadow that will not be denied. At White Pastures, someone will die – but love never will.
Excerpt:
It was a good feeling, purring along, sometimes being overtaken by speeding cars, even occasionally overtaking slow ones myself. I’d only driven short distances previously, and as we swallowed up the miles I needed all my concentration to combat the drowsiness creeping into me. I’d had the driver’s window half-open for the last few miles but now wound it down fully, enjoying the refreshing blast of air. I could still feel my eyes closing, though, and it was a real effort to stop them from shutting.Even shaking my head violently only brought me back to full alertness for a few seconds before the weariness was back.
As if something were telling me that it was okay to go to sleep.
Gentle.
Soothing.
Join Mark and Helen. Asleep, it seemed to be saying.
Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.
It was like being pleasantly merry. Surely it couldn’t have been
the effects of the vodka I’d drunk on the beach. Half of me kept
fighting the feeling.
Wake up, for fuck’s sake, insisted one inner voice.
But the other half of me. . . .
No, said another, much more soothing inner voice. Go to sleep.
You know you want to.
You’re drowsy.
You want to doze.
It’s okay. Doze.
If only for a few seconds.
You’ll wake refreshed.
Shaking my head, I raised my eyebrows as high as they would go in an effort to stop my eyes slipping shut. I tried to read the speedometer but the dial swam crazily around the dashboard. The road was now hurtling beneath the windscreen at a frantic pace.But all I wanted to do was sleep.
Vaguely, I saw the dot swing round the bend about 300 yards in front of us, growing rapidly all the time until it took the shape of a car. Hurtling ever nearer. Nearer. Nearer.
A single powerful and penetrating note launched a vicious assault on my ears, drowning out the insistent words that were still trying to lull me to sleep. Suddenly I saw two beams of bright light flashing angrily and constantly.
Headlights. A car horn.
The car heading straight for us was no more than a few yards away, braking, swerving sharply.
In the split second when my senses returned and I hauled the wheel round, I caught sight of a man’s malicious face leering at me in the mirror. It was a face of utmost evil, but was gone before I had time to register its features. All that showed in the mirror now were Helen and Mark being jerked around by the car’s sudden erratic spinning.
Bio:
Stewart Bint is a novelist, magazine columnist and PR writer He lives with his wife Sue in Leicestershire in the UK, and has two grown up children, Christopher and Charlotte.
Previous roles include radio newsreader, phone-in host, and presenter.
As a member of a local barefoot hiking group, when not writing he can often be found hiking barefoot on woodland trails.
Stewart Bint’s Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/authorsjb
Stewart Bint’s Facebook author page: www.facebook.com/StewartBintAuthor
Stewart Bint’s website: http://stewartbintauthor.weebly.com/
Stewart Bint’s Amazon UK author page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stewart-Bint/e/B00D18IARS/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
In Shadows Waiting, Amazon USA: http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Waiting-Stewart-Bint/dp/1620158345/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
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