Featured Interview With Indie Gantz
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Born in Georgia but raised in Northern Virginia, I’ve led an economically diverse life so far. I had the privileged of graduating with my B.S in Psychology from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. From there, I worked as a Behavior Therapist to Autistic children, who fell anywhere on the wide autistic spectrum. I enjoyed my experiences, and found my work very rewarding, but it was not a sustainable lifelong career. Now, living near Charlotte, North Carolina, I’ve found my calling in my pen, or more accurately, my keyboard.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I became an avid reader very early on in life. The switch from Barbie to Books for bath time companions began my lifelong career of suffering through chilly water and white lies like: “Just one more chapter.” Thankfully, my grandfather’s rather impressive library kept me in books for years to come.
I enjoyed writing too. Writing book reports for good stories was never something I complained about. In college though, I began to give more thought to writing as a career. One of my English Literature professors encouraged me to pursue a writing career, as he was impressed with the work I’d turned in. From there, I began writing a memoir. I had a difficult upbringing and felt I had ample material for such a thing. However, many years down the line, I never finished that memoir and instead focused on blogging and works of fiction.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I really enjoy an author that keeps you on your toes, both through plot and style. Authors like Chuck Palahniuk, Toni Morrison, Stephen King, Fran Lebowitz, David Rakoff & Oscar Wilde, really engage the reader on multiple levels.
My favorite genre is probably horror, simply because I love to get lost in a good story that’s going to elicit a strong reaction. I also enjoy literary fiction, fantasy, comedic essays, and science fiction.
I find inspiration everywhere. I find it in music, in old stories I’ve written, and in other author’s work. I typically see Stephen King’s characters as a challenge for me to create human beings just as dynamic. When I read Rakoff or Lebowitz, I feel inspired to write just as raw, and just as humorously. If I’ve got Toni Morrison’s work in my hands, I feel powerful, and that power morphs into the need to weave my words together in a way that truly resonates.
A writer’s muse transforms at will, drawing out new and exciting challenges in every incarnation.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
I started writing Passage three years ago, and in those three years I’ve written the second book too (titled: Kindred) and outlined the entire ten book series.
Exciting adventure, family squabbles, and fantasy world building aside, The Akasha Series is ultimately a love letter to science. It’s proof that the truth of science can be just as fantastic as the fantasy of fiction. It’s literary fantasy that crosses over many sub-genres on its way to its ten book completion.
In the first book, Passage, enjoy deciphering chapter title meanings as you weave your way through two minds and two timelines. Stop over for some family drama, only to be whisked away by an elemental battle or two. Trust your instincts, because you can’t always trust Charlie and Tirigan…
On Day One, Charlie Damuzi and her mute twin brother, Tirigan, are blissfully unaware of the dangerous world they live in. They may be aliens living on Earth after the extinction of humans, but to Charlie, life is pretty mundane.
On Day Two, the Damuzi family is ripped apart by a secret that forces the twins to flee the only home they’ve ever known. Determined to reunite their family, Charlie and Tirigan travel to uncharted territory in search of their salvation.
But that’s just Charlie’s side of the story.
In the future, forty days from when we first meet the Damuzi twins, Tirigan is on the move. His destination is unknown, as are the people he’s surrounded himself with, but his mission is still the same. Keep his sister safe and reunite their family.
However, as Tirigan attempts to navigate the complex bonds he’s formed with his companions, he’s forced to confront the one thing in life he has yet to fully understand.
Himself.
Family. Deception. Power. Destruction.
It all begins on Day One.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles