Featured Interview With RS Anthony
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in a small country in Southeast Asia, Malaysia. These days, if I’m not visiting my family in the small town I grew up in, then I’m at the capital city, typing away my next book.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve been reading for as long as I can remember but I didn’t think about writing my own book until I was seventeen. Even then, it was nothing more than an experiment. Most of what I wrote in that time was either uninteresting or unoriginal. The interest gradually waned and I shelved the idea and focused on my studies and career instead. I don’t know if it was fate or coincidence that nudged me in the path I found myself in later but I was soon in charge of communications in my work which involved a lot of writing, albeit official documents. Then in 2012, I decided to make some changes in my life and decided to keep a journal. I didn’t keep it for long but it reminded me how much I enjoyed writing. And I don’t mean the boring official documents I’d been preparing at work. So I made plans to write fiction, read up a lot about it, made mistakes, terrible mistakes and in 2016, my debut novel was ready to be published.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Some of my all time favorite authors are Scott Turow, John Grisham, Jeffrey Archer, Tess Gerritsen. In the early days, I used to read a lot of Sidney Sheldons. I’m a sucker for legal thrillers. I guess it’s obvious in the author line-up above 🙂
My own writings are inspired by small town living, teen innocence and dark secrets. I’ve always been excited about spinning a good yarn in that backdrop.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Pork, my debut novel is a suspense thriller set in the small town of Halstead. A lonely fifteen year-old boy goes through abuse and bullying, forcing him to take respite in an abandoned tree house near the woods. He meets an unconscious young girl one day and friendship blooms between them. Unbeknownst to Steven, trouble also brews as the two get closer and closer.
Writing Pork was an absolute joy. My idea for the book started with the ending and it remained a strong motivation until I finished writing it. It took me six months to get it written, edited and finally published. Along the way, I faced numerous challenges from hiring a dishonest editor to not knowing what would be right cover for my book. If I hadn’t had as much determination, I think I would have given up. Self publishing is tough considering you have to manage and execute everything yourself. When you’re doing this for the first time, you have limited experience and knowledge and there’s no one to tell what’s right or wrong. So you have no choice but to learn through mistakes and they’re expensive. All said, was the trouble worth it? YES! Because today, I have a good book with 4 star rating (at the time of writing). So it’s good.
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