1.
What motivate you to write your book, to force you
from taking an idea or experience and turning it into this book?
I have always
loved reading and I guess getting into writing was a natural progression. Most
of the books available in bookstores are written by Americans and Europeans. I
wanted to tell stories featuring my country, which is little known in the US or
Europe. I could write a travelogue but I felt it would be rather dry. To make
it interesting, I used my experience in the police to write crime stories and
introduce my country’s multi-cultures, food, places and its police procedures.
2.
What is it about and who is it for?
All the Inspector
Mislan books are about crimes and how they are handled by the Special
Investigation (D9) team. There are murders, corruption, hate crimes against
LGBTQs, vigilantes, human trafficking, etc. 21 IMMORTALS introduces Inspector
Mislan and his assistant Detective Sergeant Johan, as they try to solve a
murder involving a well-connected family. It showcases the police procedures
which may differ from other countries. It also touches on current affairs,
interactions between multi-racial communities, the hidden hands at work and so
on It is for local and foreign readers.
Locals are surprised by some scenes as they are not exposed to the inner
working of the police. Foreign readers will also get to know a little about our
culture and street food.
3.
What takeaways might the reader will be left with
after reading it?
That not all cases
end with closure, not all perpetrators are brought to justice. There are always
powerful mysterious forces that are on the side of evil. What matters is that
the good do not give up the fight.
4.
How do you decide on your book’s title and cover
design?
I usually come up
with a working-title. However, the publisher does suggest changes for marketing
purposes. As for the cover design, I leave that to the publisher as they have
experts in that field. They do however, forward me a few designs for selection.
5.
What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow
writers?
If you love
writing, then write. Do not write with any high hopes (you can dream but not hope)
of becoming famous or rich. If you do, you will be disappointed and will soon
stop writing. If your work is good, the rewards will come. In my case, it was
ten years before my book was discovered.
6.
What trend in the book world do you see – and where do
you think the book publishing industry is heading?
I may not be the
right person to predict the future of the book industry. I know very little of
how it works. However, I do feel that print publishing will survive the
competition from digital formats. There is something nostalgic about reading a
story in a book compared to reading an iPad. Having books neatly arranged on a
bookshelf — that is something ebooks cannot provide.
7.
What challenges did you overcome to write this book?
Finding and using
simple words for medical and forensic terms so that readers can understand
without having to Google, which would disrupt their enjoyment of the story.
8.
How would you describe your writing style?
Simple and
fast-moving with a lot of dialogue.
9.
If people can buy or read one book this week or month,
why should it be yours?
If you’d like to
learn and experience a place/country you have not visited, my books will be a
good investment. Get to know how the real police work, the frustrations of
solving a serious crime. Malaysia is a developing country, as such we do not
have all the state-of-the-art forensic technology you see on Western TV shows.
Most of our investigation is done by hitting the ground and analyzing the
information gathered — which have always seemed to me the real thrill in a
crime story.
“Let a random piece of information stimulate your thinking.”
— A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More
Creative, 25th Anniversary Edition by Roger von Oech
“Giving ourselves a license to play with a problem allows us to try different approaches. Sometimes this means removing a constraint or two. But sometimes it means doing just the opposite: I've found that an equally liberating form of play is to add constraints to what we're doing.“
— A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More
Creative, 25th Anniversary Edition by Roger von Oech
“When that happens you're free to look for new ones. Go after your sacred cows. Periodically inspect your ideas and beliefs to see if they are contributing to your thinking effectiveness. Ask yourself, "Why did this program, concept, project, or idea come to be?" Then follow this question with, "Do these reasons still exist?" If the answer is "no," then eliminate the idea.”
— A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More
Creative, 25th Anniversary Edition by Roger von Oech
Need Book Marketing Help?
Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning
blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their
story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of
experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him
be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!
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About Brian Feinblum
Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter
@theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and
raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and
Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer
and IBPA’s The Independent. This
award-winning blog has generated over 3.3 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts
over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by
BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018
as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com
as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as
the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two
jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time,
self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors
and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine
Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren
Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy,
Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for
Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers
Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers
Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, and Connecticut
Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been
published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News,
Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been
featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please
consult: www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.
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