He was born in
Essex, England in 1978. He has been
published by Poetry.com/ International Society Of Poets, made a poet fellow of
Nobel House publishers.
He is the author
of Life With Boris Karloff, Sofiah and Field Of Hope. Along with 3 books of
poetry called The Human Condition vols. 1-3. Currently unavailable. His short
story; The Poe Paradox was printed in Dark Light 2 Anthology, his short story
Butterflies was featured by Lit Art Magazine and is included in their print and
online magazine "Liphar".
He is currently
working with Stanhopebooks publishers.
A very warm welcome to Rob Shepherd!
Your real name
and pen name?:
My real and pen
name are both the same Rob Shepherd. I did consider using a pen name very
recently due to there being quite a few other authors with the name Rob
Shepherd. However I decided that it was best to keep my name as it is and
simply mark myself out as different through my work and my style. I have no
particular genre I write so that already marks me out as a bit different to
most authors any way.
Please share
some of the best memories of your childhood:
Wow, it's been a
while since then, I'll have to think for a second. I think the best ones I
remember are holidays in the countryside and the freedom to wander and explore.
I think they were the best times of my childhood as with the freedom to explore
came the freedom of imagination sewing the seeds for much later on in my
head.
About your
education:
My education isn't
particularly impressive, I went to a secondary modern school in
Stanford-Le-Hope, Essex. I didn't particularly excel at school and didn't
attain much in the way of grades. I think I mostly excelled at eccentricity,
which in the time I was at school, wasn't the most endearing attribute for
people, it definitely marked me out as different to other kids. I was happier
once I gave up trying to be like the other kids and was just me. That was hard
for some to accept and I was definitely not the popular kid.
What career did
you plan during your education days:
When I was a kid
I was fascinated with sea-life, I still am actually. I wanted so much to be a
marine biologist, studying life under the waves around the world. But the
further into education I got, the clearer it became that I was never going to
be able to attain that goal with my academic abilities. So I ended up without
having much of a plan for a career. I flirted with many ideas but none of them
came to anything. However all the way through, writing was always there in the
background. I always loved writing and it took many years to pass to realise
exactly quite what a passion I had for writing.
What languages
you can speak and write?:
I am well versed
in exactly 1 language, English and that's it. Quite shameful really and I am
always trying to pick up and learn other languages and unfortunately I always
fail at them. I am quite awful at learning different languages, but I do wish I
could speak fluently in at least one other language.
What is your
biggest source of inspiration in life?:
My biggest
inspiration in life is life itself. You only need to look around with open eyes
and an open mind and you see that inspiration is all around you, wherever you
go. However in terms of people there are a few people that really inspire me
and also push me on with support and friendship. All of those are
unsurprisingly authors/writers as well and all of them are magnificent in my
opinion. People like Clive Barker, Barbie Wilde, Nicholas-Burnam-Vince, Gregory
Norris, Andrew Laybourne, Tony Eldridge and Thomas Schafer, as well as classic
authors such as E.A Poe, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelly and Bram Stoker. All of
which have inspired me greatly.
What hurts you
most in this world:
The thought of
anything bad happening to my family obviously, however on a deeper level that
would have to be selfishness and narrowmindedness. The fact that people still
believe it is OK to discriminate against other people because of their fashion
sense, their sexuality or gender. That upsets me greatly. Then there is the
arrogance of people to believe that other life on this planet is expendable
without any regard for any consequences to the animal/life, to themselves or
everybody else. We as a species are capable of so much, yet we waste it on
the biggest pointlessness in this world, and that is ourselves. We need to
learn that what is around is is more important than us and that we are quite
insignificant in the wider picture, if we can do that, then we can learn to love
each other for who we are, no matter what differences we have, it is those
differences that make us all so wonderful.
What is the
biggest challenge you have faced? How did you overcome it?:
Having a large self criticism and loathing of myself is the
biggest difficulty I have had over my lifetime so far. I am my own worst enemy
and find it difficult to get on with myself, more than with others, so that is
something I have had to learn to deal with. I have and continue to manage by
distracting myself from my own thoughts of myself, the best way is by becoming
deeply enthralled and connected with my characters. Their strengths and
weaknesses seem to rub off on me while I write their parts in the stories and
that helps me through each day. Thinking about them, what they would do or say,
what they are going to do next, it seems to help a great deal, almost cathartic
in it's nature. Work wise, the biggest challenge was to write a script and
screen play for a film for the first time. I leapt at the chance when I was
asked by Silentwood films, yet I didn't know the first thing about writing a
script, I had nothing to go on and nothing to compare anything I wrote to, I
was learning everything for the first time, whilst on the go, doing it. I
didn't so much overcome it, i simply learnt as I went by asking everybody I
knew that may have done anything similar for advice whenever I came across a
problem. Help and support of friends and fellow authors is the biggest thing
you can ever have whenever writing anything.
If you had to
live a day of your life as one of the living or dead personality, who would it
be and why?:
That is a tough
question. I think it would have to be either E.A. Poe or Charles Dickens. Both
were absolute masters of the art of building tension and atmosphere with
beautiful language manipulation, taking you anywhere in just a few lines, even
a few words. But crucially both lived in incredibly challenging and dynamic
times when the world was changing by the day. I would have also liked to live a
day as either in either of their times to experience their world they
inhabited, what inspired them, what scared them, what made them tic and what
addicted them.
What is your
favorite genre and why?:
Reading, I love
Horror and Fantasy above all others but I have a wide sphere of reading habits.
in terms of writing, I don't have a genre specifically that I write in. I will
write in any genre, for me it all about the story, if the story is interesting
to me, then I will simply write it and worry about what genre it comes out as
after I have let the story go where it wants to go and where it subsequently
takes me as it's ringmaster.
When did you
start writing? What is the purpose of your writing?:
I first started
writing sometime when I was a child, I don't know what age I would have been,
but I remember making up little stories in my head, mainly to amuse myself and
interest myself, as i was easily distracted and bored as a child. I would write
a few words or a few lines, maybe a paragraph at best on a scrap of paper I had
found or in my school books, then read it back to myself and let the world
create itself in my head and take me away from what seemed to me to be quite a
dull world, with nothing incredible or amazing for me to experience, the
stories gave me those worlds and those subsequent experiences.
Which of your
work has been published so far? Would you like to share a synopsis of your
work?:
To date I have
self published 3 books of poetry: The Human Condition volumes 1-3 but they have
been taken down as I am looking to republish those all together in one volume
under another title in the short term future. I have a WW2 drama called Sofiah,
which I adapted from the screenplay I wrote to Silentwood films' short film of
the same name, which is available now. I also have a humourous book titled Life
With Boris Karloff which is available as a second edition both via
Stanhopebooks.com. Sofiah as I said is a WW2 drama about two soldiers fighting
on the opposites sides for the battle for Europe in 1944. One is a Nazi
Officer, the other an English Private. After a failed mission to drop allied
men into France to storm the Germans by surprise the Englishman is captured by
the Germans. The story centers around these two men as they come face to face
and realise they have alot more in common than they could have ver imagined.
The overriding question in the story is "what would you do?". Life
With Boris Karloff is a humorous fictional journal of a young man who after
finding himself homeless manages to secure himself a nice looking apartment,
however upon moving in he discovers it is also occupied by people he thought
couldn't ever exist. It is a journey of his ability to try and keep life as
normal as possible even though everything, reality is now absurd and abnormal.
It explores his own exploration of what it means to be a family and what it
means to be a monster. Sometimes what seems like one is in fact the
other.
What are your
forthcoming writings?
I have a book of dark short stories coming soon, called The
Grays Anatomy, it is very much in the horror frame, but all twisted in
different ways, there are strong emotional twists and tangles as well as
classic gut wrenching tension and old fashioned jump out of your seat moments
as well. Followed by another book of short stories, which may follow on, we
haven't decided yet, which has yet to be titled and I am still working on the
stories as we speak. I have a few novels I am working slowly towards
completing, "The flight" which is a horror/fantasy book, "The Ubiquitous
Truth", which is a classic good vs evil, heaven and hell story and a
possible follow up to Life With Boris Karloff, but featuring new characters in
a different situation. I am currently involved in another short film project,
which I have just completed the script for and handed to the director and there
are also possible, exciting future plans involving Life With Boris Karloff, but
I don't want to go into details as I want to be able to surprise any fans of
the book with the news should it all work out.
What are your
future plans?:
My plans for the
future are to continue writing stories, short or full novels, to build up my
fan and friend base, there is always room more plenty more Freakpeeps. And also
to hopefully help and inspire other possible authors and artists.
What four top
most things you take care of while writing a book?
Networking, keeping in touch
with what is happening and what other people are doing. Checking my emails, my
music playlist and finally keeping my cup filled with coffee.
How much real
life goes into a fiction writing?
In terms of
stories such as "Sofiah", which although fictional, it had to be
accurate to the time, including the uniforms, weapons, flags and so on, so
quite a lot of reality and history goes into those kinds of stories, but as for
my other stories, reality is only there as a minor medium to make it
believable, hiding there in the background allowing you into the story, the
rest is all pure fantasy. The essence and real point of my stories are to take
the reader away from reality, they have enough of that day to day. i want to
take them away into my worlds, my dreams and fantasies. To let them explore the
strange and sometimes wonderful lands of my mind, safely away from the day to
day existence, a place where they are free to do what they want, think what
they want, love who they want and dare to be who and what they want to. Pure
escapism in it's most basic and beautiful forms.
Is high level of
imagination important to have for an Author?
For me, imagination is everything, it is key, it is what unlocks the darker, wider, incredible and fantastical worlds and lives inside you. Imagination is the cornerstone to an authors ability to work and lure readers into their world, and share their secret lives with each other and together.
Your dream
destination on Earth?:
Somewhere where
as a family we can all agree and that holds the same pull to our hearts, a
place that is open, expansive yet close enough to civilization to be able to
stay in touch with humanity. So far we can never agree on a place that is
perfect with all of us, but one day we will. So long as I have a place to hide
with my stories, I personally am happy, but a place close to the sea would be
lovely, I love the smell of sea, salt and life washing off the waves.
Your origin of
birth and other countries you have visited/ stayed. What best things you liked
in these countries around the globe?
I was born here
in England, many moons ago, in Basildon, Essex. I grew up in a small town
called Corringham. As for travelling, I have visited many countries in Europe
but never been further a field, but hope to change that soon. I'll name a few
of the places I have visited over the years that have stuck in my mind. Spain
firstly, I have been to Spain many times and never had a bad time. Always a
lovely time and always lucky with weather except for one year, but it was mid
Feb, so the rain wasn't entirely unexpected. My overriding memory is visiting
Palma Nova and the beautiful port and gorgeous little bars around the harbour
and of Valldemossa, where I had some of the most wonderful drinks and meals,
with wonderful people. I did get a little bit drunk there. Croatia is largest
in my memory, being the last major foreign trip. it was boiling hot apart from
one day when there was a major electrical storm, which was interesting to
experience. But the food was incredible, the country is absolutely stunning and
the people are absolutely fantastic, charming, kind, helpful and gorgeous.
Everyone, is gorgeous in Croatia, both women and men. Total sexy freakpeeps
over in Croatia. And lastly Turkey. Turkey was the funniest holiday I have ever
been on. Hot as the inside of a double oven, I remember swimming in the warm
springs. The stunning black sand beaches and the unique experience of going to
the toilet in the cubicles. Lucky my aim was good. After all they didn't keep
much paper and there weren't any beach showers either.
Your favorite
time of the day?:
That would have
to be the evening. I get a lot of mind work done then, whether it is writing,
or working over ideas for or to do with new stories, letting them swim through
my mind as I do whatever, watch TV, listen to music or read a book.
Your zodiac/ sunsign?
My zodiac is
Pisces.
Your favorite
color and why?
Green. As to
why, I am not sure, it just seems to crop up everywhere I go. I can tell you
honestly though, from experience, that it looks terrible as a work uniform. But
green to me seems to have an earthy, natural sense to it, yet it seems to cry
out that there is a story behind it, that it is hiding something that needs to
be seen or told.
Your favorite
book and why?:
That would have to be Imagica by Clive Barker. Because the story
is just sublime, the characters are rich, dynamic and Clive words them in such
a way that you feel like you could really reach out and touch them. The worlds
he builds within Imagica are second to none. Just extraordinary and absolutely
absorbing, making the whole experience of reading the book like an addiction,
you just have to have the book, read it and possess it forever, going back to
it and living vicariously through, no matter how much harm it seems to want to
do to your nerves and senses.
Your favorite
celebrity and why?
Peter Kaye. He is brilliantly funny, with wonderfully witty
and accurate stories of every day life and experiences. turning the mundane
into brilliantly accurate and belly achingly funny scenarios that we have all
been through in reality.
Your favorite
food?
Chilli foods, I
like my chilli food, always looking for a spicy item on the menu.
Some quickies:
Sun or Moon, Laughter or Smile, Morning or Evening, Coffee or Tea, Mountain or
Sea, Long Drive or Short Drive, Silence or Conversation, Water or Fire, Air or
Earth, Mars or Jupiter, Moon or Sun, Tulip or Rose, Red or Blue, Left or Right,
Glance or Stare:
Moon, Laughter,
Evening, Coffee, Sea, Long drive, Silence, Fire, Earth, Jupiter, Moon, Rose,
Red, Left, Glance.
What three words
come to your mind for each – Technology, Life, God, Humanity, Terrorism,
Racism, Childhood Abuse, Love, Parenting, Old age
Technology:
Intermittent, Confusing, Addictive. Life: Togetherness, opportunity, precious.
God: Misrepresented, Hijacked, Lessons. Humanity: Opportunistic, selfish,
incredible. Terrorism: Blind, stupid, ignorant. Racism: rediculous, idiotic,
self-destructive. Childhood Abuse: Weak, Pathetic, Dominoes. Love: Fragile,
Dangerous, Amazing. Parenting: Gifted, rewarding, best. Old age: Inevitable, opportunity,
Funny.
State your
signature line/ tagline/ best quote:
To write your
dreams of fantasy, is to create fantasies in another's dreams.
The last line of
your autobiography would be…
If you don't
know me by now then you clearly weren't reading properly were you?
Links:
Twitter handle:
@Rob_Shepherd
Facebook page: //www.facebook.com/
Goodreads author page: //www.goodreads.com/
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