I had the pleasure of reading PD Alleva’s horror novel Golem. He incorporates so many details and nuances in Golem that add so much to the readability of the book. So who is the person that wrote the wonderfully creepy Golem? I asked for permission to include the bio from his website pdalleva.com/author. He was overcoming illness when I sent him a few questions, he graciously answered.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, raised in Westchester County, New York, living in South Florida since 1992. A child of the 90’s PD has coined a new genre, Alternative Fiction. Why? Because Multi-Genre Author sounds like you’ve got marbles between your cheeks.
Horror, Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Supernatural, Dark Fiction, Thrillers and Mysteries, a little bit of sumpin sumpin for readers who enjoy intellectual and yet over the top lets blow our minds and rock out to amazing and extraordinary stories, heroes and villains. PD’s latest release is The Rose Vol 1, a dystopian science fiction thriller, a series that features a sophisticated although primal and ravaging species of Alien Vampires living in hollow earth who have conspired with alien greys and elite humans in an attempt to subjugate the human population. Vol 1 was published on October 7, 2020 with Vol 2 slated for publication in early December 2021. PD will also publish his horror novel, Golem in early October 2021.
PD can best be described as a kind hearted, compassionate, hypnotizing, mesmerizing, do good save your life simpleton who would rather hang out all day with the characters in his books than venture too far away from home. A lover of isolation, meditating on the beach at sunrise, and howling at the moon after sunset, he’s either the life of the party or the oddball sitting alone in the corner with that really strange look in his eye as if he’s talking with people that are just not there, perhaps receiving a few concerned stares as he laughs at himself or maybe a funny joke one of those voices just told him. OH, All IS WELL ISN’T IT?
PD loves the creative process that comes with writing. From the spawning of a new idea to jotting down notes or sending a hurried email to himself even during the most off time to do so (the book always come first), to the artful craft of editing all the way to publication, there is nothing better than producing an exceptional book.
An avid reader who loves to talk books, PD will write short reaction reviews for the books he has finished and has not one issue answering questions from readers as they come.
So don’t miss a thing that PD has going on, check in often, like follow and share on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads and lets all have the time of our lives discussing what we all love best, BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS.
A few questions…
1. Does the process of writing energize you or exhaust you?
ENERGIZE! 100%. As my wife said a few years ago once I started writing full time, I’ve never been happier or more sane. I’ve been writing all my life but of course life does happen and sometimes we need to take on our responsibilities and put our dreams and desires aside to do what is right for our families. I had my first child at 24 and now (four kids later) I’ve finally gotten myself into a position to be a full time writer, so nothing gets me going more than writing. I have a high respect for the craft of the written word, the process of producing a novel, and I’ve always been a bookworm with a high appreciation for the classics. My goal is to produce a high quality reader experience with in depth characters and a reflective and even metaphorical stance on society. Literature is super important to me and the fact that I am able to contribute a verse to my beloved medium energizes me to my core.
2. How did publishing your first book, Indifference, change your process of writing?
The short answer is drastically. Golem is my seventh published book and my first horror novel (published at least, I’ve written over twenty novels in my lifetime but unfortunately most of them were lost as a result of the great laptop tragedy of 2005), however, books like Indifference, A Billion Tiny Moments in Time, Twisted Tales of Deceit, and Presenting the Marriage of Kelli Anne and Gerri Denemer, are what I consider more literary in their scope and written in more of a passive rather than active voice (more closely related to the classic literature I fell in love with many moons ago). These are my first-born children, born from the mind of a struggling heart and eternal optimism, a reflection of a deep appreciation for authors like the Bronte Sisters, Hemingway, Salinger, and Plath. They are also stories that I wrote to satisfy some itch within my soul as I made my way through college, divorce, youthful naiveté, and on to that thing called adulting (I still haven’t figured that one out). These are the books that I consider my little literary gems that have paved the way to writing full time. But at my core I’ve always been a horror and science fiction fan, two genres that have lain dormant in the breath of my subconscious, waiting for the right time to manifest into reality. So when I decided to write full time, I chose the genres that have always enthralled and have had the largest impact on my life which are horror and science fiction.
3. What kind of research do you do, and how much time is spent researching before you begin writing?
Depends on the book. I live my life according to spiritual practices and ancient wisdom, and enjoy indulging in hobbies like science of mind, metaphysics, quantum physics and Ancient Aliens, hobbies and philosophies I like to include in my stories. I believe the universe is made up of endless possibilities and when I write I latch on to the most surreal and outlandish of these possibilities and exploit them to their fullest potential, so a lot of research already exists within that brain of mine prior to writing the first word. However, a story like Golem, which takes place in the 1940s and 1950s New York required a substantial amount of research for that time period and specifically New York City during that time. Even my science fiction series, The Rose required more research as I was writing, although more specifically with scientific concepts. I do most of the specific research as the book is being written and sometimes will stop writing for a day or two to tumble down a rabbit hole of research, which I’ve always found intriguing (I’ve spent the last fifteen plus years as a psychotherapist and have countless hours of research experience so I do enjoy researching). With Golem specifically the research started on page one. The story begins on Halloween night in 1951 and I had to find out what the most popular Halloween costumes and candy were at that time and from there, the research continued. How did they talk, what were the pressing societal issues of the times, how did people dress, what did they eat, how did they make coffee. Some concepts were so subtle but when you’re writing a timepiece you need to have all your facts accounted for. Indulging in the research is a big part of transferring the essence of that research into the story, the more you know and the more excited you are about it transfers through the story to the reader and makes for exciting story telling.
4. How do you select the names of your characters?
Most of the time the name just pops into my head and I go with it although I have changed names after the book was written and prior to publication if the name doesn’t sit well with me or doesn’t read well. If I need an alien name I’ll usually go to Google and look up a host of alien names until I find one I believe fits the character. Some character names are based on either literary or movie characters, like the gypsy in Golem who’s name is based on the Gypsy actress in the movie The Wolf Man, whereas Alena’s last name in Golem is based on Dominique Francon from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead.
5. Do you hide any secrets/Easter eggs in your books that only a few people will find?
Always. Any true reader can play pick the literary reference in Golem and any true ancient aliens fan can play pick the theory in The Rose series. I also love to add little one-liners from movies I’ve loved throughout the years. Movies like Star Wars, The Matrix, The Dark Knight, John Carpenter movies, and even movies completely out of the genre like The Godfather or Back to the Future.
6. What is your favorite under-appreciated novel?
I have more than a few actually but I’ll keep this to two: James Herbert’s Others (horror), and Jack Finney’s Time and Again (science fiction).
7. Who is the first person you share your first drafts with?
My editor but also my cousin and my daughter.
8. What is your current favorite book?
I’ll list a few that really stood out to me over the last year:
The Black Farm by Elias Witherow (horror)
After the Devil by Kayla Krantz (psychological horror)
Recursion by Blake Crouch (science fiction)
9. Can you share the title of your next book and the status of it?
Of course, I have three books in the pipeline that will see the light of day over the next 18 months. The first is Vol 3 in my science fiction thriller series, The Rose. Second is a paranormal supernatural thriller Girl on a Mission, and the third is my Covid Quarantine written satirical cosmic grindhouse horror fantasy thriller novel, Jigglyspot and the Zero Intellect.