The Mariya Suzuki Blog Tour—Stop One

The 1888 Center/Black Hill Press' latest collection of novellas, The Mariya Suzuki Collection, features A Stalled Ox by Dean Moses, Let's Stalk Rex Jupiter! by Allison Spector and Beneath Blair Mountain by Shannon Barnsley. From December 28 to January 1, the authors participated in a virtual book tour with Goddess Fish Promotions. The first stop was at Avid Reader, which featured an author interview with Dean Moses.

Avid Reader: What inspired you to write A Stalled Ox?

Dean Moses: I can't say there was a specific book that made me declare, "That's it, I want to be a writer." It was more of an amalgamation of Edgar Allan Poe and F. Scott Fitzgerald's use of language in their books, the fantastic stories Rod Serling and Orson Welles told through their writing, and even the way Muhammad Ali would recite his poems. These people gave me great pleasure, and I would love to give someone else that pleasure as well.

Avid Reader: When or at what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Dean Moses: For as long as I can remember I've always wanted to tell stories, even before I could write. I started by telling tales through my toys. Then, when I was slightly older, I started to write stories set in the world of the video games I played. To answer your question, I don't think there was an exact time or age-I feel that it has always been in my very marrow, the path I was meant to take. Being a part of the Mariya Suzuki Collection with Allison Spector's Let's Stalk Rex Jupiter and Shannon Barnsley's Beneath Blair Mountain is a dream come true.

Read the rest of the Dean Moses' interview on Avid Reader.