Zigzag Timeline Interview

Science Fiction/Fantasy author and blogger, Mary Fan interviewed Dean Moses on his creative process, getting published, and other biographical facts.

Zigzag: What got you into writing?

Dean Moses: I have always loved to tell stories. I have written stories for as long as I can remember. But, despite loving the process since an early age, I grew to adore the art form after reading more and more books by the trade’s greatest craftsmen. Studying their technique: how they set out their stories, the pacing, character development, the art of descriptions, and their word usage furthered my undying calling to write. The love and passion was already inside of me, but continuing to read the masterful ways authors tell stories cemented the art and wove it into my very core.

Zigzag: What was the first idea you had for your book, and how did the story grow from there?

Dean Moses: It came from a few different avenues, one being addiction. Addiction can originate from many different paths: drugs, sex, television, video games, and food— things we could all, potentially, become dependent on. I remember my father becoming angry when he did not receive his dinner at the expected time, which almost always consisted of meat products. So I wondered: If something as widely available as meat suddenly became a rare commodity, would it also become an addiction? This, in turn, got me thinking about cults. Sects throughout history have often preyed on people’s desires and impossible expectations. A cult seemed to go hand in hand with my invented addiction.

Among your characters, who's your favorite? Could you please describe him/her?

Despite the fact he may or may not be a very nice guy, I have a soft spot for A Stalled Ox’s cult leader, known only as God. He is this unkempt, all controlling, and a rather terrifying individual. Despite this, one may be lucky enough to spot quick flashes of humanity in his piercing eyes. To me, characters that are either purely good or evil can be uninteresting. God may be both or neither, that is something for readers to discover and decide for themselves.

Zigzag: What's your favorite scene from your novel? Could you please describe it?

Dean Moses: A Stalled Ox is about a near future in which the majority of the world’s livestock has been eradicated by a mysterious disease. Two agents investigate a cult that claims to, somehow, be eating meat despite this. One of my favorite scenes is one that was added in the editing process. Without giving too much away, this scene shows the cult’s recruitment process, and what happens to those who are not accepted. This whole chapter unfolds through the eyes of one young man who has grown up in a post-meat world. His mother used to describe the smell of bacon, the taste of steak—he wants nothing more than to experience the food of his parents’ era. This cult promises him exactly that, so he seeks this cult’s God.

http://zigzagtl.blogspot.com/2016/05/author-interview-dean-moses.html