The Author Interviews, Round 1: #4: Aaron Malek

The mini-series continues withAaron Malek, writer of CatharsisYou are living in the world from your latest novel. Where are you? What is it like?My story is set in modern day in the Northwoods of Wisconsin which is where I currently live. You know that crazy guy who lives alone in a cabin and spends all day on the lake in a kayak full of empty beer cans? He lives here. Just down the road, actually. That’s what it’s like up North and I have no plans to leave. Besides, the South is too hot and the West just eats way too healthy for my liking.You are your most recent protagonist. Who are you? What is the first thing you do?I’m just your average guy trying to attain the American dream. I’ve got a girlfriend (soon to be fiance) who is totally selfless and somehow puts up with all of my crap. My best friend and I are musicians so when I’m not working I’m singing or songwriting with him. Someone dealt me a bad hand, though. I recently came down with a paranormal affliction that is horrendously painful both physically and emotionally. I’d rather spend a decade in a room with nothing but a single issue of Golf Digest than deal with this, but I don’t really have a choice. At least not until I find a cure.Who is your favourite author? Why?H.G. Wells hands down. In an age before the invention of the airplane, he was writing about time travel and laser beams and martian invasions. The guy was a total genius.Where do you get your ideas?My first source of inspiration is my own personal experiences with the paranormal. Second would be music. It’s like catnip to me. If you were being paid to find the lost city of El Dorado or find me without my headphones on, let’s just say it looks like you would be packing your bags for South America.Why do you write?I think the title of this story says a lot. Writing is cathartic. It can be both difficult and relieving to sit down and throw up my brain onto a piece of paper. I don’t just write for myself, though. I ultimately write for others; for their entertainment and to inspire them to create.How do you deal with bad reviews, rejection and criticism?Constructive criticism may as well be caffeine because I seriously crave it and use it to energize my writing. Negative criticism is something I’ve been dealing with since childhood. My conservative Christian Mom pulled out the manuscript of a fantasy story I was writing in the 5th grade like it was the Satanic Bible, plopped it on the dining room table and mocked it in front of my family. By now all the humiliation of childhood has worn away and I’ve been left with thick skin.What do you find difficult about writing?I instinctively want to hold back my thoughts and write superficially but I’ve learned to force myself to delve deeper into my cyborg soul and not be afraid of what comes out. The process can be pretty painful, but what can I say, I'm a sucker for punishment.Talk us through your creative process from start to finish.Wow, that’s quite a request. Honestly, my brain is like a blender that is roughly chopping uprandom thoughts 24/7. I can hardly find the right adhesives to put words together let alone sort out a step-by-step creative process. I’m not sure that such a thing exists in my mind. When inspiration comes, I write it down. If inspiration doesn’t come, I force the content out of me by sitting quietly and meditating on my story like a Tibetan Monk. Only instead of meditating on ancient wisdom I ask myself how far someone needs to be pushed before they resort to alcoholism.What advice would you give to aspiring writers?Keep going. Don't let criticism or insecurity stop you, just channel that into your writing and you will create something better than you could have imagined.