Interview with Indie Author Masimba Musodza
Interview with Indie Author Masimba Musodza
(D.R.) Today I welcome Masimba, author of Uriah’s Vengeance, the opportunity to sit down with me and talk about himself, his novel Uriah’s Vengeance, and his works in progress.
(D.R.) Welcome, Masimba. It is good to have you here for an interview today and to be able to give readers some insight on you as a person, not just a name on the cover of a book. Will you please tell us a little about yourself, like where you are from, and how you started your writing career?
(Masimba) Thanks, David. I was born in bred in Zimbabwe, southern Africa and came to England in 2002. I have lived in the UK since. I have always been in to literature. After I left school, I trained as a screenwriter and it looked like I had taken off as Zimbabwe’s film industry was ascending. But as you know, the turn of the century saw the country face turmoil and most of my generation left. It wasn’t until around 2005 that I actually felt settled enough to resume writing.
(D.R.) Your accomplishments include the ZIMMA Writer of the Year Award. Can you tell us more about ZIMMA and what winning that award meant to you and your career?
(Masimba) The Zimbabwe Music and Arts Award ceremony is one of those events organized by the Zimbabwean community in the UK to recognize artistes who have distinguished themselves. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many Zimbabwean writers, and I believe the Literary category has been discontinued. Winning the award was significant to me because it meant that Zimbabweans are aware of my work. Most of the time, Zimbabwean authors tend to gain international recognition before anyone at home takes notice.
(D.R.) As I was reading the synopsis for Uriah’s Vengeance, I noticed that the story took place in Zimbabwe. Can you tell us some about the setting of the book and how you came up with the idea for the setting?
(Masimba) The original story was part of a proposed television series I wrote around 1998. I was going to play Farai and I did have someone in mind for Ce-Ce, hence the physical description of the characters at the beginning. The TV station that I was talking to about the detective series was shut down. But I still have the stories. I used the city of Chitungwiza, some 30 km from Harare, and home to one of the largest Rastafarian communities in the country as the setting.
(D.R.) Is there a deeper message in Uriah’s Vengeance, and any of your other works, that you are trying to get across to readers?
(Masimba) The most obvious theme is that it challenges popular stereotypes about Rastafarian people. The perception of Rastafarians in Zimbabwe is not a very favorable one, with police harassment, education and employment discrimination rife. Writing a story where the main characters are Rastafarians overturns many misconceptions about us. However, I look at the wider Zimbabwean society as well; the avarice that has blighted many of our core values as a people literally overnight.
(D.R.) What kind of drama can we find in Uriah’s Vengeance? I mean, are there parts that are going to keep us on the edge of our seats?
(Masimba) Uriah’s Vengeance is essentially pulp fiction. But there are readers who have seen the layers below, hence all these epithets I have had thrown at me, like “the Rasta Hemmingway” and at my work, such as “Intelligent Pulp”. It is a murder mystery, but woven in to an exploration of Zimbabwean society. Murder doesn’t come as easily to Zimbabwean society, most murders that do occur are not the premeditated ones. But when it does happen, such as I have depicted in the novel, the suspense will be killing readers, if I allow myself a little pun!
(D.R.) It seems like your books are written, at least partly, on your views of the world. Have you written any of your real life family or friends into your books?
(Masimba) Hmmmm. Farai Chisango is partly based on me, and Ce-Ce is a composite of several female friends and associates.
(D.R.) Can you tell us some more about this/these character/s and do your family and friends know you put them into your book?
(Masimba) I think I’ll pass on that one today and leave that one to the speculation of future literary critics!!
(D.R.) Some authors describe having periods of writer’s block and some really struggle through these periods. Did you experience writer’s block while writing Uriah’s Vengeance?
(Masimba) Not wishing to brag or anything, but I have never had writer’s block. What I would like is the time to finish up all the stories swirling in my head.
(D.R.) Every author has their own technique for overcoming writer’s block. How did you manage to overcome this period when you were unable to continue with the story?
(Masimba)I am always creating. As I go about my daily business, my mind is crafting stories and organizing them. A bit like those poor folks in Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers, who just found themselves possessing creative powers. By the time I sit down at my PC, the story is all there.
(D.R.) I started writing many years ago as a hobby and eventually turned it into a little more when I published my first book. Are you writing as a hobby or are you writing full time to provide an income for you and your family?
(Masimba) I am a full time writer. When I was younger, it was just something I did but I never considered it a hobby. It’s something I do, but it is nice when the royalties come in!
(D.R.) Can you tell us the author or set of authors that influenced you the most for your particular genre?
(Masimba) I was privileged to have been exposed from childhood to a wide range of writers and literary genres. I have already mentioned Stephen King, but the list is rather too long to mention here without doing an injustice to those names that would have to be omitted for reasons of space.
(D.R.) If you were to get a movie deal for Uriah’s Vengeance, who would you cast to play the lead roles in the book?
(Masimba) I still think I’d play a brilliant Farai. For Ce-Ce, one of the ladies I had in mind was Karen Stally, who once represented Zimbabwe at the Miss Universe pageant. She now does television appearances in the UK and has a music career going. There is also South African reggae legend Lucky Dube’s daughter, Nkulee and Zoe Saldana. When I see these ladies on screen, I feel there is a lot of Ce-Ce there.
(D.R.) Can you tell us a little about the other novels you already have published?
(Masimba) There’s MunaHacha Maive Nei? which is in my first language, ChiShona. It has the distinction of being the first novel in that language to be published as an e-book first before going in to print and the first definitive work of science-fiction. I have another novel featuring the Dread Eye Detective Agency, but that too is only available as an e-book. But it has mostly been anthologies, and appearances in anthologies with other authors.
(D.R.) Do you have any other works in progress and if so, when do you plan to release them to your fans?
(Masimba) There are more Dread Eye Detective Agency novels, of course, but I am returning to my horror/fantasy roots. A vampire novel called Herbert wants to come home, which blends the European vampire myth and the Zimbabwean belief in ancestral spirits. In this case, Herbert dies abroad, but when his family find out that he had a child, they prepare for a ceremony where his spirit will be evoked to join the pantheon of family spirits. What they do not know is that he has become a vampire and is waiting to be invited home….. The other is Cursed Shall Be Thy Kine, which is set in Zimbabwe, England and Pakistan and goes back and forth across time to reveal events in these three places and their connection. It is mostly about immigration and belonging, but the title comes from the bovine mutilation that is one of the supernatural manifestations that drive the story.
Oh, and I have a feature film screenplay I was commissioned to do, but I can’t say much about it because of the agreement I have with the producer.
(D.R.) Which major retailers are your books currently available from?
(Masimba) Amazon seems to be the main one. I have seen some of my titles on some of the main online bookstores around the world too.
(D.R.) Before we part ways, is there anything else you would like to say for your fans and readers around the world?
(Masimba)
Thanks for the support, and all those emails and nice things you say.
(D.R.) Masimba, I would like to thank you for sitting down with me today for this exciting and revealing interview. I wish you the best of luck in your writing career and hope readers around the world will enjoy your books for years to come.
(Masimba)
Thanks, David, it’s been my pleasure.
Purchase Links:
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Uriahs-Vengeanc...
Social Media Links:
Facebook Book Page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dre...
Facebook Author Page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Masimb...
Amazon Author Page - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Masimba-Musod...
Blog – http://.masimbamusodza.blogspot.com
(D.R.) Today I welcome Masimba, author of Uriah’s Vengeance, the opportunity to sit down with me and talk about himself, his novel Uriah’s Vengeance, and his works in progress.
(D.R.) Welcome, Masimba. It is good to have you here for an interview today and to be able to give readers some insight on you as a person, not just a name on the cover of a book. Will you please tell us a little about yourself, like where you are from, and how you started your writing career?
(Masimba) Thanks, David. I was born in bred in Zimbabwe, southern Africa and came to England in 2002. I have lived in the UK since. I have always been in to literature. After I left school, I trained as a screenwriter and it looked like I had taken off as Zimbabwe’s film industry was ascending. But as you know, the turn of the century saw the country face turmoil and most of my generation left. It wasn’t until around 2005 that I actually felt settled enough to resume writing.
(D.R.) Your accomplishments include the ZIMMA Writer of the Year Award. Can you tell us more about ZIMMA and what winning that award meant to you and your career?
(Masimba) The Zimbabwe Music and Arts Award ceremony is one of those events organized by the Zimbabwean community in the UK to recognize artistes who have distinguished themselves. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many Zimbabwean writers, and I believe the Literary category has been discontinued. Winning the award was significant to me because it meant that Zimbabweans are aware of my work. Most of the time, Zimbabwean authors tend to gain international recognition before anyone at home takes notice.
(D.R.) As I was reading the synopsis for Uriah’s Vengeance, I noticed that the story took place in Zimbabwe. Can you tell us some about the setting of the book and how you came up with the idea for the setting?
(Masimba) The original story was part of a proposed television series I wrote around 1998. I was going to play Farai and I did have someone in mind for Ce-Ce, hence the physical description of the characters at the beginning. The TV station that I was talking to about the detective series was shut down. But I still have the stories. I used the city of Chitungwiza, some 30 km from Harare, and home to one of the largest Rastafarian communities in the country as the setting.
(D.R.) Is there a deeper message in Uriah’s Vengeance, and any of your other works, that you are trying to get across to readers?
(Masimba) The most obvious theme is that it challenges popular stereotypes about Rastafarian people. The perception of Rastafarians in Zimbabwe is not a very favorable one, with police harassment, education and employment discrimination rife. Writing a story where the main characters are Rastafarians overturns many misconceptions about us. However, I look at the wider Zimbabwean society as well; the avarice that has blighted many of our core values as a people literally overnight.
(D.R.) What kind of drama can we find in Uriah’s Vengeance? I mean, are there parts that are going to keep us on the edge of our seats?
(Masimba) Uriah’s Vengeance is essentially pulp fiction. But there are readers who have seen the layers below, hence all these epithets I have had thrown at me, like “the Rasta Hemmingway” and at my work, such as “Intelligent Pulp”. It is a murder mystery, but woven in to an exploration of Zimbabwean society. Murder doesn’t come as easily to Zimbabwean society, most murders that do occur are not the premeditated ones. But when it does happen, such as I have depicted in the novel, the suspense will be killing readers, if I allow myself a little pun!
(D.R.) It seems like your books are written, at least partly, on your views of the world. Have you written any of your real life family or friends into your books?
(Masimba) Hmmmm. Farai Chisango is partly based on me, and Ce-Ce is a composite of several female friends and associates.
(D.R.) Can you tell us some more about this/these character/s and do your family and friends know you put them into your book?
(Masimba) I think I’ll pass on that one today and leave that one to the speculation of future literary critics!!
(D.R.) Some authors describe having periods of writer’s block and some really struggle through these periods. Did you experience writer’s block while writing Uriah’s Vengeance?
(Masimba) Not wishing to brag or anything, but I have never had writer’s block. What I would like is the time to finish up all the stories swirling in my head.
(D.R.) Every author has their own technique for overcoming writer’s block. How did you manage to overcome this period when you were unable to continue with the story?
(Masimba)I am always creating. As I go about my daily business, my mind is crafting stories and organizing them. A bit like those poor folks in Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers, who just found themselves possessing creative powers. By the time I sit down at my PC, the story is all there.
(D.R.) I started writing many years ago as a hobby and eventually turned it into a little more when I published my first book. Are you writing as a hobby or are you writing full time to provide an income for you and your family?
(Masimba) I am a full time writer. When I was younger, it was just something I did but I never considered it a hobby. It’s something I do, but it is nice when the royalties come in!
(D.R.) Can you tell us the author or set of authors that influenced you the most for your particular genre?
(Masimba) I was privileged to have been exposed from childhood to a wide range of writers and literary genres. I have already mentioned Stephen King, but the list is rather too long to mention here without doing an injustice to those names that would have to be omitted for reasons of space.
(D.R.) If you were to get a movie deal for Uriah’s Vengeance, who would you cast to play the lead roles in the book?
(Masimba) I still think I’d play a brilliant Farai. For Ce-Ce, one of the ladies I had in mind was Karen Stally, who once represented Zimbabwe at the Miss Universe pageant. She now does television appearances in the UK and has a music career going. There is also South African reggae legend Lucky Dube’s daughter, Nkulee and Zoe Saldana. When I see these ladies on screen, I feel there is a lot of Ce-Ce there.
(D.R.) Can you tell us a little about the other novels you already have published?
(Masimba) There’s MunaHacha Maive Nei? which is in my first language, ChiShona. It has the distinction of being the first novel in that language to be published as an e-book first before going in to print and the first definitive work of science-fiction. I have another novel featuring the Dread Eye Detective Agency, but that too is only available as an e-book. But it has mostly been anthologies, and appearances in anthologies with other authors.
(D.R.) Do you have any other works in progress and if so, when do you plan to release them to your fans?
(Masimba) There are more Dread Eye Detective Agency novels, of course, but I am returning to my horror/fantasy roots. A vampire novel called Herbert wants to come home, which blends the European vampire myth and the Zimbabwean belief in ancestral spirits. In this case, Herbert dies abroad, but when his family find out that he had a child, they prepare for a ceremony where his spirit will be evoked to join the pantheon of family spirits. What they do not know is that he has become a vampire and is waiting to be invited home….. The other is Cursed Shall Be Thy Kine, which is set in Zimbabwe, England and Pakistan and goes back and forth across time to reveal events in these three places and their connection. It is mostly about immigration and belonging, but the title comes from the bovine mutilation that is one of the supernatural manifestations that drive the story.
Oh, and I have a feature film screenplay I was commissioned to do, but I can’t say much about it because of the agreement I have with the producer.
(D.R.) Which major retailers are your books currently available from?
(Masimba) Amazon seems to be the main one. I have seen some of my titles on some of the main online bookstores around the world too.
(D.R.) Before we part ways, is there anything else you would like to say for your fans and readers around the world?
(Masimba)
Thanks for the support, and all those emails and nice things you say.
(D.R.) Masimba, I would like to thank you for sitting down with me today for this exciting and revealing interview. I wish you the best of luck in your writing career and hope readers around the world will enjoy your books for years to come.
(Masimba)
Thanks, David, it’s been my pleasure.
Purchase Links:
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Uriahs-Vengeanc...
Social Media Links:
Facebook Book Page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dre...
Facebook Author Page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Masimb...
Amazon Author Page - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Masimba-Musod...
Blog – http://.masimbamusodza.blogspot.com
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D.R. Racey
D.R. Racey has served on active duty in the U.S. Military since 1998 and spends much of his time off writing, developing his next story, and designing his own cover art. He has been married since 2000
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