Hello! My name is Katelina, and welcome to Weekend Character Interviews. Using state of the art-mumbo-jumbo author magic, Jo has temporarily bent the laws of fictional space and time to allow various literary universes to converge long enough for me to ask different characters a few questions. Since I spend a lot of time in the Amaranthine series quizzing vampires on what they’re doing, where they’re going and why, Jo thought I would be the perfect interviewer.
Today we are interviewing Sin from Shaun Allan’s novel Sin.
Katelina: Hello Sin! Welcome! So the book is named after you?
Sin: Yep. The book I’m in is called Sin. Yes, the same as my name. That wasn’t my doing – I’m not being all self-obsessed or anything like that. Blame the writer, some guy called Shaun Allan or something.
K: Must be nice. My series is named after a flower or a rock or something. I dunno, my lousy author found it on thesaurus.com. Enough of that, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?
S: I’m just an ordinary guy.
Well, I wish I was just an ordinary guy. Unfortunately I’m not. People have a habit of dying around me. As such, though I’m originally from Grimsby, an old fishing port in the UK, I’m now residing in a mental asylum.
I’m 5’9”, a few pounds more than I would like but not many and my hair is grey at my temples. It’s been that way for years. I can’t think why. Oh, and I’ve got a nice bum.
Well, I may not have, but I thought I’d throw that in there.
K: Wow, well at least you have a sense of humor still. You say people die around you? Um… I’m not going to ask how. Heh-heh. Though I’ve seen a lot of people die, and as someone with a … maybe similar experience(No, no, I don’t want to know HOW they die… I don’t judge) I have to ask, are you haunted by those that have died?
S: Yes. I hear their screams every night and most days. When it gets too much, I kick-off so they come and top up my drug levels. Not that it works particularly well.
K: They give you drugs? What the heck! I don’t get drugs! Moving on, would you say you evolve through the story?
S: I do, yes. In various ways. At the start, people tend not to be keen on me, which is a shame as I’m actually lovely (honest). As the story goes on, they realise that, although bad things happen, I do try my best to stop them. Also, I do end up getting a handle on these issues (without giving anything away) and do my best to make good.
photo by Toronto Public Library Special Collections under CC license
K: Well, you seem okay to me. But then my boyfriend rips vampires’ hearts out, so you know. Speaking of that, do you have any enemies in this book?
S: I do, though I don’t realise it to begin with. There’s Dr. Connors. To the outside world, he’s a talented psychiatrist whose only intent is to help and care for people. Well, that’s not entirely true. He knows what I can do and wants to use it for himself.
K: So is defeating him your biggest challenge in the book?
S: No. It’s accepting myself, I suppose. Coming to terms with everything that I’d done. And facing my sister, who died – although she might just be in my head.
K: In your head, huh? (Still not judging). So, how about the romance angle in the story? Are you involved with someone?
S: I was, once. But she used to take a certain bus to work…
K: Um… okay. I’m going to guess… nope, no guessing. So what would you say is the one thing you want most?
S: To be normal. To be able to watch TV, walk down the street or eat a bacon butty and not worry if people will die.
K: I’ve heard of bacon butties, but what are they? How do you make them?
S: Don’t use smoked bacon, and make sure it’s just edging on crispy. Then you only need bread and butter. Why mess about with the taste by adding ketchup or brown sauce?
photo by Mafu under CC license
K: So it’s a bacon and butter sandwich? Interesting. That actually sounds kind of good.
S: Oh! Why did you make me think of a bacon butty? We only get slop in here, so the last thing I need to be thinking of is a crispy bacon butty… Thanks…
K: Sorry about that, though you did mention them first… You’re not a serial killer are you? No, never mind, don’t tell me. Let’s just go with this question: What event do you feel shaped your personality?
S: Probably being called ‘Sin’ by my parents. It caused a lot of beatings in the playground and a lot of jokes from my father. It meant I treat most things, good or bad, with a dry sense of humour laced with sarcasm.
K: Oh. I thought that was like a nickname. It looks like we’re running out of time, but I have two questions left. If you could say one thing to your readers, what would it be?
S: Don’t flip a coin you happen to find on the street. See a penny, pick it up and all day long you’ll have good luck. That’s what they told you. They lied.
K: That’s a bit cryptic. And if you could say one thing to your author?
S: Couldn’t you have written for Disney instead?
K: That’s a good one! I’d ask mine that but she’s such a psycho Disney wouldn’t take her!
And with that we’re out of time! You can find Sin in his own self-titled novel Sin by Shaun Allan, available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sin-ebook/dp/B00883KV3C/
And a special thank you to Shaun Allan for playing along!
If you’re an author and would like your character(s) to be interviewed by me, then check out this very cool page that has all the details:
