L. Vera: I would like to start off by saying how awesome it is to have you on my blog and you would be the second person I have ever interviewed. I think I’m already getting the hang of it.
Darren Sant: It’s great to be here Luis. I must say you have the comfy chair alright but dude, where’s the booze?
L. Vera: No booze, at least not yet. But speaking of booze, I stumbled upon this picture and wondered why you don’t use it more often? (picture on the right)
Darren Sant: Ah, you’ve unearthed THAT one have you…That is my Benny Hill look. I do an impression to go with it. The wife hates it which is probably why I do it. I like to live dangerously.
L. Vera: If I were you I’d include with every story submission. There’s something about it that makes me more interested in you and your stories. Maybe it’s the realism you don’t see in writer’s profile pictures, everyone takes them way too serious. Which brings me to a harder question, how serious is writing to you?
Darren Sant: It’s serious in that I care about the message I put out. It’s serious in that I’m constantly striving to improve. I work full time and my writing time is limited but I’m with a publisher, Byker Books, and it’s important to me that I don’t let myself or them down. Seriousness aside I do like to have a little humour in all of my fiction. More in the some than stories than others.
L. Vera: May 1st, your story “Punishment and Lola” will dance in the pages of Burning Bridges. What should we expect in this tale besides some violence and underaged girls?
Darren Sant: You can expect vengeance, betrayal, cars, sex, poker, gangsters and lots more. All in under two thousand words!
L. Vera: Why did you choose Burning Bridges for this story?
Darren Sant: Well hmmm….A difficult question to answer. I wrote this story especially for Burning Bridges. All of the Burning Bridges authors have something in common. We all got our fingers burned and the anthology is our way of turning a negative into a positive. It is our phoenix from the ashes.
L. Vera: And the title, is very … different, which I like. So which came first, the title or the story?
Darren Sant: The title came first and the story mere seconds behind, almost fully formed.
L. Vera: What should we expect from you in the future?
Darren Sant: The first volume of my Tales From The Longcroft Estate is already available on Amazon.
I’m working very hard to finish volume two soon. These are urban, gritty tales with a sense of humour, a dose of grit and some darkness. Social realism if you like all set in a run down housing estate featuring colourful characters. After volume two I’ll be writing a long work of fiction of novella length.
L. Vera: Thanks for the quick interview. I can’t wait to read “Punishment and Lola”. Also, check out Darren Sant at his blog and his website.
A Knife And A Quill- old 