WOMEN IN HORROR MONTH 2018 – AN INTERVIEW WITH BRENDA MOHAMMED BY F HOGAN

Welcome to Day 18 of Women in Horror Month 2018. We’re into the third weekend of our horror extravaganza and today I would like to introduce you to author Brenda Mohammed, memoir writer and a prolific author who writes in many genres, including dystopian, zombie fiction.

Brenda Mohammed did not choose writing as a career. It happened by chance.
She was a successful banker and after she retired from banking, moved on to Insurance where she also excelled.
She qualified for the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table six times in a row and had the privilege to attend MDRT Conferences abroad.
Those opportunities broadened her knowledge in new areas and prepared her for writing.
Her writing journey began after her bout with cancer.

She wrote ‘I am Cancer Free‘ and self-published it in June 2013 eight years after her near-death experience with cancer.
She wrote that book to tell people suffering from that disease that cancer does not have to be a death sentence.
That book [her first] was the winner of Mc Grath House Indie Book Awards in the category Non-Fiction in September 2016.
It also received a five-star review and five-star seal from Reader’s Favorite in 2017.

She traveled extensively on vacations and conferences for many years during her banking and Insurance careers, and even after retirement. She wrote six memoirs about her cancer experience, life as a banker, retirement, travel, her father’s life, and a spiritual one, all before trying her hand at fiction.
She has written eighteen books to date.
She lives on the beautiful Caribbean Island of Trinidad with her husband and is a fan of photography and art.
She donates books to children’s hospitals, national libraries, and school libraries.
Here is my interview with Brenda:

Question 1. Which horror writers do you read?

I read stories by Stephen King. He’s the master of horror.

Question 2. Describe your work, in what sub-genre do you write?

I am a multi-genre writer. I have written eighteen books.
Seven of them are for lovers of science fiction/fantasy/horror, six are personal memoirs, two are for children, two are for lovers of romance, and one is for new and aspiring authors – How to Write for Success.

Question 3. Discuss a favourite character in one of your stories or books.

Dr. Steven Sharpe is my favourite character in Revenge of Zeeka: Horror Trilogy.
One fateful day, when Steven was just seven years old, he was riding his bike home after visiting a friend who lived in a secluded part of the city. His bike broke down, and he was trying to fix it. A police jeep stopped, and the police officer asked if he could help. There was no one else in the vehicle.

Steven saw no harm in allowing a police officer to help since they are there to protect and serve. Or, so he thought. The police officer came out of the vehicle, looked at his bike, turned it over and tried to repair it. He then said that it needed to go to a bicycle shop. He offered to drive Steven home. Steven accepted the lift and never saw his home again.
The man, who turned out to be Zeeka, threatened the boy to kill his parents and brother if he ever tried to escape from him. He boasted about his police connections and Steven was fearful of him and did whatever he asked. The man could not legally adopt him and changed the boy’s name to Jason Stephens.
He sent him to medical school and he turned out to be the top medical doctor and research scientist on the island of Gosh. Zeeka tried to use him for evil means. Dr. Steven Sharpe knew all of Zeeka’s secrets.

Question 4. Show us the first paragraph of one of your short stories or novels.

“The sounds of sirens rudely awakened Raynor Sharpe from his bed. He heard screeching noises everywhere. Outside his house, people were screaming and shouting.

“What is all that commotion about?” He muttered.

He tumbled out of his bed, staggering and grappled about for his eyeglasses. He was unable to find them in the confusion in which the room was. His clothes were scattered on the floor. A bottle of wine and two wine glasses were on the bedside table. He tripped on a woman’s pair of red high-heel shoes. “What the hell? Whose shoes are these?” He scratched his head trying to recall what happened the previous night.”

Question 5. What was the first work of horror to scare you as a child?

The first horror movie I ever saw was ‘Horror of Dracula.” I was a little girl and it scared the life out of me.

Question 6. If asked to compare yourself to another horror writer, who would you say?

I have not been writing horror long enough to compare myself to any other author. I have been told, however, that my book is movie material.

Question 7. What are you working on at the moment?

At the moment I am working on a story about a serial killer. I know there are many stories about serial killers but mine will be an unusual one.



Find out more about Brenda Mohammed’s books below

All Author Website

Amazon Author Page

BLOG

Google Plus

linkedin

instagram

twitter

pinterest

iTunes

BookBub

Read the Horror Trilogy.