Employed as a doorman for over twenty one years, Edward Cisneros “Eddie C.” has been quoted as saying, “I am not a doorman who chooses to write, but a writer who happens to be a doorman.” Apart from his novel series, HIS-PANIC, Eddie has two finished screenplays under his belt. A stylized thriller titled BEND about New York City homicide detectives on the trial of a serial killer and its sequel. He also served as contributing writer for a real estate website with bi-weekly posts entitled, “A Doorman Speaks.” Eddie has resided in Queens, New York, for much of his life, and it is where he continues to live with his family. He is currently setting up a website, but he can be found on TWITTER; readers can connect by searching @EddieCauthor
- What inspired you to write HIS-PANIC: THE EARLY
YEARS?
In general, I've always
had a love for writing. Whether it was short stories or even attempting to
write screenplays. The passion and creativity have always been there.
His-Panic came about as an idea that was constantly brewing in my head. And
while the book itself is purely fictional, it is bundled with little
things from my childhood memories. Growing up with a group of friends and
hanging out. Seeing things going down in the neighborhood. Some
people I knew or even know. And suddenly one day, all these ideas and memories
just basically came together and pretty much turned into a truly
powerful story about this one person's life that's laced with an influence
of New York and Hispanic culture. Yet, I believe all kinds of people can relate to the
story in itself.
2. What was the
development process like?
I did some research.
Even though I grew up during the seventies, when it comes to certain dates
in time or even talking about certain police procedures and lingo,
you kind of want to be spot on in order to give whatever story you're
writing that much credibility. Make it that much believable. As for the
drugs aspect of the story, again, there is some research involved but at the
same time, I go back to those things I saw growing up. People that
lived in the area. You kind of never forget that stuff and it makes
for great writing.
3. Did you relate to the
main character, Antonio, in any way? If so, what?
Not to skirt around the
question but I guess, yes and no. Obviously, Antonio is this battered
individual. The story opens up and here is this character laying on a bed and he
has tears forming in his eyes, and he kind of feels like this is the beginning
of the end for him. On that level, I'm definitely not like Antonio. As for the
nostalgia of hanging out with a core group of friends, those moments we shared,
yes, I can relate. As for the drugs? It is what it is. I wouldn't go out
and say I was some big time hustler. But, again, you grow up, you see things,
and yes, you do certain things whether on a big scale or a small one.
Thankfully for me, I'm doing alright with my full time job, raising a family
and living life.
4. What was the hardest
part about writing this book?
Trying to balance the
story out emotional wise. There are quite a few moments where the book really
hits hard. I've gotten so many comments on one particular scene. I
don't want to give away too much but it involves little Antonio, his step
father and a certain broken glass on the kitchen floor. In between some of these
scenes, you want to try and maybe throw in some light stuff or even the action,
hence the detectives that come into play at one point in the story.
At the end of the day, this is a fictional story/series and there is going to
be so much stuff happening. As the series goes on, I'd say the hardest part is
keeping all the subplots running smoothly as different characters get
introduced. I want to make sure that everything comes full circle and finishes off
right.
5. What do you hope
readers will gain from your book?
While you get caught up
in the story, entertainment wise, I kind of do want readers to perhaps dwell
for a moment that Antonio's story, his life, is sometimes the true story
of a lot of young children that grow up in impoverished surroundings. Its
children that grow up knowing the street way of life because they lack
positive role models in their life and because of that they become products of
the environment. Antonio's character is a very complex one as readers who stick
with the series will find out because for a good portion of his life, he feels
disconnected, he lacks faith, and this is why he does or acts on things.
As he gets older, it is here where Antonio finally realizes he wants to try and
make certain situations in his life better. But there's always a price that has
to be paid based on a person's actions.
6. What inspired you to
be a writer?
I know growing up I had
this wild imagination. It was a love for movies, horror ones especially, that
my friends and I were dead set on filming a low budget horror movie in
our neighborhood. I even worked on a script and everything. Writing to me has
always been something that I truly enjoyed. The entire creative process,
you know? Being able to make up characters and then putting them into whatever
situations you can come up with, but putting it together so well,
that you can actually visualize what you're reading. This to me is what writing
is all about.
7. What do you like best
and what do you like least about being a writer?
Like I said before, the
creative process is great. It's an open canvas to let go, let ideas
just run wild. What I dread the most from writing, I'd have to say is the editing process.
There are a few editing annoyances. One is and no matter what, it
will happen, when you re-read your story and suddenly something doesn't sound
right. A few sentences might get changed into an entire different scene. You
definitely go through phases where you love what you write and
then you simply hate it to death. If you're fortunate enough and you've finally
found an editor for your book, then yeah, that's another equaling headache. To
have something you've written, thought was the best literary piece this side of
Shakespeare, and then finally given back to you all chopped up and
re-worded.
8. Who are some of your
favorite authors?
I absolutely enjoy dark
stuff, horror. So I've read my share of Stephen King, Dean R. Koontz and Clive
Barker. Oh yeah, and this new up and coming Latino writer, Eddie H.
Cisneros. I heard his stuff is hot. I'm sorry. I just had to do that. Lol.
9. If your book would be
turned into a movie, who would you imagine playing the part of Antonio?
Wow. That's a tricky one
because the series depicts Antonio at different stages of his life. I'd say a
full adult, perhaps an Alex Gonzalez or maybe even a Diego
Boneta. These are two low key actors who have done some mainstream but mostly
series stuff, some movies here and there. I think the look fits. You
definitely want to attract a women audience as well so these guys could
hold their own. I mean I certainly can't write and act as well. I just can't do it all.
Lol.
10. Are you working on
anything right now?
I am currently
working on the last installment of HIS-Panic. This one is subtitled
Absolution. I already have everything in my head, I know exactly what is going to happen I
even know some dialogue. The crazy part of that is when a writer actually gets
to those last two words, THE END. I know it will feel emotional
and bittersweet. I do want to get back into writing screenplays. I've
had this wild story in my head for such a long time. A horror movie titled Vicious. Its a
road trip movie about two estranged brothers who kind of get to bonding only to
pick up the wrong hitchhiker along their trip. That's when everything
pretty much goes down hill from there.
11. And finally,
what do you think is in store for the future of Latino literature?
I believe there are
quite a few up and coming authors out there. I would love to get to a point
where perhaps I'm even classified in such a list. I think its important for
Latino's as a whole to embrace these authors, books in general. In order to
break a notion how I once read, that Latino's don't really read. If so, then
maybe its time that more Latino characters are introduced in books, characters
with strong voices and opinions. I mean, we have stories too. Whether
fictional or non fiction, I think it's important for our culture to also make
its mark through the literary word.
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