We are delighted to welcome author Alan Osi to Omnimystery News today.
Alan begins a new series with the Movement No. 1 of The Moondust Sonatas, A Hunter's Moon (Smoke & Shadow Books; December 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had the chance to spend some time with him talking about it.
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Omnimystery News: Introduce us to the lead characters in A Hunter's Moon. When in the writing process did you decide your story would have multiple viewpoints, instead of presenting the book through one set of eyes?
Photo provided courtesy of
Alan Osi
Alan Osi: My writing process is pretty fluid, so it happened right as I finished chapter one and started chapter two from a different character's viewpoint. It wasn't pre-planned.
This book started as a free-writing exercise, just for fun: the multiple view-points were part of that. It became a novel because I loved the story, and the idea of treating the insides of characters' heads like camera angles, as if I were a directing a movie. I loved the idea that from one character's perspective a second character's behavior is totally irrational, and so it's presented that way to the reader, until you see the world through the second character's eyes, and everything they did makes total sense based on who they are, and what they believe, and what's happened to them recently.
OMN: Into which genre would you place this book?
AO: I categorize this book as a Literary Thriller. It is literary in that, like contemporary literature, it explores various people's relationship to a theme central to human existence. It's a thriller because I think it's a lot of fun! I focused on keeping the suspense up and the pace fast. I'm happy with this label, as labels go.
OMN: How would you tweet a summary of A Hunter's Moon?
AO: A drug that lets you see God. Who will control its fate? Can it even be controlled? Percival, a Brooklyn DJ, is caught in the middle …
OMN: You mentioned that your writing process is fluid. Tell us a little more what you mean by that.
AO: Sometimes I wish I could be the kind of writer who plans every detail of a story, but I don't think I ever will be. Instead, I come up with a loose concept and start writing, using tricks of the trade to steer events into a round story, one that hopefully feels emergent and not pre-conceived.
As I'm going, I'll block out future scenes as far as I can see them, but I leave it open for the characters or story itself to surprise me. Quite often my cast will take a scene in a direction I never intended, and many times such as scene will prove pivotal in shaping the landscape of future events.
OMN: If we could send you anywhere in the world to research the setting for a book, where would it be … and why?
AO: I have an idea for a novel set in the midst of a civil war, so I would try to find a relatively safe country with a migrant crisis and volunteer in a refugee camp. Short of going to an actual war zone, which would be problematic for quite a few reasons, working hard to help people coming out of that situation would be a great way to get as close as realistically possible. After that I'd spend time in the Baltic region, and hope people would be willing to talk to me about what it was like living there in the 90s.
OMN: What are some of your outside interests?
AO: I have an affinity for all the arts, especially music. I've tried many media, and all the art I've done or enjoyed informs how I approach writing.
My main hobby is songwriting, although I've been gun-shy about sharing my songs with the world. I'm also a bit addicted to the recent up-crop of excellent TV dramas, such as "Manhattan," "Tyrant," and "Penny Dreadful." I'd add reading, but that feels like a bit of a given.
OMN: Speaking of reading, what kinds of books did you grow up with? Have any specific authors influenced how and what you write today?
AO: I was all about fantasy books such as Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time" series until my Junior Year of high school, when they assigned us The Joy Luck Club, contemporary literature by Amy Tan. I absolutely loved it. I felt a bit torn between two worlds myself in high school, so even though I don't resemble the characters in the books demographically, I really related. I was hooked on contemporary adult literature from that point on.
I've been influenced by a pretty broad range of people, such as Haruki Murikami, Walter Mosley, Robert B. Parker, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Jeanette Winterson, Raymond Burroughs, Bret Easton Ellis, and Irvine Welsh. I also love mythology, and have read widely from various cultures. My single biggest influence would have to be Joseph Campbell's Bill Moyer's interview and the Hero's Journey, with the understanding that it is a conduit to a grand archetype.
OMN: Create a Top 5 list on any topic.
AO: Top 5 songs that will make me sing my eyes out:
• Elliott Smith, Christian Brothers
• Curtis Mayfield, Move on Up
• Radiohead, Paranoid Android
• Bob Marley & The Wailers, Sun is Shining
• Tame Impala, Apocalypse Dreams
OMN: What next for you?
AO: Next up is Movement 2 of The Moondust Sonatas, currently in production! Our saga continues with a death …
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Alan Osi came to Cleveland from Arlington MA. The son of civil rights activists, Alan developed an eye for spotting social tension and crafting compelling essays through storytelling from an early age. He brings vivid images and characters to life through the lens of the new Black American experience. His insights into what makes people tick, our yearnings to know the unknowable, keeps readers turning the pages, while missing their train stations, and bus stops. A product of Morehouse College, and American University in Washington DC Osi has written for several papers and e-zines.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at AlanOsi.com and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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A Hunter's Moon by Alan Osi
The Moondust Sonatas: Movement No. 1
Publisher: Smoke & Shadow Books
A drug that lets you see God. Imagine the possibilities … Percival, a young Brooklyn DJ, awakens from a night of debauchery with clear instructions on how to produce moondust. He discovers that this mysterious grey powder provides the ultimate high and gives users a glimpse of the divine. After months of quietly selling it to artists, however, Percival attracts deadly attention from a gang of drug dealers. Facing threats from all sides, he decides to go public with its secrets, although to do so he must risk his both his freedom and his life.
The danger he faces pales in comparison to that caused by moondust. In a world that's a tinderbox of smoldering conflict, moondust could be the match that ignites a global cataclysm.
— A Hunter's Moon by Alan Osi
