#Interview with Justin Bienvenue, #Author of Opium Warfare

About the Book:

Check out the Book on Amazon

It’s 1920. The city of Shanghai has been invaded by the drug trade. The drug trafficking and usage of opium have taken the city by storm. While the looks of the city seem calm, deep within there is a secret and nobody realizes that the small hidden drug world is about to get bigger..much bigger. The underground world that was once hush-hush is now slowly making it’s way to the surface to corrupt the public. However only a few are aware of it, for the rest, it shall cause an uproar making some frantic and some in awe. Soon the drug is seen all around the city and it seems that getting one’s hands on it has become a problem so much so that it causes an all-out epidemic. One that no one will see coming or seemingly be able to stop.. One of the few people aware of all this is Ryu Tsang, a local dockworker who grew up admiring the city for all its glamour. When strange things start happening Ryu takes notice. While at first he brushes off the first few encounters he can’t help but shake the fact that something bigger is unfolding. Shin Shaojin believes the city will be better off embracing such change. He has a vision of Shanghai’s future. One that involves his business to bloom and offer endless possibilities to all that are accepting.

Interview with Justin Bienvenue

What inspires you to write?

I’m inspired by everything I take in and see or hear around me. If it sounds or looks like a great idea for a story then I’m inspired. Television, media and even reading other books inspire me. I take all that comes to me and it sifts through my mind and if it inspires me enough it becomes a story or at best it becomes a book. I’m a firm believer in the saying inspiration can strike at any moment which is why I have either a pencil and pad handy or a note pad app on my phone so I can write down what inspired me and perhaps even the idea it inspired.

Are there some stories tucked away in some drawer that was written before and never saw the light of the day?

Oh yeah, although they aren’t in a drawer at least not in the actual drawer sense. I have some poems that are in a folder that have never been written elsewhere and have only seen that dark space in the folder. I have stories sitting on my computer and in my sd card collecting fictional computer dust and worst I have story ideas in my mind that have been scrapped and abandoned only collecting tumbleweeds in my mind. The reason for this is because the poems are either personal or I don’t have enough on the topic to share and the stories I’m saving for a better occasion then just to be on a website. As for the ones abandoned in my mind well I felt they simply weren’t good enough or I wasn’t truly inspired enough to write the topic and material.

Tell us about your writing process.

It’s nothing special. I would love to tell you that I sit down and brainstorm or sharpen my pencil and mind before buckling down but the truth is I sit down at the computer and I just start writing however I can and whatever comes to mind based off the topic at hand. My process I would say is random and generic but If it’s for a book then I do do certain things like open several screens on my computer, get a beverage and really brainstorm before writing. I’m very organized so I try not to clutter both physically and mentally.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?

Just write and don’t think that you can’t and don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t. I meet and hear from so many people who tell me they want to write but they don’t have time or they don’t think their writing is good enough or some kind of excuse. The best thing you can do before getting into writing is to believe in yourself and just go with the flow and write. Your always going to be your hardest critic but at least get passed the whole I don’t think my stuff is good enough, you’ll have plenty of critics for that along the way and you shouldn’t even let that stop you but fuel you to keep writing, keep doing what you love.

How do you spend your free time? Do you have a favorite place to go and unwind?

I usually spend my free time watching television, playing video games and going for walks. The woods are my favorite place to go. It’s where I get my Thoreau and Emerson on and is a great place to relax.

Tell us three fun facts about yourself.

I’m a huge football fanatic and I have too much football knowledge.
I once bought a bag of Skittles in the statue of liberty
I believe in UFOs and aliens and hope to one day become a Ufologist

What do you have in store next for your readers?

I am going to be continuing my Wax Factory series with book two, The Wax Menagerie. It’s going to be crazier than the first. It’s my first true book series that I’ve written aside from my two horror poetry books. I also plan on publishing a book of short stories and a book of steampunk stories.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers?

Yes. While I mainly write horror and poetry I do try to write and try out other genres such as weird westerns, short stories, crime and steampunk. So while I am mainly a horror author and poet I feel it’s good for me to explore other genres to brighten and broaden my horizons.
I’m also looking for some readers of my crime thriller, Opium Warfare and my latest book The Wax Factory. They were the hardest books to do research for and so far they haven’t got many reviews on Amazon so I’ve been reaching out to my audiences in those genres looking for anyone interested in them to check em out and give them a read.

About the Author:

Author's Amazon Page

Justin Bienvenue is an indie author and poet of six novels. He mainly writes horror and poetry but also writes in other genres such as crime thrillers, westerns and steampunk. His first book, The Macabre Masterpiece is a four time #1 most downloaded book on Amazon for contemporary poetry. Besides his six novels he has also written poems and short stories that are featured in 18 anthologies. His most recent novel, The Wax Factory, is a gothic horror novel and the first of a three part series. He runs a horror blog called Hundred Year Old Horror on Goodreads. He also features five books every week on Twitter using hashtag #RecommendationWednesday. When he’s not writing he enjoys watching sports and is a big football fan. His favorite team is the New England Patriots for whom he also works for in the security department. When he’s not working he enjoys the outdoors as well as playing games. His interests include, History, The Civil War, Egyptology, and Ufology.

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