Interview With Daccari Buchelli
Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself.
Gladly. My name is Daccari. I’m a 24 year old author from Britain and have been passionate about books for as long as I can recall.
When I was younger, I read to escape reality, but as I grew older, I found that reading actually helped me to understand and navigate my own reality. I found I could relate to the problems faced by my favourite characters (both internal and external) and as a result, I discovered new solutions to any obstacles I faced.
Aside from writing, I enjoy art and photography, having drawn since I first began to read. I also find great pleasure in learning about social psychology and astrology.
Could you tell us a bit about your latest book?
Certainly. My latest book (currently a work in progress) is entitled Foresight and is a thriller aimed at young adults. Having put this title aside for some years, I took up my progress with it at the end of last year and am beyond excited to have it nearing completion.
The story follows Evylia Wilde, a troubled teen with a terrible secret. For as long as she can remember, she’s been able to see things, strange visions that defy reality.
As Evy learns the truth of her parent’s disappearance when she was a toddler, she begins to connect the pieces of a much larger puzzle, and will learn that her powers are more complicated and deadly than she ever imagined.
How long have you been writing, and how many books have you published to date?
Oh Gosh. Well, the first thing I remember writing in my free time was a short story about my sister and I as royal mermaids. I think I was around eight at the time. I found that when I wrote, all the passion in my soul simply poured into my words. I encouraged myself to write more, read more, and to give all my passion to this craft.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any copies of that first story that triggered the depth of my passion as the computer my sister and I shared quite literally blew up and ceased to function thereafter. When I think back, I begin to tear up, for those first few pages that sparked my gift for writing were and still are the most dearest possessions I could ever hope to own.
Since then, I continued to write, self-publishing (though only privately so I could order my own copies) half a dozen novellas, which only I hold a copy of. It is my intention to redraft these titles at some point and to release them as a box set of chilling fables.
To date, I have publicly self-published two books, both parts of an enchanting epic fantasy series, ideal for young adults. Phoenix and Symbiote are like children to me: both took several years to complete and each taught me something of value by the time I’d finished writing them.
Foresight will be the first thriller novel I’ve written so I’ll be eager to see what feedback I receive once it’s finished.
You write in several genres. Do you have a favourite? And if so, why?
I used to mainly focus on the fantasy genre, but as I mentioned above, I’m not trying my hand at the thriller genre, which I have to say would be my favourite to write in. Why? Well, ever since I was a child, I’ve had a rather morbid personality. I would go through phases where all I would think about was the darker side of human nature, the hows and whys of the disturbed and depraved.
That’s not to say I was obsessed with such practices. I merely enjoyed concocting stories about bloodsucking monsters and brave detectives, of brave heroines and forces of greater evil.
Writing in the thriller genre gives me a way to pen down my darkest fears and thoughts, a way to live vicariously through my characters so that I may express such dark musings in a healthy way.
Although the fantasy genre will always hold a special place in my heart, it is the thriller genre that I believe I will continue to write in until my dying days.
Why did you write this book? What was your inspiration?
My inspiration for Foresight actually came (as do a lot of my ideas) from an aspect of my own life. Ever since I was of primary school age, I used to have these blank moments in my memory, which at the times were rather confusing for me.
I’ve since come to realise (with the help of psychologists and neurologists) that what I was experiencing is known as dissociation, when the brain is so overwhelmed by what it’s feeling/experiencing that it shuts off the conscious mind and leaves you feeling like you’re watching life go by around you. You feel numb, like you’re not really present in your own body.
The two forms of dissociation that I suffered (and still struggle with almost daily) are called depersonalisation and derealization, which means dissociating from your body and your identity, as well as from your general surroundings. As such, I used to begin thinking I could see or hear things that probably weren’t there, but this was usually if I was incredibly tired.
As I grew up, I also began experiencing what felt like visions, in the sense that I would have the most unremarkable, odd daydreams that wouldn’t really make sense. A week or so later, I’d find that what I’d seen in the daydream would actually happen in real life. And I suppose that’s where the spark of an idea for Foresight really came to fruition.
When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
Almost as soon as I could read/write, I knew that I was destined to be a writer. It wasn’t simply a want. It was a dire need, a need to be heard, to be recognised. It was a solemn need to seek validation of my thoughts and feelings, to show the world as many aspects of our reality as is humanly possible. Whether it be the good, the bad, or the ugly, I want all of it to be shown to the public. I don’t see any use in hiding aspects of the human condition from those that experience them every day. We, as people, need a way to find solutions to our problems and I think- what better way to do that than to really delve down into some of the topics that not everyone is willing to discuss.
What is your greatest challenge as a writer?
Hmm, this feels a bit like a toss up between not fully understanding the people around me, and experiencing things in a very different way to others.
It quickly became apparent to my mother that I wasn’t like other kids. She worked as a childminder until I was about fourteen and she was adamant that there was something profoundly different about me. I wasn’t like any of my four elder siblings, I was a very strict and isolated child. I knew what I liked and disliked, and I liked things that way. I used to line up all my toys in colour or height order, I would ‘walk funny’ and had weird obsessions.
Although my mother wanted me tested at age 7, with my primary school refusing, I was actually assessed and diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome at the age of 22 (so just shy of three years ago now.) As part of the Autism Spectrum, my mother finally felt that she had sussed me out, so to speak. She finally felt that all of my differences growing up made sense.
What is most challenging about being on the Autistic Spectrum with regards to writing is how you perceive the world is such a unique way that trying to explain things in a way that most other people will understand can be near impossible. I have to force myself to try and imagine what it would be like to not be Autistic, to have a non-Autistic brain and non-Autistic experiences of the world.
There is an intense difference between how you would see the world (as an Autistic or non-Autistic person) and relating experiences, emotions and events to the majority of the population in a way that they’ll understand is definitely my greatest challenge. It likely always will be.
What advice would you give beginning writers?
I think the best advice anyone can give you is to be yourself. Write what you know. When I used to hear that phrase, I thought it meant to write about the genre you know best or to write about things you’d studied, but I think it all comes down to personal experience. If you have experienced intense heartbreak, use that experience to fuel a romance or romantic component. If you feel like you’ve been cheated in life, use that experience and emotion to influence a character’s decisions.
I think the best thing you can do as a writer is to draw inspiration from the world around you. Use what you see and experience as a means to create and to bring new life to characters. Express your innermost fears and desires through your write. Experiment and develop your own style and don’t put too much face in most of the writing advice you see plastered around.
All you really need to know is what the concept and premise of your book will be, and then I think you’re more or less good to go.
What do you like to do when you're not writing? Any hobbies?
When I’m not writing, I love to sketch, giving physical form to the thoughts and ideas circling round my brain. I’m passionate about photography, social-psychology, the paranormal (spirits, demons, legend and folklore.)
I’m only 24 but there is so much that I want to explore in life and so much that (given the free time) I would love to study. I have a great passion for so many areas of life and until the day I die, I intend to live each and every one delving head-first into those passions.
I think that’s how life should be. We need to focus on what makes us truly want to live.
About the Author:
I’m an eccentric, British born writer with a great love of art and nature. Writing has always been my main outlet for expressing emotions and experiences that I find hard to share with others. This is due to my being on the Autistic spectrum. I like to leave traces of myself behind, like breadcrumbs, in the hope that readers will share in my journeys. I rule my pen and page with passion and can’t imagine my life without the magic of stories.
1 comment:
Thank you for a lovely interviewing experience. It was a pleasure to speak with you. :)
Post a Comment