The Interview - Humberto Decanini

I didn't do it. I just started writing one day, and a few years later, the book was ready. But I never became an author, in the sense that I don't dedicate myself to it. Nor was I published; I did it myself through Amazon and other tools for personal use. I am not, nor do I feel like an author, nor am I, nor do I feel like I'm published.

I like to finish what I have started, I have a very linear way to work

It would be Sharon, the protagonist. Ironically, she's a character not very popular with those who've read the novel, as it's written in a very Mary Sue style.

Sharon is a personal story. I created her for another story as my character's simple virtual girlfriend, to satisfy a personal desire. I was 17, and her role was to release all my teenage hormones. Unfortunately, I created a real connection with the character, and I really like writing about her because I feel like she's coming to life. Although I tried to give her nuances and flaws, I suppose my feelings affected her development.

Initially, she wasn't supposed to be the protagonist, but since she was the one I liked writing about the most, she ended up being the one who appears the most and took on that role.

Aside from Hsaron, the other character I love writing about is Gotnov, because he's everything I'd like to be: someone who's free to do whatever he wants.

I write spontaneously, I have some points I would like to explore, I list them as critical points and then I start filling in the blanks, writing to get from point A to B, then to C, according to the critical points I placed.

Arthur Conan Doyle, Alexandre Dumas, Fiodor Dostoievsky, almost anyone from the good old times

I like anything dark, depressing, dystopian. Not just in writing, but in everything. For example, I don't play Fortnite because it's too colorful; I like the macabre.

To be read. Many of us write; there are so many of us that few want to read anymore; everyone wants to be read. In a world where everyone is trying to get, it's hard to find someone who wants to give.

I am a psychologist so all my education on the subject is reflected in the novel.

That depends of the book and the character. In The GAMER Program the main character is a female so, it has nothing to do with me, but the male co-protagonist it's basically me

About how video games teach us to survive

I write my story from my point of view, I would like to read what others think of what I have written, but my story is an idea I once had and it has its own meaning

Not that I am aware of it

Worst critic is none, that the worst part, when no one cares. For me, even a bad critic is good because it means that someone read the book.

At best, I like when someone feels identified with a character or a situation I wrote

My experience is writing for the pure pleasure of it because we'll be hard-pressed to find money, and therefore, the time to write will be minimal, so that little time must be satisfactory. Write for yourself, what you want, don't try to please others. You can't please everyone.

I'd say, give it a couple of revisions before publishing, just so you don't confuse readers with the changes.

My favorite line from the novel would be: Don't get your ideas right. It's very likely we won't get through this. No one will remember us. We won't be heroes. We'll just be another name, lost among the long list of those who died in this war against the Sheitans... don't take risks, try to survive.

I like it because it's the anti-discourse. I think it's more realistic than the motivational speech that appears in movies like Independence Day.

It's hard to write endings, both story and arc endings. It's a lot of pressure to come up with something worthwhile, and I've probably only rarely achieved it.

All fiction, whether literary, cinematic, or video game, is an overvalued and controlled conception of its imperfect counterpart to reality. Not only do romantic couples set a high standard, but so do heroes, villains, and friendships; all the typical elements of a good story are exaggerated versions of much more complex and nuanced real-life situations.

All the time, I can only wait for it to end. What I do is go on with my life, waiting for something to come along that will get me out of this block.

Just live my life, play video games, be with my family, with my dogs. 

I had to research weapons, behavioral psychology, some animal biology, some video game history, military terminology.

I ordered them at my discretion, although due to money issues I didn't reissue them. I only really liked one of the three, Firestorm. I had to use the rest because I had already paid for them.

The Lord of the Rings, of course I saw the movies and loved them, but I haven't read the novels, so I'm trying to get around to the novels. I have a lot of books pending; I gave up the habit a long time ago, but I'd like to get back to it.

Probably nothing. I'd like to write a sequel to The GAMER Program, but it's a waste of time and money if no one cares. Why spend a year or two writing when no one's read the original trilogy?

I would like to, but that's just a dream for someone like me. For that, my story must first be read, and that's the real challenge.

I always wanted to tell a story, but my original desire was to make cartoons. For years, I wanted to make comics, to tell a story, but writing was the only thing I could really do on my own. I still enjoyed it.

I started writing it in 2014 and finished the first version in December 2016. Since then, I've re-edited several elements and expanded the story, which finally ended up as it is in 2020.

I write at home, but if I could, I'd do it in a cabin in the woods during the winter. As a kid, I saw the movie House, about a writer who moved into an old haunted mansion to write. I'd do something like that.

I listen to the usual: 80s heavy metal, music that reminds me of the intros to my favorite cartoons. I can listen to more recent stuff, but it's always and always will be rock or its derivatives.

I love playing video games, play soccer, just hang out with friends

Many characters are based on me, my friends, and TV personalities. It's a very personal story. I base my ideas on how things happen to me make me feel, whether I like or dislike someone, what I can do with it from a creative perspective. I delve a lot into my past, into my memories, to transform events from my childhood into something I would have liked to have been.

The whole story is personal; it's about my life playing video games, the search for meaning in the years behind the screen, the desire that it was all for something. Thinking that all those years were for a clear purpose.

Many of the characters are inspired by my friends, me, people I knew, or personalities in the gaming world. It's a very personal story, like all of them.