Oliver Dace
Philippine-born Mark Paguntalan (Oliver Dace’s alter-ego) is addicted to the taste of words.
An avid writer with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Religious Studies, his Wellington-based horror short stories have been published and adapted to audio narration on YouTube.
His Magical Realism story, The Wellington Alternate, is his debut novel.
What authors did you dislike at first, but grew into?
J.K. Rowling.
I guessed it was some jealousy when I looked back since I had just started writing and with all the hype back then, I told myself, “I’m going to write as good as her.” I haven’t read the books yet though but it’s not because it’s out of spite
Do you try more to be original, or to deliver to readers what they want?
Original.
I always try to avoid using well-known creatures such as vampires, zombies and stuff. If I do incorporate them, I would give a good twist. Better yet, I try to incorporate local mythology such as the red-headed fairies in Maori myth that were featured in my Upper Hutt-based horror story.
How do you select the names of your characters?
I name them either because (1) they sound nice or (2) as a reference to favourite characters.
My protagonist, Merinette (though based on a previous character) is based on the former. Mary => Meri => Merinette
Meri’s rival, Josefina, is based from the show, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Josefina => Josephine => Joseph
If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
Document and saved the novel ideas. Who knows? I could have reworked them.
I had about 5-6 written novel drafts that I had created in my adolescence but were sadly lost.
Are there any secrets in your books that only a few people will find? Can you tell us one? Or give us any hints?
Arissa, one of my characters, is a reference to a classic Japanese cutesy character just by the way she talks and behaves in the book.
I portrayed Levin as a prominent feature in the book that is home to a major dynastic family.
Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym? Why?
Oliver sounds more regal than Mark.
How did publishing your first book change your writing process?
Not exactly the writing process. It was more like a financial or preparation process.
I can do a trial and error with writing with little to no consequence but the financial part … less so.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I have one unpublished book that it currently in the freezer. It is set in a world where the two islands of New Zealand are the two continents and each province is home to a nation or a race.
Wellington was home to a race of winged carnivorous humanoid creatures called Messere who are currently invading the republic of Blenheim in order to restock their food supply after the Aucklanders sabotaged the Wellingtonian’s hunting grounds.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters of the opposite sex?
The difficult part of writing four main female characters is to find ways how they won’t end up in #menwritingwomen.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
I don’t mind book reviews. I actually like it.
So far, the four beta readers I hired all gave different opinions which I found interesting.