Nightshade Crime Fiction Anthology: An Interview with Co-Author, Solomon Hamza

 

Fiery Scribe Review presents an interview with Solomon Hamza, one of the co-authors of the PROFWIC Crime Fiction Anthology, Vol 1, themed NIGHTSHADE.

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Solomon Timothy Hamza is an emerging writer who studied Environmental Management at Kaduna State University, Kaduna State. He writes on the various aspects of human life. His works have appeared or are forthcoming on Brittle Paper, Nnoko Stories, Ice Floe Press, Shallow Tales Review, PROFWIC Crime Fiction Anthology Volume 1, and FIFWA Bi-annual Anthology Issue One.
Aside from reading and writing, he enjoys exploring nature and listening to music.

 

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Interviewer: Elisha Oluyemi (Editor-in-Chief, Fiery Scribe Review)

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Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
 
Solomon: My name is Solomon Timothy Hamza, the author of ' I Am The Law', which features in the Nightshade Crime Fiction Anthology Volume 1. I studied Environmental Management at the Kaduna State University, Kaduna State. Aside writing fiction, I also dabble into poetry. I am presently staying in Lafia, Nasarawa State. In my leisure time, I enjoy reading, writing, listening to music and exploring new places.
 
 
What genre(s) do you write?
 
Solomon: I enjoy writing Literary Fiction, Crime Fiction, Political and Historical fiction.
 
 
How long does it take you to write a short story?
Solomon: It depends on  my current state of mind or how busy my schedule is. But usually, it takes me a week or less to write a single short story. Sometimes, I write one within hours.
 
 
What do you always aim to achieve when writing crime fictions?
 
Solomon: My aim of writing Crime Fiction is to further enlighten my readers about the world of forces and investigative bodies. We love watching them in movies, how the protagonist always wins at the end. Writing about it is different. Writing crime fiction draws you closer to the characters than just watching them on T.V.  Other times, I write for the entertainment, the thrill it has on me and my readers.
 
 
Short stories differ greatly from novels in terms of length, depth, scope, and so on. Do you often make outlines for your short stories, or since it's of a very limited scope you just delve into the writing and see where it leads you?
 
Solomon: I am a plotter, so I make outlines of my story; both my characters, plots and settings. This helps me when I get stuck; I just try to create a dialogue or conversations between my characters and myself in my head. There are times when I also experiment with pantsing. The results were fabulous.
 
 
Your story, I Am the Law, features a serial killer who takes it upon herself to take care of sexual brutes. The legal world naturally frowns upon illusions of justice like this. And although it is the trope in crime fictions that good often defeats evil, do you really feel crime stories need to make good win in the end? I mean, in real real world, majority of good is defeated by evil, so… what do you think? 
 
Solomon: There are several cases where good wins in the end but it's usually not being promoted unless in movies. There are also good and honest officers working their butts off to make things right again. So I think writing crime fiction where dedicated and honest officers get rewarded for their hard work is an encouragement to them to keep the fire burning. They own my respect.
 
 
Constable Kasham has a traumatic past that triggers her wild decisions, and although she is largely unethical, I as a reader take a liking to her—and I’m certain many other readers would take this position as well. So, have you ever considered this from the reader’s perspective?
 
Solomon: Yeah, I enjoyed writing about her. She was reserved and mysterious, so I was curious about her. A reader wasn't happy things ended that way and tried to convince me to change the story to her favour. (Laughs.)
 
 
For you, what makes a good short story?
 
Solomon: What makes a short story good to me is the effect it has on the reader. One that sits in the minds of readers that they become speechless for a while and they want to go back to read it again and again. I'm using readers generally because I'm also a reader.
 
 
Have you ever got a negative review? How did you respond to it?
 
Solomon: Yes, I’ve got a negative review. Trust me it was discouraging at first, but I keyed into the advice the person gave, read more books and practised more. Some months later, I got a very positive review from the same editor. My writing hasn't been the same ever since.
 
 
Your story has a nice opening: “I took a quick glance at my wristwatch as he walked into Cloud 9 clubhouse…” I feel it births intrigue, and although the first punch comes a couple paragraphs later, this does well to keep me looking forward to a shove. Do you take your time to craft your opening sentence?  
 
Solomon: Yes, I take time to craft my opening line, last line and my title. These three things are as essential as the story itself. The title and opening lines always keep a reader hooked to your story. The last line does the magic and that includes a reader stalking you on social media to see if he/she can have a taste of your writing.
 
 
Now, that’s interesting. (Laughs.) Solomon, the police force is a crucial featuring in I Am the Law. Say, do you think a crime fiction needs the active involvement of an investigative body?
 
Solomon: Yes, it makes crime Fiction intriguing. Investigative bodies are good at pursuing justice, righting the wrongs, investigating and trying to unlock the past. They, at the end, in most cases, solve all the puzzles in the story with them trying so hard to bring to book the offender who keeps slipping through their fingers until the very end. So they have significant importance in crime fiction.
 
 
Do you have a work-in-progress—a novel or short story you can’t wait to share with the world?
 
Solomon: Yes, I have couple of short stories I am working on. One of it is on Sickle Cell Anaemia, and the other is about the ugly politicizing of the Nigerian Army system.
 
 
What authors inspire you the most?
 
Solomon: James Patterson, Leye Adenle, James Hadley Chase, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Elnathan John, Chinua Achebe, Chimeka Garrick and Dan Brown.
 
 
Crime Fiction is quite less-explored in a country like Nigeria, where preference is given to literary fiction and other dominant genres like romance and family drama. However, the PROFWIC Crime Fiction Anthology has proven to be a huge success for crime writers like you who I’d regard as pacesetters. How do you feel about this?
 
Solomon: I feel so so excited and it's an honour to me to be considered amongst the pacesetters of crime fiction in Nigeria.
 
 
It’s great having you here, Mr Solomon… Do you have a word of advice to Nigerian crime writers?
 

Solomon: Crime Fiction should be among the most celebrated and most written genres, because we do not entirely live in a crime free society. My advice to other Nigerian Crime Fiction writers, both established and the budding writers is to keep writing. The world can't wait to read your book. Thank you.

 

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NIGHTSHADE, PROFWIC Crime Fiction Anthology Vol. 1, the maiden edition of anthologies by the global writing community, Prolific Fiction Writers Community, features six intriguing crime fiction short stories that will leave you breathless. 

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MEET THE INTERVIEWEE:

Solomon Timothy Hamza is an emerging writer who studied Environmental Management at Kaduna State University, Kaduna State. He writes on the various aspects of human life. His works have appeared or are forthcoming on Brittle Paper, Nnoko Stories, Ice Floe Press, Shallow Tales Review, PROFWIC Crime Fiction Anthology Volume 1, and FIFWA Bi-annual Anthology Issue One.
Aside from reading and writing, he enjoys exploring nature and listening to music.