Hell Week – Day 4 – Michael H. Hanson/William Lauder

And it’s Day 4 in Hell. I must say those ‘Marshmallows’ were very suspicious…Today the Infernal Interview Service meets Michael H. Hanson and his character William Lauder.

Character Spotlight

About yourself:

*Who are/were you? Tell us about your life before you came here, and after.

I am William Lauder (1680–1771) and while alive was a Scottish literary forger, the second son of Dr William Lauder, one of the original 21 Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, by his spouse Catherine Brown. My success was short-lived. Several scholars, who had independently studied the alleged sources of Milton’s inspiration, showed that I had not only garbled most of my quotations, but had inserted amongst them extracts from a Latin version of Paradise Lost. This led to my exposure by Bishop John Douglas, and I was obliged to write a complete confession at the dictation of my former friend, Samuel Johnson. After several vain endeavours to clear my character I emigrated to Barbados, where I purchased a hotel and also taught in a school. I remained there until my death.

*Who are your friends/allies here?

I have none. I have a very dangerous secret that could undermine Satan’s authority throughout Infernity, and so I cannot trust any soul.

*How do you define ‘piracy’?

In my case, I am a pirate of intellectual property, specifically Satan’s very own tortures.

*Describe your home/environment in Hell.

I am the most unusual of damned souls in all of Infernity. I have somehow acquired abilities to mask myself from the awareness of all supernatural beings, and so travel across many different parts of old and new hell, unnoticed and unseen.

*Eternity – that’s a damned long time. How to you spend the endless years here?

I travel and become a student of all knowledge. I possess Eidetic memory, Total Recall, and Serial Recall. I learn hundreds of languages and study all that is known of quantum physics, the sciences, philosophy, and engineering.

Author Spotlight

*Name and bio.

he son of a U.S. Army Sergeant and a Nurse, Michael H. Hanson is a Poet who has penned and published four anthologies of his verse, ‘AUTUMN BLUSH,’ ‘JUBILANT WHISPERS,’ ‘DARK PARCHMENTS,’ and ‘WHEN THE NIGHT OWL SCREAMS,’ and is currently working on an illustrated collection of poems for children titled THE GREAT SOAP REBELLION, and a collection of science-fiction and fantasy poetry titled “ANDROID GIRL and Other Sentient Speculations.” Michael’s short stores have been published in the last seven anthologies in Janet Morris’s recently restarted Heroes-in-Hell shared-world. He is also the Creator of the shared-world, urban-fantasy Sha’Daa Series which currently consists of “SHA’DAA: TALES OF THE APOCALYPSE,” “SHA’DAA: LAST CALL,” “SHA’DAA: PAWNS,” “SHA’DAA: FACETS,” “SHA’DAA: INKED,” and the recently published “SHA’DAA: TOYS.” Michael has written and published over one hundred short stories in the sci-fi, horror, and fantasy genres across the past fourteen years.

*How did you become involved with this project?

I have written a short story for every HIH anthology ever since the series was restarted six years ago. The Editor of my SHA’DAA shared-world series was one of two people who had convinced Janet Morris to restart the Heroes in Hell shared-world after its long hiatus. Shortly after she decided to move forward on this idea, I received a phone call, and the rest is history.

*Writing for a shared world is challenging, how do you meet that challenge?

With a lot of hard work and intense focus. I had actually created my own shared-world anthology a few years before joining HIH. It is called SHA’DAA, and the first two anthologies in my series had already been published when I began work on my short story for LAWYERS IN HELL.

*What are you currently working on?

I am overseeing a single-volume shared-world book that is a science fiction take on Homer’s “The Odyssey.” It is tentatively titled NOT TO YIELD and takes the form of an adventurous space opera. It will be published by Moondream Press (an imprint of Copper Dog Publishing LLC).

*What other books/short stories have you written?

I created and am a co-writer in the SHA’DAA shared-world series, which currently consists of the following five anthologies: “SHA’DAA: TALES OF THE APOCALYPSE,” “SHA’DAA: LAST CALL,” “SHA’DAA: PAWNS,” “SHA’DAA: FACETS,” and “SHA’DAA: INKED.”

My short story “Rock and Road” will appear in the Roger Zelazny tribute anthology, SHADOWS & REFLECTIONS, edited by Trent Zelazny and Warren Lapine, tentatively scheduled for publishing as a Hardcover edition in June 2017.

My short story “C.H.A.D.” will appear in the horror anthology C.H.U.D. LIVES!, edited by Eric S. Brown, tentatively scheduled to be published as a trade paperback in November 2017.

SHA’DAA: TOYS is tentatively scheduled for publication on Halloween 2017.

Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelhhansonpoet/?ref=bookmarks

Blog/Website: http://www.copperdogpublishing.com/

Twitter: MichaelH.Hanson@TheShaDaa

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004NMDQ3E

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30811748-sha-daa?from_search=true