Author's Interview with Brendan Tsoi.

Before we dive into our exciting conversation with today’s remarkable author, let’s start by getting to know the creative mind behind the diverse and captivating stories.

1. Could you please introduce yourself to us?

Ah, introductions. Funny thing, really. You spend a lifetime becoming who you are, and then you’re asked to sum it up in a sentence or two.

I guess, at my core, I’m just someone trying to make sense of things. I’ve worn a few hats—father, husband, teacher, life coach, mentor, employer, writer but I don’t think any one title really defines me. I write because I need to, because stories have a way of getting under your skin and demanding to be told. A Vampire’s Meetings with Masters wasn’t just a book I decided to write; it was something that grew out of years of thinking, questioning, and living. If anything, I see myself as a storyteller, sharing what I’ve gathered along the way.

2. Congratulations on your book! What inspired you to write it?

Thanks. It’s been a journey, that’s for sure.

Inspiration is a strange thing; it doesn’t come all at once. It builds over time, like layers of experience pressing down until something has to be said. For me, A Vampire’s Meetings with Masters came from that space. I’ve spent years observing people, questioning what drives us and what haunts us. I’ve seen how time changes people, how regret lingers, and how wisdom is something you earn the hard way.

Loong, my protagonist, is immortal, but that doesn’t mean he’s free. If anything, he’s trapped by memory, by desire, by the weight of all he’s done. I think we all feel that in some way. We carry our past, our choices. This book was my way of exploring that. If it resonates with someone out there, if it makes them pause and think, then it’s done its job.

3. What is your book about?

Do you ever wonder what time does to a person? Not just a few years, but centuries? Millennia?

Loong has lived since the time of Krishna. He’s walked through history, searching, fighting, learning, and never really belonging anywhere. He’s met the greatest minds: he debated virtue with Confucius, learned stillness from Laozi, sat in silence with Buddha, and watched Jesus give himself for something greater. He trained under Bruce Lee, seeking mastery over himself, and learned from Hua Tuo that healing is as much an art as destruction. But no matter how much wisdom he gathers, he still wrestles with the weight of time, with what he’s done, with what he’s lost.

He’s fought warlords, soldiers, pirates who bound him in chains and threw him into the ocean for six hundred years. He’s battled a werewolf whose rage mirrored his own, a monstrous vampire that forced him to the edge of his limits, and men who feared him more than death itself. He’s killed when he didn’t want to, and sometimes when he did. His hands are stained, and no amount of time can wash them clean.

But Loong is not just a witness to history he’s shaped it in ways no one will ever know. He led Roman soldiers through the chaos of Adrianople, ensuring their survival in a battle that should have left none alive. He whispered strength into the ears of Joan of Arc when doubt clouded her faith. He rode a white horse through the fall of the Songhai Empire, guiding warriors away from senseless slaughter. He became a phantom in the sky over Pearl Harbor, striking down enemy pilots with supernatural precision. He walked through the streets of plague-ridden London, healing the sick in secret, a shadow of mercy in a city consumed by death.

But for all the battles, it’s love that undoes him. Lei Mei, his wife, took her own life because he failed to see her pain. Priya, the woman who made him feel something human again, but whom he knew he could never have. Tara, who taught him that love is not just passion but presence. Love has given him purpose and taken everything from him.

This book isn’t just about a vampire. It’s about regret. It’s about what time does to a man, about searching for meaning in places that may never have the answer. Loong isn’t looking for immortality; he already has that. He’s looking for something far more difficult to find: peace.

4. Why did you choose this genre for your book?

 I don’t know if I chose the genre or if the story just came out this way.

Vampires and immortality they’re metaphors, really. They let me explore the things that have always fascinated me: time, regret, and transformation. What happens when you live not just for centuries but for thousands of years? When memories don’t just pile up but stretch so far back that they blur together? When love, loss, and mistakes don’t just shape you but stay with you forever? A vampire gives me a way to tell that story, to push those questions to the extreme.

But this isn’t a typical vampire story. It’s not about horror, or power, or seduction. It’s about searching. Loong has lived since the time of Krishna, walking through history, meeting great masters, trying to understand what it means to be human—because he lost that part of himself a long time ago.

So, why this genre? Because nothing else would have worked. A man with a normal lifespan doesn’t have the time to ask these questions the way Loong does. He doesn’t have to carry the weight of millennia, to wonder if he can ever change or if he’s doomed to repeat the same mistakes forever. That’s why I wrote it this way. Because some questions need eternity to be answered.

5. How long did it take you to complete the book?

This book took me twenty years to write… and one and a half months to finish.

The idea was born two decades ago. Back then, I had the spark, but I didn’t have the fire. My writing ability wasn’t there yet, and neither was my understanding of life. I tried, but the story never found its shape. It was like trying to carve something meaningful out of air. It didn’t have a decent, meaningful, or sustainable start because, honestly, I wasn’t ready to tell it.

But in 2024, after overcoming some hardships, something shifted. As an older man, with more scars, more lessons, and more weight behind my words, the story finally poured out of me. One and a half months. That’s all it took. Not because it was easy, but because it had been waiting inside me all along, growing in the background while I lived, failed, and learned.

Some stories take time. Some stories need you to become the person who can tell them. This was one of those.

6. What makes your book special?

I think what makes this book special is that it’s not just about a vampire. It’s about time. It’s about loss. It’s about what it means to be human, even when you’re not.

Loong has lived for thousands of years, walked through history, and met some of the greatest minds: Buddha, Confucius, Laozi, Jesus. He’s fought wars, been betrayed, been buried in the ocean for six hundred years, and still, he keeps searching. Searching for meaning, for redemption, for a way to carry the weight of everything he’s done.

Most vampire stories are about power, about the thrill of immortality. This one isn’t. Loong doesn’t want to live forever; he just doesn’t have a choice. And when you live that long, you don’t just collect memories. You collect regret. You outlive everyone you love. You learn every lesson, but it never stops hurting.

This book isn’t about a monster or a hero. It’s about a man trapped in time, trying to understand if change is possible, if love is worth it, if peace is something he can ever have.

Maybe that’s what makes it special because, in some way, we’re all asking the same questions.

7. When can we expect your next book?

There’s so much more to tell about Loong’s journey. His story isn’t over—not by a long shot.

Right now, I’m working on something completely different. It’s a book about a real person, someone who’s faced hardships and been knocked down, and yet, instead of giving in, made the choice to contribute. Not through power, not through fame, but by embracing the extraordinary potential of ordinary actions. It’s a story about what it really means to leave a mark, not through grand gestures but through persistence, resilience, and quiet, meaningful impact.

As for a sequel to A Vampire’s Meetings with Masters, that depends on you. If there’s a hunger for more, if people want to walk further down Loong’s path and see where time takes him next, I’d be motivated to bring the rest of his story to light.

But beyond moving forward in his journey, there’s still so much more to tell about the encounters in this book, conversations with the masters that haven’t been fully explored, moments of wisdom that shaped him, and even more masters he met along the way who have yet to be revealed. Loong has lived for thousands of years. I’ve only told part of it.

If enough readers want the rest, I’ll be there to write it.

8. Did you experience writer’s block while writing? What advice would you give to others who face it?

Writer’s block? Yeah. For 22 years.

It wasn’t the kind where you sit at a desk, staring at a blank page for a few hours. It was the kind that stretches across decades, where every time I tried to start, the words felt empty, forced. Many, many times I picked up the pen, convinced I could shape this story—but I wasn’t ready. My writing wasn’t there yet. My understanding of life wasn’t there yet. The story lived in me, but I couldn’t bring it to the surface. Not in a way that mattered.

But like I said before, when I was ready in 2024, everything changed. There was no block. No hesitation. The story didn’t just come; it poured out of me. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It took me places inside myself I hadn’t dared to go before. I thought I was writing a book, but really, the book was revealing something to me—more discovery, more emotions, more human experiences than I had ever been aware of.

So, if you’re facing writer’s block, maybe the words aren’t the problem. Maybe it’s not time yet. And that’s okay. Live first. Learn. Struggle. Fail. Grow. Because when you’re ready, the story won’t just come to you; you’ll be the story. And that’s when the words will finally mean something.

9. Besides being a talented author, what are your other hobbies?

I guess you could say I have a few, but I don’t think of them that way. They’re just part of how I move through the world.

I walk. Every morning, fasted five kilometers. Not for fitness, not for routine, but because there’s something about movement, about putting one foot in front of the other, feeling the air, the rhythm, the quiet that clears my mind. It’s time I spend with myself, untangling thoughts or sometimes just letting them drift.

I drive. My BMW X5 E53 isn’t just a car; it’s a piece of time, something I’ve shaped to fit me. I take long drives every few weeks, not to get anywhere, but just to go. There’s something about the hum of the engine, the road stretching ahead, and the solitude of it all that reminds me to breathe.

I teach. But it’s more than just teaching; it’s coaching, guiding, and mentoring. I help teachers who are struggling, who feel lost or defeated, and I push them to be great. I’ve trained in martial arts, refining discipline, control, and the balance between power and restraint. I coach people through life’s hardships, helping them see past the fog of doubt to who they can really become.

And most of all, I’m a father. There was a time I thought I was bad at it. I carried that belief for too long and let it weigh me down. But then I let go of that idea. I trusted in my ability to teach, mentor, and coach all the things I had done for others. I finally allowed myself to do it for my own child. And that changed everything.

And then there’s writing. Even when I’m not writing, I’m writing. Stories live in the things we do, in the people we meet, in the questions we wrestle with when no one’s looking. Everything feeds into it: every walk, every drive, every conversation.

So hobbies? Maybe. But really, they’re just different ways of seeing, of understanding, of staying present. And at the end of the day, that’s what matters.

10. Last but not least, how did you feel during this interview?

It’s strange, really. You write something, you pour your soul into it, but then when you have to talk about it, it feels like you’re sharing something personal—something raw.

During this interview, I felt a bit like Loong. Not in the sense that I’m a vampire, though. If I’m being honest, I’ve had my own share of doubts, struggles, and long searches for meaning but in the way that talking about this book makes me realize how deeply it’s connected to who I am now.

It’s a story that’s lived with me for a long time, and it’s funny how when you finally say the words out loud, they don’t feel like they belong to you anymore. They belong to Loong. To the reader. To the journey.

It’s been an emotional process, honestly more than I thought it would be. I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, and I’ve discovered more about myself than I ever expected while writing this. And now, speaking about it, I can only hope that this story finds its way to those who need it. Not because it’s mine, but because it’s something everyone can relate to: searching for meaning, dealing with loss, and still trying to make sense of it all.

If that resonates with you, if you’ve ever wondered what it means to be human, even when you feel far from it, then this book is for you. I hope it leaves a lasting impression because Loong’s journey is one worth sharing, one that doesn’t end in the pages of a book.

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