Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m Alex. I’ve written 6 books, one of which is currently published. Reading, sports, and good beer are my favorite past times, but I am also quite fond of fighting off imaginary bad guys with a broomstick, and annoying my beautiful wife.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I just self-published a horror novel, The Demon of Decay. I’m not trying to be funny or crude, but this was my exact thought, as I lay in bed one night, that inspired the story. “Can a paralyzed dude perform for his wife?” That led me straight down a rabbit hole of “What if he loves his wife so much, he allows another man to satisfy her, but he’s still her husband. How would that impact him emotionally? What if a demon offered that man another life in another world where he could use his full body and still have a beautiful wife? Would he leave the woman of his dreams for this chance with a better, individual life?”
Then I wrote the story and, yeah, it’s nothing like my original idea.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My best writing takes place in a closet. Like a 3×3 walk-in closet with floor-to-ceiling shelves. That way I can sit on my exercise ball, or stand up when I write. I also say the words I write out loud. It makes it easy for me to quickly self-edit as I move along.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I know it’s cliche, but Stephen King. I started reading him around the age of thirteen, and I started writing soon after that. Even when he writes a crap book, the emotions we feel toward his characters, the way we connect with them, it made me want to explore those feelings. All my novels feature monsters that are more character-based than monster-based, even though there is a monster, but that’s very King inspired.
Thomas Ligotti and Cormac McCarthy have inspired my latter years of writing. I love the grit of McCarthy, and how Ligotti can tell a story so steeped in the real world, that the supernatural comes off as psychotic or incomprehensible, and that makes it so terrifying–because it is real, at least to the person experiencing it, and they’re alone and isolated in that experience.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a horror trilogy titled the Mask of Silence. It’s my take on the slasher genre, which, funny enough, I’m not a huge fan of. I tend to avoid slashers because there’s no character development, just awesome kills.
So I wanted to write a slasher I’d enjoy. A terrifying creature killing a bunch of misguided teens who are actually relatable and likable.
Five friends accidentally summon a demon that will stop at nothing to kill them all. The first book comes out sometime next month.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Closing my eyes, crossing my fingers, and praying as loudly as possible.
I’m actually learning this promotion thing as I go. Right now, I’m just trying to put out good books on a regular basis, using some AMS advertising, and trying to connect with the reading community.
I’m a reader and I understand that readers don’t want to be marketed to. They just want to disappear into an awesome world for so many hours and experience life through a new lens. I feel my best promotion comes through my books, as I hope to create that experience for my readers.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read a lot, and read what you love. Write a lot, and write what you love. Write because you love it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writers write.
What are you reading now?
Go follow me on Goodreads and you’ll always know what I’m reading! See that. Promotion. I’ve been working on it. 🙂
Currently, I’m reading “Room” by Emma Donoghue, “Endurance” by Jack Kilborn, “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” by Alan Moore, and “Pines” by Blake Crouch. I always read about 4-5 books at a time. Got one for every aspect of my life: car, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom. 🙂
What’s next for you as a writer?
Write more books. What else is there for a writer?
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Do series count as 1 big book?
Stephen King’s The Shining.
Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles
AND
Stephen King’s Gunslinger series.
I may have cheated, but…oh well.
Author Websites and Profiles
Alex C. Gates Website
Alex C. Gates Amazon Profile
Alex C. Gates’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account