Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! I write novels, screenplays, and short fiction. Mostly thrillers, horror and sci-fi.
Darksight is my first published novel. A few others are in the works.
Here are some of my short stories: The Trauma Eater appeared in Sanitarium Magazine; Ellie was published in Lamplight; Fireworks and a Kiss at the End of Time and Installation #17 both appeared in Bards and Sages Quarterly. My horror story The Frequency of Souls will appear in an upcoming issue of Ghostlight: The Magazine of Terror.
Many, many thanks to these magazines for publishing those stories!
I’m thrilled that my screenplay, Emergence, was awarded second place for Feature Screenplay at 2018 VisionFest.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Darksight was inspired by a very real medical phenomena called blindsight. It’s the amazing ability that some individuals with cortical blindness have to “see” objects they can’t see. With that type of blindness, the retina and optic nerves still function, but the part of the brain that processes vision — the visual cortex — is badly damaged. Yet some people with cortical blindness are still “aware” of objects they can’t consciously see. That is, they see without seeing.
Darksight takes blindsight to new and terrifying levels.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I try to dictate stories into my phone when I’m out and about. Doesn’t always work. But the results can be hilarious. Every third word gets mangled into something else!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Michael Crichton was a big influence. He could take real medical phenomena and state-of-the-art science and craft gripping thrillers.
And I greatly admire Ray Bradbury for his elegant prose and the humanity of his stories.
What are you working on now?
Next up is a novel called Artemesia. Three damaged individuals — each suffering a different kind of phantom pain — are caught in the web of the young and mysterious Artemesia.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Goodreads. NetGalley. And Awesome Gang, of course!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Well, get an agent if you can. Mine is Lisa Abellera at Kimberley Cameron & Associates.
Many, many thanks to her for all her hard work!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t fear the comma splice. It’s your friend.
What are you reading now?
Catching up on some vintage sci-fi: The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I need to get that novel Artemesia out into the world.
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?
The Lord of the Rings, since it’s nice and long. And a how-to book on how to construct a boat from palm fronds. And a book on how to swim, of course, for when the boat sinks.
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