Interview With Author Jason McFiggins
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I wrote about movies and interviewed filmmakers at MorbidlyBeautiful.com for six years starting back in 2016. Writing for the site was a time of personal growth for me as a writer, and taught me a lot about film. The highlight of my time there was a phone interview with Larisa Oleynik, star of Nickelodeon’s The Secret World of Alex Mack and 10 Things I Hate About You. I’ve handled social media for several independent films including Camp Dread, Killer Rack, Garlic and Gunpowder and Death House, and was a producer on Inverted and Guns of Eden.
Back in college I was a theater major. I worked on some plays and musicals at Genesee Community College, both backstage and on, as well as writing for a couple of original productions. Also, I was the best Tom Sawyer this side of the Mississippi. However, when it came to being in the chorus for H.M.S. Pinafore, I merely silently moved my mouth because I can’t sing. I was told I “had what it took to make it in this business.” But after my associate’s degree in Theater, I switched to English.
I received my bachelor’s degree in English at SUNY Brockport, and I’m glad I did. It was there that two of my professors, Steve Fellner and Anne Panning, really taught me not only how to write, but to listen to myself and find my writing style. I wrote several poems and short stories at this time that I’m very proud of. A few of the poems appeared in the literary magazine Jigsaw. Years later I’d have another poem published in the horror poetry anthology It Came From the Darkness.
Now I manage a warehouse for a furniture store and have just completed my first book. I do my writing and movie watching in Holley, NY with my girlfriend Sarah and our three cats, Norman Bates, Elvira and Shipka (named after Kiernan Shipka in The Blackcoat’s Daughter).
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is called Beyond The Film: The Making of VHS Favorites From the Video Store Era. I love movies and the passion behind making them. I also miss the days of going to the video store and I wanted to combine all of that in a meaningful way. I was watching The Last Drive In with Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder a few years back and it occurred to me how much I enjoyed listening to him talk about the making of the movies. I loved learning these stories. Then I thought, “I can do this!” Now, let’s be clear, there’s only one Joe Bob. But at least I can do my homework and research to share these behind the scenes stories as well. So I started to research and write.
Also, with Death House, I was actually invited on set by writer and director B. Harrison Smith and spent a couple days seeing how a film was made. It was an unforgettable experience, not to mention all of the cool horror actors I got to see work, including Kane Hodder, Dee Wallace and Barbara Crampton. That really got me going with exploring the behind the scenes making of films, and when I posted my article about my set visit on my blog it caught the eye of Stephanie Malone, the owner of Morbidly Beautiful. That’s how I joined that site. All of that ultimately led to my first book. So thank you Stephanie, Harrison, and Joe Bob!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure how unusual they are, but when it comes to poetry I usually can’t write until I know the color of the poem. What I mean by that is I will associate the poem with a color, maybe it’s brown or red or blue. Once that settles in I find it much easier to write, it helps me set the tone.
As for a story or article, I will use my laptop at home, but I mainly write on break at work. I like the short time frame, that way I know I have to get something done. I’ll use the draft section in my email and continually email myself back and forth from work to home and back again as I shape an article or story (I’m doing it now with this interview). Not the cleanest way to do it, but it works for me. It’s like completing bite sized chunks at a time. Every time I hit ‘send’ on the email feels like progress.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
This is tough to narrow down. It’s not so much a specific author or book, but rather a genre. Outside of the occasional history book, everything I read is a biography or memoir. I love reading about old Hollywood, like Veronica Lake or Jimmy Stewart, and not so old Hollywood like Andrew McCarthy or Robin Williams. I also like to listen to people read their own memoirs. I just finished listening to Jewel read her memoir Never Broken and it was fantastic.
What are you working on now?
I’m continuing with sharing behind the scenes stories from movies from the 1980s and ’90s. My book, Beyond The Film, goes in depth exploring the entire production of 16 films. But I want my next project to share behind the scenes facts of 500 movies, little 2-3 paragraph write ups. I’m doing this one film at a time on Instagram, posting 2-3 times a week at @beyondthefilmvhs. I started the account about a month ago at the time of this writing and have about 16 posts, so I have a ways to go. But when I get to 500, I’ll have my second book.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have an author page on Amazon, and that’s where my book can be found. But outside of sharing on Facebook and Instagram, I don’t have much of a marketing budget or a website or anything. Maybe for book number two…
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am a new author! So this is what worked for me. My advice, as simple as it sounds, is just to write. If you don’t force yourself to write today, you most likely won’t write tomorrow either. Days go fast and pages come slow. So, if you do the math it’s easy for a lot of time to pass if you put it off, and that’s all wasted pages. If you don’t know what to write, find a website that reflects your interests and see if they need a contributor. There are countless small websites of every interest to reach out to, and all of them have more article ideas than writers. You’ll most likely write for free, but you’ll be writing. And you’ll learn.
And read. Read everyday.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write too much. It’s easier to edit by cutting than to have to go back and add. That’s why every movie has deleted scenes.
What are you reading now?
I just went down a Muppet rabbit hole and read Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones and Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia by Natasha Lance Rogoff. Both were absolutely wonderful!
What’s next for you as a writer?
Besides my 500 movie facts book, I’ve always wanted to write a screenplay. I have no delusions about anything actually being made into a film, but it would be cool to write one. All you can do is try.
I also have this urge to write a Hallmark or Great American Family style Christmas movie. To allow yourself to get all warm and fuzzy and corny sounds fun.
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?
My favorite book of all time, Boy’s Life by Robert R. McCammon, Suzanne Finstad’s biography of Natalie Wood, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, and the complete collection of Emily Dickinson’s poems. If I could somehow sneak five I’d grab Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II by Robert Matzen.
Author Websites and Profiles
Jason McFiggins Amazon Profile
Jason McFiggins’s Social Media Links