Interview With Author Michael Kelso
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I only started writing books a little over ten years ago when I was a corrections officer. I used to read a lot, especially working night shift. One day the warden told us we were no longer allowed to read on post. So I said to myself, ‘Fine, if I can’t read books, I’ll write them.’ And an author was born.
At first, I wrote a lot of short horror stories. I would let my coworkers read them and they would say things like, ‘That’s sick… do you have any more?”
I’ve written over a dozen books. My first novel was published by a small press. It was a crime/mystery novel, ‘One on One’, that I have since written and self-published a sequel to, ‘Identity’.
I’ve also written 2 domestic thrillers, ‘Secrets’, and ‘Ties’.
But my real wheelhouse has been horror. My ‘Fragments of Fear’ series of short story books run the gamut of different themes mostly comparable to something you’d see on The Twilight Zone. But my ‘Dark Tales of Cryptids’ series sticks mostly with a ‘creatures, forest, cryptids’, theme. To date, my Dark Tales of Cryptids have been my most popular books.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘Misadventures of a Cryptid Hunter’.
Around a year and a half ago, I joined Reddit.com and started posting some of my stories, mostly on the Nosleep subreddit. I started writing more cryptid stories as I got into the site. Many narrators would ask permission to narrate my stories on their YouTube channel. I permitted them and the popularity of my stories grew. Eventually, I put the stories into a book, and ‘Dark Tales of Cryptids and Park Rangers’ was born.
As I wrote more stories, I started writing what would become, ‘Misadventures of a Cryptid Hunter’. I had so much fun writing the snarky, sarcastic main character that I just had to keep going to see where he would lead me.
One of the more popular YouTube narrators, ‘Mr Creeps’ agreed to narrate it and part 1 was quite popular. The video currently stands at over half a million views. I decided then to make parts 1 thru 3 into a novel. That’s where ‘Misadventures… ‘ came from.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write a lot of stories at once. I know most people say you shouldn’t do that, but what I do is write until I get stuck on a certain story. Then, instead of banging my head against the metaphorical wall with that story, I just pivot and work on another one I’ve started. If I get stuck on that one, I’ll go to another. This way each story is still moving forward.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Frankenstein is my favorite book. It’s very misunderstood because of the movies in the early days of cinema.
Lord of the Rings is also a big influence. Creating 3 distinctive and functioning languages just to write a book is just amazing. I once read LOTR 6 times in the space of a year.
Timothy Zahn is another major influence. He created my favorite character of all time, Grand Admiral Thrawn. I always say Thrawn is like Sherlock Holmes commanding a Star Destroyer.
I also have an author friend I met on Instagram, ‘Boris Bacic’. He is an amazing horror author and a good friend who is generous to a fault with writing and publishing advice. I can honestly say he helped me be a more successful author. My favorite book of his is, ‘They Came from the Mall’. It had me glued to the pages like no other book.
Frank Peretti is another amazing author who influenced me with his, ‘This Present Darkness’ and ‘Piercing the Darkness’ novels. My worldview was changed after reading those books.
Dawn Hosmer. A TikTok, author friend. Her paranormal thrillers, ‘Bits and Pieces’ and ‘Pieces and Parts’ were two completely addictive books that were impossible to put down.
RIP, Dawn.
What are you working on now?
I have a series of zombie books I’ve started writing. Book 1 is almost done.
This was taken from a book I wrote back when I first started writing. It was the first book I finished but didn’t publish it. I unfortunately lost the manuscript for several years, but just found it again in 2023. I reread it and knew there was a lot more story to it. So I started over, using the manuscript as an outline. I’m hoping to make it into a 4 or 5 book series and want to release book 1 in early 2024, then release the rest of them a month or 2 apart, having the whole series released before the end of 2024.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I wish I knew. Having a linktree to put all my writing eggs in one basket is definitely helpful.
I’m a member of quite a few Facebook group pages. I’ve tried making videos and posting them on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc. I try spreading my books all around social media. It’s difficult to tell what works and what doesn’t. Doing Facebook ads seems to get some attention.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write hot. Write as often as you can. Don’t worry if it’s crap or not, most likely it will be, keep writing. I once heard writing a first draft compared to shoveling sand into a sandbox. You’ll go back and make the sandcastles later.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Keep going.”
Also, the sandbox metaphor.
What are you reading now?
I’ve been so busy writing that I haven’t had much time to read, That’s one of my quirks. If I’m reading I can’t write. If I’m writing, I can’t read.
The last book I read was over 6 months ago and I believe it was one of Boris Bacic’s books.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Aside from my zombie series, I have sequels planned for 2 of my domestic thrillers and 1 for my crime/mystery novels. I may write those under a pseudonym since my horror books are my most popular and unfortunately, that popularity hasn’t crossed over into interest in my other books.
I also have another horror novel, as well as another short story collection in the works. Along with the next Misadventures of a Cryptid Hunter novel.
I’ve also dabbled in writing screenplays.
My goal is to one day be able to make writing my day job.
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 Bible, LOTR, Frankenstein, The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe.
Along with many notebooks and boxes of pens.
Author Websites and Profiles
Michael Kelso’s Social Media Links
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