Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Like a lot of writers, I’ve harbored the writing dream since I was a teenager, sending off my invariably rejected short stories, while reading novels and thinking, “I could do that.” Lo these many years later (“Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.”–John Lennon) I’ve written six (one for NaNoWriMo), but only have self-published two, through Amazon. The others I now consider my “learner” novels. A couple were good enough to get me an agent–one got as far as a final review from a major NY agency–but as anyone who’s gone down that road knows, it’s a long slog, only slightly less painful than banging one’s head against a brick wall. But I’m a stubborn little cuss, and along came Amazon. Dracula Lives is my second one there.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Dracula Lives. I guess all ideas, as they bounce around in a writer’s brain, start as the “what if?”. And we always get the advice, “Write what you know.” And I know and love the old Universal horror classics, and haunted castle stories, and Roger Corman’s Poe movies with Vincent Price, and I wanted to write something that captured some of that. When Universal started making the so-called “monster rally” movies in the forties, Dracula Meets the Wolf Man and so on, I wanted to capture all of that in my novel–while of course figuring out an original story.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, but my writing space has a little plastic figure of Edgar Allan Poe with a Raven on his shoulder, sitting in the corner, looking over my shoulder, if you will.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Dean Koontz, certainly. I consider him the level to aspire to. The Exorcist is a book that burned into me.
What are you working on now?
Here’s my plan as a horror writer: I want to write a series of books (not necessarily having the same character; some might, but some will be standalones) under the umbrella of what I’m calling Tales from the Shadowland. They will be unabashed horror stories for adults. Dracula Lives is the first. Currently I’m working on the next. Think Alien meets Jurassic Park (again I’m channeling movies I love).
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
To be honest I haven’t done enough promotion to have a really good idea about that, but for Dracula Lives, I made it free the first official day of its launch, and bought an ad at FREEBOOKSY to promote that. I was very pleased. In that one day I went to #2 in one of my categories (I’ll never know if it made it to number 1, couldn’t keep my eyes open until midnight). I got 1400 downloads, and I’m sure that was mostly because of the ad.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t overthink it or agonize. If you think you can do this–to borrow Nike’s line–JUST DO IT! There are a bazillion books and articles about HOW TO WRITE A BOOK–and I read a ton, and too much of that can just clog up your brain. For every piece of advice that says do this, there’s a piece advice that says don’t do that. Here’s an example about whether or not to outline: Jeffrey Deaver, highly acclaimed thriller writer, says he “absolutely” outlines, and quite extensively. Michael Connolly, highly acclaimed writer of crime novels, says he never commits a word to paper before he starts the novel. Everyone’s brain is hard-wired in a unique way for processing information, and you have to come with a method that works FOR YOU.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I’ve heard it many different ways, but what it boils down to is to use the material that’s inside of you to write. It’s the one unique thing you to have to offer the world–your stories and your voice. Simply copying trends and writing what everyone else is writing won’t do. One way I’ve seen that expressed that I really like is: The suit of clothes that looks good on someone else will rarely look good on you.
What are you reading now?
To be honest, right now I don’t read in the traditional sense of sitting down and reading a book from beginning to end for pleasure. I’ve read many many books, and have many around that I want to read, but lately I’ll just pick up a book to see how other writers handle the technical stuff: the “he saids/she saids”, how often they paragraph, how long their chapters are, and so on.
What’s next for you as a writer?
As touched upon in a previous comment, developing my “brand” of Tales from the Shadowland and writing the stories for that.
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 Exorcist; Jaws; The Keep
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