Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m the author of several young adult horror and children’s picture books. My adult horror stories have appeared in Dark Dossier, Grotesque Quarterly, Horror Bites, The Horror Zine, Infernal Ink Magazine along with many other publications. I am the co-creator of Felipe Femur, a free children’s website about a skeleton and his monstrous friends (www.felipefemur.com).
In total, I have written ten children’s and middle grade fiction books, the most popular of which are “Skeleton in the Closet,” my collection of illustrated middle grade horror stories, and “Felipe Femur,” my children’s picture book about a friendly skeleton that spawned the free children’s website of the same name.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Currently, I am focusing much more on getting my short horror stories published in a series of horror magazines in preparation of the release of my adult horror anthology, but the latest book I published was “Skeleton in the Closet and Other Scary Stories” (the audiobook being the latest version). A middle grade collection of horror, the book is heavily inspired by the books that haunted my own childhood, namely R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series and Alvin Schwartz’ “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” the version with illustrations by Stephen Gammell. I’ve always been drawn to horror and I noticed there wasn’t all that many recent horror books for middle grade readers, so I thought I’d give it a try.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I doubt it’s all that unusual, but I need noise. A fan will do. Concerts in my teens and twenties left me with a mild case of tinnitus and I have a hard time concentrating in complete silence because of it. Other than that, I often work on several projects at once. I know many writers like to concentrate on one piece at a time, so me jumping back and forth might be seen as a bit unusual.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
First and foremost, I’m a huge fan of Shirley Jackson and literary horror in general. Richard Matheson, Slyvia Plath, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Haruki Murakami, Stephen King, Alice Sebold, Natsume Sōseki, Ramsey Campbell, and Banana Yoshimoto are also big influences on my work. For my children’s and middle grade fiction books: Alvin Schwartz, R.L. Stine, J.K. Rowling, and Shel Silverstein.
What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a tarot card themed collection of adult horror stories and getting various stories from the collection published in horror publications. I’m also working on getting my first novel published.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still learning the promotion part of being an author, but I seem to have the most success with Book Hippo, Twitter, and Reddit. You have to be sure to find the right subreddit to post in or it could backfire.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write every day. Even if it’s just a sentence or two, those few lines are still something that’ll help you get in the habit. Beyond that, pay attention to how people talk in everyday life and try to replicate that in your fictional dialogue to make sure it comes across as realistic. Also try to avoid adjectives and passive voice.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
For writing? Don’t over complicate the language. Use simple words over complicated ones, such as “guts” instead of “gastrointestinal tract.” In other words, don’t go through your manuscript with a thesaurus changing words to make yourself sound more intelligent. You’ll only lose or annoy your audience.
What are you reading now?
I’ve finally gotten around to reading “House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski and that requires a real effort, so I’m mainly focused on that. However, I’m also reading “The Virgin Suicides” by Jeffrey Eugenides. Similar to my writing style, I tend to read several books at once rather than one at a time. As such, I’m also working my way through several horror e-books, including “A Head Full of Ghosts,” “And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe,” “I Am Not Your Final Girl,” and “Unhinged.”
What’s next for you as a writer?
As always, I plan to continue to hone my craft and learn new things. I also hope to publish my collection of unnerving adult horror stories within the next year and get my first novel published as I finish writing my second.
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?
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