Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am fascinated with what scares people. I equate it with comfort food. Some people crave potato chips. Others seek solace in a bowl of ice cream. Give me a comfortable couch and a classic movie like John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN, or a well-worn Stephen King paperback, and I am in heaven. It’s my CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL.
After the publication of my short story NOT FAR FROM HERE (in Peter Straub’s GHOSTS anthology, 1995), I was sidelined into the workforce by familial and financial obligations—resulting in various jobs including a five-year tenure with (the sorely missed) Borders bookstore chain.
I live in northern Georgia, with my husband, my mother-in-law, and our pets.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
THE DEAD NEXT DOOR, is an homage to my favorite novel, I AM LEGEND, by Richard Matheson. Instead of vampires, it’s zombies—but the motif is still there… what would an average guy do alone in a world of the dead?
Will is not the gun-toting military type. He’s an ordinary man trapped in the most extraordinary of situations: a zombie apocalypse. His lakeside neighborhood has become one gigantic haunted house, the many doors of which he must enter to get the tools he needs to survive. Can Will adapt in this world where the rules have changed… permanently?
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I suspect many do this, but when re-writing and polishing, I read the novel aloud so I can hear the cadence and flow.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
A lot. Joe Lansdale immediately comes to mind. Armistead Maupin’s TALES OF THE CITY books sing to me. Stephen King is an immense talent and I am jealous of Anne Rice’s prose. Also David Sedaris, Robert McCammon, Richard Matheson, Clive Barker, Flanner O’ Connor, James Baldwin, Truman Capote, and Harlan Ellison. Really, it’s countless… this is just the top layer.
What are you working on now?
I am working on UNTITLED (Will to Live Book 2)… the further adventures of Will Rutledge in the Zombie Apocalypse.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is all relatively new to me. But I have been overwhelmed with the positive support of several folks I have met via Facebook zombie/apocalyptic fiction groups. So, I will probably promote on Facebook for sure.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what YOU like… what YOU want to read. You will find that there are many others out there who will want to read it too. Fall in love with your characters and others will too. The story will develop from your characters, you can plot a little… but once your characters come to life, they’re going to tell you where to go.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write with the door closed. Rewrite with the door open. –Stephen King
What are you reading now?
The Reddening by Adam Nevill
What’s next for you as a writer?
I write under 2 pen names, Timothy Warren (m/m romance) and T.W. Smith (horror). I have published the 1 novel as TW, and 2 as Timothy Warren. I am currently hard at work on future entries in BOTH series.
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 STAND by Stephen King. I AM LEGEND by Richard Matheson. TALES OF THE CITY by Armistead Maupin. INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE by Anne Rice. GIOVANNI’S ROOM by James Baldwin. If I could take a series of books, I would take TALES OF THE CITY (Maupin) and THE DARK TOWER (King). Wait! What about OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS (Capote) and A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND (O’Connor)? This is impossible!
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