1. Tell us about yourself and your most current project/s?
I’m a horror and weird fiction writer based in Sydney, where I live with my wife, daughter, and our two dogs. I write in the little snatches of time I can find around a full-time job and family life—usually early mornings, late nights, or whenever the chaos briefly quiets down.
Friends would probably describe me as a book nerd and movie buff. I’m also a bit of a hobby collector—I play guitar, dabble in sketching, and I’ve been known to roll some dice in a Dungeons & Dragons game now and then. I’ve been writing for about nine years, but things really got serious in 2019 when I launched my own imprint, Dual Crows Press.
Since then, I’ve had some short fiction published, and last year, I was lucky enough to win the 2024 AsylumFest Ghost Story Competition here in Australia. (AsylumFest, if you haven’t heard of it, is a fantastic three-day horror event held in a repurposed 1800s psychiatric hospital—perfect vibes for horror writers.)
Most recently, I’ve released both a short story collection, Strange Murmurings, and my debut novel, Blood Tide. The novel is a creature feature with a supernatural thriller edge—dark, atmospheric, and bone-chilling, with enough twists and suspense to (hopefully) keep readers hooked all the way to the final page.
2. Where did the inspiration/idea come for this project?
You never know where inspiration will strike. Sometimes it’s just a snippet of an idea sparked by a movie, a book, or even a song. For me, the inspiration behind Blood Tide came from a mix of different places. I realized that the merman (“deep one”) is a pretty underused monster in horror fiction. We’ve seen countless stories about vampires and zombies, but the humble sea demon? Not so much. So, I thought, why not write a story that brings that creature into the spotlight. Something that would entertain readers and send a chill down their spines.
The elevator pitch for Blood Tide is: Creature from the Black Lagoon meets Phantom of the Opera. Or, The Little Mermaid meets Red Dragon.
Another major influence was an old 17th-century English folk ballad called The Demon Lover. It’s about a woman who leaves her family to run off with a former lover, only to find out he’s a demon. That got me thinking about the recurring figure in folklore: the dark stranger, the tempter. You see this in songs like Bob Dylan’s The Man in the Long Black Coat, and in the old ballad Black Jack Davey, which actually makes an appearance as an epigraph in the novel.
Temptation, sin, and desire are central themes in Blood Tide. I was intrigued by the idea that, in many horror stories, the characters don’t realize they’re in a horror story. To them, they’re living out an adventure, or in this case, a romance. They think they’re the hero. But little do they know...
I chose to set the story in Florida. It’s a bit of armchair travel for me, but also because it felt fresh—something different from the typical haunted castle or gloomy forest. A sun-soaked beach makes an eerie backdrop when you know something dark is lurking beneath the waves.
3. What does the writing process look like for you?
It’s a bit of a patchwork really. I have a full-time day job, so I’ve had to find ways to fit it in around the edges of my schedule. During the week, I’m up early, usually around 5:15 am. I feed the dogs, make a strong cup of coffee, and then try to get in about 45 minutes to an hour of writing before work. I also make use of my commute by getting some words down on my laptop. Noise-cancelling headphones are essential for that part.
Sundays are my big writing days, as long as I’m not looking after my daughter or tied up with chores. I’ll usually wake around 6:30 or 7 and try to carve out a solid three to six hours of focused time. Mornings tend to be when I do my best work—while I’m still fresh from sleep and there are fewer distractions.
I focus on one project at a time and switch between fast-drafting new material or revising what I wrote in the previous session. That said, I’ll occasionally write at night too, once everyone else has gone to bed, if I’m feeling inspired.
4. How do you handle writer’s block?
Hmm, good question. I don’t really believe in writer’s block in the traditional sense. I think it’s more accurate to call it what it is: “resistance.” Writing is hard. Getting started is hard. It’s meant to be a struggle. That blinking cursor on a blank screen can feel incredibly daunting, and that’s where a lot of procrastination comes from. But to me, it’s more of a hurdle than a barrier. You can get over it—you just have to push through.
One thing I’ve learned is that you have to get words down, even if they’re terrible. You can’t edit a blank page, and honestly, most first drafts are shit. That’s just part of the process. Get over it and keep moving.
When I’m feeling stuck, one strategy that often helps is writing to myself at the start of a session. I’ll literally type: “Today I’m going to write about...” and just ramble from there. It’s surprisingly effective. David Morrell—the guy who wrote Rambo—used to do the same thing, writing letters to himself to get the words flowing.
I also switch things up to keep the process fresh. Sometimes I’m on my desktop, other times my laptop, or even my typewriter. I’ll write longhand now and then, or dictate voice notes to myself if I’m on the move. I’ve found that changing the how can help shake loose the ideas. As long as I’m making progress, it counts.
And finally, just because you’re writing a linear story doesn’t mean you have to write it linearly. If a scene or chapter is giving me trouble, I’ll skip ahead and write something I am excited about. That excitement often fuels momentum. If it feels like a chore, it’ll read like one too—so I try to keep it fun where I can.
5. How do you feed your creativity when feeling drained?
For me, rest is a big part of the creative process. After finishing a novel and a short-story collection in the past year, I’ve definitely felt some fatigue, so I’ve had to give myself permission to step back. Sometimes that means skipping a writing session or even taking a few weeks off to do something I enjoy or to travel.
Reading is also essential. Taking in new stories and ideas not only fuels my own creativity but lets me observe how other writers approach their work. Writing is a craft, and staying inspired means continually learning and evolving. And honestly, not all of the process happens at the desk. I often find that ideas bubble up when I’m listening to audiobooks, reading on the train, or watching a film. Giving my subconscious space to wander leads to those little breakthroughs and new story ideas.
I love a quote from the late, great Leonard Cohen: “Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.” I take that as a reminder to actually go out and live—watch a sunset, wander through nature, sit in a café and people-watch. As writers, we’re essentially sponges; we absorb the world around us, and that’s what eventually finds its way onto the page.
6. What advice would you give writers who feel stuck or uninspired?
A lot of newer writers get stuck because they jump straight into a big project (like a novel) without much planning. It’s tempting to just sit down and start writing, to “pants” it, but that can quickly lead you into a corner. Even having a rough sense of the destination—what you’re ultimately writing toward—can save you from spending years on a project that stalls halfway through. I suggest starting with short stories. They’re a great way to build your skills, experiment with form, try out different ideas, settings, and points of view, and actually finish things. Finishing work, especially shorter pieces, builds confidence and teaches you what your own process looks like, which makes tackling a novel much less daunting.
When I’m stuck, it’s usually because I’ve pushed the story somewhere it doesn’t want to go. I’ll go back, look at the plot or structure, and figure out where it veered off. Sometimes that means deleting a chunk of work and starting over.
7. Have you ever thought about giving up writing? If so, what pulled you back?
Sure! When a paragraph just doesn’t sing and writing it feels like pulling teeth in the dark, it’s easy to think, ‘Wow, I’m a hack.’ When that happens, I step back and reconnect with why I write in the first place. I remind myself to write for the joy of it, even if no one ever reads it—because at the end of the day, we write for ourselves first—we’re our own best audience.
It can help to change things up. I usually keep a few projects on the go, so if the novel feels heavy that day, I’ll switch to a short story or a piece of flash fiction—or even a poem. A new form can get the creativity moving again.
8. How do you keep your voice or ideas fresh over time?
I jot down every small spark in an ideas notebook—there’s always a long line of “dominos,” but not all ideas are equal. Often the best ones come from combining two or three into something stronger. I’m a big believer in keeping it simple. Hemingway talked about boiling things down to the truest sentence, and I try to do that myself. I gravitate toward clean, unornate, almost Orwell-like writing. I also think cinematically. I treat the narrator’s point of view like a camera lens. Sometimes you’re in a wide shot setting the scene, other times you’re in a close-up inside a character’s head. I try to use the “Rule of cool?” If an idea genuinely excites me on the page, odds are it’ll excite the reader too.
9. What do you wish more people understood about the creative process?
I wish more people understood how much blood, sweat, and tears goes into the creative process. From the outside, a finished piece can look effortless, and that can make people think, “Oh, I could do that.” And my thought is always: So why haven’t you? The truth is, it’s hard. There’s research, learning your craft, building your toolkit, revising, and then revising again. A lot of people start books but don’t finish them. The trick of good writing is that it looks simple—when in reality, the simplest sentence is often the hardest one to get right. I also wish creative work was valued more. Writing, art, music…they’re not just hobbies. They’re the things that make our lives richer. Without them, the world would be pretty bleak. We’d have plenty of accountants and investment portfolios, but no portraits on the wall, no songs to fall into, no favourite book to escape into. And who wants to live in a world like that?
10. What is the most honest thing you have ever written - and did it scare you?
There have been multiple short stories…and especially my last novel, pushed me into uncomfortable territory. Writing, for me, is an exploration of the human psyche. It’s a bit like being a puppeteer—every character, from the hero to the antagonist, is some facet of you. Not your opinions or your voice necessarily, but an exaggeration, an inversion, or a shadow you might prefer to avoid. And some of those masks aren’t comfortable to wear. As a horror writer—someone who deals in nightmares—you inevitably have to confront your own fears and poke at cultural taboos. It can feel like swimming with sharks. So why do it? Because we’re all fascinated by sharks. We’re all drawn to what scares us. That tension is where the truth usually lives.
Where can my audience find you and your work?
You can seek me out at any of these places:
• Website
• Bluesky
• Goodreads
• Newsletter
• or just visit my Linktree.
