1. Tell us about yourself and your most current project/s?
I’m a Milwaukee, Wisconsin native who recently published his first novel, Legend Has It, through Rowan Prose Publishing. I have a background in journalism, magazines and marketing. In my spare time, I have three loves: writing, acting and singing. I also am a huge movie buff and love most genres, with horror being one of my preferences. I’m also a sports fan (I play basketball) and love watching football, baseball and basketball. I’m a fan of the hometown Wisconsin teams (Packers, Brewers, Bucks).
At the moment, I’m doing post-launch marketing for Legend Has It, while also working on the sequel.
2. Where did the inspiration/idea come for this project?
Legend Has It came out of two ideas: The first is a long-standing Midwest rumor about a 10-story traveling haunted house attraction that can be found in some obscure location. You sign a waiver to enter, but the house is designed to keep you from finishing. Trap doors. Looping hallways. Live snakes and insects. Actors that can not only touch you but throw you out of the house. If you make it to the top, you win a large cash prize and bragging rights.
As stated, however, this haunted house is a myth, yet whispers of its existence still pass through haunted house circles every October. As a kid, I thought it would be so cool to visit a house like this, but alas, it wasn’t real. But what if it was? What would it look like and how challenging would it be?
The second idea came to me when I was visiting a haunted house several Octobers back. About midway through, this thought popped into my mind: What would I do if every threat in this house was real? Would I be able to survive?
With that, I fused those two ideas together, added a nostalgic protagonist and created Legend Has It.
3. What does the writing process look like for you?
For me, it’s fairly straightforward. I sit down in my writing nook or a quiet corner of my house and let the ideas flow. If it’s a short story, I’ll usually just write with a loose outline in my head. If it’s a longer story, like a novel, I tend to create a flexible outline, mainly about the characters and certain narrative beats and moments. After that, I use it as a guide, but do my best to let the story flow out naturally based on what I have in mind and how the characters will react in any situation. Additionally, I see my stories play out as movies in my head and write down what I see. A friend of mine described my writing as cinematic, and I think that’s fairly accurate.
4. How do you handle writer’s block?
Walks. Honestly, stepping away from the computer and walking tends to help my mind churn through a problem and eventually find an answer. That, or a I find that when I’m lifting weights that a lot of solutions and new ideas come to me. It seems exercise is the key for me.
5. How do you feed your creativity when feeling drained?
I’ll either watch a movie, read or listen to a podcast or YouTube video about storytelling. I find that these things tend to jumpstart my creativity when I feel it lacking.
6. What advice would you give writers who feel stuck or uninspired?
This will likely come off as cliche, but the best advice I can give you is keep writing. Any writing you do is reps, and the more reps you do, the better you get at it. I realized this as I looked back on all the short stories I wrote as a kid (and I wrote a lot of them). They felt useless at the time because not many people read them or were going to read them. But they all served as a great training ground of creative expression. Nothing you write is ever in vain. It all builds toward something. So yes, keep writing. It’s so worth it.
7. Have you ever thought about giving up writing? If so, what pulled you back?
I’ve been fortunate that I haven’t hit that point in my life. I’ve felt lost in the process of finding a publisher for Legend Has It, and wondering if it would ever make it as a novel, but writing is something that feels very much a part of me. It’s helped me express myself creatively and has been a therapeutic resource when life gets heavy.
8. How do you keep your voice or ideas fresh over time?
I think it goes back to me consuming media that has great storytelling and ever greater characters. When I was growing up, my grandma would let us watch episode of The Twilight Zone. The storytelling and the concepts always intrigued me, and it helped me think about the stories the resonate the most with wider audiences. They tend to be those that look at the human condition and the emotions that come with it. So I try to think about that and what stories are worth telling from my own experiences, whether they are personal to me or someone close to me. That, and my mind is always churning through ideas.
9. What do you wish more people understood about the creative process?
There is no be-all, end-all way to go about the creative process. Yes, there are books dedicated to the craft, but in the end, there is no right or wrong way to go about it. Whatever works for you is the way you should approach it.
10. What is the most honest thing you’ve ever written - and did it scare you?
I wrote a love poem a few years back that stretched my emotional bandwidth. I don’t know if it scared me, but it was real and incredibly vulnerable. I had to dig deep and I’m thankful I did.
Where can my audience find you and your work?
The best place to find it is my author website