1. Tell us about yourself and your most current project/s?
I’m a horror author, and I’m quite prolific, having published 17 novels. I write broadly within the genre, moving between different sub-genres. I’m always working on the next project, with more books to be published or queried next year. My most recent work is Words of Christ in Red, a religious horror novel about a hot tempered gay pastor trying to heal a rotting church in the rural south, and struggling with his faith and sanity in the face of an unhinged zealot.
2. Where did the inspiration/idea come for this project?
My mother had found a childhood Bible of mine, a gift on my 7th birthday. It’s a children’s Bible, with a soft illustrated Jesus on the cover, but on the spine it said “words of Christ in red”. For those unfamiliar, red letter Bibles are Bibles where every word Christ said is printed in red ink. And in that moment, it felt like an encapsulation of a certain kind of Christian, who does not worship Jesus, or God, or the Bible, but instead worships suffering. And the story spun out from that.
3. What does the writing process look like for you?
It’s changed over the years. I used to be a strict plotter, but I’ve shifted into a more hybrid style, where I build out story beats and character, turn that into an outline, but leave wiggle room to depart from the outline as I write. I write quickly and tend to finish drafts within two months on average.
4. How do you handle writer’s block?
Any “block” is due to one of two reasons: a problem with the work, or a problem with what’s inside your noggin. I figure out which it is, and then address it. Do I know not a character’s voice? Drill down into it. Am I facing some sort of philosophical crisis about writing? Then I have to resolve it.
5. How do you feed your creativity when feeling drained?
Go for a walk. No music, no audiobook, no phone, no people, if possible. Let my mind wander and rest.
6. What advice would you give writers who feel stuck or uninspired?
Read! Read new books in your genre! Expose yourself to new art, fresh perspectives, and things you could never write, either because of cultural perspective or stylistic differences.
7. Have you ever thought about giving up writing? If so, what pulled you back?
I think about the struggles of publishing all the time, but never if I would stop writing. Even if it was just me, I would still write.
8. How do you keep your voice or ideas fresh over time?
Challenge myself. Chase ideas that are mechanically or emotionally difficult to write, and face them down. Force myself to learn and adapt to new forms.
9, What do you wish more people understood about the creative process?
That it mostly boils down to work. To effort. Ideas are easy, and come freely. The work to turn those ideas into stories, to turn those stories into books, with hours and hours at a keyboard, with round after round of revisions, and then the cycle of publishing, marketing, and selling your books--it has everything to do with persistence and WORK.
10. What is the most honest thing you’ve ever written - and did it scare you?
I’d like to think that all my stories carry truth in them (I even have a novel called Truth), but my newest, Words of Christ in Red, feels raw in its honesty, and I’m very proud of it. It doesn’t scare me, not in the typical sense, but it does hurt.