1.Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.
There is a rock near Congaree River in West Columbia. If you look directly across the river from that rock you can see what looks like a cave, or maybe even a doorway. That is where I resided, near the river with my wife and two kids, who are a little on the insane side. I have bruises and scratches to prove it.
Where are you from?
A little backwards town called Cayce, just a hop skip and a jump away from the capital of South Carolina.
How long have you been a "published" author and what was your first publication?
My first publication was a story called ‘Diane’s a Whore and Simeon’s Payback’ and it appeared at The-House-of-Pain website in 2003. At that time I was just kind of dabbling in writing and had received . . . are you ready for this? . . . over one hundred rejections before that first publication.
Are you married?
Yes. My wife, Catherine, is a lovely woman with a LOT of patience. And that is an understatement. She is, essentially, the reason I write; she encouraged me to give it a shot and then to stick with it.
Do you have children?
Yes. My daughter is a cross between Wednesday Addams and Mandy from ‘The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.’ My son thinks he is a race car. They are both very unique with their own personalities and, unfortunately, they both have a little bit of me in them.
What does your family think of your writing?
My wife encourages me and wades through a lot of the bad stuff that no other readers get to see, so she definitely supports it. My daughter kind of shrugs it off, but my son likes to pretend he is me and type on the key board as if he is writing a story.
Do you have a job outside of writing fiction? If so, does this job hinder or assist your writing - beyond finances?
I have a full time job that I love. Even the hard parts of my job are better than the easiest parts of most previous jobs I have had. Plus, in my down time, I write and my bosses are fine with that. Honestly, I started the job I am at in 2004 and started writing more just to fill the down times. Then in 2005 I decided to take it seriously and having the job I have has enabled me to pursue the writing dream.
2. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I’m not sure I have any writing quirks, so to speak. I think the only thing that I would consider a quirk is that allow the mood I am in to dictate the stories I write. Oh, wait, I think this is more of a quirk: I listen to Motorhead’s ‘The Game’ before I sit down to write.
3. Where do you get the majority of your information or ideas for your stories?
Anywhere. Everywhere. Writing prompts, contests, the leaves on the ground, a toothache, a phone booth in the middle of a field in Tennessee, random conversations from people passing by. Really, anything. Songs are a HUGE influence.
4. Approximately how many published stories have you written?
Umm . . . 107 stories have been published with more slated for the near future.
How many published stories have you written this year?
26 to date, so we’ll see what happens. I made it a point to submit a LOT this year and there are still about 30 or so stories out there in Rejection Land waiting to get back to me.
Which is your all time favorite?
That’s a tough one. I’m going to say ‘The Woodshed,’ which appeared in Dark Distortions Anthology in 2008. It’s the story that made me take writing seriously. The Woodshed
Which is your best story of 2009?
I think my best story of 2009 hasn’t been published yet. But, out of the ones that have been published I think ‘Apartment 306’ which appears at SNM Horror Magazine, is the best of the bunch. Apartment 306
5. Do you hear from your readers much?
What kinds of things do they say? Until recently, not much. A couple of years ago I received fan mail for a story that made a woman cry. It was a sad story, so the fact that I made someone feel the pain of the main character made me feel like I had done my job as a writer.
Just recently I have discovered I have a fan—an actual fan. When I found out I thought it was cool that someone would enjoy my work. And in the last couple of weeks I have found that since I have a fan, I don’t want to disappoint her, so I’ve been trying harder and harder to write good stories and I’ve been gearing them toward this fan.
I’ve always had a saying: True horror to a writer is not having someone to read the stories they’ve written. Now that I have someone admiring my work, I want to keep that fan and get as many more as I can.
6. What about the horror genre interests you?
Almost everything. I'm not a big fan of happy, sappy, cheerful fiction, either in the written word or television or movies or even music. I love the band R.E.M but the song "Shiny Happy People" makes me want to throw up.
Horror is a taboo for the majority of people. It's something they'll watch or read in their homes with no one around to catch them with their guilty pleasure. It's something that when someone asks me what type of stories do I write and I tell them horror they crinkle their noses like they just smelled something nasty. It's quite funny, actually. I had one woman ask me why I was so evil. What? Where did that come from?
For me, the reaction to horror is, in itself, enough for me to want to write it. But, to be honest, I've always had a dark humor and I've always liked scary things. Halloween is my favorite 'holiday' and October is my favorite month, just because it is the one month we're aloud to talk about scary stuff without someone getting all uppity about it.
Horror is my flavor . . .
7. What scares you?
Not much. Horror movies do nothing for me, but I watch them in hopes of getting scared. I would say the one thing that really scares me is anything happening to my family. I am very much one of those folks who worries about their children and spouse a lot.
8. What was your first introduction to horror literature, the one that made you choose that genre to write?
I don’t remember what my first introduction to horror literature was, but I do recall the movie that started it all. Godzilla! Seriously. Godzilla scared the crap out of me when I was three. Mom was watching it and I went to asks her something and he appeared on the television screen and I ran and hid behind the t.v. Occasionally, I would peek out, but it wouldn't last long.
The first horror movie I ever saw was Salem's Lot, which came out in 1979, I think. I was nine at the time and my parents didn't know we were watching it. There are these two brothers in them that reminded me of my brother and myself. Well, the little one gets attacked by the vampire and then comes back to get the brother. The younger brother scratching on the window asking the other one to open up and then biting him on the neck scared me, but it also hooked me.
9. Do you ever come up with anything so wild that you scare yourself; that leaves you wondering where that came from?
Not really. If something pops in my head and I ponder it for any length of time, it's going to be a story by the time it's passed out of my thoughts. Even if the story is a bit disturbing or creepy or even sick, it doesn't bother me. It may bother others, which I think is a good thing . . .
10. Beyond your own work (of course), what is your all-time favorite horror book and why?
"It," by Stephen King. How can you not like a killer clown? I love the way the story unfolded, even if a bit fantastical at points. I didn't care much for the ending but the rest of it was great, in my opinion.
And what is your favorite book outside of the horror genre?
"Where the Wild Things Are," by Maurice Sendak. Does that count? It was the first book I remember having read to me and I read it to my kids all the time. I guess a more apt book would be "The Red Badge of Courage," By Stephen Crane. I read this when I was little and didn't get a lot of it at the time but the image of Jim Conklin that Henry Fleming, the main character, knew from before the battle where he fled instead of fought, and how Conklin reacted before he died stuck with me. The whole death scene was horrific.
11. Do you look to your own phobias to find subject matter?
No. My only real phobia is of snakes and I've written snake stories without really thinking much about it. If the snake fits the story then it goes in there.
Are your stories the products of nightmares, childhood experiences, fantasies? Some yes, most no. I think most stories that any author writes will have a piece of them in it, whether intentionally or not. Stories I write involving kids on a mission or something like that are based, in large part, on my childhood and friends, where I grew up, but very few of the horrific ones have anything to do with me, personally. I've written many stories on child abuse, but wasn't abused as a child myself. However, a LOT of folks I knew/know were and the horror stories they tell curdles the stomach and makes the skin crawl.
I do find that stories written based on true life tend to be more realistic, tend to have more bite and impact to them.
12. Where do you as an author draw the line on gory descriptions and/or erotic content?
Gore for gore's sake and sex for sex sake sucks. I try to imply what is going on. I do tend to show blood but not necessarily the visceral type. I wrote a story a few years ago where a serial killer answered questions that a news reporter asked in an article, basically in blasting killers and their 'need' to get off on murder. The killer in the story read the article and answered each question as he tortured the journalist until he finally killed the guy. It was VERY graphic and when I was done with it, it made my stomach turn.
Some stories are just graphic by nature. I wrote another one a couple of years ago based on The Rape of Nanjing, real events that happened in China some 70-80 years ago. What the soldiers did to those people was horrific and I did a lot of research on it. By the time I was done with the story I felt sick to my stomach and questioned my sanity.
13. Do you ever research real events, locations, legends, or myths to get ideas?
Yes. Especially legends and myths. I use a lot of Native American legends in stories. I come from the Cherokee blood line and know a lot of Native Americans here and have been able to gleam the true legends of the Cherokee nation—many of which a lot of folks haven't heard. It makes the stories richer.
14. What are your top ten writing tips for an aspiring horror author?
I don't know if I can give ten tips, but, rather, a couple of thoughts, and they are all centered on being human.
First of all, writing is hard. If you are not blessed with the skills to write then you have to work at it. To steal from the cliché: practice makes perfect. With writing, you constantly have to practice, which means writing EVERY day. The more you write, the more you get a feel for it and the better you get.
Writers have to have VERY thick skin. There are more critics than writers and there are also those individuals who tend to feel threatened by newbies and have no problems tearing down someone. So, it helps if you're tough and can take criticism and take it with a smile or a shrug. You're not going to please everyone and you’re not going to like everyone, so I've found that the less you wear your emotions on your sleeves then the better off you are.
Confidence is important as well. It's tough to keep a positive attitude when you receive rejection after rejection, but like anything anyone is good at, you have to have confidence in your abilities. If you don't, it shows up in your writing, your cover letter, your submissions in general. Like I stated before I received around a hundred rejections before my first story was accepted—I could have quit, but I wanted that acceptance so I made it my goal to get a story published. Then when it happened I just kept going.
It's okay to get upset if you get rejected. Fuss about it for a minute or two and get over it. Never let it get you down too much.
Writing may be a solitary performance but having writing buddies or being part of a writing network where folks can critique your stories and help you to hone your skills is always a good idea, in my opinion. We writers think everything we pen is gold—it's not. Often we are too close to a story to be able to see its flaws. Having several other sets of eyes looking over the work can improve a story and improve its chances of getting published.
One thing I think is imperative is: Don't make a bunch of folks within the writing community mad. No one is an island and no one gets anywhere in this business without some help. The better you get along with folks, the better things are for you. If you get pissy and fuss about a rejection to the editor who rejected you, chances are next time they see a submission with your name on it, they will reject it, unread.
The horror community is very tight knit. And we talk among ourselves. You may anger an editor of a pro publication and then that individual may say something in venting to another person that gets to another individual and then the cycle has begun. It's easier to ruin a good reputation than to fix a bad one.
Flame wars on forums are the same way. I know several great writers who have few friends because of flame wars—they only do damage and makes those involved look stupid.
15. What is your take on the reason for the shrinking number of pro-rate short story horror markets?
I don't think it is just the pro-rate markets but the markets across the board are shrinking. Most of the established pro markets are still around and some new ones have popped up in the past year. I think it is the semi-pro and for the love markets that are hurting the most. A good chunk of that is akin to self inflicted gunshot wounds.
This is how I see it: A new publication pops up, looks great, shows some promise. They put out an issue and folks like it, so they dream bigger. Let's put out books or an anthology and let's seek bigger authors that we have to pay for (or pay more for if they are already a paying market) and then, if they are an online publication, they look at that first 1 or 2 issues and decide to go to print, where the costs can be jacked up and the expenses can't be covered. Basically, what I am saying is that a LOT of newer publications move too fast. They don't develop a following before the expand.
Most of the horror publications that survive over time start out small, with a goal of putting out good fiction, maybe some interviews and non-fiction as well, but for the most part, it is about the fiction. They take their time, build up a fan base, advertise on all the various forums and networking sites out there and then, after significant success, they expand. Those publications have also researched the expenses and made sure the funds are there to cover those costs. The key for them surviving is not getting in over their heads.
Also, a lot of 'for the love,' or non-paying markets shoot themselves in the foot because they will not accept reprints. If a story was good enough to be published before, be it in a paying publication or not, then chances are the story is still a good reprint. Not all stories, mind you, but many of them. I think non-paying markets would benefit if they accepted reprints, but many of them won't and many authors feel like they are 'giving stories away,' if they sub it to a non-paying market, so they don't. Not getting enough quality submissions KILLS non-paying publications.
16. What is your realistic professional writing goal, in reference to what you hope your writing career will look like within the next five years?
None of my goals are realistic. I set my goals way too high on purpose. That's not true. Each year I set different goals for myself. I look at the previous year's goals and determine whether I met them or not. If I have, I move onto something loftier. If not, well, I work on them until I achieve them.
The one thing I would like to do is change the way people look at short fiction. We are in a day and age where folks have such little attention spans. It's as if everyone in the world has some form of ADD or ADHD when it comes to reading. If it doesn't grip them and if it is longer than a couple of thousand words, folks don't read the stories. What I want to do is put the life back into stories. I don't want the wham-bam-thank you ma'am fiction we have out there now. I want stories that give us good descriptions and characters and plots that feel resolved in the end. I want people to get back to writing the short story like they would a novel—build it up, make the conflict feel real, fall in love with your characters so you can feel their pain, especially if you have to kill them off. I want stories to live and not within the confines of a word count. It's somewhat of an unrealistic goal, but it is what I would like to see happen. I'm working on it. The problem is not a lot of editors like those kinds of stories. I don't hook you right away and I still have a long way to go before I am even remotely a good writer.
Where do I see myself in 5 years?
In the mountains, chopping wood and building a fire in the fireplace. . . That's what I would like, at least. As far as writing is concerned, I want to be more known and respected, I want, like every writer, people to enjoy my work and want more of it.
17. What is your biggest personal writing success story?
Getting any story published… Honestly, having people who like what I write. Recently, I discovered I have a fan. An actual living, breathing, gun-toting (well, maybe not gun-toting) fan. I was pleasantly surprised and thought, Wow, someone I don't know likes something I have written. I've always said that true horror to a writer is to have no one to read what they have written, and to know that there is this one lady out there who really enjoys my stories makes me feel really good.
It also puts the pressure on to continue to write better, if not for anyone else but that lady.
18. How do you plan to promote your writing in the near future and what role will the internet play in this endeavor?
This is where I fall down the most. I am notoriously slack at this. Growing up, I was taught not to brag, that bragging made good people look foolish and bad people look pathetic. And, though self promotion is not necessarily bragging, it feels like it to me and it makes it hard for me to slip it past that mean old part of my psyche that has a gun and shock paddles.
Sometimes I do good with it and post things up on blogs and networking sites, but if I am going to get out there, then I'm going to have to do it more religiously.
The internet plays a MAJOR role in marketing yourself these days and I am sure, once I get passed that bragging guard I'll be able to do it more frequently. It's the only way to change the world, one reader at a time.
19. Who or what has helped you improve your writing the most?
If you can't tell by now, I'm a very long winded individual. This answer will probably be longer than the others. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee and put the feet up.
When I started submitting stories to various markets my writing was a joke. Seriously. It sucked. I received around a hundred rejections before someone finally took one of my stories. I was happy to say the least, but reflecting back and looking at that story now, I can only shake my head, knowing how horrible my stories were at that time. Even now, I still think a good chunk of what I write is lacking in quality.
I subbed a story to Boyd Harris over at Cutting Block Press. The rejection came, but with it were comments on what I needed to work on to make the story better. I was invited to an online workshop and, hesitantly, joined. My first day browsing through the online community I thought 'there's no way I can compete with these folks.' The stories I read intimidated me—and that's not easy to do.
I posted a story to be workshopped and several people gave me their thoughts and pointed out things that needed work. I pondered for a while before making up my mind that I really wanted to try and take this seriously. From there, I started asking questions—and I was probably an annoying new writer for a couple of years.
I made the mistake of trying to work on everything at once: character build up, using the senses, POV, passive/active voice, tenses and everything else in between. It frustrated me. Finally, I started over and focused on one thing at a time, mastered it and then found another flaw and focused on it. I still do that and each day, each story I write gets a little better, if only on the thing I am consciously trying to correct.
During that first year Erik Williams critiqued, I think, every story I posted and all of his thoughts were pretty much spot on. Petra Miller did something similar. She read a story of mine and said it's okay, but I needed to step out of my comfort zone—write something more daring, less what I am comfortable with. If there was ever someone that was right, it was her.
Honestly, I could go on and on and on with folks who have really helped me a lot. Frank Hutton, Molly Feese, Fran Friel, John Miller. But, I think that other writers in general have helped just by what they write. If I read something by John Mantooth and say, 'wow' then I look at the story, read it for the way it is written and see if there is something I can get out of how he wrote a story—the technical aspects of it are where I struggle the most, so when someone writes technically sound the way he does, it's well worth the time to study the way he writes.
20. Are there any books or links you would like to promote?
Is this where we get to brag? There are so many places I like and so many I could point out, but I'll list only a few dozen here. Just kidding—but you can check out the following places if you would like. Some carry stories of mine, others are places I like.
SNM Horror Mag
The Odd Ramblings of AJ Brown
AJ's Myspace
Patchwork Project
Liquid Imagination
