What inspired me to become a writer?

When I was a kid, I used to fantasize about becoming a writer, and I honestly do not have a clue as to why I even had the slightest interest in becoming a writer. I guess I just had an inner calling to do so, because it was long before I had even read my first book. Weird, I know. And naturally, once I did start reading books, it only strengthened my interest to become a writer even more so. However, it wasn’t until I was well into my twenties that I got serious about writing. Or, I should rather say, when I got serious about getting published. That, I found out quick, fast and in a hurry, is a beast all its own. Holy shit the rejections! But, it’s like anything else that you fiercely desire in life: if you don’t have a naturally thick skin, you learn to grow one and push onward. I heeded to advise and suggestion, even if I didn’t fully agree with it, because the way I see it is that the publishers are the pros and therefore, they should know what they are talking about. In effect to that, I improved my stories and moved on to the next publisher. I didn’t quit, which eventually earned me my reward – being published.

What inspired me to write Embracing the Darkness?

I’ve been a horror fan ever since I can remember, which is due in part to my growing up during the time that I strongly believe as being horror’s most prolific decade – the 80’s. Not to totally disregard horror before or since, but 80’s horror simply rules!

Embracing The Darkness is my homage to that great period. Modernized with a totally unique story line, it is dark, erotic, disturbing, psychological, a bit humorous, and of course gory, but not solely for the sake of senseless gore. But, gory nonetheless.

What inspired me to write Shadowmancer?

As an extension to horror, the paranormal/supernatural genre fascinates the hell out of me, especially when heated by a high degree of eroticism. The whole idea of a supernatural entity with an insatiable sexual appetite is both startling eerie and breathtakingly erotic. Shadowmancer is that story.

Fun facts about Embracing The Darkness:

1.) A friend had been on my ass for awhile about writing him as a character in one of my books. While I was working on Embracing The Darkness, he asked if he was in it; he was not, so he started to grumble about it. I sighed and told him, “Okay, look. I’ll rename and adjust one of the characters for you, but once the book is published, you are expected to buy a copy, damn-it!” He was all smiles after that, but this happened to be said while in the presence of another friend who said, “What about me?” Ugh! So, I told him the same thing. Then he too was all smiles. Once they read the book, though, their expressions weren’t exactly all smiles anymore. Ha!!

2.) I came up with Woodland Ire as a title for a short story I wrote, which describes the story perfectly since Woodland Ire means “forest wrath” or “wrath of the forest” and not, like a reader had once thought, a place in Ireland.

3.) Stephen King’s “The Raft” played a tiny part in my choice for creating the lake raft scene.

Fun facts about Shadowmancer:

1.) When I began writing Shadwomancer, I intended for it to be a short story that I hoped to be able to get published in a magazine or an anthology. It turned into a novella, and the first publisher I submitted it to accepted it in less than a week of its submittal. I’m now following it up with two full length sequels.

2.) Amanda is named for and described after a high school friend of mine. But unlike her character in the story, she was in fact just a friend of mine.

3.) The Blue Hole is a real swimming hole in the area I grew up.

4.) I originally did not have the Woodland Ire scene in Shadwomancer. It wasn’t until I wrote Embracing The Darkness and named the vast mountain range in which the story is based when I decided to create a Woodland Ire scene in Shadwomancer.

5.) The idea for a shadowmancer came to me when I was a kid…while in the lunch line at school.

Fun fact about both Shadowmancer and Embracing The Darkness:

My Shadwomancer sequels will have subtle tie-ins to Embracing The Darkness and Liquid Love.

Tips for other writers:

Try to write every day, even if it’s only a few words. It’s good to aim for a certain number of words but in my opinion, it’s not necessary. Each day differs for me. Today, I may get a few hundred words written, tomorrow maybe only a couple of sentences. Many writers are able to write a thousand or two thousand words a day, and that amazes me. Very seldom have I been able to get a thousand words written in one day. So, if you’re like me, don’t sweat it; write what you can. Unless you have a publishing deadline, then that’s a different story.

Don’t overthink it. At least not during the rough draft. Simply write the first thing that comes to mind, get some words out, even if they don’t make sense. This is the foundation that you’ll build from in your next draft. And never be afraid to write what you may think is too far-fetched, because in the writing world, there is no such thing as too far-fetched, too fantastical, too horrific, too erotic, too unbelievable. There’s a market for literally everything, so you will not only be doing yourself a huge injustice by not allowing this mind festering story to live and breathe outside your head, but you will be haunted by all those potential readers and fans you intentionally withheld that great story from, and you do not want that.

And read! Reading (anything) will build and strengthen your mental dictionary, literary arsenal, syntax, and helps to expand the imagination. Overall, it’s great exercise. And it helps to bust through the hated writer’s block as well. After all, isn’t reading how we all derive the inspiration to begin writing?

Plans for the future:

I’m currently working on Shadowmancer’s sequel, which I will follow up with a third installment. I don’t plan to continue the story beyond a trilogy but being I’ve yet to get that far, who knows. I do have a couple of other unfinished books on the back burner that I’ll get back to once Shadowmancer is a done deal. And there’s also the sequel to Twisted City that I’m often asked (harassed) about. I’ll get to it…Eventually!

Other works:

Pleasure Spiked with Pain – Contemporary, Dark Humor Novel

Frozen Faces @4:20 – Contemporary, Dark Humor Novel

Twisted City – Action, Thriller Novel

Liquid Love – Erotic Horror Novella

 

 

 

Shadowmancer Blurb:

To the unassuming eye, it is like any other of its kind, a mere shadow. But for its host, it is much more. Playmate. Friend. Protector. Instigator… Its influence is subtle but calculated, and as the boy grows older, it grows stronger, darker, depraved, and even more influential. Will the young man be able to maintain the conscious will to stay in control? Or will a hunger unlike anything in this world overtake him entirely? And what’s more, who is the woman that comes to him only in dreams? Wanton and seductive, she is stalked by an all-consuming darkness that may hold the answer to it all.

Embracing The Darkness Blurb:

Dark secrets thought to be long buried are revealed… and even darker desires are awakened.
Before heading home for the summer, four college friends plan a weekend getaway in the wilds of Woodland Ire, a vast mountainous forest miles away from civilization. With full access to a plush cabin and a nearby lake – and their own stock of alcohol and weed – the next few days are sure to be a carefree carnal filled blast. But an unimaginable darkness lurks in these remote woods, and soon after it turns their weekend party into a terror filled nightmare, dark secrets thought to be long buried are revealed… and even darker desires are awakened.