–Interview by Desi D.

1. How have Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Edgar Allan Poe influenced your writing? What is it about these authors that attracted you to their stories?

I think that brooding, shadowy atmosphere that Poe was so effective in creating has certainly influenced me. He was so strong in creating a sense of dread and how his characters were sort of trapped in that world of dread.

I don’t think Verne or Stevenson have particularly influenced my writing as much as their great adventure novels fired my imagination as a boy and inspired me to want to be a storyteller.What do you hope your fans will take away from your stories?

First, that the story was worth reading and their time was well spent. Second, that the characters they encounter are people they can relate to and care about. Third, they experience a sense of unease and discomfort that causes a few shivers up their spine. And fourth, that they enjoyed the story enough to want to read more of my work.

2. If you had to choose one, what would be your favorite creature/monster?

I’d have to say the Gill-Man from The Creature from the Black Lagoon. But that’s a nostalgic kind of thing – the Black Lagoon movies were among my favorites as a kid. I just watched Creature a few days ago with my daughters. We even went to the theater a dozen or so years ago and saw it in the original 3-D.

3. What is it about the art of storytelling that excites you? And of course, what is the next story we can look forward to reading from you?

It’s that combination of finding the right characters, the right language, and the right sequence of events to create a compelling plot. For example, how much descriptive prose versus how much dialogue. I have a story in my collection The Preparer of Death titled “The Depths-Chant,” which is told completely in dialogue between two people.

It’s also that, when starting out, trying to find the correct path to move the story forward. Then it’s a case of playing around with different scenarios until something clicks and the story starts to move forward in an interesting and desired direction. Characters can be very playful, so managing them is necessary. But you also have to allow them to express themselves, so finding that balance is important. Once the writer has made that level of peace with the story’s characters, then again, the story moves forward in a productive way.

I just uploaded my latest novel, The Archer’s House, onto Amazon. It’s an homage to Fritz Leiber and takes its premise from one of his classic horror stories, “The Dreams of Albert Moreland.” I finished a draft of it some years ago but it just didn’t work. After several fits and starts, I finally unlocked it and substantially rewrote it, and now I’m quite a bit happier with it.

Bonus question:

4. In a past interview you’ve said that stories choose the author, not the other way around. This is a fascinating idea. How do the stories you tell make their presences known?

Stories that I’ve written and completed each have their own lives. Usually a story starts with an idea – it can be a place, an event from my life, a dream I’ve had, something I’ve read or seen in a film or TV program – and then I look to finding the language that might best describe what is to happen and the characters to populate the piece. A story that I end up finishing is one that has really grabbed hold of me and demanded to be told.