Konn Lavery's Blog: Posts from konnlavery.com, page 57

Benefits of A Creative Outlet

The majority of my blog is focused on writing, making other aspect of what I do overlooked. For the past several weeks I have been taking some time away from writing to refresh my creativity. To do this, I decided to visit my other creative interest – music. As I mentioned in a previous post, taking some time away from writing to clear your head is mentally healthy and often will be more productive if you have been run dry and not making much progress. For this, I decided to step back from writing since NaNoWriMo 2015.

Why Is Have An Alternative Outlet Important?

Having another creative outlet allows your mind run wild in places it hasn’t gone before. It lets you push new boundaries in your own thought process. To maximize on this, having the outlet differ from your regular goals (writing, for example), forces you to think differently from your regular thinking patterns. This will help broaden your mind and inevitably help your creativity.

Pick Another Interest You’ve Had.

Find an activity that you have interest in so you have a drive to try it out. Ideally something that uses a different part of the brain so you aren’t using the same thought patterns as you do with writing. My own outlet is music, specifically industrial music. If you are unaware of industrial music, it is a genre with very few limits and often used as an umbrella term for a lot of harsh and aggressive electronic sub genres. Nine Inch Nails or Skinny Puppy are more commonly known bands in this genre. I grew up listening to industrial from an early age and was always curious how the music was made.

Push Yourself Out of Your Familiar Comfort Zone.

Start this new direction when you are at your wits end with what you are currently doing. That should be a good sign it is a time for change. Since 2012 I have been jamming for fun, composing industrial tracks on my spare time. I decided to pick up music because I was mentally stagnant. I wasn’t growing or learning as I was in the previous years. I felt like I was stuck.

Don’t take it seriously.

The point of the new outlet is to remove yourself from your day to day actives and explore uncharted boundaries. If you start taking it seriously you will naturally put up mental restrictions and treat this outlet as a chore or task. Relax, have fun with it.

Due to my long-term fascination with industrial music I chose to take up learning how to make this kind of tune and have been continually learning it since. It now serves as a stress reliever or if I need an escape from my day to day routine. Even though I don’t take it seriously, I do want to grow in this direction to explore music theory, instruments and recording.

Here’s a tid bit of what I record:

As mentioned at the start, if you find yourself mentally stuck or exhausted then perhaps it is time to use an outlet to give yourself a clear head.

Do you have an outlet from your writing or regular routine?

Discussing the Horror Genre with Author Mercedes Fox

This blog post we have guest author Mercedes Fox who is a self-published horror author from Colorado. A canine enthusiast who has written three books tackling the sub-genre of werewolves. We met on the website Goodreads and have discussed writing on her blog initially then jumped on over to my own to chat about the horror genre in writing.

Mercedes, first off thanks for taking the time to discuss writing horror with me and for the readers. I’m excited to hear your thoughts.

Can you give us an introduction to yourself Mercedes?

Sure thing. Before I got the nerve to publish my first book four years ago, I’d always dreamt about being an author. I’ve wanted to write since childhood and I have written but that’s where it ended. I’m married with three furbabies. Currently I write full time or at least that’s what I tell myself.

Tell us about your dog!

I have three. Hank is our first baby. He’s a nine year old German Shorthaired Pointer who’s very spoiled, though he’ll tell you otherwise. He just doesn’t get why he can’t have all the treats in the bag.

Ackley is the middle baby. He’s a seven year old English Springer Spaniel. We call him Velcro dog because he must always be touching you. And he’s a big chicken. He had a run in two years ago with a rattlesnake. We were on vacation and he spent the week in the hospital. Since then he’s gotten very round. He’s about 40lbs overweight but he doesn’t eat a lot. I figure it’s due to the snake venom. The vet told us it was good he was bit round when he was attacked. The venom died out going through all his fat.

Beamer is the baby. He’s a four year old German Shorthaired Pointer. He’s very rotten and knows he’s got his mom wrapped around his little paw. He’s always on the go. He runs everywhere at high speed. We want to breed him at some point. We want to keep his bloodline going. He’s wicked smart and his bloodline is full of field trial champions.

All three are hunting dogs and good at it, but first and foremost they are our kids.

How come you decided to write about horror (and werewolves)?

I’ve loved werewolves and werewolf novels as far back as I can remember. I write about them because that’s what I like to read.

Where does your horror inspiration come from (beyond canines)?

Oh I have a very wild imagination. I can scare myself pretty easy.

Horror can be quite niched or criticized for unoriginality, how do you approach writing horror?

This is very true especially of the vampire and werewolf genre. With werewolves you can play around with their myth a bit. Such as how one becomes a werewolf, do they require a full moon or are they just mindless beasts eating everything. I combine a little of everything and wallllaa you have my werewolves. One thing that has always irked me about werewolves is the tail. For some reason if the werewolf in question walks on his hind legs he has no tail. But if the werewolf looks just like a wolf they have a tail. My werewolves have to have a tail and snout. I’ve liked the smashed in face.

What do you find is the biggest challenge in writing horror?

Gore or not to gore. I like gore, descriptive killing and explicit sex. To me that’s required. I enjoy books that shock and/or scare me. I try to write that.

Do you plan on writing in other genres or topics?

I want to try a who-done-it mystery but I’m not sure if I can write something without a werewolf in it?

How long have you been writing for (personally and professionally)?

Since childhood for myself. About four years ago I decided to be a real author.

You self-published, how come?

No way did I want to wait on publishers or get the rejections. And I don’t like the idea of the publisher owning my work. It’s my story, my words and I don’t care to be told how to write it or rewrite it. Also the time frame—self publishing means I can put it out now.

Do you spend more time marketing online (social networking, blogs, etc.) or in person (book signings, consignment stores, etc.)?

It’s all online. I’ve tried Barnes and Noble and a couple local stores. Barnes and Noble has never bothered to even say No. The local book store has closed down which was very sad, they were the only one in town. I did sell a couple copies there.

Any final thoughts you’d like to share with us?

I hang onto the hope I might someday see my books on the shelf in Barnes and Noble.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about horror, werewolves and writing Mercedes! It was quite insightful to hear your writing journey. I too have the same thoughts about traditional publishing and have experienced struggles with book stores/consignment as a self-published author. Rejection is a common trait shared amongst writers in the industry, keeping your head up high and learning from the experiences is the best way to carry on.

Until next time!

You can find Mercedes Fox’s novels on Amazon:

Click on a book above to visit it on Amazon.

Or follow her on Twitter or Facebook or on her website.

5 Tips to Build Writing Habits

At the start of each year people often set up New Year’s Resolutions/goals for themselves. Perhaps it is time to tackle that manuscript you have been wanting to work on. Maybe you want to continue a novel that you haven’t been able to set time to work on. Reasons aside, let the New Year be an opportunity to finally tackle your writing passion!

How Do You Start?

Well that is easy, pick up the pencil or open your word processor app and get writing!

Seriously though, the five points listed below will help you avoid falling through the cracks and forgetting your goal of writing . It is easy to set an objective for the New Year after the Holidays when there is some downtime. The challenge is keeping up with it as the year picks up momentum.

1. Write down your goal for the year.

Yes, write your goal down on a piece of paper. This may sound pointless as you aren’t making any direct progress in your writing however this does give you a 5,000 foot view of what you are wanting to achieve this year. Be realistic with the goal and do not be afraid to push yourself. Perhaps the goal is “I want to finish the first draft of my manuscript”. Or “I want to finalize the editing portion of my manuscript”.

2. Dedicate a minimum of half an hour a day to work on your writing

Do this religiously. This is the most crucial point when it comes to setting a goal. Setting aside a minimum of half an hour a day to work on your writing guarantees some progress in it. Aim for higher, around an hour or two to make some real progress. If that is not possible, set aside some time each day to write whether that is a part of your morning routine, lunch break or in the evening. Pick a time that will work best for you when you won’t have many interruptions.

3. Take your writing seriously

To remain motivated with working on your book you need to treat it as a critical task. If it is something that you like to do only when you’re in the mood to write or have nothing else going on, chances are you won’t power through the challenging parts of writing. If you want your writing to be taken seriously it starts with your perspective towards it.

4. Make Adjustments to your routine

The previous points mention consistency and treating your writing as a high priority. This means you might have to make some adjustments to your current lifestyle. Perhaps you have to be more selective on your outings or cannot watch as much Netflix as you did last year. Self-reflect on where your time is going and see what you can cut back on to invest in your writing. The truth is you do have to make some sacrifice.

5.Reward yourself

An important point a lot of people need to remember is to reward yourself. It is very easy to keep on working and forgetting to celebrate when reaching milestones. When you finish a chapter treat yourself to a good coffee or maybe beer. Leaped over that writer’s block? Awesome, take some time to do something else, like do a dance or something.

Coffee is a fantastic reward.

These are some tactics that you can use to pursue your writing. Habits are built from repetition, so keep writing every day. You’ll be surprised how much ground you can cover in the span of one year as long as your remain consistent with your routine.

End of 2015… What’s Next?

Another year has come and gone, wow. Where did 2015 go? Regardless of where it went, the past 365 days have been filled with ambitious goals and fun events. First off, I would like to give a big thanks to everyone who has been a part of my life and helped me continually pursue my dreams. So now that 2016 is right around the corner, what is next?

New horror novel, Seed Me, in the fall of 2016

I talked a lot about this horror novel Seed Me throughout 2015 that I wrote during NaNoWriMo 2014. The spring was spent revamping the plot and self-editing before passing it along to my editor. Currently I am working on the cover art, synopsis and other exciting features that will go along with the launch of the book in the fall of 2016. Keep a watch out early next year for more news about it.

Concept sketch of a plant lifting a skull for the novel Seed Me

More Blogs with interviews, tips, and what else I do beyond writing

I am gradually getting the hang of this blogging thing. I will be sticking with it and continue to evolve the topics with interviews of other authors/creative types. More writing advice and other things I do beyond books.

Mental Damnation 4?

That’s right, between the blogging, new novel and making a living to put food on my table, I will be revisiting the Mental Damnation series. Fusion (the third installment in the series) was released in the fall of 2014. Already 85% of the fourth book is complete and fully edited, it was sliced out of Fusion as the book would have been twice as long.

Due to the depth of the Mental Damnation storyline, I’ll be reviewing and planning ahead for the fourth installment of Mental Damnation and begin outlining the plot for the remainder of the series. This book is projected for early 2017 though, so don’t get too excited… yet.

Illustration to be seen in the fourth Mental Damnation novel

I’ve never been a fan of New Year’s Resolutions, forcing change upon yourself is not something I stand by. I do however believe in setting goals (hence the ones above), which are progression of plans that were set this year and even last year. 2015 has been plentiful and 2016 will be even more exciting with a brand new book and other projects. Those I will keep on the down low until there’s more solid info on them.

Also hoping 2016 brings more dinosaurs. Until the New Year!

Guest on the Minstrel Cycle Podcast

A couple months back I was on the Minstrel Cycle podcast to chat about my Mental Damnation novel series and the upcoming Seed Me novel for 2016.  Give the podcast a listen for some jokes, laughs and NSFW (Not Safe For Work) material. You’ve been warned!

minstrelcycle.ca

Episode 0007 – Konn Lavery

19-11-2015

This marks the forst of what will likely be many episodes featuring Konn Lavery.  He stops by to talk about his book series Mental Damnation, and touches a bit on design, industrial music and horror films.  He and Dave go back a ways, as he was one of Dave’s teachers at Guru (when it was called guru).  Also, Jenelle Szucs makes her second guest appearance!

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The Pentawreath – Concept to Final Piece

November 29th a new design I completed was released for SANE Clothing’s Christmas line. The piece itself was a digital illustration with a number of conceptual revisions coming from the the original piece back in 2014.

Originally the concept was a part of the Mental Damnation newsletter as a fun-themed approach to the holidays. Since the novel series deals with hell, why not throw some haunting imagery into a Christmas newsletter? After the holidays of 2014, the design didn’t go anywhere until a discussion came up during the summer of 2015 with SANE Clothing for a holiday clothing line. This triggered the memory of the pentawreath and I got to work.

I revisited the original design that was a 15 minute effort in Adobe Illustrator and realized that the design could be drastically improved by steering the concept into a new direction. The next step was drawing thumb sketches of pentagrams and wreaths to familiarize myself with the two types of designs and what intriguing ways the two could be merged together.

The trick was not to make it too seasonal and not too horrific, otherwise one side would overpower the other. Ultimately it took a cartoon approach, allowing me to harmonize the pentagram and the wreath. I went this route since the original concept was meant to be humorous. It stayed fairly true to the original concept with the un-even archaic look of the star.

I took one of the thumb sketches from my sketchbook and traced it in Adobe Illustrator to get the thick line work. Afterwards it was brought into Adobe Photoshop where I painted the design to render the texture and shading as seen below:

The design has no relation to the Mental Damnation series but was initially inspired by it. This piece allowed me to start thinking outside of the box from my usual graphic design work. It made me work with a cartoon style opposed to my other work which has been either corporate oriented or the ancient civilization themed artwork found in the Mental Damnation series.

6 Guidelines to Self Editing Your Novel

So you have a full manuscript complete? You’ve written every word in each chapter from start to finish – congratulations! Give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done It is not easy to complete an entire book. The question is, are you actually done? Unfortunately, you’re not. Writing an engaging book doesn’t happen in the first draft.

In the previous blog post, we discussed what to do when you finish your manuscript. One important thing is taking a break from writing. Returning to your manuscript after having a breather will help give you a fresh perspective on the piece.

Have a professional editor go through your manuscript before you consider the book ready to be published.

Before bringing an editor into the picture, revise the story and edit it on your own. It will take lessen the workload for them and make it a more pleasant experience to work on your book together. Here are some pointers to keep in mind when coming back to edit your manuscript.

1. Organization – Save Copies of Each Revision

If you haven’t already, separate each chapter into their own document. Keep each chapter document in the same folder. This will easily allow you to work on and/or share individual chapters with people. When you start editing, this will make it easier to find scenes without having to sift through one monstrous document.

Be sure to save the original chapter copy as well as the edited version of that chapter for each editing session. Keeping track of your manuscript editing will help you backtrack if ever needed (e.g., if you’ve deleted a paragraph that you need again). It also helps to give you a sense of how many revisions you went through for each chapter. If your word processor has track changes, turn it on as you are editing. It is a highly effective tool to that can show you changes before and after editing.

2. Read Out Loud

An important part of the revision process is to read your story out loud. Yes, it may look odd to people around you (if you are doing this in a café), but it is a vital key to improving the readability of your story. Reading out loud helps mimic the style of the narrator, as if they are telling the story to someone. If your story can easily be spoken, it will be easily read.

3. Second Guess Everything

Question every aspect of your story. It may have made sense when you were first writing. However, if you don’t reconsider a character’s action, their thoughts, a scene or why the story progresses the way it does, then you could miss a potential a reader might catch and criticize. Filling in “plot holes” is another term for this process. Why does the protagonist have a certain emotion towards another character? Why did they take a specific action? What was the purpose of it? That leads to the next point.

4. Every Word Needs To Move the Story Forward

Easier said than done! The primary focus of editing is to remove unnecessary clutter. If the paragraph, sentence or word does not add to the story or progress the plot, why is it there? Get rid of it! You want every page of the novel to have your readers hooked. Use critical thinking while editing. If the section is just filler text, it is safe to say you can delete it. Don’t be concerned about the word count or page numbers; simply tell a good story.

5. Share the Manuscript

Once you have spent countless hours editing, refining your manuscript and pushing yourself to your absolute limit, now you can share it. Gather several of your most trustworthy friends, or fans, that you know will provide critical feedback. Each person will bring you different advice that you could potentially use. This will also provide contrasting viewpoints and notes for when you pass the manuscript onto an editor.

6. When Is It Done Being Edited?

Editing can take months, or even years. You can always have more test readers provide feedback. Make sure you take breaks and come back to the manuscript with fresh eyes because you will always find something that could be improved upon. It can be a slippery slope of not knowing when to claim the book done. You want the manuscript to be top notch but you might also be spinning your wheels, and changing for the sake of changing. This is a judgment call you have to make. You do need to call it done and move onto something new, just don’t wait too long.

Keep these thoughts in mind while editing your novel:

Look over the technicalities – syntax, grammar, sentence structure, etc.
Review the story telling: character development, story arch, plot holes, etc.
Writing the manuscript is the easy part. Coming back and giving it a final polish is where it gets tedious.

 

Editing can seem like a tedious step. It is also one of the most exciting steps because you’re taking the next level to finalize your book. Don’t be afraid to get your hands, and your manuscript, dirty.

Finished Your Manuscript, Now What?

NaNoWriMo is at the end of the third week, giving one final full week to reach the 50,000 word mark. As of today, you are now able to validate your word count to see if you if you have hit the goal. The exciting part about finishing NaNoWriMo is deciding what to do next, after spending hours each day working on your manuscript you suddenly find yourself with a ton of spare time on your hands.

First Take a Break and Make Notes Where You Left Off

You have earned it. Give yourself a break from the constant writing and let your brain destress from the pressure of reaching a word count goal every day. Before you do that though, leave comments about where you left off and where you were heading so you know what to do when you come back to write.

Explore Different Activities

An important part of writing that can easily be overlooked is remembering to take time away from the actual writing. Doing something different will provide new perspectives that you may have not previously had. Why not do some physical activities (exercising/sports) or pick up another art form like a musical instrument?

Talk to People Again

Start socializing! After all, writing tends to be a very isolated experience and interacting with people (friends, family or meeting new people) doesn’t happen as often as it does with other artistic avenues. We get wrapped up in the writing that it is easy to forget there is a world beyond the page. Go outside and talk to people, you’ll have lots to share about writing and you can learn new things from those around you. Who knows, it might inspire ideas for your next story.

Return to Your Manuscript

Now these are all ideas to get away from writing, just don’t stray too far away from it! Stepping away from writing can make it difficult to pick it up again. Give yourself a break but be sure to return once you have given your mind a chance to freshen up so you can approach it with a new viewpoint. Pick up where you left off to revise the plot and finish the story.

Remember to always plan ahead with writing, taking a break doesn’t mean you’re done. Pick a date to return to writing, think of it as a vacation.

The Greek Philosopher Aristotle Once Said:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Image from Wikipedia

 

For my own direction, now that I have finished NaNoWriMo, I will be putting The Unfortunate Tale of #YEGman away so I can return to the editing Seed Me for its release next year.

 

25,000 Words Reached!

NaNoWriMo is in the second week and I have hit the 25,000 word mark! That is half way to the 50,000 goal for the end of the month. It has kept me busy (among the graphic design and web work and trying to maintain something called a social life) meaning this blog post is more so of an update that I am still alive and working heavily at writing the manuscript for a story titled The Unfortunate Tale of #YEGman. This one is a thriller and has proven to be a challenge to write. Much like last year’s Seed Me story, I am exploring new writing directions from my comfort zone which is forcing me to think beyond my regular writing routine. Below is the working novel Synopsis:

 

In the darkest night streets of Edmonton, criminals and drugs are at every corner. The mayor and the chief of police are being pushed to their mental and physical limits. The people are fearful for their own lives. Edmonton is in dire need of some practical justice. Someone needs to give the felons and low lives what they deserve. Skip the courts and bring them justice in a first full of fury!

At least that is what Michael Bradford believes. That mentality is probably what got him kicked off the police force. For a year he has had to watch as his former partner and comrades of the law attempt to shut down the city’s most violent gang to date – the Crystal Moths.

Michael can’t leave the city he knows and loves to go down the sewer. It was time to take law into his own hands. As he transitions into a vigilante existence, Edmonton spawns its first serial killer since the eighties. Michael – the unknown hero to the public is dubbed as #YEGman – struggles to bring down the Crystal Moths organization and how they link to the mysterious killer. All of this while dodging being caught by the cops and keeping his violent nature at bay.

 

Once this month is finished, the first draft for the story will be complete and I will return to it and revise the storyline much like what I am doing for Seed Me. The Unfortunate Tale of #YEGman won’t be released this year or the next due to the other two books in the work, Mental Damnation IV and Seed Me that are projected for 2016 and 2017.

The objective to partake in this year’s NaNoWriMo is to get a working first draft that I can return to and revise when I am ready. So do not sweat, more Mental Damnation will be coming down the pipeline and Seed Me is still estimated to be released mid next year.

 

Cover photo Explanation: Dinosaur with a mustache – support for Movember. 25,000 words, slam dunk!

Interview with Horror Author Matthew Gillies

Matthew Gillies and I first met at the Edmonton Comic Expo as mentioned in a previous blog post, where we had connected through a mutual passion of writing, horror and graphic design. Matthew was willing to spend some time with me and discuss his own writing interests and experiences.

Currently I have two of Matthew’s novels, his debut novel The Electric Coma Dream (horror) and Oblivious Paradise (Sci-Fi). I am currently reading Oblivious Paradise and within the first 80 pages I have been roped into kidnapping, shredded flesh and cannibalism. Awesome! With an intro like that, who needs sleep? Without further ado, let me introduce the guest of the blog, Matthew Gillies.

 

Matthew, tell us a bit about yourself and your writing.

How I like to describe myself is: my name isn’t synonymous with horror. Not in the way that Edgar Allan Poe is known as the father of horror, H.P.Lovecraft as the godfather of weird, Stephen King as the master of the supernatural and Clive Barker as the anarchic prince of horror, but one thing is true… I am horrors’ newest disciple.

There is a reason I like to call myself the newest disciple. Horror fiction can be a large genre which encompasses a multitude of subgenres, such as Splatterpunk, Gothic Horror, Supernatural and so on. I prefer to call myself a disciple because I am not redefining horror. I am not looking to reinvent the wheel. I am simply a follower of the philosophy that makes up horror.

Myself in general, I’ve dedicated myself to professional writing for the last fifteen years – having written a number of manuscripts, published two short stories, four novels, with two more slated for release in 2016 and 2017. So I’ve been at it for quite some time now.

Give us an introduction to your debut novel The Electric Coma Dream.

The Electric Coma Dream is a surreal psychological horror novel about a young woman who slips into a coma after overdosing on heroin, only to emerge inside her desecrated mind. It is there, where she encounters the personifications of her inner-self and has to come to terms with her life; past, present and future.

Mathew’s debut novel, The Electric Coma Dream

Who is your favourite character in this story and why?

My personal favourite would have to be Anastasia, the protagonist of the novel. The reason for it is when I wrote Anastasia, she acted as a kind of trauma sponge for me. She allowed me to channel all the emotions I felt through her – the feelings of alienation, self-destructive tendencies and the search for an identity.

Anastasia acted in a sense as a conduit to express those feelings that seemed so hard to understand. She was a character that experienced so much hardship… so much emotional confusion that she became a character that was relatable… someone to who could tell any reader that they were not alone in how they feel.

The other reason I enjoy her so much, is throughout the novel you see her develop from a timid naïve girl to a confident woman trying to get her life in order and no matter how much suffering she endures, she does not give up.

Is this your first manuscript/story written?

The Electric Coma Dream is actually the third novel I ever wrote. The first being a novel called The Experiment (formerly known as Psychotica). The Experiment was written 15 years ago and it was because of this novel that I came up with The Electric Coma Dream.

I was really fascinated with the Kafkaesque device of a character finding themselves in a strange and peculiar situation with no explanation as to why they got there and because of that, The Experiment was about a young man who finds himself inside a psychiatric hospital with no memory of why he was there – but during his time in the facility, he slips in and out of reality, where one second he is bound in a straight-jacket and left in a rubber room, and then the next, he’s in this dark fantasy world being stalked by hideous creatures.

Your first novel does fall under the horror genre, is this your favourite genre to write?

The horror genre is by far my favourite genre. It is so liberating to write horror because anything can happen in it. Severed heads can sprout legs and tentacles and crawl across your bed, and all you need to do to make it convincing is create a well-thought out mythology for the creature. And even if you don’t do that, it makes the story even more terrifying because no one knows what the hell that severed head is or what it is doing and that is the most frightening thing.

But yes, The Electric Coma Dream is a novel that falls into the horror genre… but in a different sense of horror. While a lot of horror novels want to write about monsters and tackle issues with gore and blood, The Electric Coma Dream handles horror differently. It examines the psychological nature of a character (Anastasia) who is losing control of her life chapter by chapter and does not know how to stop the rollercoaster of psychological torment.

How do you tackle clichés?

Clichés are almost unavoidable, not just with horror but with any kind of fiction writing. They’ve become the trope in which the foundation of formulaic writing is based upon and I do everything in my power to avoid clichés – particularly in dialogue and actions. If I start writing something that makes me cringe because it seems like it’s been done before, I challenge myself to write something completely different.

The problem is, sometimes when it comes to plot, it’s unavoidable. For instance, when I first wrote Oblivious Paradise, I wrote it as a sequel to my second novel ever written (The Pig Factory), which both dealt with a deadly virus that wipes out humanity. When I first wrote those two novels, the post-apocalyptic plot device wasn’t as popular as it is now.

Then suddenly, there was this influx of post-apocalyptic novels – especially within the YA genre. But instead of viewing this a negative thing, it tells me there is a market for the type of novels I’ve written, which don’t necessarily follow the typical format of commercial fiction. In fact, I’ve seen that with how popular The Electric Coma Dream has become.

Do you find there are challenges to overcome with writing horror that is different than other genres?

There are always challenges with writing any genre. For me, horror can become a challenge if you try to write something you expect people to expect. I think there’s an expectation that when  someone writes a horror novel that it has to have some kind of supernatural evil or excessive gore to give it that kind of moniker.

For The Electric Coma Dream, it has its moment of excessive violence, but it doesn’t rely on the shock factor to make it horror. Rather I’ve written the horror to be psychological and to be as subtle as possible – it’s the slow-burn of horror that I use. Instead of bringing everything into the open all at once, I build up to the horror. For instance, throughout the novel, I make references to a wolf that stalks Anastasia in the shadows. In another section of the book, she develops a fear of her abusive ex-lover stalking her or the manipulative betrayal of someone she once considered a friend.

The other thing I’ve learnt with writing horror is that less is more. I’m in the process of writing three new horror novels – one about a the sudden disappearance of a town and another called The Dark, about a series of child kidnappings which one of the protagonists believes in the work of the bogeyman and a third called Dumpster Princess, about a young, bullied girl who befriends a grotesque monster. In working on all three of those novels, I’ve really reduced myself from giving away too much detail and really focused on creating an atmosphere of the unknown.

Do you have any methods you use inspire yourself to write creepy literature?

For me, it’s a factor of things. Writing is something that you have to jump into, whether you’re in the mood to write or not. Myself personally, I like writing late at night. I remember with my earlier novels – particularly The Experiment and The Electric Coma Dream, I would be up until three in the morning writing them. But the best thing for me to write was music.

Whether I am writing horror or science fiction, I always find music helps the process. When writing horror, I like listening to dark, often heavier music with a very gothic tone to it. Sometimes, depending on the scene I am writing, I may switch to something more melancholic and softer in sound. Music is probably the best tool for writing because it can really help a writer develop a sound to their own story.

Oblivious Paradise is more Sci-Fi/Cyber Punk, why the change in direction?

It started after I had written The Experiment. I was doing a lot of research on the book market and how to find a publisher or an agent, and the more I read, the more it seemed like Horror was one of those genres that wasn’t well-respected. At least at the time, I found a lot of agents/publishers were looking for commercial fiction – legal thrillers, police procedural thrillers, political thrillers – it really seemed like thrillers were a more dominate genre.

Even as a kid, I remember going to my local library and the horror section was like slim-pickings. But thrillers, I would see that sticker on the spin of so many books. Even now, when I go to bookstores, the horror section is primarily dominated by Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and Anne Rice. There are a lot of novels about vampires and werewolves and zombies, but very little of anything that extends beyond the supernatural.

It was disappointing to see this lack of love for the genre and I remember picking up a couple of books, reading the synopsis and thinking to myself, are these the same books? Because the synopsis was so similar. It had something to do with some emotionally stunted or damaged police detective investigating a murder and assigned a partner of the opposite sex (talk about clichés).

So while I was doing this research, one of things I noticed was that there was a huge market for science fiction novels. I thought, what the hell, if I can’t succeed at writing horror, maybe I’ll try my hand at science fiction. That’s when I wrote The Pig Factory – a novel about a survivor of a deadly pandemic who finds himself in some kind of quarantined building where mysterious figures wearing NBC Suits perform strange experiments on him.

It was only after I had written that novel that I came up with the novel Oblivious Paradise – a kind of standalone sequel that dealt with the effects of post-pandemic some sixty years later.

Mathew’s Sci-Fi Novel, a standalone sequel to a previous book he wrote.

Is there other interests you have beyond writing?

I’ve always been a huge fan of art. Before I decided that writing was my passion, I dreamt of being a comic book artist. I would spend a lot of my time drawing characters and then as I was drawing the characters, I would create these stories for them… give them backstories and develop these long story arcs.

Eventually, I found it extremely difficult for me to draw. I was having a hard time translating what I saw in my mind onto the paper – so I started writing out what I saw… then I started creating the stories.

I still design, but now I do it through mixed-media design. I dabble in photo manipulations and design 3D characters to use for digital paintings and book covers.

Are there any influences or people you look up to for perusing writing?

I have quite a few influences but for me, most importantly are authors like Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, H.P. Lovecraft, William Gibson and Chuck Palahniuk. Those writers have been a huge influence on me because their novels always took me to a fantastical world or presented me with great narrative.

Likewise! Clive Barker is a major inspiration for me. Thank you for your time to answer these questions to the readers! Any final comments about writing?

Read lots. Write lots. Don’t worry about whether people like what you’ve written or not. When I first sat down to write my first manuscript, it was because I wanted to write something I wanted to read. So for anyone serious about creating a writing career – don’t worry about what other people want to read… write what you want to read and you may be surprised by the fact that people are interested in that novel. I know I was after I released The Electric Coma Dream.

 

Thank you again Matthew for spending the time to discuss a bit about you and your writing. It was an enjoyable time to get to know your writing better. I look forward to finishing your novel and seeing what else you’ll conspire.

Cheers!

If you haven’t, you can check out Matthew’s work, you can find it on Amazon. Visit his Author Page to find out more information.