10 Questions with Jeff Strand
What’s the greatest moment in your writing career?
After writing out a total wuss-out response where I claimed that this question was impossible to answer, I've given it much more thought and decided that the greatest moment was probably when Paul Miller at Earthling Publications called to tell me he wanted to publish my novel Pressure. I'd published several books prior to that, and this was not a big mass-market deal, but it was my first sale to a publisher that other horror authors knew and respected. My whole career has been a long series of baby steps, but this was probably the closest thing to a game-changer.
What was it like growing up in Alaska, and do you draw from those experiences in your writing?
It was very cold in the winter, it never got dark during the summer, and our NBC and ABC stations were combined on the same channel. Madness!!!
My only book that specifically draws from my Alaskan experience is Faint of Heart, which is set in an approximation of the area where I lived. I took some creative license with the geography and with the presence of psycho killers. These days, I don't do cold weather, and I live happily in Florida.
Who is your favorite writer?
He's a relatively new discovery for me, but after reading five of his six books, I can officially call Jonathan Tropper my favorite writer. His books are laugh-out-loud funny, touching, surprising, and filled with brilliant character touches. When I read his stuff, I want to bury my own books in in the backyard in shame.
If you could be friends with any type of monster, what kind would you choose and why?
I'd be friends with Owen, the sort-of Bigfoot creature from Dweller. That way, when our demented friendship was eventually exposed, people would scream, "Oh my God! The book was REAL!!!" and sales would skyrocket. I might have to deal with an unruly mob showing up at my front door with torches and pitchforks, but it would be a small price to pay for literary immortality.
What advice do you have for beginning writers?
Don't be in a hurry to get published. Today, with self-publishing a viable option for everyone, you can have a book up for sale hours after it's written. This is a great thing...but, yet, nothing horrifies me more than the thought of my early novels (which, at the time, I thought were mind-bogglingly awesome) having actually been published and made available for purchase by innocent readers. It's okay to have a couple/few practice novels before your first novel comes out. Learn your craft before you stampede to put your book up on Amazon.
What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?
Funny dialogue-heavy scenes. I love having written big elaborate action sequences, but dialogue comes the most naturally to me and it's the most fun.
As horror’s resident funny man, have you ever tried stand-up comedy, and if not would you ever give it a try?
The extent of my stand-up comedy experience is emceeing an awards banquet once a year. Honestly, I think I'd be pretty good as a stand-up comic as far as material and delivery, but the idea of trying to do jokes in front of drunken hecklers scares the crap out of me. As a comedian, you've got to be good at crowd management, and that is not one of my skills. I love watching live comedy, but I usually watch it thinking, "Boy, I'm glad I'm not the poor sucker up there!"
Is there any subject that is off limits for you as a writer?
Nothing is off limits, but I'm also not going to go, "Wooooo! Look at me! I'm pushing people's buttons!" I love to write stories that are dark and disturbing, but the intent is never to offend. I've written about a factory that exists only to chop babies in half, and I've written a dark comedy about a rape survivor, and I've put young children in jeopardy plenty of times, but the invisible line is "Am I trying to entertain the reader and tell a great story, or am I just trying to shock them or piss them off?" I've never written about child molestation. I doubt that I ever will. But if I had a story that fell on the right side of the invisible line, well....
What is your best quality as a writer?
I never lace my books with deadly poison.
If you could invite five people to a dinner party (alive or dead, real or fictional) who would you invite?
Stephen Colbert, Jeff Probst, Tina Fey, Chris Hardwick, and a sewn-together version of Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett from Rifftrax. I know that the question allowed for dead or fictional people, but I'd really want Stephen Colbert at my dinner party, and I'm concerned that having dead or fictional people there would freak him out a little and make things awkward for everybody. I want this party to be FUN! And, yes, I would squander this amazing opportunity just so I could sit next to Jeff Probst and say things like, "So, on Survivor, how much leeway do you have in deciding when to mix up the tribes? Does it have to be planned out before you start taping the season?" It's my party, and I don't have to invite William Shakespeare if I don't want to.
After writing out a total wuss-out response where I claimed that this question was impossible to answer, I've given it much more thought and decided that the greatest moment was probably when Paul Miller at Earthling Publications called to tell me he wanted to publish my novel Pressure. I'd published several books prior to that, and this was not a big mass-market deal, but it was my first sale to a publisher that other horror authors knew and respected. My whole career has been a long series of baby steps, but this was probably the closest thing to a game-changer.
What was it like growing up in Alaska, and do you draw from those experiences in your writing?
It was very cold in the winter, it never got dark during the summer, and our NBC and ABC stations were combined on the same channel. Madness!!!
My only book that specifically draws from my Alaskan experience is Faint of Heart, which is set in an approximation of the area where I lived. I took some creative license with the geography and with the presence of psycho killers. These days, I don't do cold weather, and I live happily in Florida.
Who is your favorite writer?
He's a relatively new discovery for me, but after reading five of his six books, I can officially call Jonathan Tropper my favorite writer. His books are laugh-out-loud funny, touching, surprising, and filled with brilliant character touches. When I read his stuff, I want to bury my own books in in the backyard in shame.
If you could be friends with any type of monster, what kind would you choose and why?
I'd be friends with Owen, the sort-of Bigfoot creature from Dweller. That way, when our demented friendship was eventually exposed, people would scream, "Oh my God! The book was REAL!!!" and sales would skyrocket. I might have to deal with an unruly mob showing up at my front door with torches and pitchforks, but it would be a small price to pay for literary immortality.
What advice do you have for beginning writers?
Don't be in a hurry to get published. Today, with self-publishing a viable option for everyone, you can have a book up for sale hours after it's written. This is a great thing...but, yet, nothing horrifies me more than the thought of my early novels (which, at the time, I thought were mind-bogglingly awesome) having actually been published and made available for purchase by innocent readers. It's okay to have a couple/few practice novels before your first novel comes out. Learn your craft before you stampede to put your book up on Amazon.
What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?
Funny dialogue-heavy scenes. I love having written big elaborate action sequences, but dialogue comes the most naturally to me and it's the most fun.
As horror’s resident funny man, have you ever tried stand-up comedy, and if not would you ever give it a try?
The extent of my stand-up comedy experience is emceeing an awards banquet once a year. Honestly, I think I'd be pretty good as a stand-up comic as far as material and delivery, but the idea of trying to do jokes in front of drunken hecklers scares the crap out of me. As a comedian, you've got to be good at crowd management, and that is not one of my skills. I love watching live comedy, but I usually watch it thinking, "Boy, I'm glad I'm not the poor sucker up there!"
Is there any subject that is off limits for you as a writer?
Nothing is off limits, but I'm also not going to go, "Wooooo! Look at me! I'm pushing people's buttons!" I love to write stories that are dark and disturbing, but the intent is never to offend. I've written about a factory that exists only to chop babies in half, and I've written a dark comedy about a rape survivor, and I've put young children in jeopardy plenty of times, but the invisible line is "Am I trying to entertain the reader and tell a great story, or am I just trying to shock them or piss them off?" I've never written about child molestation. I doubt that I ever will. But if I had a story that fell on the right side of the invisible line, well....
What is your best quality as a writer?
I never lace my books with deadly poison.
If you could invite five people to a dinner party (alive or dead, real or fictional) who would you invite?
Stephen Colbert, Jeff Probst, Tina Fey, Chris Hardwick, and a sewn-together version of Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett from Rifftrax. I know that the question allowed for dead or fictional people, but I'd really want Stephen Colbert at my dinner party, and I'm concerned that having dead or fictional people there would freak him out a little and make things awkward for everybody. I want this party to be FUN! And, yes, I would squander this amazing opportunity just so I could sit next to Jeff Probst and say things like, "So, on Survivor, how much leeway do you have in deciding when to mix up the tribes? Does it have to be planned out before you start taping the season?" It's my party, and I don't have to invite William Shakespeare if I don't want to.
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