David Weir asked Scott Sigler:

What motivated you to become an author?

Scott Sigler I saw the 1976 version of KING KONG in the theater with my dad. Just he and I went, which was a treat for 6-year-old Scott. We loved watching old monster movies on the weekend on TV, and the first movie he had seen in a theater was the original KING KONG with his dad, so it was a special day.

I loved the movie, but when we got to the part where Kong is banging away on the bamboo fortress door and roaring and snarling, I was terrified and wanted to leave. My dad said "nope, you wanted to come and we paid for it,' so we stayed. I pretty much cried through the rest of the movie, and was still crying when we left — and two steps out the main door, I turned to him and said "when can we go see it again?"

At that moment, something tripped in my brain, that it was fun to be scared in a safe environment. I decided I wanted to do that to other people. Shortly afterward, I bought CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF for my mom for Christmas, and as I was wrapping presents I opened it and read the first page. I wound up reading the whole thing before wrapping it and putting it under the tree.

That was it for me: the combo of KING KONG and Stephen King laid the foundation for what I wanted to do in life: write books that scared people. I've known what I wanted to do for a living since the 3rd grade and have built my life around that pursuit.

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