It’s been a while between posts, but this post should hopefully make up for it.

So, my buddy Amanda J Spedding, tagged me in this Writing Process Blog Chain thing. The idea is to send your author friends four questions in a bid to find out what makes them tick. Then, you pay it forward to three more authors. Here goes…

1) What am I working on?

Right now, my writing and drawing is a like walking on a tightrope, 100 feet above a pit full of homicidal clowns. Because of my full-time job, I can only write and draw after hours. But I’ve got a few writing projects going; the second part of a Young Adult dark fantasy series and a post-apocalyptic themed horror novella. I also try and fit in a short story or two in between, depending on the idea and whether it grabs me around the throat and throttles me.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I think my work sometimes borders on the metaphysical and borrows from many genres and sub-genres. Whenever I have an idea, I try and mash two or even three concepts together, always asking myself: “Has this been done before?” Torment is a blend of haunted house, meets the exorcist, meets ghost story. The Noctuary is metaphysical because I wanted to look at horror writing itself and where it might come from; my other two novellas, Vaudeville and The Last Night of October, were all about childhood fears.

3) Why do I write what I do?

I believe in the idea that we’re not alone and that there is a logic to good and evil. I also think that the world is full of things we cannot see unless they reveal themselves. I like to put my characters in the centre of those concepts and see if they come out on top.

4) How does my writing process work?

I can dwell on an idea for weeks before I start writing. Most of the time, a word will spark an idea, sometimes just the title. I handwrite all my first drafts because I find it seems to flow better (and I’m a crap typist). My tales are character driven so I tend to let them dictate the story, using a very bare-bones plot or concept. For some reason I’m more attracted to writing novellas. I have written a novel, but it became so complex that it sort of lost its momentum, but I plan on fixing it up one of these days. Still, it was a valuable lesson learned.