Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
A1. I’m an author, filmmaker, husband, and dad, originally from Maine, living in Los Angeles. I’ve worked on several types of projects over the last twenty years, from short stories and comics to feature films and TV. I’ve written multiple issues of Grimm Tales of Terror for Zenescope comics, I was a writer/story producer for the Eli Roth series The Legion of Exorcists, and in 2023, my debut feature film, Bone Cold, was released by Well Go USA.
My first book, Spider Season, was published in 2018, and received the Gold Medal for Anthology Fiction at the Readers Favorite Book Awards. One of the short stories from that collection, Everyone Else is Asleep, was adapted into a digital series for the Rizzle app and won “Best Vertical Drama Series” at the IAWTV Awards in 2022.
My work is mainly in suspense, thriller, and horror, although I do venture out into other genres from time to time. I love telling stories, and I’m constantly working on multiple projects at a time, so hopefully my name is one you will see again and again in the future.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “Long Term Damage”?
A2. I had already gone through the publishing process once with Spider Season, so I had a much clearer sense of what I had and what I needed. The whole process moved much faster, especially when it came to working with editor Rob Weisberg.
The real challenge I faced for this book was figuring out how to write during a pandemic with a toddler and a newborn, while the film industry completely imploded twice and all the work dried up. It was exceedingly difficult to focus and make the time to write during such a tumultuous time, but I stole as much time as I could between 2020 and 2023. I was also working to get Bone Cold through the post production process during that time, which took most of my creative energy during that stretch, but I was determined to get Long Term Damage across the finish line.
Once Bone Cold was finished and delivered, I was able to shift my focus to Long Term Damage and get the stories edited and in shape for publication. It’s not often that writing is the hard part for me, but times were tough for a lot of reasons.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
A3. It’s difficult to be a horror writer raised in Maine without gravitating toward Stephen King, so I consider him to be the greatest influence on me as a storyteller. But I’m also in awe of people who are able to tell a powerful, memorable, meaningful story in a short amount of time, especially working across mediums. People like Richard Matheson, Shirley Jackson, Jonathan Lethem, Raymond Carver, and the king of The Twilight Zone himself, Rod Serling. Their work has shocked me, thrilled me, confounded me, and enlightened me.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
A4. I’d say going home to Maine is always a joy for me. I left my small town home when I was 18 to attend the Film School at Florida State University, then made my way out to Los Angeles, one of the biggest cities in the world. So, every time I go home to Maine, it feels like a break from the hustle of everyday life and a way for me to reconnect with the world, not to mention seeing family and old friends.
I also appreciate Maine more as an adult than I ever did as a kid. The great food, Portland’s art and music scene, some fantastic breweries (looking at you Allagash), and the vast forests and coastline all provide a sense of freedom and wonder that never ceases to amaze me and bring a sense of peace. It’s rare that I visit Maine and don’t leave with at least a few new story ideas.
Q5. What inspired you to write the book ‘Long Term Damage’?
A5. I’m the type of writer who writes constantly, so I’ve got kind of a stockpile of rough ideas, half-cooked characters, and outlines that I just haven’t had the chance to sit and work through. So, when I realized that a handful of these pieces fit well together and each revolved around a central theme, that’s when I started thinking of them as one book. So, there wasn’t really one spark of inspiration for Long Term Damage, but several sparks that came together to light a much larger fire.
That’s one thing I really love about anthologies. They tend to cover a wide range of the author’s work, like fishing with a net in a lake of ideas and only keeping the biggest and the best.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘Long Term Damage’?
A6. All in all, it took me about four years to complete the entire book. Keep in mind though, that’s four years of life, as well, which for me included the pandemic, two kids, a feature film, the death of my father, multiple jobs, and other projects that came and went while I was chipping away at this book. But that’s how I knew this book was important to me, because no matter how busy or stressed I got I always came back to it and pushed it forward, little by little. The fact that the book was finished at all is a small miracle.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
A7. You can find my work pretty much anywhere that sells books and movies. If a store doesn’t have it stocked, it can easily be ordered. The easiest way to find the books is on Amazon, available in print, ebook, or audiobook formats. Long Term Damage will be available there as well, upon its release on November 12th, 2024.
The film that I produced, wrote, and directed, Bone Cold, is currently streaming on Tubi, and is available everywhere on Digital/DVD/Blu-ray.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Long Term Damage’?
A8. The title came to me when I put the stories next to each other for the first time. I knew they were all connected and similar but had to put them together to nail down the central theme of the whole book. It became a collection of stories about disastrous moments that change the course of the characters’ lives, whether that moment was happening in real-time, or it was a decades-old memory that won’t let them go. All of us have moments in our lives that cause long term damage, whether we know it or not. That’s the fear and anxiety that these stories explore.
As for the cover, that was the work of fantastic artists over at BookBaby, who handled the publishing and distribution process for both of my books. The only direction I gave was to avoid any horror clichés, and they did an amazing job with it. I absolutely love the cover. And the best part is that Long Term Damage looks great next to Spider Season, which they also designed. So, it’s safe to say I’ll be going back to them for the next book, as well.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
A9. I read as much as I can to make sure that everything I put out into the world is unique and I do my best to avoid crutches and shortcuts that help me through difficult sections of writing. Anything to avoid useless repetition. Readers will pick up on that kind of thing immediately.
As for fresh ideas, I don’t really think too much about it. I’m lucky in the fact that most of my ideas have such a specific approach that any similarities are overshadowed by a new perspective or style and tone. I usually roll with whatever story I’m inspired to write, regardless of similarities to other stories from myself or others. If a story works and it’s important to you, it needs to be written. I mean, does anyone really fault Stephen King for so many psychic kids?
That being said, readers and audiences want originality and they’re keen on the way things are made. I still catch myself using some crutches in my writing and I do my best to remove them so that readers will never see them. That’s a big part of my editing process. I think the way to keep things fresh is really just to be aware of how your work fits into the grand scheme of stories out there. It’s easier said than done, of course, but certainly good to ground yourself and make sure you’re telling interesting stories. Nobody wants to be boring.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
A10. The best advice I ever received was actually two pieces of advice from two different film producers. 1) Always have a lot of irons in the fire. 2) You have to strike while the iron is hot. Those two bits of advice have driven the majority of my career.
That mindset put me on a path to success and really helped me to understand just how much writing has to happen for any projects to break through. Because not all of it will see the light of day, but when something hits, you have to take advantage of the momentum and be ready to ride that wave.
Buy Long Term Damage on Amazon
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