1. What was your first published work?

My first ever short story sale was to a university literary magazine called Aethlon: The Journal of Sports Literature, published at East Tennessee State University. Sounds kind of prestigious, but sadly didn’t pay anything. However, the story was picked by Karl Edward Wagner for his Year’s Best Horror Stories 20, which was a huge boost for me at the time. It was like hitting a homer in your first Major League at-bat, but of course, I struck out quite a few times after that. 

2. Is there a story inside that you have seeds of but can’t seem to connect that’s dying to get out?

I’d been thinking about an SF story that takes place in New Brunswick’s Bay of Fundy that involves aliens studying evolution in the tidepools there and a teenager who can’t wait to get away from his humdrum life, until he meets up with the aliens and learns there’s no place like home. I’ve written a first draft but it’s science fiction — which doesn’t come easily to me — so I’ll have to rework and massage it several times before it’s ready to be submitted anywhere. 

3. How do you handle a rejected story?

I used to give a popular talk about “Thriving on Rejection,” and I would outline how I would send out over 50 submissions in a year and have just two of them accepted, or even none at all. A thick skin in something writers would do well to develop early in their careers. It’s tough to be told no over and over again, but perseverance is the thing that sets most writers apart and learning to deal with rejection is a big part of that. Basically, you need to have a bit of an ego, know in your heart that you are or can be good enough, and mutter under your breath, “I’ll show them,” until you succeed or die trying.

4. What does literary success look like to you?

Literary success is a tricky thing. I’ve won a few awards, several of them significant, but SF writer Samuel R. Delany said quite rightly that awards are nice, but you can’t eat them. Then there’s Stephen King who says if you write something, get paid for it, then use the money to pay the light bill, he considers that to be success. I probably fall somewhere in the middle in that awards are a type of validation, and they might impress people who could pay for your work, but that can only go so far. Sure, it would be great to make your entire income from selling your work, but that’s reserved for a very few fortunate and talented writers. Like most, I made my living as a writer selling my writing of course, but also teaching writing classes, editing anthologies, school visits, college lectures, hosting horror movies on television, etc. Things that are related to writing, but not writing. I think the bottom line is success means different things to different people. If you want to write a story, and actually finish it, then that’s a measure of success. The problem is, once you reach one level of success, there is always the next rung on the ladder, or someone who’s achieved something you’d like for yourself… so it never really ends. 

5. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

Yes, I read book reviews and it’s rough sometimes. I remember one brutal review of my non-fiction book, Writing Horror, in the Globe and Mail newspaper. Basically, the reviewer trashed me and the book by saying the only reason I’d had any success in the horror genre was because the competition wasn’t very good. Reviewers often think they’re being cute, or winning points, but to just dismiss a person’s work with off-hand comments you think will make yourself look smart or above it all, is just you being an asshole. That review made several different aspects of my life extremely difficult at a time when I was trying to make my way as a full-time writer. These days I sometimes visit Goodreads and check on my books there, and even though I’m older and wiser, it still stings to read, “Wow. Was this book bad.” It’s gotten to the point when I sell someone one of my books, I tell them straight away that if they like the book, I’d be happy to hear about it, but if they don’t, I don’t want to know. Nothing I can do to improve the book now, so thanks, but no thanks. 

6. What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

The work. Years ago, whenever there would be an article about me in the local newspaper, I would get a phone call from someone who said they had a great idea for a book and wanted to know how they could sell it. I told them to finish writing the book and then call me back, knowing full well that they would never actually write anything because that is like, well.. work. Everyone wants to see a book in the bookstore with their name on it or wants to be asked to sign a book that they wrote, but few people are willing to actually sit down and write one — all the way to the end. I’m reminded of an anecdote from one of my favorite writers, Joe R. Lansdale, who when asked by a fan how you go about writing a book, he responded by saying that you sit in the chair in front of a typewriter and don’t get up until it’s finished. 

7. As in most times, the truth is stranger than fiction, what has been the hardest scene or chapter you’ve had to write, if you were channeling personal experience?

Some of the most difficult things to write shouldn’t be difficult at all. In my young adult novel Wolf Pack there was a scene where the villain was facing off against three members of the pack, werewolves. They weren’t going to kill him, but they wanted to hurt him. However, if they did injure him and he survived, he would end up becoming a werewolf as well, which would be terrible. And so, it took me three weeks to figure out that — being in a forest — they could just pick up a hefty tree branch and beat him with it, thereby avoiding the touch that would turn him into a werewolf, like them.

It seems so simple when I explain it, but it was a problem for me for weeks.  

8. What inspired your latest work?

My most recent short story, the second one this year, is all about a sovereign citizen who loses his way and finds himself in the company of a group of people who are truly off the government’s radar screen. He finds out what it really means to be free. It was inspired by videos of traffic stops involving sovereign citizens, none of which ever work out the ways they think it will.   

9. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Probably that you should never compare your career to that of another writer. Everyone’s path is different and the achievements of others, no matter how grand, don’t diminish your own successes. I was always envious of other writers who had sold to a top notch anthology, or had a book out from a certain publisher, only to learn years later that those same people were envious of me and what I had accomplished. So, just do your thing, applaud the success of others, and never downplay whatever you have achieved yourself.    

10. What is your go-to comfort horror/Sci-Fi book?

My favorite book of all-time, and the one that made me know I wanted to write SF/Horror stories was Ray Bradbury’s The October Country. I just loved every story in the book and as I read them, I resolved to write stories just as good. A lofty goal, and who can say if I’ve ever achieved it, but that’s what I set out to do and I can take some pride in the fact that of the 300 some stories I’ve written, a few of them are actually pretty good. These days I find myself reading short story collections. I’ve just finished ones by Bentley Little, Jack Ketchum and Ed Gorman, and am currently reading stories by John D. MacDonald. So yeah, I find comfort in reading short stories.

11. If you were to genre-hop, which genres would you most like to try writing?

I’ve written in every genre but western and romance. I wouldn’t mind trying them out, but at this point in my life, someone would have to ask me to write something for them in order for me to give it a go. I remember years ago, when my friend Michael Rowe edited a book of gay vampire stories. I told him I was disappointed he didn’t ask me to contribute. He thought I wouldn’t be interested, but I was open to all kinds of challenges at the time. So I did a gay vampire story for Sons of Darkness 2, and then stories for Queer Fear 1 and 2. 

12. It’s so exciting to hear that your work has been adapted for screen! How involved were you in the adaptation process, and what were some of the key challenges and opportunities you encountered in translating your book to the television screen?

My young adult novel Wolf Pack was optioned by Paramount Plus and was the inspiration for the TV series Wolf Pack, created by Jeff Davis (Criminal Minds, Teen Wolf), and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). I wish I could tell you stories about the writer’s room and how the book was transformed into a TV series, but the truth is I had no input whatsoever. My first exposure to the series was when I saw the first episode at the premiere in Los Angeles in January, 2023.

13. Were there any significant changes made to the characters or storyline for the TV adaptation? If so, how do you feel about these changes, and do you think they enhance the story for the visual medium?

There were many changes made. The novel I wrote was a family drama for young readers, and the TV series was a supernatural mystery for adults. At first, I was disappointed that more of my story didn’t make it onto the screen. There were core elements that were common to both of them, but my novel was the inspiration for the series, not the guidebook to it. In the end, I was fine with it as Jeff Davis knew what he was doing and I trusted that he was going to make something that both of us would be proud of. If your readers are interested, I did several videos on YouTube called Wolf Pack Facts, which talk about the similarities and differences between the books and series.  Typing my name into a YouTube search will find them for you, as well as a bunch of other TV appearances I’ve made over the years. 

14. What are your hopes for how new audiences will receive the television adaptation, and how do you think existing fans of your books will react to seeing your story brought to life on screen?

The TV series brought a bunch of fresh eyes to the book series and reading the reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, you’ll find some people who were disappointed to learn that the books were nothing like the TV series, but there were just as many, if not more, who enjoyed the books on their own merits, and even a few who said they felt the books were better than the show. As a writer, there’s not a lot that you can hope for than that.