Author Meet & Greet

All are welcome here.

Connect with authors through their social media links (if they choose to share them), learn about their writing process, and purchase their works.

The 4 most current interviews are posted here. Older ones may be found under the Archive: Author Meet & Greet on the main page of this blog by the author’s last name.

**Jack Ketchum’s Interview from December 2017 is PINNED at the bottom of this page**

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So, without further ado, let’s get to know

Meet & Greet Author:  #301

Lee Davis Jr.

AI disclosure

I wrote Oath of the Osprey and used Google and the Internet for research, Grammarly for spelling and grammar, and ChatGPT during final line and copy editing, primarily for grammar, punctuation, and refining sentence structure. Ann Leslie Tuttle provided a professional editorial assessment. GetCovers professionally designed the cover without AI. I do occasionally use AI tools to help create some promotional images and social media marketing materials.

Your Name: Lee Davis Jr.

Genre(s) of your work: Character-driven suspense/thriller

Titles/Year of Published Work(s):

Oath of the Osprey (2026), my debut novel.

Bio:

Lee Davis Jr. is a Florida native and New Smyrna Beach resident. By day, he works in IT infrastructure. His debut novel, Oath of the Osprey, is a character-driven suspense thriller with heart, blending danger and action with friendship, courage, selflessness, and cheeky humor.

Lee loves stories about funny, flawed people who find themselves under extraordinary pressure. Away from writing, he enjoys traveling with his wife, D’Yan, spending time near the ocean, and finding new adventures with family and friends. They have five adult children, three grandchildren, and a Bernedoodle named Bodhi, who would probably object to being listed last. She is a delightful, mischievous mess!

Why do you write in the genre that you do?

I love suspense, but the people in the story are what keep me invested. Put ordinary people in an impossible situation, give them someone or something worth fighting for, and see what happens. That interests me.

With Oath, I wanted readers to care about the characters, laugh with them, and worry about what they stood to lose. The dangerous rescue mission gives the story momentum, but friendship, loyalty, fear, and the choices people make under pressure give it heart. And even when things get dark, one of my misfit characters is probably going to say something wildly inappropriate. Oath is chock-full of cheeky humor! 😊

How has writing changed/altered your life?

It has taken over a ridiculous amount of my time. LOL! I still have a day job and a family, so writing, revising, publishing, and now marketing a novel have added a whole other life to the one I already had.

But it has also given me something I never expected: people talking about characters who lived only in my head as though they are people we both know. A reader laughing at a scene, worrying about Joon, or telling me they miss the characters makes all that work feel worthwhile. I’m also learning that taking a break is necessary. The book will still be there when I get back.

Who are your favorite authors and why?

Ken Follett is a favorite. I love the scope of his stories and the way the characters keep you invested through all that history and conflict. My shelves also have plenty of John Grisham, Michael Crichton, Clive Cussler, Robert Ludlum, and Tom Clancy. I grew up reading The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, then became a big Stephen King fan in my teens.

More recently, I’ve enjoyed Andy Weir, Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware, Lisa Jewell, Jack Carr, and Gillian Flynn. I also love fantasy, including The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and The Wheel of Time. My tastes wander, but strong characters and a story that makes me want one more chapter are usually the common thread.

Do you believe that audiobooks are the wave of the future, more of a passing fad, or somewhere in between, and why?

I love audiobooks and think they’re here to stay. I listen to a lot of books because life is busy, and it gives me another way to enjoy stories. I listened to the entire Wheel of Time series, which is quite a commitment!

A good narrator adds something special to the experience. I don’t think audio has to replace print or ebooks to matter. Different formats give people different ways to read, and I’m happy there are options.

What have you found to be a good marketing tool? A bad one?

Direct outreach has been one of the most rewarding approaches so far. I contact reviewers, book bloggers, book clubs, and bookstores, and I’ve done interviews and explored local events. It takes a lot of work, but a real response from someone who connects with the book makes it worthwhile.

I’ve even used my IT background to build a local author marketing and business app called Osprey Flight Deck. It helps me keep track of outreach, contacts, review copies, shipping, social media, and follow-up tasks. It’s pretty dang cool, like having a part-time assistant. Apparently, writing a novel wasn’t enough of a project for me. I need more hours in a day. Or maybe a clone…?

I’m still experimenting with advertising, so I can’t honestly name one platform as the best or worst. What I’m wary of is anyone promising instant readers or guaranteed success. I’m learning to look for a good fit and useful results, rather than just impressive numbers. I want honest reader feedback, and I won’t pay for a favorable review.

Do you believe writing should be censored – that some topics should remain taboo?

I think writers need room to explore difficult subjects. A story can depict cruelty, prejudice, or terrible choices without endorsing them. Those subjects can reveal a great deal about people and the world we live in.

That freedom also asks something of the writer. I want to think carefully about what belongs in the story and how I handle it. Readers should be free to decide what they want to read, and reviewers should be free to decline a book that isn’t for them.

What is your opinion of Trigger Warnings?

I see a straightforward Content Note as a useful courtesy. Oath is intended for adults and contains strong language, violence, kidnapping, trafficking themes, trauma-related material, and sexual content. I include a Content Note on my website so readers can make an informed choice.

I don’t want to spoil the story, but I also don’t want someone accepting a copy with the wrong expectations. You can be clear about the kinds of content a book contains without giving away what happens.

Do you find that you sell better in person (at events) or through social media (like a personal blog, website, or Amazon)?

It’s too early for me to make a fair comparison. My early sales have leaned heavily on friends, family, and people in my existing circle, and I’m still building an audience beyond that.

I enjoy talking with people in person. Sometimes the most natural introduction to the book starts with an ordinary conversation. I sold several copies at a bar in Ohio one evening, lol. (To be honest, I think the booze helped.) My website and social media help people find more and stay connected, while Amazon is one place they can buy it. I’m exploring more events now, so ask me again after I’ve had a chance to compare actual results.

Where can people find you and your work?

My website is the best place to start: https://leedavisjr.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lee.davis.jr/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.davis.jr
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@lee.davis.jr

Oath of the Osprey is available in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover on Amazon, and through Kindle Unlimited. You can find purchase links, more about the book, and the Content Note on my website.

Thank you, Sue, for giving indie authors a place to share their work. I appreciate the opportunity!

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Michael Kranz

AI Transparency Statement

I use AI tools as part of my creative workflow, including brainstorming, drafting assistance, editing, translation, research support and, in some projects, visual and cover development. I direct the projects, provide the concepts, stories and source material, review and revise the work, and make the final editorial and publishing decisions. I believe AI should be used transparently and responsibly.

Your Name: Michael Kranz

Pseudonym (if you use one): None. Earlier in my life and artistic career, I worked under my birth name, Michael Bobrowski.

Genre(s) of your work: Contemporary fiction, children’s literature, fantasy, humorous regional stories, and books inspired by real life.

Titles/Year of Published Work(s):

Selected publications, 2026:

FRIEDA – A Hen Finds Her Place

BUTJACULIX® – children’s fantasy series

Captain Wattrutscher – The Incredible Adventures

Weil das Glück Umwege liebt

Wenn der Wind dein Herz berührt

My books are published in German and, increasingly, in other languages. FRIEDA is available in several language editions.

Bio:

I am a German author and artist living in Butjadingen, a rural peninsula on Germany’s North Sea coast.

I began painting in the late 1980s. Around 1990, I worked with other artists on an unusual project called BoDi90, combining painting, music and dance. After many turns in life, storytelling gradually became another important part of my creative work.

Today I write novels, children’s stories, fantasy and humorous stories rooted in northern Germany. Nature, animals, the sea and the people who live here find their way into much of my work.

Some of my stories begin with things that actually happened. FRIEDA, for example, was inspired by a hen that laid an egg in the nest of our runner ducks. The ducks incubated it, and the little chicken that hatched grew up believing that this unusual family was simply home.

I am interested in stories about belonging, dignity, friendship, growing older, second chances and the strange detours life sometimes takes.

Why do you write in the genre that you do?

I do not think of myself as belonging to only one genre. I begin with a story or a character that interests me. Sometimes that becomes a children’s story, sometimes a novel and sometimes something humorous. What connects most of my books is that I am interested in people and animals who have to find their place in the world. I also like stories in which hope and humor survive even when life becomes complicated.

How has writing changed/altered your life?

Writing has given me another way of looking at life. As a painter, I learned to observe colors, expressions, landscapes and small details. Writing taught me to listen more closely to people, memories and emotions.

It has also shown me that beginning something new has very little to do with age. I turned 65 on October 9th of this year, and instead of slowing down creatively, I feel that many stories are only now beginning to find their way onto paper.

Who are your favorite authors and why?

I do not have a long fixed list of favorite authors. I am more interested in the way a story makes me feel. One writer whose storytelling I particularly enjoy is Jonas Jonasson. I like the way he combines humor, absurd situations and very human characters. His stories can be funny without treating the people in them as jokes. That mixture of humor and humanity is something I appreciate very much.

Do you believe that audiobooks are the wave of the future, more of a passing fad, or somewhere in between and why?

I believe audiobooks are here to stay. They will not replace printed books, because holding and reading a book is a very different experience. But audiobooks make stories accessible in situations where people cannot or do not want to sit down with a printed book. I see them as another door into a story, not as a replacement for reading.

What have you found to be a good marketing tool? A bad one?

The best marketing I have found is genuine contact with readers. Social media can work very well when it is not only advertising. I write regular posts about life near the North Sea, animals, everyday observations and the small things that make life worth noticing. People get to know the person behind the books before they are asked to buy anything.

What works badly, in my experience, is simply shouting “Buy my book” again and again. People can feel the difference between communication and advertising.

Do you believe writing should be censored – that some topics should remain taboo?

In principle, I believe literature needs freedom. Books should be allowed to deal with difficult, uncomfortable and controversial subjects. Avoiding a subject does not make it disappear. At the same time, freedom does not remove responsibility. Authors should understand the difference between examining something difficult and simply glorifying cruelty, hatred or harm.

What is your opinion of Trigger Warnings?

I think trigger warnings can be useful when a book contains particularly disturbing material and the warning is brief and specific. They should help readers make an informed choice, but they should not become a substitute for reading, context or personal judgment.

Do you find that you sell better in person (at events) or through social media (like a personal blog, website, or Amazon)?

For me, online communication is especially important. I live in a rural part of northern Germany and I am now reaching readers outside Germany as well, so websites, social media and online bookstores make that possible.

Personal encounters can be wonderful because readers remember a conversation. But the internet allows a story created near the North Sea to reach somebody thousands of miles away. That still fascinates me.

Where can people find you and your work?

Website: https://www.atelierumwerk.de/

Readers can also find my books on Amazon and other major online bookstores by searching for Michael Kranz and the individual book titles.

I also publish regular stories and observations from Germany’s North Sea coast under “Zwischen Salzwiesen und Seele” and continue to develop new books and international editions through Atelier Umwerk.

Thank you, Sue, for giving independent authors this space. I find it remarkable that a conversation can begin between central Illinois and a small place on Germany’s North Sea coast simply because of books.

Warm greetings from Butjadingen,

Michael Kranz

(Author Note: Danke! 🙂 )

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Kendall Kirkbride

Your Name: Kendall Kirkbride

Pseudonym: None. I publish under my own name. (Although I played around with the idea of writing my memoir – which has really been more of a WordPress side project – under the pseudonym Maddison Penrose.)

Genre(s) of your work: Psychological suspense, crime thriller, gothic mystery, horror, dark fantasy, and dark “romantasy.”

Titles/Year of Published Work(s):

The Quiet Between Us — Sept. 3, 2026

When Gods Wake — Sept. 11, 2026

Upcoming:

Where the Missing Go — tentatively planned for November 2026

Bio:

Kendall Kirkbride is an Ohio-based author whose work moves through psychological suspense, crime thriller, gothic mystery, horror, and dark romantasy.

Outside of writing, she is a licensed chemical dependency counselor working as a primary therapist in substance-use treatment. She earned her undergraduate degree in criminal justice and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling with concentrations in addiction and forensic counseling, while preparing for future doctoral study in forensic psychology.

Her debut novel, The Quiet Between Us, begins the Elliott Mercer series, while When Gods Wake opens The Dead Gods, a planned five-book dark romantasy series.

Her stories tend to live in the uncomfortable spaces between what people know, what they remember, what they are willing to admit, and what they would rather leave buried.

Why do you write in the genre that you do?

Apparently, I am incapable of writing about emotionally well-adjusted people having a perfectly normal Tuesday.

More seriously, I have always been fascinated by the things people hide—from each other, from themselves, and sometimes from entire communities. Psychological suspense gives me room to explore memory, grief, obsession, secrecy, trauma, and all of the ways our perception of the truth can become distorted.

Fantasy gives me many of those same opportunities on a much larger canvas. I can take questions about power, belief, morality, history, love, grief, and identity and build an entire mythology around them.

On the surface, The Quiet Between Us and When Gods Wake are extremely different books. At their core, though, both are asking versions of the same question: What happens when something everyone has accepted as truth turns out not to be true at all?

That seems to be where my brain likes to live.

How has writing changed/altered your life?

In more ways than I expected.

For a long time, writing was simply something I loved and something that belonged to me. Publishing changed that. Suddenly these characters and worlds that had existed privately in my head could belong, in some small way, to other people too.

It has also forced me enormously outside of my comfort zone. Writing a book is strangely private. Publishing one is the exact opposite. You have to let people read it, judge it, review it, talk about it, and sometimes completely misunderstand it—and then somehow continue writing anyway.

I am still very early in my publishing career, but I think writing has made me braver. It has also reminded me how much I genuinely love storytelling, even when everything surrounding the actual writing—formatting, marketing, algorithms, emails, and trying to figure out what on earth I’m doing—is considerably less romantic.

Who are your favorite authors and why?

I am terrible at choosing favorite authors because what I want from a book changes constantly depending on what mood I am in.

The writers I tend to love most are the ones who can create atmosphere so effectively that the setting almost becomes another character, who are willing to let their characters be complicated and occasionally deeply flawed, and who trust readers enough not to explain every single thing to them.

I love books that leave me thinking about them after I’ve finished them. Give me morally complicated people, secrets, mythology, unreliable memories, buried histories, impossible choices, or a mystery that makes me question what I thought I understood, and I’m probably interested.

My bookshelves are consequently a little chaotic.

Do you believe that audiobooks are the wave of the future, more of a passing fad, or somewhere in between and why?

Definitely not a passing fad.

I don’t think audiobooks are going to replace physical books or ebooks, but I do think they have permanently changed how people are able to fit reading into their lives.

People listen while driving, working, exercising, cleaning, traveling, or doing a hundred other things that make physically sitting down with a book impossible. They also make books more accessible for many readers.

I think the future is less about one format replacing another and more about readers expecting stories to be available in whichever format works best for them.

I would absolutely love to eventually have audiobook editions of my own work.

What have you found to be a good marketing tool? A bad one?

I am still very much figuring this one out.

So far, social media has been my primary sales and marketing tool (granted, I only published my first novel 12 days ago). I have found that posts where I am actually talking to people—sharing something about the writing process, celebrating something exciting, laughing about something that went wrong, showing the physical book, or explaining why a story matters to me—feel much more effective than repeatedly saying, “Here is my book. Please buy it.”

People want to connect with people, not advertisements.

I am only now beginning to branch into reviewer outreach, bookstores, libraries, podcasts, author networking, and potential in-person events, so I am very interested to see what happens as that part grows.

As for bad marketing, I think anything that starts making every interaction feel transactional is probably a mistake. I never want someone to feel as though I only interacted with them because I wanted them to buy my book.

Do you believe writing should be censored – that some topics should remain taboo?

Generally, no.

I think fiction needs room to explore difficult, uncomfortable, frightening, ugly, and morally complicated subjects. Writing about something is not the same thing as endorsing it, and sometimes fiction is one of the safest places we have to examine subjects that are extremely difficult to discuss elsewhere.

That doesn’t mean writers are immune from criticism, and it certainly doesn’t mean every treatment of every subject is automatically thoughtful or responsible.

But I am much more comfortable giving readers information and allowing them to decide what they want to engage with than deciding certain subjects simply shouldn’t be written about.

What is your opinion of Trigger Warnings?

I support them.

To me, a trigger or content warning isn’t censorship and it isn’t telling someone that they shouldn’t read a book. It’s information.

Readers come to stories carrying their own experiences, and I don’t lose anything by giving someone enough information to decide whether a particular book is right for them—or whether today is the right day for them to read it.

Especially because I write darker fiction, I would rather someone make an informed choice than unexpectedly encounter material they weren’t prepared for.

A content warning tells you what may be inside the book. It doesn’t tell you what you are allowed to read.

Do you find that you sell better in person (at events) or through social media (like a personal blog, website, or Amazon)?

I honestly can’t compare the two yet!

So far, my sales have come through social media and online visibility because I haven’t begun doing in-person author events yet.

That is something I am actively working to change. I’m beginning to reach out to bookstores, libraries, reviewers, podcasts, and other members of the book community, and I would absolutely love to start doing signings, author discussions, festivals, and other events.

So ask me this question again after I’ve had the opportunity to embarrass myself at a book table somewhere.

For now, social media wins by default—but I am very open to trying whatever helps my books find the readers who might genuinely enjoy them.

Where can people find you and your work?

The easiest place to find everything is my author website:

https://kendallkirkbride.com

There you can find information about my published books, upcoming work, purchase links, information about me, and ways to get in touch.

My currently published books, The Quiet Between Us and When Gods Wake, are available through Amazon, and I’m also on Goodreads.

Readers can also follow along through my social media accounts, where I share book news, writing updates, behind-the-scenes glimpses of whatever fictional disaster I’m currently creating, and updates on future releases.

Website: https://kendallkirkbride.com
Goodreads: Kendall Kirkbride
Amazon: Purchase links are available through my website
Email: hello@kendallkirkbride.com

My next planned release is Where the Missing Go, the second book in the Elliott Mercer series, which is tentatively scheduled for November 2026.

And, because apparently two fictional universes were not enough to keep me occupied, I am also continuing work on the remaining books in The Dead Gods series.

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Clay Knight

Your Name: Clay Knight

Pseudonym (if you use one): C. C. Knight

Genre(s) of your work: Horror, supernatural horror, creature horror, dark comedy, and speculative fiction.

Titles/Year of Published Work(s):

Hollowmarch — 2026

Bio:

C. C. Knight is an Alabama-based horror author and scientist with a fondness for strange towns, impossible places, monsters that probably shouldn’t exist, and characters who cope with terrifying situations using humor that is occasionally appropriate.

Who are your favorite authors and why?

I’m especially drawn to authors who can take an unusual or even impossible premise and make it feel completely believable once you’re inside the story.

Stephen King has always impressed me with his ability to make you care about ordinary people before asking them to confront extraordinary things. Jack Townsend is another favorite because I love the way he blends genuinely strange and unsettling horror with dry humor, memorable characters, and an escalating sense that absolutely anything can happen.

More broadly, I love writers who understand pacing and mystery. Give me characters I care about, an irresistible question I need answered, and a world I’m reluctant to leave when the book ends, and I’m probably going to have a very good time.

Do you believe that audiobooks are the wave of the future, more of a passing fad, or somewhere in between and why?

Definitely not a passing fad.

I think audiobooks have expanded what reading can look like. Someone can experience an entire novel while commuting, exercising, traveling, cleaning the house, or doing any number of things that wouldn’t allow them to sit down with a paperback.

I’m particularly excited about that because Hollowmarch is currently being produced as an audiobook. Hearing another person perform characters that previously existed only as voices inside your own head is a very surreal experience. A great narrator isn’t simply reading the words — they’re performing the story and giving it another life.

I don’t think audiobooks replace physical books or ebooks. They’re another doorway into the same story, and I think more doorways into books can only be a good thing.

What have you found to be a good marketing tool? A bad one?

I’m still new enough to publishing that I’m actively figuring this one out.

So far, the most encouraging thing has been genuine human interaction. A reader recommending the book, a reviewer talking about it, or somebody sharing it with a friend feels infinitely more valuable than simply yelling “BUY MY BOOK!” into the internet repeatedly. I’ve also learned that book marketing involves an impressive amount of sending messages into the void and occasionally discovering that the void has an email address.

The least effective strategy seems to be assuming that publishing a book automatically means people will discover it. There are an extraordinary number of books competing for attention. Writing the story is one challenge. Helping the right readers discover it is an entirely different one. I’m learning as I go.

Do you believe writing should be censored – that some topics should remain taboo?

I think fiction needs room to explore uncomfortable subjects. That doesn’t mean every treatment of every subject is automatically thoughtful or worthwhile, but I’d rather readers have the freedom to decide what they want to engage with than have someone else decide which ideas they’re allowed to encounter.

Horror in particular has always explored uncomfortable territory. Fear, violence, death, grief, morality, and the darker parts of human nature are practically built into the genre. Context and intent matter tremendously, but discomfort by itself isn’t a reason I think a subject should be off-limits to fiction.

What is your opinion of Trigger Warnings?

I think they can be useful when they’re informative without spoiling the experience.

Readers know themselves better than I do. If someone has a particular subject they genuinely don’t want to encounter, giving them enough information to make that decision seems perfectly reasonable. At the same time, particularly in horror, surprise and uncertainty are part of the experience. So I prefer warnings that give readers the information they reasonably need without providing a road map of everything that’s going to happen.

Give people useful information and then let them decide what’s right for them.

Do you find that you sell better in person (at events) or through social media (like a personal blog, website, or Amazon)?

Ask me again after I’ve been doing this longer!

Hollowmarch is my debut novel, so I don’t have enough history yet to pretend I’ve discovered the secret formula. Most of my experience so far has been online, and I think digital discovery is incredibly important for independent authors. Someone can hear about a book, look it up, read the description, and be reading it within minutes.

I suspect the real answer ultimately won’t be one method or another. Different readers discover books in different ways, and the challenge is figuring out which paths actually lead the right readers to your work.

Where can people find you and your work?

My debut horror novel, Hollowmarch, is available in paperback and ebook through Amazon, with an audiobook currently in production.

Readers can search for “Hollowmarch by C. C. Knight” on Amazon and Goodreads to find the book.

I’m always happy to hear from readers — particularly the ones who develop theories about what exactly is happening in Hollowmarch. I make absolutely no promises that I’ll tell them whether they’re right.

If you like horror with mystery, monsters, strange mythology, genuine scares, dark humor, and characters who remain recognizably human when everything around them stops behaving normally, Hollowmarch was written with you in mind. More than anything, I wanted to write the kind of horror novel I would want to discover myself: creepy enough to make you reconsider that noise downstairs, funny enough to occasionally let you breathe, and mysterious enough that “one more chapter” becomes a very bad decision at one o’clock in the morning.

And Hollowmarch is only the beginning.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hollowmarch-C-C-Knight/dp/B0HBNYMN24

 

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Jack Ketchum

(PINNED – Interviewed in December 2017)

 

Name: Dallas Mayr

Pseudonym (if you use one): Jack Ketchum

Genre(s) of your work: Horror and Suspense (and the occasional Black Comedy.)

 

 

Titles/Year of Published Work(s):  Writing professionally since 1970, first fiction 1976, first novel, OFF SEASON, 1981.

 

 

Bio: see my website http://www.jackketchum.net/and add to that, Most Recent Novel, THE SECRET LIFE OF SOULS, written with Lucky McKee and Most Recent Collection, GORILLA IN MY ROOM.

 

 

 

Why do you write in the genre that you do?  

I grew up loving fantasy, and horror is the dark side of fantasy.

How has writing changed/altered your life?

The usual perks of self-employment — no punching the time clock, no damn bosses hovering over your desk.  But in addition to that, writing mandates continual periods of self-examination.  You don’t easily get away with lying to yourself on the page.  It requires you to scour your history and your present for your deepest faults and pleasures, to reveal and revel in them, to find the strengths in your life and work from there, reaching outward.

 

 

Who are your favorite authors and why?

Far too many to list here.  I read all over the place and consequently my favorite writers come from all genres and backgrounds, from Henry Miller to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, from Raymond Chandler, Elmore Leonard and John D. MacDonald to Thomas Hardy, Philip Roth, Michael Chabon, Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Straub and Stephen King.  Why?  Because they’re smart, empathic, courageous.  Because they’re good!

 

 

What is your opinion of mainstream/corporate bookstores?

I wish we had a lot more mom-and-pop, brick-and-mortar bookstores.  I seriously miss browsing.

 

 

What do you hope your readers will take away from your work?

The need for empathy and tenderness in the world, that the souls of beasts and humans matter.  And a few hours of just plain fun.

 

 

How much does personal experience play in your written work?

Depends on the piece.  Some, like THE GIRL NEXT DOOR and RED, are highly personal, others…?  I don’t know where the hell they came from!

 

 

How do you find the motivation to complete a book/story?  

Finishing a piece is almost always easy.  It’s getting started that’s hard.  Getting all your ducks in a row and then having the balls and suspension of disbelief  to say to yourself, this is really going to work.

 

 

What makes you NOT finish reading a book?

I give books a first paragraph test.  If it passes, then a first chapter test.  If it passes that, I’ll almost always finish the book — I can tell from there that I’m going to want to.   If it fails I scuttle it immediately.  Very occasionally, too much repetition will make me dump it.  I don’t want to waste reading-time.  Too much good stuff out there.

 

 

Do you believe writing should be censored – that some topics should remain taboo?

Nothing should ever be censored.  Everything is worth discussing.  How long a discussion is another matter entirely.

 

 

Any pet peeves in writing? In reading others’ work?

 Life’s short.  I don’t bother with peeves.  If I’m bored, I just close the book.

 

 

Where can people find you and your work?

Website, see above. I have a list of published works there.   Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/jackketchumofficial/ Twitter, https://twitter.com/jackketchum Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ketchum

 

What can I say?

I am honored to have received a bit of Jack Ketchum’s time, for him to share his thoughts and words with me (and my readers), and for his participation in a blog such as this one. Thank you so much – for the interview as well as your writing. It has and continues to be an inspiration.

Readers, I implore you to look into Jack Ketchum’s work, especially if you are a horror/suspense fan. From the mouth of Stephen King – “Who’s the scariest guy in America? Probably Jack Ketchum.”

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