I first gave it a shot in my late teens, only to quit soon after when I discovered how terrible I was. Somehow I kept coming back to it, and I eventually figured out that with a bit of time and practice anyone could become half decent.

I came up with the idea for Horrorshow in 2012, and initially wrote it as a screenplay. I switched to writing novels (or attempting to) shortly after I finished that, with the hope of one day turning that completed Horrorshow screenplay into a book and finding a wider audience (i.e. more than zero people). I knew it would be a step up skill-wise, so I needed to get a few move novels under my belt before I was confident in tackling such a story.

The idea that a story I have dreamt up will would one day be read and enjoyed by complete strangers on the opposite side of the world is by far the most rewarding part of this whole endeavor.

Prior to sites like Smashwords, publishing was one of the least inclusive industries, out of reach to the average person. Those barriers have now been torn down, and independent publishing is completely egalitarian.

A sort-of fictionalized version of a sort-of true story, about a kidnapping in the early 1990s.

Douglas Coupland, Jon Ronson, Charlie Kaufman, Douglas Adams.

Mortality. Nobody knows how may days we have left, so we may as well make the most of what we've been given.

Day jobs and thinking about how I can find more time to write.

I try not to.

Usually an image or theme will come to me at some point during the writing process, which I then pitch to the experts. My advice for aspiring authors is that under no circumstances should you attempt your own cover design unless you are somewhat skilled in that area. As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Biographies and autobiographies by musicians - the more sordid, the better. I go through those like M&Ms.