When did you first become interested in writing?
I think around age 13 when I began keeping a diary. I would write in it every single day, until I filled up countless books. I then kept a separate one for poetry and really became obsessed during college English and Creative Writing class in HS. My poetry went from the lovesick themes to dark and twisted ideas that roamed in my head. I joined my HS paper and kept it going as I entered college and beyond.
How did you get involved in fantasy/horror?
Inherited from my parents! Mostly my mom. She was a brilliant PhD psychotherapist who loved to relax after dinner by watching a good horror film like Maniac, Demented, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. When I was 10, I begged to watch one of "mommy's movies" with her, so she put on Motel Hell and I was hooked. My dad was more into the complexity of psychological horror films over gore and introduced me to A Clockwork Orange when I was around 14. It was love at first watch. I even ended up writing my college senior thesis on Anthony Burgess' book. Read more