I am a film maker as well as an author. I aspire to lead my books into becoming movies.

My biggest aspiration with Horatio is to move kids into a place of less fear earlier in life.

J.K. Rowling inspired me to write my first novel when I was a scared teen who wanted to feel brave, and Neil Gaiman inspires a lot of ideas at the moment. They are both great at adding elements of real humanity to their fantasy worlds.

Eckhart Tolle inspires me as well. Though not a fiction writer, his through understanding of self has made me a better human and a better writer.

Horatio and The Fear of Dying was inspired by Jim Henson’s adaptation of an 1850s Russian folktale called The Soldier and Death.

It is the story of a little boy who manages to kidnap death to save his family. Along the lines, he accidentally kidnaps the joy of living as well and must mend the cycle he has broken.

It’s been a long process, I wrote the first draft in one sitting, inspired by a little tale I wrote when I was 9, after watching the aforementioned Jim Henson show. It took months of revisiting and sitting with my editor to get it finalized.

In addition to writing it, I drew sketch concepts and found all the artists involved through online ads. The whole process from conception to the final book took about three years.

I’m finalizing the publishing house so it’s ready for the book, and I have a line of greeting cards on amazon I’m really excited about because it supports the artists who paint them with royalties.

I’ll also have a horror coming of age novel titled The Feeder ready in a year or two. It’s based on a film I made in college, which you can see here: https://youtu.be/NIx1vbOH8bs. Though it’s packed with scares, it’s message remains one of growth and hope. Horror just seems to be the best genre to break into the film industry.

I love magic realism. I think you can plant deep messages in people’s minds in a really beautiful way with it.

I’ve been telling stories for as long as a I can remember.

Because I have to. I have the best time doing it. When an idea finally comes, I fall in love with it and it almost becomes more real than the world around me. I like being in that place.

Tough one. Where does any thought come from? The ether, I think. Most of my ideas have come from dreams. It’s odd to call them mine, because I feel they came to me, I didn’t come up with them. I don’t have that many, either, I don’t think I’ll be one of those authors who put out hundreds of books in their career, I don’t know how they do it.

I like the laptop. Sorry if that’s uncool. I do free-write on a notepad, but thoughts and ideas only, never a draft of the story.

A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle is the only book I can say I’ve consumed more than ten times. Each time I do it leaves me something new.

The Harry Potter series changed me because I wanted to feel brave like Harry but I didn’t think I was, not really. I took to writing so I could have my own hero.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is almost a rethought model of The Jungle Book. I love his prose, it’s amazing.

I’m currently reading Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man’s Fear. He takes his time with the book and I’m definitely not bored so I’ll list him too.

I’m a fan coming of age stories and idealized nostalgia, and Stephen Chbosky did an amazing job both penning and directing The Perks of Being a Wall Flower.

By watching movies and re-reading books that got me writing in the first place. I try to turn on my writer/film maker mode and really notice why these stories moved me,

so I can re-discover why I was writing in the first place.

Enjoy the process. The result is only a reminder of the time and energy you put into achieving it. If you didn’t enjoy writing it, finishing it will turn out disappointing. I think this ends up being true for both you and your audience.