I was asked why I write such dark novels. The question was presented as if I have a choice. I can’t control where the ideas come from no more than I can control the weather. Inspiration has yet to show up for me during the calm of the day. It always seems to come during the storms at night.
If any of my protagonists materialized in front of me, the first thing they would do is punch me in the face. I wouldn’t blame them. I deserve it. I put them through hell.
Nobody wants to read about the hero who prevented chaos. We want to read about the hero who experienced it. I can’t show you the heart of a lion without showing you the soul of a monster. One can’t exist without the other.
Critics have called my writing graphic, disturbing, and brutal. I don’t take it personal, because they’re not being critical of me. They’re being critical of the nature of the antagonists I create. In my world, that means I'm doing my job. I guess I just get closer to reality than most. That tends to make some of the critics uncomfortable. That tends to make me believe that I’m on the right track.
I don’t sit over my keyboard with the intention of creating a disturbing or graphic story. But I believe there has to be those moments within it for a reader to believe a character would take action to right a terrible wrong. How many pages would you read if one of my characters resorted to violence because a neighbor’s dog pooped in their yard? Not many. What if that same neighbor abducted and brutalized someone they love? Someone you love?
How far would you go to make the punishment fit the crime? How far would you go to protect the ones that you love? Experience what people like us would do in the pages of ABOMINATION, SUFFER, SUFFER II, and WITHOUT.
Experience what I would do. In the end - good or bad - I am all of my characters.
If any of my protagonists materialized in front of me, the first thing they would do is punch me in the face. I wouldn’t blame them. I deserve it. I put them through hell.
Nobody wants to read about the hero who prevented chaos. We want to read about the hero who experienced it. I can’t show you the heart of a lion without showing you the soul of a monster. One can’t exist without the other.
Critics have called my writing graphic, disturbing, and brutal. I don’t take it personal, because they’re not being critical of me. They’re being critical of the nature of the antagonists I create. In my world, that means I'm doing my job. I guess I just get closer to reality than most. That tends to make some of the critics uncomfortable. That tends to make me believe that I’m on the right track.
I don’t sit over my keyboard with the intention of creating a disturbing or graphic story. But I believe there has to be those moments within it for a reader to believe a character would take action to right a terrible wrong. How many pages would you read if one of my characters resorted to violence because a neighbor’s dog pooped in their yard? Not many. What if that same neighbor abducted and brutalized someone they love? Someone you love?
How far would you go to make the punishment fit the crime? How far would you go to protect the ones that you love? Experience what people like us would do in the pages of ABOMINATION, SUFFER, SUFFER II, and WITHOUT.
Experience what I would do. In the end - good or bad - I am all of my characters.
