Shaun Meeks
1.
When did you start writing horror?
I wrote my first short story when I
was in grade 4. I did a book report on The Shining (something that didn’t
go over well in the Catholic School I attended) and then wrote a story called Cannibalistic
Vampires. It was a cross between The Hills Have Eyes and Near Dark. From there,
I wrote about two stories a year, most of them terrible. I still have a few of
them and they are my secret shame.
2.
Have you written in any other genre?
Not that I’ve published as of
yet, but I have a few that will be released in the near future. Many of them
lean more towards crime stories, but there are also a few science fiction and
fantasy stories too. I do have a book series planned that will have touches of
horror to it, but will be aimed at a younger audience.
3.
What makes you uncomfortable?
Questions that ask what makes me
uncomfortable, for one. Aside from that, there are a few other things. Being on
sketchy rides at travelling carnivals never make me feel good, nor do unsafe
heights. Where I used to work, I’d have to go to the roof of this
thirty-three story building and it had no real ledge to it. It just sort of
dropped off. It was so windy up there and nothing to hold onto. It was a place
of nightmares. I’ve been tempted to write about fears of mine like that, but
they haven’t come out right, so maybe later.
4.
Does your family read your work?
Some of them do, but not all. One of
my most vocal fans in my family is my son, Kaleb. He loves and promotes almost
everything I’ve written. My partner, she has read a lot of what I’ve
written, but is more of a Jane Austen fan than a Stephen King one. She’s
had some tough reads with my work, especially a certain zombie erotica story I
wrote. As far as the ones who don’t read it, it could be that horror is
not their thing, or reading isn’t. Who knows? I’m sure all writers
have some family that just think the whole writing thing is really just a hobby
of sorts, nothing to take serious. I don’t get offended by them, you can’t
please everyone.
5.
Does your writing make you uneasy?
Not at all. Well, I did write part of
a novel a few years ago that I had to put down. I managed to get about 55,000
words into it, but the subject matter was getting too hard for me and was
actually giving me nightmare. The book is called Memoirs of a Serial Killing
and even though the subject matter is fiction, I did add fair amount of reality
to it. Most of it has to do with some personal experience I had growing up that
haunt me. I grew up in a very abusive home, so when I go into some of the
killer’s
past, I used things I saw and lived through as fodder. It was had to relive
them, but I feel like they add a pretty good punch to the story, so I kept them
in. Only thing is, it was so hard to keep going that I need to put it aside and
do other work. One day the book will see the light of day.
6.
Who would you say you write like?
I’ve heard comparisons coming up in
reviews now and again, but I’ve never really thought I write like
any one person. I’ve been heavily influenced by people like Stephen King,
Clive Barker, Elmore Leonard and Joe R. Lansdale, but I’m not sure I write
like any of them. If it was any of those though, I think the influences I
picked up from Leonard are the most easy to spot. I’m not big on
painting set pictures; overly describing how someone is dressed, what the
colour and texture of a carpet is or all the other minute things some feel are
essential. For me it’s more about the story, the characters and the action than
the small stuff.
7.
Who are your favourite authors?
That’s a hard one. There are so many, but I
recently posted a top ten of some of my favorite writers. So here it is again,
in no particular order: Stephen King, Clive Barker, Jack Ketchum, Caitlin R.
Kiernan, Joe R. Lansdale, Chuck Palahniuk, Joe Hill, Tim Lebbon, Christian A.
Larsen and Richard Matheson. The list always changes though. For me, the list
changes depending on who I’ve been reading more of lately, but
these writers can usually be found near my night table.
8.
Who influences you as a writer?
Over the years this has changed
because I’m constantly being inspired by new writers that come out.
Growing up though, some of my biggest influences were some mentioned above like
King, Barker, Ketchum, Lansdale, as well as H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury,
Richard Matheson, Ramsey Campbell, Graham Masterton and Shirley Jackson. Some
newer ones would be Brian Keene, Tim Lebbon, Wrath James White, Chuck
Palahniuk, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Edward Lee and Joe Hill. Sometimes when I read
them, I feel like such a hack, but they also make me want to continue to strive
to be a better writer.
9.
Do you remember what your first horror book was
that you read?
The first horror novel I ever read was
Stephen King’s The Shining. It was grade four and I saw it in my brother’s
ever expanding book collection. I remember the cover too. It was all silver
with a face in the top center, but the face was blank. I had no idea what it
was about, and I admit that I really didn’t “get” every aspect of it when I read it
back then. Some of it was way too over my head, but it made me want more of
that kind of writing. I already loved horror comics like Tales from the Crypt,
Eerie, Tomb and a few others my brother had, so I started to look for novels at
the library. After that I think the next horror-type novel I found was Ray
Bradbury’s
Something Wicked This Way Comes which became even more of a staple for me,
something I really grabbed onto and influenced some of my writing.
10. How
old were you?
I would have been around nine at the
time. Clearly not a good age for something as heavy as The Shining, but I’m
sure that’s why I like what I like.
11. Is
there any subject you will not touch as an author?
Not really. I used to say that I would
never kill a child in any books I wrote, but as long as it’s
part of the story and it’s not graphic or written just to shock the reader, I would
and have done it. Instead of subject matter that I steer clear of, it’s
more a tone I stay clear of. Torture porn is not something I care to write, nor
are rape scenes. Will I include them in the story if it’s called for? Yes,
but it’s
all about writing it with the proper intentions. Having a hateable character do
or say something horrible is important if that’s what they would believable do. I
wrote a novel where an abusive husband said things and did things that made one
editor uncomfortable, saying that it was too over the top, and nobody, even
someone evil would say things I made him say. Since I had heard the very words
come from the mouth of an abuser, I left them in because it something that
character would say.
12. What
was the best advice you were given as a writer?
Don’t let rejections get you down. I can
never say that enough. Rejections are all part of the learning and growing
process. When you do get a rejection letter, take it for what it is. Read over
and rework the story as it might need and submit elsewhere. Never, and I can’t
stress this enough, NEVER send an email back to the editor. Even if it’s
to thank them for their time, just let it drop. Editors have enough to deal
with without having to read thank you letters from everyone they reject (which
can be in the high hundreds for each anthology). Just let it go.
Editors reject stories for all kinds
of reasons. Sure some of them are bad, but there are plenty of stories that get
rejected because your writing style might not appeal to the editor, the story
you wrote might not have clicked with them that particular day or it simply did
not fit in with the anthology and the editor having to make a hard choice. Some
of my most successful stories were rejected several times before finding a
home. The easiest one to mention is The Soldier which was rejected a few times
before being picked up, and that made it on to some of the year’s
best short story lists.
13. If
you had to start all over again, what would you do different?
Not take some of my rejections as hard
as I have. Also, I would’ve taken more time with some of my releases. When I first
put out At the Gates of Madness, I left it up to my editor to do things right.
I was in such a hurry to get it out that I never looked over the final draft
sent in to be printed, so I personally missed the fact that the file sent in
was not the final corrections but the original first draft. Quite a few copies
of that got out before it was caught and it was and is one of the most embarrassing
things that I would love to go back and change. I don’t usually mention
it either because it’s so embarrassing, but maybe it’ll help other
writers. Do not rush a release!
14. How
many books do you read a year?
I try to read anywhere from 3-4 books
a month, so anywhere from 36-48 a year. I would love to read more, but I still
have to write and work myself.
15. Do
you write every day?
I do, for the most part. Unless life
so rudely steps in and stops it, I write every day. I used to have a two hour
window where’d I write, but decided to do it with word count instead. Now
I write 3000 words a day, more or less. I give that so I don’t
just sit at my desk looking at social media or staring at Mina for the two
hours. Some days I will write more than the set amount though, in the case
where the flow is good and I have thoughts I need to get out, but I never force
it. If I’m
working on a novel and I’m not at 3000 words yet, but it feels like an uphill battle,
I just close it and work on a short story. Usually I have two novels and about
eight short stories in the works at once, so finding something to turn to
pretty easy.
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Goodread: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5818641.Shaun_Meeks
