What’s your background? What compelled you to start writing?

I barely remember a time when I didn’t write. I’m pretty sure it started with my two cousins, Melanie and Bill. I was around ten when we started writing and telling stories to try to scare each other. We lived close to each other, back in the woods. That started it all. Bill still says I owe him royalties. 

What writing advice would you give your younger self?

I’d tell my younger self not to worry so much about what people think. I think that limited my writing for awhile, especially being from a small town. When my first book was published, the local paper ran an article on the front page and I was surprised by the scrutiny it got.

What book from your childhood do you remember best? Why?

When I was young, I was an honors student and I read what I wanted. I think the book that made me really want to do this was Pet Sematary by Stephen King. I loved the layer upon layer of horror it provoked, the mounting dread. It was amazing to me that words on a page could have that effect on me. I wouldn’t sleep in the same room with that book, but I couldn’t stop reading it.

What kind of research do you do?

I love research and mine is all over the place, depending on the story. Recently, I’ve been researching a local witch legend for my chapter in an upcoming Black Hare Press 13 anthology. In 1800, a girl was buried alive in a cemetery 30 minutes from here. Although she couldn’t speak, jealousy surrounding her beauty led to her accusation and execution as a witch. I’ve also been researching Hurricane Katrina for a different story.

What inspires you?

Mostly music. Most writers I know are also music fanatics and build playlists for their stories. Playlists are also a great mind trick. If I associate songs with a particular story, I can be away from that story for years, but one song can pull me right back into it. Whiskey Myers is my current musical inspiration. I think their songs fit so well with my southern heroes.

What sparked the idea for this book?

My daughter showed me a video on Tik Tok of these kids playing with an app called Randonautica. The concept is, you think of an intention and it generates random GPS points related to your intention. We played one day and our intention was ‘ghost.’ It led us to a summer home near here. I snapped several pictures and when I examined them that night, I spotted what looked like a ghostly face in one of the windows. It’s pretty cool. If anyone wants to see it, hit me up on my author page and I’ll show it to you. 

Which of your characters do you relate to most in this book?

I really like my Charlie character. He has a lot of regrets concerning his behavior as a teenager, and in particular, his last interaction with his brother. I think that’s a common thought with many of us, when you lose someone who is important to you. You constantly think of all the things you could’ve done differently, and lose sight of the most important thing, that these people knew you loved them.