Let's Talk Horror Writing!

 From my first brush with Edgar Allen Poe (due to my brother's literature class), spooky or horror books have always been among my favorite reading material. From Stephen King to supernatural thrillers, I've loved every frightening moment.   That's why I was excited to get the opportunity to host writer Robert Herold and his new project in My Writing Corner this week  and to get a chance to interview him. .

He says  the supernatural has always had the allure of forbidden fruit to him, ever since his mother refused to allow him, as a boy, to watch creature features on late night TV. Eventually she gave in and before long he was telling tales to neighborhood children of werewolves on the front lawn.  He has pursued many interests, including becoming a history teacher and musician but he always retained his loved of the supernatural, or as he says, he was haunted by it.  Finally he wrote The Eidola Project.

 How did you get started as a fiction writer?

Several years ago I began writing television pilot episodes and entering them in contests. My scripts were doing well. I won The Wild Sound Festival, had two pilots in the top five in the People’s Pilot Awards, and was a finalist, or semi-finalist in several other big contests. After pitching my scripts for a year and getting lots of requests, but having things go no further, I wrote Larry Brody, who heads The People’s Pilot Awards & TVWriter.com, and asked for advice.

He said it was difficult but not impossible for an older writer to break in. (Full disclosure: I’m 63 years young!) He said I should try another route to get attention and suggested I try writing novels.

The Eidola Project was originally a pilot script and I decided to use that, because I always had an affinity for both history and supernatural horror.  It turns out I really like writing novels—I’m having a blast!

I recently wrote an article that goes into more detail about this, published on the TVWriter website.  See https://tvwriter.com/still-howling-at-the-moon/

 How did you get the idea for this book?

Set the Way Back MachineTM for 1968. I wrote a horror story for my junior high English class called “A Matter of Inconvenience.” My teacher loved the story and had me read it to the class. Thanks Mrs. Holt!

What do you like best about your characters?

They’re all interesting people with incredible back-stories, but none are perfect. (Who is?) One, in particular, is far from it. The series will trace their evolution. It’s fun to see where they will go and what they will do with heartaches and obstacles I place before them.  Writing is a bit like how the Greek and Roman gods would toy with humans!

What are you working on next?

My second novel involves a werewolf and is entitled, Moonlight Becomes You. It’s currently at the editor and I anticipate it coming out sometime in 2020.  I’m also 100 pages into book number three.  It’s set among the NW Native Americans along the Pacific Coast. The working title is Totem of Terror, and it concerns a deadly shape-shifting creature. 

All my books are set in the late-19^th Century because I find it a fascinating era. Modern science and technology were causing tremendous changes in society, but there were still vestiges of much earlier thinking, technology, and beliefs. The era can also act as a window on today’s social issues, particularly racism and substance abuse.

Is there anything else you want to tell us?

I wanted to be a werewolf as a child.  It’s probably why I have a beard!

Okay! Let's get more on this intriguing book:

It's 1885 and a drunk and rage-filled Nigel Pickford breaks up a phony medium's séance. A strange twist of fate soon finds him part of a team investigating the afterlife.

The Eidola Project is an intrepid group of explorers dedicated to bringing the light of science to that which has been feared, misunderstood, and often manipulated by charlatans. They are a psychology professor, his assistant, an African-American physicist, a sideshow medium, and now a derelict, each possessing unique strengths and weaknesses.

Called to the brooding Hutchinson Estate to investigate rumored hauntings, they encounter deadly supernatural forces and a young woman driven to the brink of madness.

 Will any of them survive?

Sounds spooky and like fun reading! Robert says ultimately, he hopes the book gives you the creeps, and he means that in the best way possible.
Here are the buy links:
for Amazon 
https://www.amazon.com/Eidola-Project-Novel-ebook/dp/B07YRB4F99/ref=sr_1_1

 Barnes & Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-eidola-project-robert-herold/1133990920

If you would like to get in touch with Robert, here is  his contact information:

https://robertheroldauthor.com/

https://www.facebook.com/RobertHeroldauthor/

https://twitter.com/RobertHerold666

Thank you, Robert for being my guest today. Any questions or comments for Robert?