Interview of Author A. Lopez Jr
Author Websites:
1. What led you to want to write your
first book?
I have always been a big fan of horror
and telling stories. I like the aspect of writing a short story that
gets to the point pretty quick and has its own little twist at the
end. With horror, or the macabre, you can let your imagination go and
be as creative as you want.
2. How many books have you written to
date?
I have written three books to date.
Purgatory, Night Dreams and Floor Four
3. Please tell us about them.
All are in the horror genre.
Purgatory-13 Tales of the Macabre has 13 short stories that range
from true Horror to the Macabre, Supernatural to the Twilight Zone.
Some are scary and some are very psychological. The total word count
ran at just under 80,000 words.
Night Dreams -Episode 1 - The Beginning
is the first short story (24,000 words), in the series. Each episode
will be connected similar to the way a TV series leaves you hanging
from week to week. To get a better idea or overview of the series,
please see the synopsis.
Floor Four is a novella about an old
abandoned hospital that is said to be haunted by a serial killer. The
main focus of the story is of Old Man Jake, and the secret he holds,
and his struggle to keep the kids out of the very evil place. The
first part of Floor Four is in Purgatory, but this edition is the
complete and updated version.
4. Do you have any future plans in
writing?
My first plan is to just keep writing.
Outside of that I will continue to pursue the idea of self-publishing
with future works and hope to work with other authors in an effort to
help each other pursue our dreams and writing goals.
5. What advice would you give aspiring
writers?
The best advice I can give, and has
been given to me many times, is to WRITE. Finish the story that is in
your head. The rest, editing, publishing and selling can't happen
until you write your story first. It's old advice, but it is the
truest advice. Also, read, read, read ... especially Stephen King's
On Writing.
6. As an Indie Author, would you have
done anything differently?
The Indie World is exploding right now
with many opportunities, and I feel we are all in it at the right
time, but, if I could do one thing differently, I would have started
writing seriously sooner than I did.
7. Are any of your characters based on
people you knew/know, or are they strictly fictional?
Most are strictly fictional, but some
are a combination of people I see and maybe just a little part of
some I know. I take a little here and there and combine some into
one.
8. Why did you choose the Horror genre
as your first writing experience?
I have always enjoyed
scary stories and always go see the latest horror movie that hits the
screen. Writing horror just seems natural to me, but I do have ideas
for stories in a few different genres.
9. What's your favorite time of day to
write?
I like writing at any time of day but
if I had to pinpoint my most productive time, it would be first thing
in the morning. After a good night's sleep, my brain seems to fire
off all the creative thoughts and ideas that a writer needs. I get
'in the zone' best in the early morning.
10. What do you love, and what do you
hate the most about being a Writer?
I love the idea of creativity. With
that comes the writing and the rest follows. Coming up with a small
idea can sometimes blow up in my head and before I know it, I'll have
a lengthy story done. As far as hating...I'm not sure there is
something I hate about any of the process. The best I can come up
with is when my favorite table (writing spot) at my local B&N is
taken. ;-)
11. Was anyone an inspiration to you?
I'm inspired by my parents in many
different ways, not just for writing, but in life in general. When I
started writing, my desire was to make them proud.
12. Have received any support
from family or friends?
Yes. Family and friends have always
supported my aspirations, even if some don't read horror. All of
their support is genuine.
13. Where would you like to be in your
career 5 years from now?
When I started writing seriously three
years ago, I had a five-year-plan. That was to have a quality
back-list, and from year one to five, be a much better writer. The
career will take care of itself if I complete my self-imposed goals.
14. Tell us something we don't know
about you.
For the ones who know me, they know
that I have a love for sports, specifically baseball. I also play
chess everyday and at times will play in over-the-board tournaments.
15. Are any of your characters real to
you in any sort of way? Do you have a favorite character?
I feel that all of my characters are
real to me in one way or another. When you write and build a
character over the course of a story, in the writer's mind, that
character becomes real. If I had to pick a favorite character, I
would say "Old Man" Jake from the novella Floor Four. I
think he is the most believable of all my characters.
SYNOPSIS':
Purgatory-13 Tales of the Macabre:
In the spirit of King, Laymon, Little,
and Keene comes a collection of 13 Tales of Horror and the Macabre.
One story begins in the name of research when a world-famous horror
author spends the night alone in one of the most haunted houses
around, "Ritter House", only to discover that reality is
much more horrific than fiction. In "Road Trip", a man must
travel across state lines to identify his brother's dead body and
drive him home in the back of his station wagon to a mortuary run by
a dead man. A man has 2 hours to try and prevent a catastrophe in the
building that his wife works in. Only, he can't recall how or why,
his only clue is the recurring nightmare he had 2 hours earlier, the
clock ticks in "Tic Toc." Christmas will never be the same
again for a little boy in "Santa Claws", and an old wooden
box in a warehouse carries a story all its own in "The Crate”.
A trip into “Purgatory” will open the door to these stories and
more.
Night Dreams:
Serialized fiction that follows a Dream
Psychologist, Dr, Joseph Rickettes, who has no choice but to live out
the nightmares of his patients in hopes of curing them of their
demons. He is bound by the demons in their dreams, while he struggles
to make sense of the nightmares that plague his own life.
Episode One:
The Beginning focuses on how it all
started for Joseph and how he came to possess his power, or curse, to
delve into, and live out, the nightmares of others.
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