This is an interview with best selling author Stephen Sayers who writes speculative fiction with a horror component. His trilogy, The Caretaker Series, includes A Taker of Morrows, The Soul Dweller, and The Immortal Force, published through Hydra Publications, a boutique publishing house that specializes in his genre. 

How did you get into writing novels?

I never set out to be a writer, but after a challenge from my daughter, I decided to write her a novel. I thought it would probably be of questionable literary quality, but still I would give it to her on some birthday or holiday and watch it collect dust on her bookshelf. I didn’t see it becoming anything more than a nice gift from her father, an experience we could share together. But when I started writing, a switch turned on inside me, something I’d never felt before, igniting a passion I didn’t know I had. I worked hard to learn the craft, attended conferences and workshops, and found that I had gained enough knowledge to somehow come up with something worthy of publication. 

What do you like the most about it?

The process of storytelling still amazes me. I love the magic of transferring a story onto paper that has only existed in your head. I like that I can’t explain it, where the ideas come from, how the characters appear to come alive and truly exist, and how words on a page can create connections with these characters and draw true emotion. Writing is evidence that there is still a little magic in the world.

What do you like the least about it?

As an author at a small press, writing novels is much more than just putting words onto a page. It involves marketing, social media, and grass roots efforts to build your readership and create a brand (Oh, how I hate that word!!). While some of that can be fun (book shows, interviews, etc.), I don’t think most authors are prepared for the enormous effort that must accompany each finished product.

 What process do you use in writing your novels?

My process is undoubtedly unorthodox. I have heard of author who plan out each chapter and section and basically have the novel written before they ever put pen to paper. I wish I could work this way, but the only way ideas come to me is when I write. When I think and plan a novel, I can’t get any traction. My process has been to construct a beginning and an ending to the story in my head. Once I work out the details of these two endpoints, I write and let the story come unfold in whatever way it will come. Sometimes this leads to dead ends that must be cleaned up or discarded. But I’ve always felt that every word written, even ones that don’t end up in the novel, are never wasted effort. And I’m always amazed at the final product. Somehow this process works for me at this point. 

What genre do you write and have you considered writing in other genres?

Ever since I was a kid I loved horror and the supernatural. The stories that I loved growing up were always those that made me scared, so I think it is natural that I would choose to write within those genres. I have dabbled in historical fiction, too. One of my novels has a number of scenes that take place in the mid-1940s, and it is interesting as a writer to try to recapture a long-gone time and place. I am currently writing a novel that is set 80 years in the past. So, historical fiction seems to keep calling to me, and I am enjoying pursuing that sub-genre within a supernatural/horror-based novel.