Tell us a little bit about your writing career.

Besides being a giant pain in the ass, it’s been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my life. I’ve always been a writer but it wasn’t until high school that I began to take myself seriously and aimed to get published. Unfortunately, also in high school, I made the mistake of self-publishing a few embarrassing efforts that are now stapled to the internet forever. Lately, though, I’ve been able to let that go and excel at what I do best: dark fiction, opinion pieces, and movie reviews.

What writers have had an influence on how you write?

Irvine Welsh, for sure. I read Trainspotting when I was a teenager and that book definitely left a lasting impact on me. I’m sure a lot of pretentious writers out there will consider this a hacky answer, but Stephen King is strong influence of mine. George V. Higgins is another. These guys operate in different mediums but: Frank Miller, Nicolas Winding Refn, Harmony Korine, and Park Chan Wook, also.

When and why did you start to write?

If you can even consider it writing, I started at the age of 4 or 5. I’d tell my mother to sit down, shut up, and jot down whatever words I was about to speak. I’d rattle off stories, usually involving Power Rangers getting into mishaps with Spider-Man or whatever I was into at the time.

I can’t really say for sure why I started writing. I’ve always had this pulsing urge in the back of my head to tell stories. If I don’t then I become frustrated and it’s hard for me to do much of anything else.

How early did you begin writing?

I began writing on my own around the age of 7 or 8. I had this really old typewriter that I used to hammer out stories on for hours at a time.

Tell us about your writing process.

It’s really not that exciting. I usually procrastinate until 2 or 3 in the morning by looking  at pointless things on the internet. When I finally become sick of looking at cat .gifs I open up Microsoft Word and write until sunrise.

Favorite place to write?

Wherever it’s quiet. I’m not picky about my surroundings as long as there aren’t others around to distract me.

Do you keep a notebook, or do you prefer a computer?

Everything I do is on my MacBook. This baby is my lifeblood. With my upcoming novel, Disorderly, I did have to resort to a notebook for a while though to keep track of the timeline and make sure there weren’t any periodic errors.

I was looking through your blog, Captain Cool As Fuck, and saw a number of poems and pieces of writing. It’s a lot of work to maintain a successful blog. Any tips for writers attempting to start one?

Consistency is key. If you’re a writer and you want to have some of your work read, starting a blog is a great way to go about things. However, if you’re going to blow it off after a couple of weeks or a month because nobody is reading your shit then don’t bother.

If you don’t have the durability to stick it out during the periods where you aren’t getting attention then this isn’t the path for you. Even if your poems, or stories, or opinion pieces– whatever it may be –don’t get noticed right off the bat, you’ll be laying the bricks to a foundation of what’s to come.

If people want to take my advice, that’s awesome. If not…well…more followers for me.

Before Sunrise Press is a quality publisher. Can you give a brief synopsis of the work you had published with them?

I had an eBook, Youth, released under the Before Sunrise Press imprint this past April.

It has since become their top online seller. Youth is a social commentary on the most problematic contemporary issues plaguing our society – corrupted innocence, gun control, and safety in public schools. I feel like there aren’t many clear-cut answers in life and in fiction, you’re often given grey characters who find themselves with a black or white resolve by the end of things. Certain issues are a bit more complex than that and Youth reflects upon that.

I’m actually going to be narrating the audiobook version in a couple of months. That’ll either be a fun or miserable experience.

My debut novel, Disorderly, is set to be published June 10th.  Disorderly focuses on a cancer patient who is given a second chance at life at the expense of eating others. It tackles the topics of cannibalism, isolation, and mental illness and also plays off of the current state of zombie pop culture. It’s probably the most autobiographic piece I’ve ever written, even if it is drenched in over-the-top horror and downright degenerate behavior.

Finish this statement; I think writing should____.

Provoke.