Today we welcome Harvey Click to Bad Moon Rising! I used to live in the Appalachian Mountains and Harvey’s book description is very reminiscent of my hometown – see what I had to deal with?
Sometimes going home again is a lot like going to hell.
Searching for her lost brother, Amy Jackson returns to her isolated hometown in the Appalachian Mountains. But Blackwood has changed. Now it’s run by a mysterious drug lord who has something more lethal than guns to protect him. He has demons—more vicious, venomous demons than even Hieronymus Bosch ever dreamed of—and after Amy witnesses an unspeakable atrocity he unleashes all the frenzied furies of hell against her. Soon she is stalked by snakewalkers, herky-jerkies, toadfaces, listeners, harpies, centicreepers, and the sinister crying man, who weeps while he torments his victims.
Note: even though it has a sequel, Demon Frenzy is a complete stand-alone novel.
What’s the first story you ever wrote?
I guess the first one I completed and was halfway satisfied with was a nasty tale about a vengeful corpse clawing its way out of a grave to seek vengeance. It was called “Thump!” I wrote it in fifth grade, and it got me started scribbling grisly horror stories, some of which I published in seventh grade in a magazine called Way Out that a friend and I put together.
Which fictional character would you most like to meet and have a drink with?
Hmm. Maybe Star from Robert Heinlein’s fantasy novel Glory Road. She’s smart and sexy, and since she’s empress of the known universe she could probably help me sell some books.
In the spirit of Halloween, what scares you?
The world, with its terrorists, thugs, despotism, deceit, stupidity, crooked politicians, brutality, and general nastiness.
Favorite hero and villain in a book/movie?
I guess my favorite hero is Matt Helm, if you can call him a hero. I mean of course the Matt Helm of Donald Hamilton’s novels, not the ridiculous character in those awful movies. Matt Helm is a ruthless killer, but he has the virtues of always getting the job done, never talking crap, and gracing the pages of some of the best hard-boiled fiction ever written. My favorite villain is Joe Ryver from my own novel The House of Worms. He’s much cooler than Hannibal Lector or any of the other currently popular villains, including a large number of political figures. Like Matt Helm, he’s a ruthless killer, but he has the virtues of always getting the job done and never talking crap. And he graces the pages of one of the best horror novels ever written.
What do you consider the hardest part of writing?
Getting started always seems like the hardest part, but it really isn’t since selling books is even harder.
What are you working on now?
A collection of horror stories, and I can testify that writing a 90,000-word collection of stories is much harder than writing a 90,000-word novel. A novel begins to glide along fairly easily once the premise and the main characters are established, but each short story must have a new premise, a new plot, new characters, a new setting, and a whole new mindset. I try to make each story different from its companions in tone, style, mood—really everything—and the chore seems endless. I’ve been sweating away at this collection for more than a year now, and I can see it still won’t be finished in time to publish by Halloween. But I’m very happy with the stories I’ve finished, and I’m hoping they will draw some new readers to my novels.
Bio
Harvey Click earned an M.A. in English from Ohio State University, using his first novel as a master’s thesis. He has written five novels, four of them in the horror genre, and numerous short stories. He has taught English and creative writing for Ohio University, Ohio State University, the James Thurber House, and OSU’s Creative Arts Program.
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Harvey has an impressive background. I can imagine that a short story collection is harder than a novel.
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I think so too, John. It’s difficult to make the reader feel invested in the story and characters with a more limited amount of words and pages – a lot harder to do than it sounds.
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I understand. You are doing a swell job. 🙂
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Thanks, John!
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🙂
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I plan to read this book soon. I recently read (and absolutely loved) “The Bad Box.” If you’re looking for a great book to read this Halloween, I highly recommend it!!! Mr. Click is a brilliant writer.
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