My Fascinating Interview with the Author of "Blood Related" - William Cook

William Cook, author of the great "Blood Related" was kind enough to answer a few questions I had about his book, horror, and the writing experience. He had some fascinating answers. Enjoy!

1. Well I guess I have to ask the question at the top of my mind first. I loved "Blood Related", I thought it was a fascinating read. It is very graphic and very violent so I must ask about where all that came from. I'm assuming you aren't a serial killer so you must have done a great deal of research. Wondering about where you went for that research.

I don’t know why but I’ve had a fascination with the darker side of humanity ever since I was a teenager. I am a huge Horror fan; movies, books, art, theory. I’d say that this obsession comes from the same source. In fact if I hadn’t channeled my predilection for darkness into the writing of Horror I would hate to think where it would’ve taken me otherwise! ‘Blood Related’ is a story about a family of serial killers, each with varying degrees of psychopathology. The two central characters are twin brothers, one who is of the psychotic variety and the other a more organized and cunning psychopath, and yes there is a difference. I researched as much about abnormal psychology as I did about serial killers and their methods and characteristics. Most serial killers are basically psychopathic, of reasonable intelligence, appear normal when occasion calls, and so on. And of course this is one of many aspects to a complex and evolving criminal psychology. I read both fiction and non-fictional accounts of these fiendish characters in order to get inside the mind of these killers. I’m not sure if I’d write another first-person narrative from a serial killer’s perspective; at times it was quite harrowing and disturbing to envisage the kind of thought processes these people operate with. 

The Inadequacy of Words

I guess that makes me a writer!  Writing is painstaking.  I write to put my thoughts and feelings on paper, to express my life experience, to share what's going on in my head, to try to make sense of what I think and feel.  If I didn't write I very well may lose my mind!  In a sense it is the most natural thing I do.  So why is it so difficult?  How can it be an intrinsic part of who I am and be so difficult at the same time?  Precisely for the reason the amazing Stephen King states here:

Writers write because there is something inside of them that is dying to get out.  It comes from the deepest part of ourselves.  It's an expression of something deep inside our hearts, our psyches.  The words we put on paper are immensely important to us and never seem sufficient to express what's in our minds.

"Forget them, forget them! Tell me about that blanket!"

"Mr Anderson thinks that everything inside of him is worthless and embarrassing".

"Dead Poets Society" is an amazing movie.  It's one of those rare gems that is full of wisdom. Every scene has insights on life that can be useful to us all.

Robin Williams' character sees Mr Anderson's pain. He knows he feels worthless and ashamed of revealing himself to the world. And he knows that the freethinking that he can learn through poetry can change that and free him to become the beautiful person he is inside. 

In this scene he first pulls Mr Anderson out of his comfort zone by making him stand in front of the class and "yawp". The kids laugh, he's embarrassed. But all that begins to change when Robin Williams' character makes him turn his back to the class and look at the picture of Walt Whitman hanging on the wall. He describes the picture of Walt Whitman as a "sweaty-toothed mad man". When Mr Anderson looks down from that picture his teacher makes it impossible for him to look at the class by circling him. His focus is no longer on his peers but on his teacher. 

Horror and Love Stories?

How is it that I enjoy:

"Shirtless and stretched over his guitar, Gavin scribbled some notes on a page lying on the coffee table before him. His tattoos cast a vague blue hue under the weak light penetrating the windows. The sexy as hell bed head got her heart chugging. To think she had a hand in taming that wild hair into something a tad softer. She beamed.

His tanned toes spread and dug into the carpet, gripping its short nap. With his navy cargo shorts bunched just above his knees, which were bent at a perfect right angle, he looked pensive. Vulnerable. Here was the Gavin Cassidy no one else knew. Not the rock star or Sentinel. Her Gavin.

He dropped the pencil on the table and snapped the guitar pick from his lips as the digits on his left hand found their places along the frets. Strumming with his right, he closed his eyes. His fingers worked their magic. His face remained placid through the poignant melody" 

as well as

"The man with black hair leaned down towards him again, holding the axe blade before him as if measuring the center of his breath. The moonlight played upon the blade of the axe, reflecting light up upon his grim countenance. Charlie saw the face of death and it was horrible to behold. His heart stopped in his dream, his eyes locked with his maker who was Caleb, who raised the axe high above his head in the cruel moonlight.

For an instant, time ceased its merciless infinite countdown, and then the blood came in torrents. A deluge and the dream drowned and everything became nothing, but slow dark peace, much like sleep".

Karen Woodward: Analyzing Story Structure

This is a great post about reading critically.  How do you do this?  

I try to read critically in order to learn from other writers.  I can see what they try and decide if I think it works or not.  But honestly I have a hard time.  Like Karen, I get caught up in the story, if the writing is good, and forget to pay attention to the technical aspects.  So I find myself going back to read passages again so I can note technical elements.   

All of the questions that Karen poses in this article are valid things to look for as we read critically.  As I read through them I thought to myself that it would take me forever to read a book if I noted all these things.  Although, like anything else, it probably gets easier and faster the more you do it. 

You have given me a great deal to think about Ms Woodward.  Thank you.

Karen Woodward: Analyzing Story Structure: We've all heard the advise that to become a better writer we must first become better readers. I'd like to take this advice seriously. ...

Generally I hate New Years resolutions.  There is value to them.  They provide a reason for each of us to look at our lives and decide what we want to change.  There is great value to that process.  What I hate about them is that this should not be something I do once a year.  It is something I should do frequently.  And I make a real effort to do so.  

I saw the Stephen Covey quote above on Twitter recently (thank you Jonathan Gunson) and it stood out to me so I favorited and retweeted it.  

I got up this morning with a long list of things I need to get done.  I have been working through all of them all day and now that it's 8:00 at night I find that I have barely made a dent.  Every morning I know that I may very well end up at the end of the day with barely a dent in the long list of things to be done. At one time this frustrated me and stressed me out terribly.  It doesn't any more because I've come to accept the fact that there is just more to be done than I can possibly accomplish in a day.

Tonight as I thought about my writing, and my life in general, the quote above came to mind.  

"You have to do decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage - pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically - to say 'no' to other things.  And the way to do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside".

As I think over this day and how Mr Covey's advice would apply to it, I have identified a couple of things in my life that run contrary to it.  

My highest priorities are easy to identify - writing and a handful of people in my life.  I need to say 'no' to everything that doesn't support either of these two things.  As a new writer I am learning at this point.  One thing I've learned is that writing is only one part of what it takes to be an author.  There is so much more that has to be done to get my name out, create my brand, show what I know and who I am, meet people in the industry.  I have to do all of these things while also improving my skills and oh yeah . . . writing.   

I also have to nurture the relationships with those people that are in that handful that are really, truly important to me.  I am very lucky that these people understand how important my writing is to me and they encourage and support me.

I identified only one part of today's activities that do not fall into either of these categories.  

So if (gulp) I must make a New Years resolution it will be exactly what Mr Covey advises.  I will continue to thoroughly examine my life and "pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically" say no to everything else.