Guest Author Interview - Jason Parent

Today we welcome Jason Parent to the guest author interview, you can read what he has to say below:

Please introduce yourself, who are you and what do you do?
My name is Jason Parent, and my first novel, What Hides Within, was recently published as an eBook and paperback. The novel is a mix of horror, suspense and dark humor that’s been described as, “schizophrenia meets arachnophobia meets 1 flew over…”

When I’m not writing, I spend my days as an attorney, so you can imagine why I might want to steal away into a world of fiction every now and then, be it of my own creation or another’s. It also might explain why my work is often so dark. Writing is undoubtedly my favorite hobby, and I hope to make it into something more than that.

What first inspired you to start writing?
I can’t say what specifically inspired me to start writing, but I do know it became a way for me to get my thoughts, and particularly the darker ones, out of my head. For me, writing is cathartic. At some point along the way, it also became fun.

If you could collaborate with any author, who would it be?
Stephen King, without a doubt. I’m sure hundreds of horror writers would give the same answer, and they should. He is the voice of modern horror, the standard the rest of us try to live up to. He’s undoubtedly a master, those who used to call him a hack silenced by his onslaught of bestsellers. Although I pride myself on having a unique voice and style, I’d consider a comparison to King the greatest of compliments.

What do you find is the best part of writing?
What I like best about writing is the ability to be whomever I choose and do whatever I want, a sort of hedonistic lifestyle limited only by the confines of my imagination. Like most, if not all, arts, writing is a means of escape. Life is imperfect, disorderly. In my written universe, I am in complete control.

And the worst?
Writing a novel takes hard work. Then comes editing, finding an agent or publisher, more editing, and marketing. When you finally get to a finished product, the work makes publication that much more rewarding. Finding time to write while working a full-time job can be difficult. But if it’s something you love, you find a way.

What advice would you give to new and aspiring authors?
Put everything you’ve got into it. As cheesy, bumper sticker-ish as it may sound, you can only fail if you don’t try.

What are you working on at the moment?
Right now, I have two novels nearing completion. The first is a thriller with elements of horror (think Gerritsen’s The Mephisto Club without Rizzoli or Isles) and the second is a science fiction thriller (like Lore’s I Am Number Four without the numbers or the YA). I have also started a fourth novel reminiscent of King’s The Dead Zone (without Anthony Michael Hall). I should also have a couple of short stories published in anthologies next year.

Tell us about your latest work and how we can find out more.
Inside all of us, there is darkness. Inside Clive, it's tangible, and it's aching to get out.

What Hides Within tells the story of a man held captive by an unknown evil. Clive Menard is a spineless slacker leading an ordinary existence. But when Chester enters his life, it becomes far from ordinary.

A disheveled Clive stands alone in a hospital waiting room. A series of incidences have led him to undergo unnecessary neurosurgery. A voice inside Clive’s head nags him to kill the doctor.

Weeks prior, a murder investigation and an unrelated kayaking excursion set the story’s interlocking events in motion. When a remorseful killer, a bomb-happy psychopath and a mysterious widow spider converge upon Clive, they bring with them destruction and death. Clive must discover who or what is steering his very existence before he, too, is consumed by the carnage around him.

With a driven detective following his every step and a vicious killer hiding within his circle of friends, Clive must walk a narrow and dangerous path, teetering between salvation and damnation. He must confront Chester and his own demons. But is he powerless to overcome them?

What Hides Within is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and a host of online retailers. It can also be purchase from my website, http://authorjasonparent.com/.

Thanks to Jason for sharing his time with us, on Tuesday we welcome Brittney Woodson to the hot seat.