Please introduce yourself, who are you and what do you do?
Hi Michael, thanks for having me on your website. My name is Tim Ouellette, and besides writing horror fiction I’m a husband and father of six. I live in Maine in a 110 year old house with an attached barn that’s spookier than hell when the lights go out.
What first inspired you to start writing?
I’ve always been a reader, and I think writing simply became an extension of what I was taking in. In fact, I remember creating these mini-books and crafting stories to write when I was in elementary school. Reading was a great way to escape and explore, and I always looked forward to diving into books and losing myself in the worlds the authors had created; it really was just a matter of time before I started getting ideas for stories and began writing my own short horror fiction and poetry. Some of the poetry was published in little/literary magazines in the late 80’s. I think the lure of fiction writing has always been the desire (and the challenge) to answering that great open-ended question: What if?
And what attracted you to the dark side?
I’d been a fan of horror fiction since my late teens & was introduced to the genre by reading the works of Stephen King, Peter Straub, John Saul, Graham Masterton, Ramsey Campbell, Robert McCammon, et al. To me horror fiction is exciting because it has an edge; it tackles some of the more baser human instincts and emotions and explores all aspects of human nature, good and evil.
If you could work with any author, who would it be?
Peter Straub. His book “Shadowland” made a pretty deep impression on me; I’ve read it (and re-read it) a number of times.
Are you a planner? Or do you prefer to dive straight in to writing?
I typically dive straight into writing. Most ideas seem to come to me in the form of one or two detailed scenes; I’ll jot these scenes down and mull them over. Eventually I’ll begin to see a common thread. On my current novel though I’m working from a loosely-created outline. We’ll see how it goes.
If you could have any book made into a film, which would it be?
Any book by J.R.R. Tolkien works for me.
What advice would you give new and aspiring authors?
Take the time to develop your own voice; don’t be afraid to be fearless in your writing, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. If you have an idea and you want to run with it, then run with it.
Regarding silencing your inner critic: since we’re talking about writing horror fiction I would say that if your inner critic makes the mistake of showing up simply slit his throat and bury his body in the backyard. You can write him back to life when you need a beta reader.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m tackling my first full-length novel, tentatively titled “Fallen”. It’s perhaps a bit more on the paranormal/psychological thriller side than macabre, but make no mistake; it will be a horror novel. I promise.
Tell us about your latest work and how we can find out more.
I recently published my first book, a collection of eight short horror stories and poetry titled “Fractured” (I also included an excerpt from my current work in progress, “Fallen”). Folks can find Fractured on Amazon.
Buy Fractured now on Amazon (US) | Buy Fractured now on Amazon (UK)
Affiliate links on this site help support the monthly short fiction contest
For more information I can be found on the following websites:
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/Tim.Ouellette.Author
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TimOuellette
Facebook/Fractured Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fractured/449579818443961?ref=hl
Author Website: http://www.timouellette.com
Author Blog: http://tim-ouellette-author.blogspot.com/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/105426452360901080678#105426452360901080678/posts
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/Tim_Ouellette_Author
Nice interview!
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