The Other Side

Randomly, people will ask me where I get my continuous inspiration to stay motivated for writing horror. What I tell them usually leaves them wanting, especially if they have the same level of belief as 99.99% of the rest of humanity. I believe that there is another side of existence. Call it what you want-The spirit world, parallel universes, Heaven or Hell, or simply the other side. Forces that dwell in this crevice, though I make no claims to fully understand them, guide my hand from pen to paper. Why they do is still quite beyond me. Looking back at several of the processes I went through while writing my stories, it truly boggles my mind. The programs on television that would come from seemingly out of nowhere, the morbid places I would go, the music. I couldn't have put together such dark perfection if I tried. With that in mind, gratitude for them is definitely an understatement. For, if they assist me in my creations, then most assuredly they'll assist me with me with my darkened dreams as well.

What is 'Real' success?

Success. The word itself brings to mind visions of tremendous of wealth and prestige. But, honestly, when pertaining to those involved in endeavors such as writing and poetry, what indicates success? After reading about both famed British poet John Keats and obscure American author John Kennedy Toole its plain to see that any sort of recognition they achieved happened post mortem. I hear about authors who ride the coat tails of my chosen genre when in all honesty they are anything but horror and have achieved a tremendous amount of wealth. In truth, I have mixed feelings with the subject, altogether. In my honest opinion, true success is prospering on your own terms and staying who you are genuinely. If you have to bend to the world's terms, I'm sure whatever material you come up with will lack integrity, especially if you write in the horror genre, like I, myself, do. That's a question I often ask myself: Is it worth it to achieve the materialism that so many of us value beyond all other things by being a basic slave to the cares and utterances of others? A reasonable person adjusts himself to the world. A unreasonable person adjusts the world to himself. Therefore, in writing as in everything else in between, the only room for any sort of progress rests solely on the unreasonable person.

The only representative of my passion!

I don't know how many times I've talked with my fellow budding writers about staying true to passion. It quite irks me when I hear them always mention how they absolutely love one particular genre, but feel there's more financial gain in composing material for another. If one takes the time to think about the principal about such a matter, they are basically pretending to be something they are not. That is something that is, in my honest opinion, far too apparent in the world we live in. People abandoning who they really are for the simple sake of convenience. And say these faux souls actually achieve what they comprehend to be success in the blatant betrayal of their passion, what does that mean? That its better to be a fake than to be real? I say let the world feel of me what it may, I will stay solidly to the course I feel represents my passion the greatest. And there is no other better representative of my passion than Horror. Not now. Not Ever!