Today's author to check out is Leonard Hilley (seen here with an awesome car), author of Predators of Darkness, Beyond the Darkness, & The Game of Pawns! His stories mix science with horror, giving us monsters that'll be far more frightening than Dracula or Frankenstein. What's more horrifying than than things that might be of our own design?
Leonard was nice enough to answer some questions I set out for him so you the reader can know a little bit more about the author behind the book!
Q: What made you decide to write? Did you always know that you wanted to be an author or was there an “aha!” moment in your life where you suddenly knew that this was what you wanted to do?
A: I’ve always wanted to write novels. I wrote my first novel at age 11. I drew my own comics and wrote a lot of short stories. I was reading at age 3 and always loved reading.
Q: What inspires you? Do you have a muse that you tap into each time y
ou write or does your imagination respond to different things?A: My writing seems to come to me as if I’m watching a movie unfold and I’m sitting there with the characters. If I can see the action, I can write it and vice versa. However, Predators of Darkness: Aftermath came to me with the opening line: “Dropping a cat from the top of a ten story office building wasn’t the best way to remain hidden, it was necessary.” I didn’t have a plot, characters, or any idea where that would lead. I am currently working on the fourth book in the series. And the cat is a shifter and survives the fall.
Q: How do you come up with the titles for your books? These can often be amongst the hardest things for authors to settle on, so how & when in the process do you start coming up with titles?
A: Book titles aren’t usually difficult for me, but for Predators of Darkness, it did take some time to find one that fit. The next books came fairly easily.
Q: Do you have any latest news I can dish for you?
A: Ann Linden and I have almost completed the screenplay for Predators of Darkness: Aftermath and will soon be seeking a film production company to see this made into a movie. After Hollywood gets it, who knows what they will do to it, so read the book first! We all know books are generally better than the movie, right? (Interviewer shudders while recalling the movie treatment of The Relic.)
Q: Who are some of your favorite authors?
A: I’m a huge fan of Dean Koontz and Stephen King.
Q: Have they helped inspire your writing by reaffirming your decision to write or by indirectly giving you ideas for various stories?
Q: How do you come up with the titles for your books? These can often be amongst the hardest things for authors to settle on, so how & when in the process do you start coming up with titles?
A: Book titles aren’t usually difficult for me, but for Predators of Darkness, it did take some time to find one that fit. The next books came fairly easily.
Q: Do you have any latest news I can dish for you?
A: Ann Linden and I have almost completed the screenplay for Predators of Darkness: Aftermath and will soon be seeking a film production company to see this made into a movie. After Hollywood gets it, who knows what they will do to it, so read the book first! We all know books are generally better than the movie, right? (Interviewer shudders while recalling the movie treatment of The Relic.)
Q: Who are some of your favorite authors?
A: I’m a huge fan of Dean Koontz and Stephen King.
Q: Have they helped inspire your writing by reaffirming your decision to write or by indirectly giving you ideas for various stories?
A: My ideas generally come on their own, but I tend to like darker fiction. As a kid, I loved the scary comics—Witching Hour, The House of Secrets, etc. (I can personally thank my dad's stash of comics for getting me into HoS.)
Q: Do you have any advice for new writers?
A: Keep reading books, writing, and revising. Books do not write themselves. You have to plant yourself in your seat and hammer out the words. Write, write, write.
Q: What is the hardest thing about writing for you?
A: Everyone’s got that one part of writing that seems to stick with them. There are days when you just don’t want to write. Or there are days when you think everything you’ve written is bad. All writers experience this. I have doubted some scenes in my novels, especially in the third novel, The Game of Pawns. I didn’t know how readers would react to the characters, but so far all the readers who have contacted me loved what I almost left out of the book.
Q: In the light of recent infamous responses to negative reviews, how would you recommend responding to negative reviewers?
A: Bite your tongue, keep your dignity, and say nothing. It’s difficult, but not everyone is going to like your novel. And sadly, there are people out there who love to slam authors, regardless of how good a book is.
Q: What do you like on your pizza? (Not book related but everyone’s got a favorite topping!)
A: Mushrooms and extra cheese.
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Most of Leonard's books are available on Amazon, although the first book is currently unavailable. That's no problem though, as you can win a copy of it in the ebook giveaway that's currently running!
AWesome giveaway! I've never heard of these authors! "Hoppy Easter"
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