About Greg Chapman
Greg Chapman is an emerging dark fiction author from Australia.
In 2009 he was selected in the Australian Horror Writers Association’s Mentor Program under the tutelage of Melbourne author Brett McBean.
Since then he has had short stories published in The Absent Willow Review, Trembles Magazine and Morpheus Tales and Eclecticism.
Damnation Books published his first novella “Torment” in March 2011 and will release his second, “The Noctuary” in December 2011.
Apart from his writing ability, Chapman is also an accomplished horror artist with publication credits in Midnight Echo Magazine and Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. He is currently illustrating a graphic novel for horror authors Rocky Wood and Lisa Morton, to be published by McFarland in early 2012.
You can find him on the web at www.darkscrybe.blogspot.com
Q: It’s rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a day job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you’ve had in your life? Have they influenced/inspired your writing?
A: Yes I do have a full time job as a public servant in the area of public relations. I also worked for 8 years as a newspaper reporter. Other jobs I’ve held are as a supermarket stock filler and shop assistant in a comic book store. The reporter position certainly influenced me and helped me meet many real people, and I did cover some shocking stories, but I’m yet to use any of them for stories.
Q: What compelled you to write your first book?
A: After joining the Australian Horror Writers Association in 2009 I was accepted into their mentor program and I wrote the first draft of Torment and The Noctuary during that time. Working with a published horror author was a big motivation.
Q: Have you always wanted to be a writer?
A: Certainly, ever since I was a young boy, I’ve always told stories and been able to draw. I used to tell stories by writing and drawing my own comic books.
Q: Tell us briefly about your book.
A: The Noctuary is a horror novella about Simon Ryan, a struggling writer who discovers he is destined to become the “Scribe” for a band of creatures from Hell, known as the Dark Muses.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: A horror novella with a Halloween theme and I’m knocking around a few ideas for my first novel.
Q: Do you have a favourite character? Why is s/he your favourite?
A: Meknok, the main antagonist and leader of the Dark Muses is my favourite from The Noctuary – he is deliciously dark and sinister. He was a joy to create. Henry Schiller, a former Scribe, who “aids” Simon was a joy to write as well.
Q: How did you feel the day you held the copy of your first book in your hands?
A: It was wondrous, but I think actually receiving an offer of a publishing contract for Torment was the real highlight.
Q: What type of music, if any, do you listen to while you write? Do you need the noise or the silence?
A: It depends; I find music is good when I have writer’s block (like Britpop), but when I’m on a roll so to speak I need to escape into my man cave and focus without distraction. Normally I appreciate contemporary rock music.
Q: If you could live in one of your books, which one would you live in? (If you’re promoting your first publication, feel free to talk about an unpublished piece.)
A: Well, probably The Noctuary, given that I’m a writer and the story is about inspiration and creation, but I certainly would not want to go through the trials and tribulations that befall Simon Ryan.
Q: How do you balance out the writer’s life and the rest of life? Do you get up early? Stay up late? Ignore friends and family for certain periods of time?
A: Given the fact that I have a full time job and responsibilities to two young daughters and a loving wife, I fit in writing and drawing outside of those things. I write and draw after the girls have gone to bed, but recently I took up writing in my lunch-breaks at the local library.
Q: The main characters of your stories – do you find that you put a little of yourself into each of them or do you create them to be completely different from you?
A: The Noctuary is probably the most subconscious story I’ve ever written because it all started with me questioning myself about where my ideas come from, so in a strange way the story was me answering myself, or imagining where my ideas come from.
Q: Is there an established writer you admire and emulate in your own writing? Do you have a writing mentor?
A: I had a mentor during the AHWA mentorship – a Melbourne author by the name of Brett McBean, who has a Laymonesque style to his fiction. My muses would have to be Clive Barker and EA Poe and I dedicated The Noctuary to them.
Q: When growing up, did you have a favorite author, book series, or book?
A: I was mostly into superhero comics when I was a kid, and my first forays into reading fiction were in the crime genre and fantasy, Val McDermid is a fave author in the crime genre. I also read Michael Moorcock and Katherine Eddings and Anne Rice. Eventually I became hooked on Poe, Barker and King.
Q: What about now: who is your favorite author and what is your favorite genre to read?
A: Horror is my favourite genre obviously. I’m currently indulging in some of old 80’s horror paperbacks, but there are some fantastic new horror authors out there, like Stephen M Irwin ( a fellow Australian) and I recently enjoyed the first two books of The Strain trilogy by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, but I’m yet to read part 3.
Q: When they write your obituary, what do you hope they will say about your book/s and writing? What do you hope they will say about you?
A: That my writing had the effect that was intended – to scare people
Q: Is there any particular book that, when you read it, you thought, “I wish I had written that!”?
A: There’s a passage in Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot where one of the characters sees a neighbor in bed and the vampire is outside the window tapping to get inside. The scene; the way King described it in just a few words, made me tremble. It was perfect.
Q: Is there anything you’d go back and do differently now that you have been published, in regards to your writing career?
A: I wished I’d pursued it seriously much earlier in life.
Q: In my experience, some things come quite easily (like creating the setting) and other things aren’t so easy (like deciding on a title). What comes easily to you and what do you find more difficult?
A: I seem to come up with the title and concept/story for a book very early on. Generating the differences of each character is a little more challenging.
Q: It’s one thing to write a book and another to edit it. How do you feel about the editing process? What was it like to edit your book?
A: The editing process on Torment, my first book was challenging, because it was the first time someone else had edited my work. There were a few issues with descriptions of locations – things that I didn’t research fully, but in the end it was all sorted and part of the process. The Noctuary being pure fantasy didn’t require much editing.
Q: Now that you are a published author, does it feel differently than you had imagined?
A: In a way. I never set out to make a lot of money from writing; I just want to tell stories. I find the most challenging aspect of being a writer is trying to sell yourself and your books without becoming a nuisance. There are so many writers out there all doing the same thing.
