I’m a horror writer with a very warped imagination! I love everything about horror, be it books, film, art, comics and figurines too! I am the author of the novella The Possession Of Clearwater Falls, the short story The Fridge and the author of Season Of The Dead which is part of the Holiday Horror 2014 collection.
And you work for a magazine...?
I regularly contribute as an interviewer for Haunted Digital Magazine and Haunted After Dark. Haunted Digital magazine is more geared to those interested in the paranormal and for fans of Most Haunted. Karl Beattie and Fred Batt from Most Haunted are regular contributors to the magazine. You are guaranteed some great features on hauntings, investigations, demonology and crime and execution. An amazing mix of ghostly fun! Haunted After Dark is Haunted Digital's naughty sister and is my particular favourite. I can count myself lucky in being one of only 5 people given the opportunity to interview Sir Terry Pratchett. I've interviewed Dominic Brunt, MJ Dixon, James Plumb and author Ben Manning. I have many more interviews to be published very soon, but I'm sworn to secrecy. Check out Haunted After Dark as it's a totally free publication too! Issue 6 is out very soon and it's going to be awesome!
What attracted you to the horror genre?
I have always been interested in things that go bump in the night. It started from a young age when I would creep down the stairs in the middle of the night to watch my mum watching Hammer House Of Horror and scary movies such as The Entity and The Amityville Horror. Needless to say as I got older my interest developed into me writing short stories, which I kept to myself as I didn't really think my writing was that good. The horror genre is special to me there are so many different facets to it: ghosts, zombies, vampires, werewolves, psychological fear, cannibalism and torture. The list goes on! Not many genres can touch on it for it's variety alone. Plus there are more babes in horror films in my opinion. It's probably what attracted me first as a teenager full of young hormones!!!
Are any of the characters based on yourself or anyone you know?
That would be telling! No seriously, I've been told by friends that Jamie and Alex in The Possession Of Clearwater Falls are very like myself in their jokey manner and flirtation with others. I was asked by one of my friends to include her in one of my stories and I based the character of Tina in The Fridge loosely on her. She wasn't impressed by what happened to Tina in the story, but you can't win them all can you?
What was the inspiration behind your story in Holiday Horror?
I am a big fan of zombie movies and it was a territory I had not ventured into as a writer for a while. I also wanted to base the town that the story unfolds in on a holiday destination I visited regularly as a child and as an adult. It also gave me the opportunity to introduce a character who rides a motorbike, which in itself allowed my imagination free reign to come up with some totally wacky situations. I also loved the fact that having the zombie invasion take place in a seaside town meant that characters would be isolated from the rest of society and unable to have as much direct contact with help as they normally would. Give Season Of The Dead a read. It's great, honestly!
Who would you like to play as any of your main characters if your books were to be turned into films?
I would like to see Jamie or Alex from Clearwater Falls played by Michael McMillian and Nathan Head. Good looking guys like me ha ha! I'd like to see Betsy Sue played by welsh scream queen Sabrina Dickens. She's not only a stunner, but a great actress with a heart of gold too. All elements of my character Betsy Sue.
Do you prefer writing the heroes or the villains and why?
I would say I prefer writing for villains as the villains allow me free reign to release all my pent up aggression and anxiety. Whilst writing for heroes is pretty cool, which is evident when reading the escapades of my character Reverend Owen in Clearwater Falls, writing for characters such as Ashley MacGregor and Abaddon is exciting and allows me to unleash the fantasy and fear living in my depraved unhinged mind.
What made you want to become a writer and what advice/tips would you give to other writers?
I have always been interested in bringing joy, excitement and fear to others and writing has allowed me to do this to an extent. Writing allows me the opportunity to abandon reality and to create worlds where seemingly abnormal situations can exist. Writing is very therapeutic and I would recommend it to everybody. My advice would be never give up! If you're feeling like you have writers block take time out and do something other than writing. Sometimes just relaxing and having fun can release endorphins inside your brain which free up the imagination and produce amazing results. Don't be afraid to go against the grain. You will not only be coming up with original ideas, you will also gain a lot more interest in your work than if you follow the herd and write about the same things.
How do you think you would cope if you were put in the horrible situations you write about?
I would crap myself! Honestly, if you've read what I write about you definitely would not want to be in any of the situations I put my characters in. I have been told I have a very bleak outlook on life and this is reflected in my writing. I'm sorry but not all stories have happy endings and don't expect them from me either!
Can you let me know about anything your working on or future projects?
I am currently working on expanding my original novella The Possession Of Clearwater Falls into a full length novel, which whilst daunting, is also amazing and allows me to come up with even more wacky and freaky shit! I also have been asked to contribute a short film script to a horror short film collection being filmed in 2015. I also have forthcoming novels to work on about a serial killer called Cut And Slash and my first venture into young adult horror Night Fiends. Being a writer in the horror genre allows me the opportunity to write and research on everything spooky, supernatural, demonic and also historical and it has opened up an amazing world which has given me opportunities I could never have dreamed of previously. I love horror and will continue writing horror for many moons to come.
Find out more about J.J. at https://www.facebook.com/officialjjwhiteauthorpage
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