Our interview with Peter Meredith

Bio

Unlike almost every other author I run into, I wasn't reading at the age of two and writing my first poem by my third birthday. Quite the opposite, I hated to write. I never learned to type and my penmanship hasn't progressed beyond a second grade level. Since I would fret over every little error, an e-mail used to take me close on an hour to write if the client was important enough.

But that all changed last year at about this time. With the economy in the dumps, my company decided to rework our website and in order to attract attention to it, I was told I should write articles and submit them online. So I painstakingly wrote five articles. They were terrible.

Not terribly written, just dull. Writing about the technical aspects of LED lights is super boring and not just to me but for everyone. So with Halloween coming up, I decided to write about the two super-natural occurrences that I had been involved with instead. The boss wasn't exactly happy, but seeing as she's my wife, what could she do?

After that, I wrote a book. I said to myself, hey you wrote a five thousand word short story, why not write a book? How hard could it be? When it was done, I said, why not make it a trilogy? How hard could it be?

                                                   Bio provided by author's site.

It was our great pleasure to have Peter volunteer to be interviewed. Peter is a energetic young man who is unique in that he didn't discover writing until later in life. Of course there was a little push from the economy to help with that endeavor! It is to our benefit that he has written this book! One never knows what stories lie within us until the right circumstances present themselves. Without further delay, it is our great pleasure to introduce to you, Peter!

1. What makes for a good hook in your stories? Where does your inspiration come from? ...he was right on top of her and she smelled of idealized flowers. Were ever a meadow to smell as she did, he would never leave it. He stood above her, breathing her in, making her a part of him, and he would've stayed there all night, but the smell triggered another reaction. That is from an Illusion of Hell and basically the lead character is my wife.

2. Are you an organized writer? Do you do things like take notes and make lists of characters? Or do you free write and work it out as you go? I start with a general idea- A girl who is hated everywhere she goes, a man who is feared and not without reason, and a boy who is so ignored that he might as well be invisible. What two of them have in common is a string of dead bodies... while the third is the person next in line to die. So no, I'm not organized. I just write and the characters take care of themselves.

3. What is your normal writing day like? Do you write when you are inspired or do you have a schedule? I write first thing in the morning. I get up early and my wife sleeps in. It's a perfect setup. It may sound odd(or gross depending), but I get inspired in the shower. Ideas pop up frequently and so I keep a notebook in the bathroom.

4. Who is your favorite author and how did they inspire you to write? Tolkien is far and away my favorite. It's not his style that inspired me(those poems and songs were just painful) it was his imagination. The world that he created has spawned hundreds of copycat worlds by various authors and none come close to matching up.

5. It’s easy to see that you have a passion for writing but is there any part of it you don’t like? I hate the fact that until you have "made" it you have to be Politically Correct if you want to be a commercial success. I've had 6,000 downloads of my books. I get a steady praise and many five star reviews, EXCEPT on my one novella. The main character is a strong female lead. She is smart, assertive, beautiful and with a great future, but...she hates feminists. It's mentioned only twice, in passing, but judging by the hate mail I've received, you would think that was her only character trait. I have to say it was startling the amount of negativity over this little thing.

6. Do you make time to read and if you do what are you reading right now? Gerald's Game by Stephen King. So far, I wouldn't recommend it. The main character's voice is jarringly unfeminine. It's not that she's butch or a tom boy, it's just that if a few words were substituted, the reader would easily believe the character is a man. Also it's over written. As an example, the main character is chained to a bed and she spends 11 pages trying to get a glass of water from a shelf. I didn't really care after awhile (note: I'm only 92 pages in and it might get better. Fingers crossed.)

7. How did you started in writing in the suspense/Thriller genre? Is there personal life experience in the writing? Actually I began writing horror and The Punished is a mixture of horror and suspense. Curt Regis is basically me, if my life had turned sour. And if you have read the book you know that this is both good and bad

8. Your books have been published with Amazon.com, Does this mean you see the publishing industry headed this way? I do. Gone are the buggy whips of the nineteenth century. Actual books will always have their place, but your average person want their books now and they want them cheap. With e-books you can get that.

9. Do you have any online sites where others can read more of your writings? I use Goodreads frequently. Though mostly I review other people's work. Speaking of which, a one star review is just mean! Unless of course the book is just bad(cough...cough Pride and Prejudice, cough. See my review on Goodreads)

10. Do you have any more stories in the works? What kinds of stories do you plan to write next? I have at least two more horror stories that I will write this year and one suspense. Having grown up on Tolkien, eventually I want to create my own world much as he did. Unfortunately, that is a project of between 5-10 years. It will have to wait until I have more of a commercial success.

11. Who would be your first choice to play Curt Regis from your book "The Punished"? I don't know any 12-year old actors. They would need an intensity though.

12. If you could meet anyone from any time who would it be and what would be your first question? The easy answer Jesus Christ. The question, How's it hanging? Wait that was only a joke. In truth, it would be Jesus, but I would need more than one question.