Interview with R. Thomas Riley

Michele Lee: How much fun did you have playing with all the monsters out there?

RTR: I had a blast with exploring the issues and situations in my new collection. The experience was bittersweet, however, as there is a definite theme of loss and betrayal running rampant through the collection. The themes were not necessarily deliberate, but I think that is why the collection is so strong on many fronts and will connect with many people because the majority of the stories are based on my own personal experiences. To me, there is nothing better than a little bit of truth in fiction.

ML: Do you have a favorite story among the collection?

RTR: Actually, I have two. The first one is “Twin Thieves”. This story is very special and dear to my heart as it is so intensely personal. It was extremely difficult to write in many ways for me. It was easy to write in the sense that I knew exactly what I wanted to say with this piece, but very difficult in the sense that I was working through some major personal issues and living, examining, and experiencing those feelings during the process. The second story is “Brittle Bones, Plastic Skin”. Once again, there’s a lot of “me” in this story.

ML: How have the readers’ tastes or opinions of your stories differed from your own?

RTR: For a long time I really didn’t like anything once I finished with it. For a number of reasons, either I wished I could’ve expressed things better or once they were published I saw something else I could’ve added. For this collection, there are very few stories that I am not completely satisfied with. I’m very happy with how the majority of the stories turned out. One thing I’ve noticed so far are that the most personal stories are the ones that are getting the most comments and reactions. Then there are other stories that I really like and readers have not and vice versa. That’s normal, though.

ML: What do you feel that you bring to horror?

RTR: I bring realism to horror, I think. The themes and situations in my fiction can actually happen. Man is the most fascinating monster to me. What we, as humans, can do to one another is very disturbing to me. Everyone is capable of the things I write about, I think. There’s just some small line that we don’t cross that separates us from other who have chosen to cross that line.

Sure, I write about supernatural monsters and the like, but they are merely archetypes and stand-ins for issues that everyone has gone through at some point in their lives. I write what I know.

ML: Apex Publications is notoriously “anti-monster”. How did you manage to sell them a collection that features vampires, witches and even a unicorn?

RTR: I’m still trying to figure that out myself! Basically, Mari Adkins and I met on a message board in 2005. We started chatting and when the defunct Nocturne Press published my first collection, Mari picked up a copy, dug the stories and wrote a review of the collection for Apex. She passed the book onto Jason, I think, and based off the strength of those stories he got in touch me and offered me a shot at being a feature author for Apex in 2006. One thing led to another, and Jason offered me a slot in Gratia Placenti and I jumped at the chance. I can still recall the email I got when I sent him the story “Only Spirits Cry” and warned him it had a unicorn in it. He was dubious at first, but wrote back quickly and accepted the story. A few months later he offered to publish “The Monster Within Idea” and then went even further and offered to re-release my first collection in 2010. Like I said earlier, Jason saw past the ‘monsters’ and saw the stories were about life and things everyone has gone through. Jason recognized the world is a really messed up place and I was dealing with it in my own way through the fiction I wrote.

ML: You’ve been published both “traditionally” with ink and paper and been involved with epublishing in the form of the Amazon Shorts program. What have you taken away from these experiences?

RTR: I’m always looking for new ways to reach readers. The Amazon Shorts program allowed me to reach readers that normally would not have come across my books. I see that as a positive. Both methods are viable and have worked for me. I write for myself first, but like any author, I want to be read as well.

ML: Do you think more people in the industry will begin to recognize ebooks and epublishing as a beneficial tool, or do you think we’ll all keep digging our heels in against the change?

RTR: I think there will always be a certain percentage that will dig their heels in against this change. People still want to hold a book in their hands and turn the pages. There is a growing majority of publishers that are realizing that there is a market for e-publishing and are exploring it. For me, I’m eager to explore any new method to reach new readers.

ML: You’ve called yourself a company killer in the past. Any advice to those out there trying to figure out which markets to submit to and support and which to avoid?

RTR: Google is an author’s best friend. Before I submit to any market, I do an extensive search on them to see what I can find out. Message boards are a good place to find out both good and bad track records of publishers. If a publisher has a bad record people will definitely talk about it somewhere on the internet. I’m also much more wary these days of the authors that some markets may choose to publish. My reputation and integrity are extremely important to me and I don’t like being associated with “nitwits”. In the past, I have actually withdrawn projects from certain publishers when they chose to publish individuals I didn’t want to be associated with. Put simply ask around before you submit to a publisher. Contact their authors and see how they’ve been treated. Usually, these authors are happy to rave or rant about their publishers.

ML: Can you pin point a book, author or movie that triggered your desire to write horror?

RTR: Yes, I sure can. The first book I ever read was “The Stand” by Stephen King. I was 12 or 13 at the time. The book simply blew me away and started my obsession with all things horror. I was raised in a very sheltered environment and was quite protected, but once I read King, I searched out anything horror-related and my love affair with the genre blossomed very quickly. Currently, some of the best authors in the business, both small and mainstream presses, are Brian Keene, Tom Piccirilli, James A. Moore, Ray Garton, Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston, Nate Kenyon, John Skipp, Jason Brannon, and John Grover.

ML:  What can we fans look forward to seeing from you in the future?

RTR: I’ve got a lot of projects in the works. At present, I am trying to place a co-authored novel with John Grover entitled “If God Doesn’t Show”. John and I are also working on another collaboration “At the Foot of the Mountains”. I also have projects forthcoming from Permuted Press and Library of the Living Dead Press. You can find out more about all of these projects on my myspace blog.