The 7Q Interview: Taylor Grant
AUTHOR BIO
Taylor Grant is a Hollywood screenwriter, award-winning filmmaker and two-time Bram
Stoker Award® finalist. His work has been seen on network television, the big screen, the stage, the Web, as well as in comic books, newspapers, national magazines, anthologies, and heard on the radio. His most recent short films, The Vanished and Sticks and Stones, screened at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, and received worldwide distribution through cable channel Shorts TV and domestic distribution through Sony. His horror/sci-fi collection The Dark at the End of the Tunnel was the bestselling paperback of the year for Crystal Lake Publishing, and his co-authored comic book Evil Jester Presents was an Amazon #1 bestseller. His most recent horror fiction appears in two Random House/Hydra Publications: Halloween Carnival Vol. 3 and Dark Screams Vol.9.
QUESTIONS
#1. Looking back, what’s one fiction book that you feel truly made an impact on your writing? Do you still gravitate towards that author?
#1. Wow, that’s a difficult question, as I’ve had so many influences. But if you had a gun to my head, I’d have to say Night Shift by Stephen King—his first collection of short stories. That was the book that solidified my love of short fiction. Even these many years later, I still pick it up now and again for inspiration. I love the imaginativeness of it and how tightly his earliest stories are written. In my opinion, that book is a master class in short form storytelling.
#2. How do you feel about the use of sub-genres in the industry? How do you describe your work overall?
#2. I love the idea of subgenres, because horror is too broad a term to aptly describe the many types of stories that fall under its umbrella. In my opinion, one of the most unfortunate things that ever happened to the genre (as a whole) was the popularity of teen slasher films, franchises, and their ilk. With the saturation of so many B-movies over the past few decades, a lot of people have become dismissive of the horror genre. Let’s face it, there is a world of difference between, say “Jason X,” or “Chopping Mall,” and films like “Silence of the Lambs,” and “Get Out.”
For those of us who read literature, it’s clear that horror can be psychological, paranormal, monster-based, extreme—and everything in between. It’s sort of like the rock category of music. Just because you enjoy rock, doesn’t mean you enjoy all types of rock. For example, you might love death metal but hate nu rock, or love prog rock but not like grunge or nu metal.
I enjoy reading psychological horror, dark fantasy and quiet horror, but I don’t typically read extreme types horror (torture, gore, splatter, cannibal, etc.). That is not to disparage extreme horror—it has its place--it’s just not my thing personally. Ultimately, I think subgenres can be helpful to readers who may resonate with one type of horror but not another.
As for my own writings, I have written stories that could be categorized as “horror,” but many of them are sci-fi/horror, psychological horror, or dark fantasy.
#3. What about your writing process do you think is unique or quirky? What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever received?
#3. I do have a somewhat quirky writing process in that I write my first drafts while walking along the beach or at the park, etc. I speak into my phone and Siri transcribes my voice. What I love about this process is that it sort of forces me to keep writing until I’m done with my first draft, because it’s quite awkward to edit if you’re writing verbally while walking. (Plus I get exercise while I write).
My issue with writing the first draft while sitting at my desk is that I am tempted to edit as a write, and that can make the writing process four times longer. However, if I walk while writing, I stay in the creative flow, and my editing mind doesn’t have an opportunity to second-guess the work.
The worst writing advice I’ve ever received is “write what you know.” I know some people are proponents of this philosophy, but I think it’s extremely limiting. I have written about military signals intelligence, the wilds of West Bengal, and various industries I had no experience with or didn’t know the slightest bit about. In other words, I wrote about things “I didn’t know,” and yet I sold all of these works.
It’s called research and imagination.
#4. How does music and media factor into your writing? Do you feel it plays as much an inspirational role as literature?
#4. I have written professionally in multiple mediums (film, TV, stage, radio, comics, books, newspapers, magazines, etc.), and I think that enjoying all of them as a consumer first inspired me as a storyteller. I have also written quite a few music videos that aired on MTV and VH1. So I think music and the other mediums mentioned are all inextricably linked to my craft as a storyteller.
Sometimes, if I’m stuck on a scene, I’ll put on trance music or something similar, close my eyes and watch the scene unfold in my mind like a film.
#5. As an author, how much do you engage in social media? Do you feel it is more for your own entertainment, or for marketing and networking?
#5. I consciously try to stay a positive influence on social media and offer an occasional laugh, support for others, food for thought, or inspiration. Social media is many things to me. I have met some of the most amazing people in my life through it. At the same time, it has been a great tool for networking in the field and building my audience. I am pretty active on both Facebook and Twitter, but prefer Facebook to Twitter. I feel I can bring more of my authentic self to Facebook.
#6. Where do you see the future of horror fiction heading? In turn, what changes would you love to see, either socially or technologically?
#6. Horror is having a renaissance in Hollywood now (it’s cyclical, of course, and historically horror waxes and wanes), and that is good for everyone who works in the field.
If you watch a show like Black Mirror, which often skirts the edges of science fiction/horror you can see how technology can be the catalyst for all types of horrific new stories. “Science and technology gone bad” has been leveraged in horror since Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and I don’t think that will ever change—only grow as technology progresses exponentially.
As far as changes I’d like to see? Well, I think change starts with each of us individually. My most recently published story is called The Dead Years, which was in a Random House publication called Dark Screams Vol. 9. The theme of that story was very much about the price of beauty and the dangers of science without ethics. In other words, I didn’t write a story “just to scare people,” which doesn’t interest me. I think the best horror makes us think. Perhaps shines a light on humanity in a different way and causes us to ponder it.
I yearn for more of that in horror—particularly horror films, because they have far more reach than books. Films like "Get Out" give me hope that there is a place for smart horror with powerful themes and something to say.
#7. What can you tell us about any forthcoming projects? What titles would you like to promote now?
#7. My Bram Stoker Award nominated collection The Dark at the End of the Tunnel, which was published by both Cemetery Dance and Crystal Lake Publishing is available at all major eBook stores. And I have a novella that is nearly completed on the horizon called The Many Deaths of Cole Parker. This is the first time I’ve mentioned the title publicly—so you heard it here first, folks. I have a fantastic publisher waiting for it, but no publication date yet. But you can check the “What’s Happening” section of my website for updates on that. I hope to see it released later this year, but more likely in 2019.
Lastly, I work in multiple mediums, and I have other larger-scale projects in the works that I’m extremely excited about. Again, updates on those will be on my website soon. I can’t wait to share the news!
AUTHOR PIC
