James Miles on the difference between his stories

 

I first became involved in what later named The Gates of Chaos when Will Jacques first proposed the idea to group.  I recall my reasoning to join the project was to work with writers whose work I had read and enjoyed. I knew from the get-go it was a great opportunity to present my work and hopefully have readers enjoy my tales of macabre.

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My approach to writing is three-four hours a day. The first story (“Lockdown and Macabre”) was one for which I could clearly see the beginning and the ending. As it is a massive homage to the Tell-Tale Heart and splatterpunk, I read two to three poems by Poe and Richard Laymon before each writing session. I am pantser, as I enjoy letting the story take me by surprise, and this quality was a huge benefit to the story.

“Samhain” was a more plot driven story, so I was writing for two hours in the morning and four hours at night. There was a lot of research involved plus the editing process was longer. Scott Beallis (Scott Dyson) was instrumental in getting the story to its final form and vision.

“Samhain” was a tough beast to write as it was completely different to the contained madness and horror of Lockdown and the Macabre. 

Yet, it was a fun to write, and the pandemic aspect, which at first was a challenge to incorporate into the story, ended up being the jumping off point that the story needed.

Once the ideas were in placed it was a wild ride to see the story reach the finish line.

To see this book finally come to fruition has been a highlight.

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James Miles is the father of two, so when he is not being dad and introducing his kids to the wonderful world of books, he is dreaming up tales of the macabre.   When he is not reading or writing he enjoys boxing and walking.

James can be found on Facebook (Facebook.com/jamesmiles) Or Twitter (JamesMiles)

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