I am a 27 year old resident of North Carolina. In the past year I have had 38 tales and 6 articles
accepted for publication by places like Abstracts, Alternate Realities, Black Petals, Black Petals.com, Black Satellite, Brutal Dreamer, Demensions, Denovozine, Elements, Expressions, The Haunted, Horror Find, The Murder Hole, Octobermoon, Ralph’s Review, Shadow Keep, Sinisteria, the Swamp, and the Smoky Mountain News (non-fiction). My wife Shanna and my cat Howard are my biggest supporters and fans. Well, Howard thinks he is a co-author but that is beside the point.



When did you first start writing?
Though I have been a genre fiction fan my entire life, it wasn’t until last year that I set out to write myself. I had always talked of being a writer but never tried. At the urging of my wife, I decided 2001 would be the year I went after my dream. I bought a little black spiral notebook and carried it with me everywhere. In no time, I had a ton of tales to submit. My wife helped me pick one and I sent it off to four publishers. I wanted to start small. Two weeks later on March 18th, I got two different acceptance letters and contracts on the same day. I nearly had a heart attack. Both Black Petals and Burning Sky magazines wanted to run my tale, "Night Shopping". I turned BP down and went with Burning Sky and I am glad I did. In the issue where my first tale made its debut, there was another story called "Tracker" which was picked up by a studio and is now a popular sci-fi TV show in the states. The issue with my tale sold in record time because of this and I got a lot of exposure so it really helped in getting me started.

Why do you write?
I write because I am a writer. It is who and what I am. I couldn’t stop if I tried now. Yes, the hope for a big break that makes my career is always present and is nice to get paid sometimes but those aren’t the reasons I do it. Writing is more than a job, it is a way of life.

What sort of books do you like to read?
I read a bit of everything from Harry Potter (my wife is teacher) to H.P. Lovecraft to Robert Jordan and Fred Chappel. As a child, I started reading early and spent my youth with Marvel comics and countless Star Trek novels. When I go to a book store now though I am usually looking for something along the lines of Terry Prachett, Brian Lumley, Timothy Zahn, or Dan Simmons. The last three books I read were All the Way to the Gallows by David Drake, To Regien in Hell by Steven Burst, and More Shapes than One by Fred Chappel.

Who is your favourite author or has influenced your writing?

As to a favorite author, that’s a tough question. David Drake instantly leaps into my mind but is by no means definitive. I love his Hammer’s Slammers books. Robert McCammon however is the best to me in terms of horror as Robert Jordan is within the Fantasy genre. When I think of who write like though, I strive to be like Dan Simmons. His diction and plot structure blow me away sometimes but my own pacing will always be Drake like, fast and action filled regardless of whether the tale I am writing it horror or sci-fi. I guess there are just too many great writers out there to pick just one. Mark Mclaughlin has also been a large in influence on me and I recently got to write a tale with him which was so cool. He called me from Davenport and asked if I was interested and I leapt at the chance. We are presently seeking a home for our collab but I know we will find one soon.

If you could meet any character from a book, who would it be and why?
I am not sure that I have a favorite character either. Matt from Jordan’s Wheel of Time would be amoung the top ten though. He is a rogue and a man set upon a path that fate choose for him, yet he always seems to manage. He started in a small town like me without any idea of where the world would take him. I never thought I would be published, have articles written about me, or do a radio show, but I have. Matt has the voices of all the great generals of his world inside his head, and I have the voices of the greats like Lovecraft, Niven, McCammon, and Drake echoing inside mine, urging me on.

What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on my first novel length tale, a sci-fantasy epic entitled Harbinger and am also shopping around my first collection. Though short stories are my true love and I try to write a new one at least every two weeks though my inspiration is prone to coming in bursts.

What have you found to be the best way of promoting your book/stories?
The HWA has helped me alot in promoting my work, but I think the best way to do it is through interviews
like this. After I did the Jerry Lentz show, I got tons of e-mails and on a more local level, doing signings
and workshops at indepentant bookstores has also helped a great deal. People actually recognize me on the streets of my old home town now and stop me to ask me about writing all the time. I enjoy it greatly to
know that my work is being read.

And finally, what advice would you give to writers starting out?
My advice to new writers is really rather simple though twofold.
1) Write!! Stop talking about it and do it, everyday and every night. Hone your craft and submit your work. You don’t know if you’ll be published or not until you try.
2) Don’t expect to be Stephen King or J.K. Rowling over night. They slaved for years to get where they are. David Webber, the great sci-fi writer, only made about $700 from writing his first year but he kept at it and now, well look at him.

You can read some of Eric's tales at The Swamp, Alternate Realities, Horrorfind and one here on Twisted Tales - The Dwellers of Oar Knob

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