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Rated: 5.00/5 | Votes: 2 | Views: 171 |Submitted: 01/05/09

Q&A with Author Brandon Ford

by: Heather Wixson

1. So when did you get the writing “bug”?

I was about eight years old when the idea of writing first appealed to me.  I had a binder filled with loose leaf paper and would use it to hold all of my various works.  I would spend my time not only penning my own original works of fiction, but I would also create novelizations for my favorite movies (for some, I’d even write sequels).  Although I was definitely drawn to horror, I didn’t exactly have my own genre figured out back then.  What I wrote was all over the place.  I’d embellish on real life incidents, or I’d write simple stories that really didn’t have much conflict.  One of the first stories I ever wrote involved a teenage girl desperate to own an over-priced dress at a designer boutique.

When I was 11, I wrote a short piece titled Diane’s Weekend Massacre.  Not long before, I’d seen The Slumber Party Massacre, a film that turned out to be one of my favorite slashers.  I decided to make my own version, recreating the story of a teenage girls’ slumber party gone awry.  In my version, an axe-wielding maniac, who turns out to be the girls’ teacher, crashes the party.  After that, the vast majority of my written works have been horror.  It was then that I found a genre that I liked, knew, and felt the most comfortable with, and so I never looked back. 
  
2.  Discuss Your Creative Process

I really couldn’t tell you exactly where my ideas come from.  I suppose no artist really can pinpoint exactly how they discover a subject to expand upon.  I just know that I try to read as much and as often as I can, keep an open ear and an open mind to everything around me, and expose myself to as much art as I can.

Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of documentaries, mostly involving serial killers and acts of violence.  These stories I use as inspiration before I start writing.  I tend to write about some pretty ruthless and vicious characters, so it seems only natural to start there.

I usually like to write my first drafts longhand, then do my edits and revisions while typing up the manuscript.  I find it’s easier to go more in-depth this way.  After that, I’ll read over the manuscript multiple times, making all of the changes I deem necessary.

There are times when I’m in the mood for a little music to accompany the writing process.  I’ll reach for one of my favorite movie scores during those instances (Creepshow is one I use most often).  The majority of the time, though, I prefer to be surrounded by nothing but silence.  I find it easier to concentrate that way. 
  
3. What is it about dark imagery that you find so appealing to explore in your work? 

I’ve always been fascinated by the emotion of fear.  I think it can bring forth parts of us we never knew existed.  And more than anything, what I love to read and see are characters tossed into a whirlwind of madness, thrown into the open arms of brutality and a cruel world they’d never experienced, yet find their way back again.  Characters once deemed fragile and defenseless, yet manage to retaliate when faced with dire circumstances.  It is not only fear that pushes them to survive, but the adrenaline that accompanies that fear and urges them to fight back.  It’s amazing what we’re capable of when faced with life or death trauma.

4. Who influences you creatively?

Jack Ketchum is my favorite writer by far.  I’ve spoken about him so many times before, I don’t know if there’s anything new I can add.  He’s a brilliant writer, one of my biggest influences, and a staple in the horror genre.  Stephen King said it best: “Ketchum is, quite simply, one of the best in the business.”

There aren’t many authors I read faithfully.  I prefer to expand my horizons and embrace as many voices as possible.  I’ve recently become hooked on Richard Laymon, though.  His books will literally keep you up all night turning the pages.   
  
5.  Can you tell me more about Splattered Beauty and your other works as well?

Splattered Beauty is meant to be a homage to my favorite Scream Queens.  I grew up with horror movies all my life (especially slashers) and I’ve grown particularly fond of several of the genre’s leading ladies (Linnea Quigley, Debbie Rochon, Tiffany Shepis, and Julie Strain, just to name a few).  It is not only the films that inspire me, but their performances as well.

The subject of the novel is an actress known for her work in low-budget horror films.  Since a divorce from her producer/director husband, she is without roles for the first time.  This leads to a harrowing depression and an unstoppable urge to pay back those that have wronged her.  And so, with the aid of a teenage fan, she begins a string of brutal and sadistic murders.

Splattered Beauty is the second novel released through Arctic Wolf Publishing, a wonderful small press based in Georgia.  My first novel, Crystal Bay, was released through them in January of 2008.  My work has also been seen in the horror anthologies Abaculus 2007, Sinister Landscapes, and Raw: Brutality as Art.  I’ve also contributed to Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc’s Twisted Dreams Magazine.  
  
6.  What Can We Expect from Brandon Ford in the Future?

 I recently finished Pay Phone, a new horror/suspense novel I would like to see released some time this year.  That one centers on a serial killer who lures his victims through a pay phone residing across the street from his apartment building.  There is also Creeping Shadows, a collection of three novellas which will be released through Alan Draven’s Pixie Dust Press.  Alan, as well as myself and Jessica Lynne Gardner, are each penning short, original novels for the collection.  Mine is titled Merciless and it is based on the true story of two teenage girls who were abducted in California back in 2002.

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