Monday, January 26, 2015

Writing Blog Hop: Horror with WD Gagliani

Today for the Writing Blog Hop,  I'm talking with horror author W.D. Gagliani about his writing process. 


 Name: W.D. Gagliani
Author of: The Nick Lupo Series of Horror-Thrillers (Wolf’s Trap, Wolf’s Gambit, Wolf’s Bluff, Wolf’s Edge, and Wolf's Cut, plus the thriller Savage Nights)
Website: www.wdgagliani.com



1. What am I working on?

I’m working on various projects, but most importantly at the moment Wolf’s Blind, the 6th Lupo thriller. Also a standalone novel with my long-time collaborator David Benton, as well as a few other things on various degrees of simmer.

2. How does my work differ from others in the genre?
I like to bring in elements from other genres, so my horror is full of thriller tropes (and vice-versa), plus some historical fantasy, erotica, and strong echoes of crime and noir. I like to think it makes for a spicier blend than average, but I guess readers have to judge if I’m successful or not.

3. Why do I write what I do?

I grew up on thrillers and came to love horror early on, too. I’ve always enjoyed SF and Fantasy and crime and mysteries. I just naturally gravitated toward writing in those areas and, whenever possible, blending the elements together. I’ve always enjoyed adventure tales of all kinds, so I try to make my work active and adventurous. But even in my non-horror reading, I was always most attracted by the darker elements. I guess I’m the result of all these influences!

4. How does my writing process work?

I would need dozens of paragraphs to explain it. I like to loosely outline a novel but leave in a fair amount of “gaps” so at any time I can take it in any direction the characters prefer. I like parallel stories, so I often work on two that become intertwined through the book. And I love to use various characters as viewpoint characters in their own sections, so the story is seen a little bit like a movie, where we end up seeing what happens to different people in different places, sometimes the same events from several POVs. 

Heh, my process is to write completely out of order sections and HOPE I can stitch them together in a way they’ll make sense. So far, this system has worked for me despite the stress it induces. Oh, do you mean on a practical level? I force myself to write 2 hours per night Mon-Thurs and at least 4-5 hours each Sat and Sun (with exceptions, of course). This includes a fair amount of time-wasting with promotion, Facebook, email, research, daydreaming, and otherwise useless internet meandering.

 ** See other Writing Blog Hops:

W. D. Gagliani - Horror
Jean Rabe  - Sci Fi
C. A. Verstraete - Horror/zombies

Coming up:  

Courtney Mroch - Short fiction


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