To begin, please introduce yourself to our audience. What is your name? Who are you? What books have you written?
I’m Gerald Dean Rice and I write horror. I’ve been a horror fan for as long as I can remember. My mother took me to see movies like Creepshow and The Howling when I was five years old and it was all downhill from there. I went from watching, to reading, to finally writing and since then I’ve written more than two dozen titles. From Fleshbags to Tales from an Apartment to Anything but Zombies I’d like to think I’ve written something for every horror fan.
What first inspired you to become a writer? And what compels you to continue your career as an author? My mother’s love of reading was the kernel of why I became a writer. She gave me a copy of Stephen King’s Eye of the Dragon when I was about twelve and many books later, I decided I wanted to write the stories.
What is the first book you read that made you fall in love with literature?
Al Sarrantonio’s Skeletons. I’d never read a book told in the first person before and Abraham Lincoln was a zombie. That just couldn’t be beat for me.
What do you think is the most difficult part of being a writer? What is the most rewarding part?
The most difficult part of being a writer is procrastination. I come up with an idea and then I come up with another idea until I have so many I’m not sure where to start. A lot of times I have to pick an idea and stick to it no matter how cool that new idea seems.
What is your most recent work? What can audiences expect from this book or series?
My latest book is the Y.A. novel Vamp-Hire. I’d never written about vampires before or a young adult story and I wanted to go in a different direction than might be expected of a vampire tale for young people. For starters, the main character is only half vampire. I’d like to explore what it means to be one of these people in a post-war world where prejudice against their kind runs pretty rampant. Each installment would reveal something new about the main character and introduce some sort of ancient monster that has come out of hiding now that vampires are extinct.
Why did you decide to join Permuted Press?
Simple. John Dies at the End. I picked up David Wong’s book some years back after reading a pretty interesting review and I wasn’t disappointed. I saw these guys actually got books in stores when I cruised my local Borders and I wanted to align myself with a publisher that actually puts out quality material.
What are your dreams for the future as a writer?
I want to do something epic. Something that will eventually rise to cult status. Kind of like Stephen King’s Dark Tower series that people have been talking about for decades and probably will go on talking about it even longer now that Hollywood has been flirting with making it into movies.
Do you have any events coming up such as conventions or book signings?
I’m hoping to gear up to begin speaking at libraries again really soon. A couple years ago I self-published How to Publish on Kindle, Smashwords, and Nook the Easy Way! and I did a small tour of libraries presenting the information in the book to library patrons. It was a great success and occasionally, I’ll run into someone who came to one of my sessions and they’ll ask me when I’m going to do it again.
Where can people find more information about you?
You can find me on Twitter @GeraldRice, like the Gerald Rice Fan Page on Facebook or you can visit my website, www.razorlinepress.com.