In the Booth with Ruth – Rod Glenn, Author

What’s your writing background? When did you begin writing and what inspired you?

I started writing in high school and actually one of the writing projects I started back then became my début novel to be published over 10 years later (The King of America). I’ve always had a vivid imagination and loved reading from an early age. I read prolifically and diversely, from J. R. R. Tolkien, Frank Herbert, James Herbert, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, H. P. Lovecraft, Clive Barker, Edgar Allan Poe, Richard Matheson, Hunter S. Thompson, Terry Pratchett, H. G. Wells, Jules Verne,  Joseph Conrad, Ernest Hemingway…well the list is endless!  I have five published novels and several short stories in various anthologies. 

How often do you write? And how do you manage to fit in writing among other commitments? 

I set myself strict writing targets – weekly word counts to adhere to – and I make sure I hit them. I write as often as I can and from wherever I happen to be at the time – at home, at the office, on holiday even (I always take a netbook away with me). A writer needs to get into the habit of writing and has to be able to write whenever and wherever. Some writers set up their writing environment like a sacred temple and feel like that is the only place they can write and only when they are in the right frame of mind. That is nonsense – writing is a job and has to be treated as such, so you have to write whether you feel like it or not. It may not be the right time of day, there might be noisy roadworks going on outside, kids playing, dogs barking, the phone ringing incessantly, but you still have to write. The sooner aspiring writers understand that writing is just a profession like any other the more they will write and the more chance of success they will have.

In which genre do you most enjoy writing?  

I have written in many genres over the years, but I do really enjoy writing dark thrillers/horror. I do always like to inject a level of black humour into even my darkest writing though. There has to be a glimpse of light for the reader to better appreciate the dark. 

What draws you to write in that genre? 

I have loved horror in books and film since before I should’ve been reading/watching them. I have always had a fascination with fear and the darkness both within humans and within legend and mythology. Fear is a primal instinct that drives almost everything – it can be enormously destructive, but is an essential survival reflex. 

Can you tell me about your current project(s)?   

I am currently writing an action horror story tentatively entitled The Fortress. It has elements of Tolkien, Dante and MacLean, mixed with the boys own adventure of The Wild Geese and Zulu. 

What are your writing plans for the future?  

I am contemplating several projects – a possible return of likeable serial killer, Han Whitman, and a different spin on a werewolf tale to name a couple. 

Where can people find out more about you?  

From my website or from Wild Wolf Publishing. I am also on Twitter at @rodglenn and on Facebook.

Sinema: The Northumberland Massacre – with over 80 x 5* reviews on Amazon UK – is available on Amazon UK and Amazon US as are Rod’s other books.