5 Minutes With William Stacey

 Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

I pretty much grew up in the army. I’ve been in uniform, in one capacity or another, since the age of 13. I’m a husband and a father and consider myself incredibly lucky to be both, as I never really expected to be either. I’ve been shot at by Bosnian Serbs, rocketed by Pashtun insurgents, and catapulted off an aircraft carrier (in an aircraft, of course). I have always loved reading; there is no better reward in life than losing yourself in a book, and I consider myself blessed to be involved in the process of creating fiction and telling stories.

Do you prefer the term Horror, Weird Fiction or Dark Fiction?

I’ve always liked horror, but I also enjoy the term dark fiction. I know horror has a bit of a bad rep these days, but I think it’s undeserved and unfortunate. Horror is where we go when we want some titillation, when we want to be frightened and excited at the same time. Long live horror!

Who are some of your favourite authors?

Let’s start with the masters: Graham Masterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, G.R.R. Martin, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Steven King, David Morrell, Joe, R. Landsdale. But there’s so many more as well: Ramsey Campbell, Tom Monteleone, Jack Ketchum, Neil Gaiman, Bernard Cornwell, Charlee Jacob.  

What are you reading now?

I’m all over the place. I tend to read about five-to-ten-books at the same time. I know, I know. I’m not bored with any of them; it’s just that I can’t decide what I want to read at any one time. It’s a sickness. Towers of Midnight, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson; Seal Team 666, by Weston Ochse; Draculas, by Jeff Strand, F.Paul Wilson, Jack Kilborn, and Blake Crouch; Murder as a Fine Art, by David Morrell, Knightly Arts of Combat, by David Lindholm and Peter Svard, and Guises, by Charlee Jacob.

How would you describe your writing style?

Sparse, fast-faced, easy to follow, and easy to get into. I want to tell a fun story, not create deathless prose. Don’t get me wrong. Sentences, paragraphs, pages, and chapters need to be as perfect as you can get them, but my goal is to put the reader into the story and stay out of the way. Story is king.

Describe a typical day spent writing. Do you have any unusual writing habits?

I wake up at 2AM and get to work. Bum in chair, coffee in hand, by 5AM, I’ve usually written about 2-3,000 words. I do my best work while the rest of the house is asleep, and I always start my day with the creative process—I hit the most important stuff while my brain is fresh. Then, I’m off to work for the rest of the day. I always go to the gym or go for a run. Exercise is critical and even when there’s no time, I make time. Then, I come home and work on the business of writing: marketing, social media, taking care of my daughter, perhaps saying hello to my wife. By 7PM, I’m usually in bed. This is a hard schedule to maintain, but I’ve done it for years now. Nothing in life happens without discipline, and things get done by people who get up early and do them.

What’s your favourite food?

Lone Star Fajitas. Is there anything in life better than Tex-Mex?

What’s your favourite album?

Bat out of Hell, by Meat Loaf.

What’s the most important lesson you have learned about writing?

Writing is discipline, and discipline is a mountain that you must climb. Every. Single. Day.

Fame and fortune, or respect?

Fun. The worst day of writing is still a pretty darned good day.

What piece of your own work are you most proud of?

I’m particularly proud of my first published book, Black Monastery. It’s not my first book—not by a long shot—but it’s the first one that I felt was good enough to present to the world. I love redemption stories, where flawed heroes come back from the brink. I have to believe that everyone can do the right thing... maybe sometimes we just need a little push. In Black Monastery I tell a story about a man who, like all of us, started off well enough but let life and fate twist him into becoming a person he didn’t particularly like being. Sometimes you just feel trapped within yourself.    

Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?

Well, we just talked about Black Monastery. It’s a redemption tale with demons, ghosts, and Vikings—all you really need in life. I’ve gone out of my way to avoid the typical clichés: the hero has issues, he’s not handsome, and he’s not a particularly nice man—in fact, he’s committed some horrible crimes—but he wants to do the right thing, and fate gives him the opportunity. Sometimes that’s enough. Life isn’t black and white, so why should heroes and villains be stereotypes? Check it out; I promise you’ll have fun, think of a bastard love child between Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft.

My work in progress is the first book of a four-part series, tentatively titled The Breached Earth War. When the military accidentally opens a rift between our world and a world where magic and mythical monsters exist, we open ourselves up to an invasion of legendary creatures. Modern technology and magic go head-to-head—and don’t assume technology has the edge; you might be surprised. Rocket launcher doesn’t always beat fireball. The protagonist is Cassie “Starlight” Rogen, a young woman who becomes one of the first Mag-sens: a human who can suddenly draw upon and use the forces of magic that have been released into our world through the rift. Cassie is recruited by a shadowy military organization (that may be responsible for the rift in the first place) to help hunt down the Basilisk—a giant six-legged lizard that turns people to stone—in the forests of northern British Columbia. But what Cassie and the other members of this special force’s team don’t realize is that the Basilisk is only a decoy for the real threat. This one is going be a blast!

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Read Williams Guest Post  On Medieval Sword Fighting HERE 

A former soldier, William Stacey served his country for more than thirty years, including multiple combat tours in Bosnia and Afghanistan. William loves exercise and all things martial and is a black belt in karate.

Black Monastery is his debut novel.
Beware the foe behind the strange threshold.
 
In 799 A.D. Viking warband leader Asgrim Wood-Nose sails his prized longship Sea Eel south along the coast of Frankia to raid the island of Noirmoutier—the Black Monastery.
 
Banned from his homeland following a night of rage-filled murder, Asgrim has been declared outlaw. Unless he can raise a princely blood debt, he will never see Denmark again. When a Saracen merchant brags of a great treasure hidden deep within the monastery, Asgrim realizes fate is offering him a chance to go home again. But Asgrim has led his men into a trap: somehow, the monks of the Black Monastery have released a dark supernatural force, an eastern demon that wears the skins of its victims. Hunted by this monstrous evil and tormented by the ghosts of those he has slain, Asgrim’s only ally becomes another lonely soul, a Frankish woman abandoned by her people under suspicion of witchcraft.
 
The Viking north clashes with the supernatural east in an epic historical fantasy tale of heroism and redemption in the face of unimaginable horror.
 
Voted 'Outstanding in Genre' by Red Adept Select.

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Purchase Black Monastery on Amazon via the links below