FIVE MINUTES WITH SHAUN JEFFREY

Today, I'm honoured to have Shaun Jeffrey over for a chat,  Shaun Jeffrey was brought up in a house in a cemetery, so it was only natural for his prose to stray towards the dark side when he started writing. Among his writing credits are short stories published in Surreal Magazine, Dark Discoveries, Shadowed Realms, and Cemetery Dance. He has also had two collections published, The Mutilation Machination and Voyeurs of Death and five novels, Killers, The Kult, Deadfall, Fangtooth and Evilution. His novel, The Kult has been filmed by Gharial Productions and will hopefully be released soon. In his spare time he works out at the gym, jogs and is a practitioner of Tae Kwon Do.

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Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

Hi Jim. Okay, I grew up in a house in a cemetery, so I guess I was never going to be writing romance stories. Along with my son, I’ve just become a Tae Kwon Do black belt, and I like to jog and I work out at the gym, so I have a pretty hectic schedule. I’ve had various jobs, from gym instructor to making ammunition. I now work on the railway as a signalling and telecommunications engineer. As for writing, I’ve had five novels published, a couple of collections and a few novellas. I was lucky enough that one of my novels, a serial killer story called The Kult, has been filmed. It’s still awaiting release, but hopefully it will see the light of day eventually.

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

I don’t really mind. It’s pretty much all the same when you get down to it but if pressed for an answer I guess I prefer dark fiction, as that’s what I feel I write as I’ve penned stories ranging from serial killers to sea monsters, and it doesn’t always fit underneath one umbrella.

Who are some of your favourite authors?

My favourite authors are probably the usual crowd, Graham Masterton, Stephen King, Richard Laymon etc. There are also many other authors, too many to mention, but I’ll name a few. J.G. Faherty. Scott Nicholson. Suzanne Collins. H.G. Wells. Bentley Little. Glen Krisch. M.A. Comley. Kealan Patrick Burke. Vicki Tyley. Simon Royle. Guido Henkel. Daniel I. Russell. Garry Charles. Dylan Morgan. Lee Thompson. The list could go on forever, and there are many more I haven’t mentioned, but I’ll stop there.

What are you reading now?

Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold, but I’m eagerly awaiting the delivery of David Riley’s His Own Mad Demon’s collection, which I’ll start reading straight away.

 Which book do you wish you had written?

The Bible. It’s sold more copies than any other book.

How would you describe your writing style?

Frenetic. Fast paced. Cinematic. But that’s just my opinion.

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

I don’t have a typical day. I wish I could be that organised and regimental. I write as and when I feel the urge. So I guess my most unusual habit is actually doing any writing in the first place.

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

I guess The Kult is the book I’m most proud of because it was the book that was filmed, but also because there’s a lot of myself in that story with regards events and characters. You know, all that killing ...

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

My last book was Killers, a follow on to The Kult, but my last release was a novella called Day by Day which was a departure for me, as it’s the story of a young girl being groomed by a sexual predator. It was inspired by the real events that came to light of this sort of thing happening. Any money I’ve made from it so far has been donated to a children's charity to help those affected by sexual exploitation. As for what I’m working on, there are a couple of things. Whether anything comes of them though remains to be seen.