Who are some of your influences?

Wiley Cash, Joe R. Lansdale, Megan Abbott, Jesmyn Ward, Michael Farris Smith, and Ron Rash are certainly on the list.

What are you working on now?

My work-in-progress, YOU WILL BELIEVE, is an 80s-set horror, mystery. A deviation from my normal writing, but it still is very much in the style in which I usually write.

What is your dream job?

I plan on being a career novelist and creative writing professor. Every bit of work I do is to further those goals.

Interesting fact about yourself?

I’m a ju-jitsu black belt who also spent time training in boxing and Muay Thai. This shows up, to some degree, in everything I write.

What was your coolest moment as an author?

I was teaching on the day of my debut release. During my lunch break, my wife sent a picture of my kids (one and two at the time) sitting next to a stack of my books in a bookstore.

Runner-up: One time I was pitching my book to a group of readers at a literary conference, and one of them opened and chugged a 2-liter Pepsi Zero while I was describing my novel. That’s when I knew I’d made it.

Any advice for young writers?

Find your voice. Whatever that voice is, find it and lean into it. Publishers aren’t looking for the next (insert famous author here); they are looking for the first YOU.

Querying advice?

Aspiring authors, keep your queries VERY targeted. Know which authors and which books each agent has represented. Also, keep your query letter concise and interesting. Tell the agent a little about yourself, give a brief synopsis of your novel (word count and comp titles included), and wrap things up. I wouldn’t suggest snail-mailing agents your query letter on a piece of parchment doused in cologne or perfume. That’s just creepy.