First off, a huge congratulations to you on the 2015 James Herbert Award. What were you doing when you found out and how do you feel?
Oh, I was sitting at home after a long plane flight. I don’t carry an Iphone, I’m a luddite, so when I got home I had a few congratulatory emails, which was lovely. The whole experience was lovely. I’ve been nominated for the odd award under my own name, won a couple magazine writing awards and the odd thing otherwise, but really it’s been an “always a bridesmaid” kinda thing. Which is fine, I’ve always been pleased to simply have been nominated, especially considering the competition. So it was cool to win but it could have gone to any of the shortlisted writers.
Having a review from Stephen King where you scared “the hell” out of him must be a high point in your career thus far. Have you met Stephen before?
Nope. Never. Perhaps one day. Hopefully so. It was a high point, absolutely. There’s nobody better in the business for my money.
Where did the inspiration for The Troop originate? Were you ever involved in scouts as a kid?
I was in Scouts, so it was partially that. Partially a desire to write a book from the perspective of kids, which is something I find myself more and more drawn to. You can get points across more plainly, I think, and with more emotional openness when you come at it from a child’s perspective.
You choose to write under the pen name of Nick Cutter because, according to you, horror writers should have “crisp” and “punchy” names. What were some of the runners up to Nick Cutter?
Oh, Bill Hacker. Tim Chopper. Al Bloodletter. Bill Vivisector. Paxton Tenpenny Tuppence, Esq. We threw a whole bunch at the wall. Nick stuck.
What is your writing style? Do you take an hour a day? One day a week? A month-long binge-writing session?
I have to write 1000 words a day at least while I’m working on a book. That’s the minimum. If things are going great, I can be done by 11am. If things are rough I can be at it until midnight. That’s the only rule.
You live in Toronto and say that Canada is full of great spooky spots for horror landscapes. What’s the scariest place you’ve been to, and where do you hope to base your next book?
Hmmm. We do have a place down in Niagara Falls called the Screaming Tunnel. There’s a legend about a girl who burned alive in the tunnel. Pretty grim! Kids go there to test their mettle. I did. So I’d say that. The Tunnel makes an appearance in an upcoming story collection under my own name.
Do you have any aspirations to go outside of the novel genre? Movies? TV?
Oh, sure. I think in some ways it would be nice to be approached, but that hasn’t happened as yet. I mean, I’ve had a film made out of my first book and I’ve been fortunate to have other books optioned for film, but options are kinda a dime a dozen and there’s a built-in understand in any option agreement I’ve ever signed that I’m more or less to keep my nose out of things. But down the road? Sure. Film or TV would be wonderful to get involved in.
What is your overall career aspiration and overall greatest fear in being a writer? Do the two align or overlap at all?
Oh, I think that’s a tough question. It’s one of those ones where I’ve either succeeded beyond my expectations and those of my old teachers and friends—I’m a fulltime writer; I make my living at it for the moment at least, and that in itself is rare. So either that, or I haven’t accomplished much at all. There are millions of writers better and more successful than I am. So it depends on the day. My answer will be different. You can’t dwell on that too much, though. It gets in the way of getting your job done, at least that’s how I look at it.
What role does your upbringing have, if any, on the narratives or characters you write? Do you think anyone can write a piece, regardless of genre, that has no reflection of their past surroundings?
For me it factors pretty heavily. That’s just me. I mine my own past and present and use writing, in some ways, to grapple with the things I see and experience and how they affect me. It allows me to comment on them and kind of internalize, or I guess externalize them and as such it’s sorta therapeutic. So my hopes and fears and regrets, past and present, all that juicy stuff—it goes in there. It just goes into my character’s thoughts. Although there is a huge amount of fabrication, too. As for the second part: I’m sure it’s potentially possible, and if someone wants to set themselves that ambition they might even accomplish it. That’s kind of a philosophical question, and a good one, but I can’t really answer it.
Some people say humans are a product of their environment. What do you think of that statement and if so, how does this inspire your writing?
I think that’s pretty self-evident, sure. A lot of us were hugely lucky to be born in a part of the world and to a family where things were pretty good. I’m one of those people, and grateful every day for that. No reason why I should have received that great gift. Just pure bullshit luck, really. Anyway, I’m sure my upbringing and environment directly influence my writing. That kinda stuff is grafted into your writer’s DNA in a lot of cases, including mine. So I work with what I got!
About The Troop:
Once a year, scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness for a three-day camping trip—a tradition as comforting and reliable as a good ghost story and a roaring bonfire. But when an unexpected intruder—shockingly thin, disturbingly pale, and voraciously hungry—stumbles upon their campsite, Tim and the boys are exposed to something far more frightening than any tale of terror. The human carrier of a bioengineered nightmare. An inexplicable horror that spreads faster than fear. A harrowing struggle for survival that will pit the troop against the elements, the infected…and one another.
Part Lord of the Flies, part 28 Days Later—and all-consuming—this tightly written, edge-of-your-seat thriller takes you deep into the heart of darkness and close to the edge of sanity.