The Sea Was a Fair Master by Calvin Demmer

I have been working on a novella, which hasn’t been too different than writing a short story. Well, I haven’t written a novel yet, so I am not sure how that process will go, but I am looking forward to it when I do. Q3 How is releasing a book of your own short stories different to writing a novel? Sometimes I will love how they write characters, or how they create atmosphere, and sometimes it’s the prose. It’s hard to provide specifics on how each influenced me, but I feel the more I read the more my writing improves. To name a few: Richard Matheson, Stephen King, Ania Ahlborn, Dan Simmons, Philip K. There are many authors whose work I enjoy reading, but if we’re talking about the authors that influenced my work the most, then it would be authors I read early on. Q2 Who are your favourite authors and how have they influenced your writing? I also read a lot of comics growing up, particularly stuff like Batman and Swamp Thing, which both get dark at times. and the types of stories I read usually had a dark vibe to them, so I guess I was drawn to write similar work to what I enjoyed reading. I’ve always read horror, science fiction, crime, etc. My first story was published in January 2015, so that now feels like the beginning for me.

I can remember writing stories when I was young, but it probably wasn’t until 2014 that I took writing seriously and started submitting my work. Q1 When did you first begin the journey to becoming a writer and why did you choose dark fiction? While I like to write in different genres, my work tends to always have a dark vibe to it.

I’ve had two collections, The Sea Was a Fair Master and Dark Celebrations, as well as a standalone story, The Town That Feared Dusk, published. Read on to find out about how he got into horror and what he will be up to in the future. I am thrilled to welcome Calvin to the blog today.

The Sea Was a Fair Master by Calvin Demmer