Interview - Author MJ Preston

An emerging author and genre novelist, MJ Preston has slowly built a fine career on the heels of several stellar and well-received books including the follow-up to his hit novel Highwayman. Now, I talk to him about his start as a writer, his previous novels and the two films in his Highwayman series.


Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, how did you get into the genre?
MJ Preston: Another writer once said to me that the genre picks you, and I suppose there's a kernel of truth in that. I've always been drawn to the darkness, even though it could be a frightening and unsettling place. But it is chock full of places and people you can explore, manipulate, and even be cruel too. Yet no one points a finger or calls the cops when you write it. Writing dark fiction can be like a scary carnival ride, but you don't have to worry that the guy running the amusement had one Jack Daniels too many last night and didn't bother to torque down some bolts. I don't trust carnival rides. Writing in the horror/thriller genre is a lot of fun and it can get ugly, but there's always an escape route. At least for the writer.

Me: Were you always into genre films growing up? What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?
MJP: I watched all the HAMMER Films when I was a kid. I loved the monster features, and as I got older, the content became more serious. I began watching movies like Carrie, The Fury, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Thing. But I wasn't limited to just horror films. I used to go to a movie a week back in the late '70s, which was the watershed for creativity. I saw Hitchcock's FRENZY in theater and The French Connection. All of these films galvanized me into wanting to be a writer.

Me: When did you discover a passion for writing?
MJP: It's been there as long as I can remember. I once plagiarized an episode of THE NIGHT STALKER and showed it to my mother, who, after reading it, advised me if I wanted to write books, I'd need to start working on my own ideas. I remember a teacher reading half story to us, and in it, there was an insinuation that somebody might be a werewolf. He only read half, because he wanted us to write the second half. I rose to challenge. It was gory, blood-soaked, ultra-violent, and the protagonist got ripped apart. That was when the first adults sat up and noticed.

Me: What is your writing process when starting a new piece? How do you stay in a creative mindset while writing?
MJP: Generally, I get up early in the morning. On some mornings I'll go soak in the hot tub, listening to something inspiring like All Them Witches, and then I'll meditate on the story I'm thinking about. Staying motivated isn't something I find too hard. For most of my life, I've worked between 70 and 120 hours a week just to take care of my family. Along with that, I had to set aside spare time for writing, and it really becomes a matter of time management. I have a window to work within that can't be wasted.

Me: Having contributed to various anthologies early in your career, what tools and skills do you acquire working on those that transferred to future projects?
MJP: You learn something about yourself and your writing. I also believe the more you write, the better you get. With every new project, I always come away with a bit of new knowledge, and my craft improves. Your plotting, your characters, the way you write is a continually evolving process.

Me: What is the general process for getting involved in these projects?
MJP: It usually starts with a nagging idea or scene playing out inside my head. Sometimes it can be something as simple a phrase or sentence. From there, I built. I hit the ground running in that first draft, writing at a marathon, trying to get the ideas down as fast as they come. Full steam ahead, no looking back, and not letting anything get in the way of that finish line. Once that's done, then the real work begins. Editing, rewriting, draft after draft after draft. Once I'm satisfied that an editor will accept the work, I submit it and wait for the blood on the page. There's always blood, stuff they catch that I didn't miss. Nudges to keep me from wandering off the point. After going through a grammatical, structural, and copy edit, the book is released for publication.

Me: Your first sole work, The Equinox, featured a story involving a murderous shapeshifter. How did this come together?
MJP: The Equinox was a story that nagged at me for a long time. The idea was of a modern-day quest to avenge and to right a wrong. My protagonist, Daniel Blackbird, is banished from the Chocktee nation after he unwittingly unleashes an evil spirit known as a Skinwalker. This creature can impersonate any living thing, but it must feed, and it prefers human flesh to animal. Not only does it kill Blackbird's grandfather, but continues to kill even more innocents, feeding daily.

Me: Was the inspiration for the story based on personal experience from you or your friends?
MJP: In school, I had a friend who was half native, and he's still my friend to this day. In grade 5, he came to MJP: school with a bike chain hanging around his neck because he was getting jumped by two and three kids every day. He was tough, he persevered and became one of my best childhood friends. He inspired me to write Daniel Blackbird because no matter how much shit those kids gave him, he never backed down, and they never broke his spirit. I think it's tougher being between ethnicities, than one way or the other. You can face ignorance and indifference from both groups. Daniel Blackbird has a lot of my friend’s traits in him. You just want to cheer for him.

Me: Being your first solo work, what was the process like to getting it published?
MJP: Conventionally was damn near to impossible. Most Publishing houses don't want to even look at a manuscript with the assurances of a good agent. Getting an agent these days is a tough prospect because most aren't willing to roll the dice on a newbie. So, after much deliberation, I decided to publish it independently. If I had gone the conventional route, I might not have hung in there. I’m glad I did because all of my books found a home at WildBlue Press. But that didn’t happen before I published my first two independently and started building a name for myself. I’m in my mid 50’s, I’ve only so much sand left in the hourglass.

Me: Your second novel, Acadia Event, is inspired by your time running the world's longest ice road as an ice trucker in Canada's Northwest Territories. How did this novel come together?
MJP: I was pulling between 16 – 18 hour days, driving at limited speeds 15 mph, over frozen lakes within convoys of four. At night the Aurora Borealis twisted and turned in great curtain folds of emerald green, yellow, blue, and even red against a black sky. On the radio, drivers talked, argued, debated, reminisced, about life, about home. At my windows ravens danced for a treat, that I will never admit to giving, but will never deny. Below me, the ice popped and cracked, protesting under the strain of a Western Star pulling twin tankers full up with diesel fuel. That is how it came together. My muse, bastard that he is, started whispering in my ear, and I thought, I need to write a story about this place, these people, and so I did.

Me: More recently, you wrote the two Highwayman novels, the titular Highwayman and it's follow-up Four. What was the inspiration behind that?
MJP: It started with my wife, Stormy, waking me after she had a bad dream. She talked about this guy named Lance, and how he had killed everyone in her dream. She was very exact in how he looked, how unrelenting he was, and she said that he was evil personified. I'll be honest with you, she scared the shit out of me. I was a soldier back then, in pretty good shape, but I got up, checked on our kids, then the doors, then the windows. Knowing the house was secure, I went back to bed, but her nightmare stuck with me. When it came time, I harkened back to that dream. I'd already written two novels with monsters in them, Skinwalker for Equinox, Skentophyte for Acadia Event, and as scary as they were, there is nothing nearly as frightening as the monsters that walk among us every day. That decided it.

Me: What type of research did you go into offering a more realistic story compared to your supernatural and fantasy-based novels?
MJP: I am not exaggerating when I say I overdosed on true crime. I watched 100’s of documentaries on evidence collection, serial killer interviews, profiling, and the hunt for these monsters. I have no intention of ever writing a true crime novel, but it is incredible how much information there is out there on this subject. People might say something about a serial killer, and before long, I get drawn into the conversation, and suddenly friends are wondering why does he know so much about these freaks? Thus, the short end of it is, I wanted to get this right, so I did more research on this subject than any other. And I might add, if the series keeps going, the learning process just carries on.

Me: How did spreading the story over two full-length novels challenge your writing skills?
MJP: Very challenging. Probably because the second book was started before the first book, and I had to find a way to bridge the two books. I don't know if I'll take on a project that large again, I suspect that future Highwayman Books will be standalone novels. But one never knows.

Me: Lastly, what else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers? Thank you again for your time!
MJP: Thank you for having me. I am working on a new Highwayman book, one that you can find out more about if you read the first two. If the series continues to maintain a pulse, it is my intention to tease every new book at the end of the previous. I don't know how long the series will go on; I suppose that's up to the readers. I'm also thinking of writing another straight horror novel. I've got a killer idea.

Anyway, thanks for listening.

To check out and potentially order one of his works, visit his Amazon Author's Page.