James Everington – Volume 2 Contributor Profile

James Everington is a writer from Nottingham, England who writes dark, supernatural fiction, although not necessarily ‘horror’ in the blood and guts sense. If you like the unexplained, the psychological, or the ambiguous in your weird fiction then you’ll know what he’s aiming at.

James has the honour of being the first writer to have a story accepted for City of Hell Chronicles: Volume 2 with his excellent story ‘No Insects At Sea.’ Find out more about this deviously dark writer and his work.

1. Standard first question. What started you off as a writer? Was there a single standout moment where you knew? 

I’m not sure there was any light-bulb moment – I’ve just always loved books and literature and at some point in my teenage years I started scribbling down ideas. And I just never stopped, despite all the heartbreak and writer’s cramp. No one else is going to write my stories if I don’t. 

2. Describe to us your writing process. Are you a longhand or a computer guy? Plotter or ‘seat-of-the-pants’ kind of writer? Do you have any odd methods that you’ve developed?

I always write at least one draft longhand, making it up as I go along. I don’t plot out beforehand; I’m more concerned for the first draft that the tone, language, and imagery are of a piece to be honest. If they are then I find the plot, in terms of what needs to happen next, comes to me as I write.

So my first drafts are often tangled messes, but something I can rewrite from. Rewriting is where it all comes together (or not).

3. You have a love of horror and the weird. What is it about these genres that appeal to you? 

Well I do read very widely in terms of genre and style, but ‘the weird’ has always been a touchstone, yes. Despite all the entrails and screams and monsters I think horror (and what I’d call ‘strange stories’ specifically) can have quite a deep intellectual, even philosophical resonance. It’s hard to define the appeal more exactly, because I don’t think it’s entirely rational - it just feels that stories by writers like Robert Aickman scratch an itch that others can’t. A sub-conscious itch, perhaps.

4. Where do your ambitions lie? You’re a big fan, and writer, of short stories, will you continue with those, or do you see yourself trying other, longer-form projects?

I am a big fan of short stories, although not at the expense of novels or anything else. I think I’ve been so vocal about short stories since I realised how poorly some readers view them compared to novels. It doesn’t make any sense to me to not read some great writing purely on the basis of length.

In terms of my own writing, I have a ton of ideas for short stories, so that’s what I’ll be writing for now. But then, I always seem to have short stories queuing up; maybe I need to let some of them die and try and write something longer for a change. I think writers need to try writing something out of their comfort zone every so often or they stagnate, so I’m certainly not ruling out a novel in the future, no.

5. Given how Horror in literature (as a label) has been fragmented into fantasy and (paranormal) romance, do you think the public are still interested in traditional horror as a genre, or has it expanded/fragmented for good?

I’m not sure horror as a genre will ever die off, because I think it appeals to something fundamental inside a lot of us. As I said before, I think it scratches an itch other genres can’t. Maybe not everyone in the world feels this itch, but enough do.

So I think horror will always survive these kind of ephemeral ups and downs in the publishing industry. Whether there will be anyone as big as Stephen King again who knows, but the small press will always have room for horror and the weird I think.

I hope so anyway, else I’m screwed.

6. What do you have out at the momentum and can you tell us a little bit about them?

My collection of short fiction, The Other Room¸ is available now – some of these stories have appeared in places like Morpheus Tales and Dark Moon Digest, and others are completely new. Without wishing to show off too much, I’ll just mention in passing that it was one of the winners in the short story category of the 2011 Red Adept Reviews Indie Awards.

The Other Room (UK | US)

Also available is The Shelter, a horror novella set in the 80s, about four boys who go looking for an old abandoned air-raid shelter. They find it and…. well, I don’t really do happy endings put it that way.

The Shelter (UK | US)

I’m also lucky enough to be one of the Abominable Gentlemen – together with Alan Ryker, Iain Rowan, and Aaron Polson we publish the semi-regular anthology Penny Dreadnought, of which there are currently three volumes. In the latest one, The Lone And Level Sands, we end the world four different ways.

Penny Dreadnought: The Lone And Level Sands (UK | US)

7. Finally, you’re our first victim (I mean contributor) to City of Hell Chronicles: Volume 2, can you tell us a little bit about your story (no spoilers) and the thought process behind it?

It’s called No Insects At Sea and is about a group of people who’ve managed to avoid the more hellish aspects of life after the insects came by escaping to a remote Pacific island – they’re living a pretty charmed life by City Of Hell standards. There’s trouble coming though; I don’t think it will be much of a surprise to anyone when I say that the statement that is the story’s title isn’t exactly true…

Thanks for talking with us, James, It’s an honour to feature your story, were can readers find more about you and your work?

I tweet various nonsense you can sigh at and disagree with if you follow @JHEverington

Nonsense at a greater length can no doubt be found on my Scattershot Writing blog: www.jameseverington.blogspot.com/

You can find out more about Penny Dreadnought and the Abominable Gentlemen over at: www.pennydreadnought.com/