Welcome, Horror Author, Ross S. Simon. Mr. Simon is one of my fellow Eternal Press/Damnation Books authors, and author of the thrilling novel THE SNOW.
Do you have any rituals when you write? A certain pen to chew on, a particular drink, or something like that?
- The only real ritual I have when writing is deciding arbitrarily how many pages/lines I'm going to write of the script in a single quota. Oddly enough, I decide this by doing elementary mathematics with some saved numbers on a calculator, and/or rolling multi-sided D&D dice. I have a particular system of it.
How do you edit a
manuscript? On your computer, by making notes on an e-reader, or do you print
out a copy and attack it with a good ‘ole fashioned red pen?
- My editing is mainly on the computer. Almost all of it is, in fact; the details to edit, I rely on my natural, cerebral wetware to acknowledge as I observe them on the screen.
If you could send a
message back in time to yourself as you’re writing your first book, what would
you tell yourself?
- What I would say to myself in the past when writing, depends on what would count as my first book. If I were writing this fanfic based on the character of Spaceman Spiff from "Calvin and Hobbes," I would say: "You're playing with legal voodoo." If it were this humorous story for young adults (more or less) called "Sly Raxx," I would say: "If you ever get around to publishing this, make sure you keep it cool as the times change." If, however, it were the first book I legitimately published—"The Snow"—I'd say: "Both before and after any potential publishing, just keep pushing like a bulldozer on this one."
Do you have a
significant other, and if so, do they read your books? What do they think of
them?
- My closest significant other happens to be my mother, who is still doing well. She doesn't read horror, but admires my achievements in my chosen field of writing, as would have my late father for certain (who was a genuine scholar of Latin American history).
Who is your favorite
character in the book you’re currently promoting? Why?
- The character I admire most in "The Snow" would be any number of them. Capt. Wykler of the Eau Froid Township Police because of his stalwart struggling in the face of paranormal mayhem; FBI Agent Robert Squilder because of his cold, no-nonsense endurance; or Loki himself because he reflects the ultimate vengeance of my angst and frustration, on a certain level. But if I have to hop on board the cornball train here, I'd say Donald Holly himself, because I deliberately made his issues reflect my own...and because he finds the guts to persevere against Loki (for a while, anyway).
Where can we find you
online?
- Under my real name of Samuel Ridings, I have a Facebook page. That, and the Author forums on Yahoo! for Eternal Press, are about it. Still, I've been wondering how to go about slapping together a rossssimon.com...
It's a bloody cold winter...
Throughout
history, he has secretly visited this world again and again. The
Prankster, the mischief-maker, of Norse mythology…Loki. And now, one
Donald Holly—an ordinary, lonely man living in northern Minnesota—comes
to be possessed bodily by the Asgardian deity of evil, robbed of his
will…and of his very humanity, as horrific death and bizarre destruction
blossom from the Trickster’s power, in the town of Eau Froid in the
dead of freezing winter. And even Federal experts cannot separate Holly
from this parapsychological parasite that manifests in him, as Loki is
just too powerful. Yet, Holly himself might just find the will to
overcome the evil magic of the demon who would be a god, even if it
means the destruction of all that he is…
"The Snow" was released March 7, 2012. It is available in ebook format from amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and in paperback at Bookshop Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, as well as various other sites and bookstores.
