Interview with Damnation Books Author Mike Kearby

I have two more authors to highlight this week.  Thanks to Damnation Books and the participating authors for allowing me to interview them.  I hope my readers have learned a little something about how horror writers create their dark delights.

So today it is the penultimate author Mike Kirby.

RA for All: Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed. Can you please introduce yourself?
Kearby:  I am an ex-high school English and reading teacher who began writing in 2004. My first six novels were in the Western genre, but as the Sacramento Review wrote on my work: "His use of historical figures, Indian languages, and the period all go beyond the Western genre and into historical fiction." I mention this because as I venture into the horror / thriller realm, I still use historical facts as the basis for my story line.


RA for All:  What are your first recollections of discovering horror books at the library?
Kearby:  In the sixth grade, during our Friday afternoon in the library, my teacher, Mr. Stevenson introduced me to Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury. I became hooked on both the story and the author. As I progressed through school, I couldn't get my fill of horror stories and horror films. Some of my favorite authors during that time were Blatty, Stoker, Kafka, Lovecraft, King, and later, Ketchum, Laymon, and Keene.


RA for All: What draws you to writing dark fiction in particular?
Kearby:  Dark Fiction has its talons in me is my best answer for why I write horror stories. I also love constructing a vision in the reader’s mind that might cause them to leave a night light on when they retire for the evening.


RA for All: Tell me about the new book, The Devouring~Kavachi’s Rise.
Kearby:  The Devouring-Kavachi’s Rise is based on my premise that vampire are not the undead, but an animal species evolved over millions of years to harvest a specific amino acid chain in human blood. My vampire or vampyre as I called them, once the earth's top predator, are rescued from a Nazi POW camp during WWII and domesticated by the United States government. The domestication is achieved by allowing the vampyre to run government owned mortuaries, where the vampyre have an unlimited supply of blood. That's the set-up. The plot, of course, is much more involved. Each week on my blog:  I post the back story of the novel, as well as translations of the old language used in the novel, and even sample screenplay pages for the book.


RA for All:  What are you currently working on?
Kearby:  I am currently working on The Devouring-Annihilation.
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You can find the trailer for The Devouring-Kavachi's Rise below or learn more about Kearby at www.mikekearby.com