Age: 27
Question: How long
have you been writing?
For as long as I can remember. When I was
younger, if there was an option to write a story over doing something else, I
would take it. The first story I can recall writing was about my pet
brontosaurus and I taking a run through the McDonald's drive-thru.
I officially decided I was going to be a
writer when I was ten. My mother and I had gone to see "Little Women"
in theatres and I loved the character Jo. I decided that I was going to be just
like her, and I started writing on the way back from the movies. I haven't
stopped since.
Question: What was
the name of the first book you ever published, and when was it published?
The first book I ever published was called "The
Beginning of the Wolf", and it was published in 2000' through a contest
offered by the James V. Brown Library in Williamsport, PA. I was twelve at the
time and the book only has one copy available to the public, but it can be
found at the Hughesville Area Public Library in Hughesville, Pennsylvania, and
is available through their catalog, along with the rest of my books. As the
library that kept that first book I ever wrote, I donate a copy of every new
book I publish to them.
The first book that I published myself is
called "Hunt". It is the first book in the "DeathSpeaker Trilogy",
and was published in October 2012'.
Question: Was this
book published by a publisher; or did you self-publish?
"Hunt" was self-published, and
all of the books since have been self-published, as well.
Question: Tell our
readers about this very first book. (For
example: What was the inspiration for
writing it, and what was it about)?
The "DeathSpeaker Trilogy" is set
in a fictional version of Earth; two hundred years after a nuclear war had very
nearly wiped out the entire human population through war and disease. The few
that remain are struggling to survive in a world that has become a wasteland,
their already difficult existence made more troubling by those who have been
mutated by plague and radiation. One example of these mutations is
DeathSpeakers - humans born with their mouths sewn shut with unbreakable wires.
Upon their tenth year, the wires fade and the DeathSpeaker is finally able to
speak, but anyone who hears them speak will instantly die.
The first book, "Hunt", follows
Ricker, an assassin who has made it his life's mission to hunt down
DeathSpeakers and kill them before they can hurt anyone. His life is
complicated when Mortimer, the almost ten-year-old DeathSpeaker he is trying to
track down is kidnapped by a third party, along with a gem capable of granting
the single wish of anyone who holds it. When Mortimer escapes his kidnappers
and runs into Ricker, the two of them are forced to join forces in order to
defend against attack by Mortimer's kidnappers - people who are determined to
get him back for reasons unknown.
The trilogy focuses on overcoming the past
and learning to live for the future, especially as Ricker begins to suffer
headaches and recover memories he has forgotten. As his past returns to him, he
begins to discover that the choices he has made in his life are not what he
thought them to be. In fact, there is a lot that is not what it seems. One of
people's favorite parts of the book seems to be Shadow, a ghost that spends his
time following Ricker around and making sarcastic quips to guilt him into doing
what he thinks needs done. The end of "Hunt", however, reveals that
he, too, is not what he seems.
The inspiration for "Hunt" was
actually my playing around with language. I like words, which I'm sure is evident
from my choice of career. I was thinking about the semantics of different words
and how they can often have ambiguous or double-meanings. I had actually been
thinking about J.K. Rowling's word for the followers of her main villain in her
Harry Potter series - Death Eaters. The idea popped into my head of a Death
Breather, and if they could breathe death, would that mean breathe it into
someone, or out? The answer to that question created Ricker, an assassin and
DeathBreather, and it was from him that the rest of the story evolved. There
are different aspects to the story that have been inspired by other parts of my
life - my love of science and science fiction, my addiction to words, and my
fascination with theology and psychology.
Originally, DeathSpeaker was going to be a
series of six smaller books, but instead it turned into a trilogy. The second
book in the trilogy is called "The God Stone", and I will be working
on that for National Novel Writing Month, as soon as my current project is
released.
Question: Can a
person still buy this book? If so,
where?
"Hunt" is only available for
purchase through online stores at the moment. It can be found on Amazon.com in
both print and Kindle format, and can also be purchased through a number of
bookstores' websites, including Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble. There
are also copies available to be borrowed at some libraries. The print version
can also be purchased directly from my printing service, here:
https://www.createspace.com/4320982
Question: How many
total books have you published?
I have four books published at the moment,
and "De Facto Dead" will make five. I also have some short stories
available in larger anthologies.
Question: List all of
your titles.
The
Beginning of The Wolf (out
of print)
Hunt (Book One in the DeathSpeaker Trilogy)
Beyond
Doorways
Dragon
Circle
Dead Man's Dog
Evidence
of Autumn
(anthology)
Heroes
& Villains
(anthology)
De
Facto Dead (due
out November 2, 2015)
Question: Any future
writing projects in the works? If so,
tell us about it, and any pertinent dates to go with it.
I am just putting the finishing touches on "De
Facto Dead", the next part in the "Roger Lamb Case Files", a
series about a private detective who has recently learned that all the things
he once believed to be "paranormal" are actually true. Living in the fictional
city of Spectre, New York, Roger works alongside Officer Alexis Berkley to
solve cases and protect people from monsters that lurk under beds and behind
masks that make them look human. "De Facto Dead" is the second story
in the "Roger Lamb Case Files". The first, "Dead Man's Dog",
was a short story published in my second book, "Beyond Doorways", a
collection of five horror short stories. "Dead Man's Dog" is
available to be read for free on my website.
"De Facto Dead"
is due out on November 2, 2015.
After it is released, I plan to spend the
month of November participating in National Novel Writing Month, working on "The
God Stone", the second book in the "DeathSpeaker Trilogy". There
are also some other books planned out in the future. The third and final book
in the "DeathSpeaker Trilogy" is already planned, although the title
is not being released yet.
There is also another "Roger Lamb Case
File" in the works, tentatively planned for release in the summer of 2016',
called "Dead Man Knocking".
Past that, we'll see what I can sink my
teeth into.
Question: What is the
title of your current book, and tell us a little about it.
"De Facto Dead" continues
following Roger Lamb as he works as a private detective in Spectre, New York.
Roger is working some smaller cases for some blissfully-normal clients when
Officer Alexis Berkley, a friend and frequent-colleague, calls him asking for
help with a triple-homicide that looks like an animal attack, except that the
bite marks are human... sort of. Things get weird, as they tend to do in
Spectre, when the murders don't stop even after the supposed culprit is caught
and a missing person's case proves to be mixed up in the deaths of a number of
unrelated victims, all killed viciously. Roger and Berkley have to work
together to solve the mystery and protect the people in danger, all without
having any idea of what exactly this monster is. Spectre is proving time and
again to be the central gathering point for monsters of every kind,
unfortunately the only kind of luck Roger have is bad.
As stated. "De Facto
Dead" is due out November 2, 2015.
Last question, if someone comes across this article and
reads it, what would you like to tell them about why you think they should try
reading your book or books?
The books I write, like those I read, are
eclectic. I range across possible topics like a kid playing hopscotch in a
transporter beam. I say I write fantasy, paranormal thriller, and mystery, but
my books also touch on science fiction, horror, romance, and somehow I manage
to be funny. Occasionally it's even on purpose. I've been inspired by JRR
Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" - the books, which I read when I was
young, although the movies were wonderfully done. I also grew up on "Star
Wars", "Star Trek", and John Wayne movies. My first Doctor wore
a sprig of celery on his lapel. I'm a bit of a nerd. Well, I say a bit...
I’ve officially declared myself a
professional goofball. You can find pictures of me on my website wearing "The
Cat in the Hat's" tall hat, or grinning over the rim of a tea cup filled
with... well, it actually might have been tea, coffee, or soup. Could of maybe been
the bitter tears of the characters I have put through hell. I like to have fun,
both within the pages of my books and beyond them. I love studying mythology
and psychology, and you'll find I use both liberally in my books. My characters
tend to be fun to get to know, even the ones we don't like all that much, and
every one of them is written with aching depth, time spent building them, and
breaking them.
I have a lot of fun writing, and I also
spend a lot of time writing, studying characters, researching, and putting
everything together. I enjoy what I do and I write stories that interest me.
They seem to be pretty fun for other people, too, and I've met a lot of really
great people through writing them. If you like dragons, ghosts or haunted
houses; if you want to see what the world could look like after World War III,
or if you wonder what it might be like if werewolves were real, I have an
answer. It might not be the right one; but right is boring. I can promise you
it will be interesting.
Step inside one of my worlds and you won't
be bored. I can't promise you won't get lost, but you'll be in good company.
~ Casey Fry
Website: http://www.caseyfry.weebly.com
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