Photo Content from Weston Kincade
Weston Kincade is a bestselling writer of supernatural mystery and horror novels that stretch the boundaries of imagination, and often genres. His current series include the A Life of Death trilogy and the Priors. Weston's short stories have been published in Alucard Press' "50 Shades of Slay," Kevin J. Kennedy's bestselling seasonal anthologies, and others. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) and helps invest in future writers while teaching. In his spare time Weston enjoys spending time with his family and friends, fishing, and playing board and roleplaying games like D&D.
When/how did you realize you had a creative dream or calling to fulfill?
The desire to write stories is certainly something that wills itself into my thoughts. Inspiration for characters and ideas can come from anything. I started writing in high school, poetry mainly but I tried to write a novel on my father’s old 486. About forty pages in, the computer died, so it was lost. I wrote a few short stories in college, then began writing character introductions not long after starting my career as a high school English teacher. I had no plan to finish any as completed stories. The characters were just clambering to get out of my head. I didn’t even think I could write an entire book. It just seemed too daunting. However, from some of those character introductions, a story emerged. My Priors series was the result.
Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why, if yes?
Well, I’ve always loved books, so yes. They crafted how I see the world. But I’m not sure I can narrow it down to one book. It was really a process that led me to supernatural horror and dark fantasy. The first to inspire my love for fantasy at an early age was Anne McCaffrey’s DragonSong. I think I was in 5th or 6th grade, but it may have been earlier. In high school Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series carried that love into true fascination. Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men showed me the real humanity and emotion that can bleed through the pages. And Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven and The Cask of Amontillado illuminated the shadows that hid within my own darker creativity. In the end, Stephen King’s success and tendency toward suspense and dark supernatural stories inspired me to make my dreams a reality.
In your new book; A LIFE OF DEATH, can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it and why they should read your novel?
Sure, happy to. Have you ever wondered how people cope when psychic abilities first emerge? A Life of Death is a supernatural mystery trilogy that delves into that very question.
When Alex touches something imbued with the memory of a person’s murder, he relives it through their eyes. Are the visions real? Is he going insane? When your family is broken and you have no guide to navigate the supernatural world, it can seem like darkness lurks around every turn. But a guiding light can be found in unlikely places.
Fans of Stephen King’s Dead Zone or the show Pushing Daisies will love A Life of Death.
My question to you and all the readers out there: If you could relive the traumatic moments of a person’s death, would you?
What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your characters?
Probably that characters have their own personalities, desires, and emotions. Most people assume the author can just change something. To some extent that’s true, but these characters live in our heads. They’re real, as real to us as they are to avid fans. More often than not they dictate the flow of a story, what they would and wouldn’t do, etc. And yes, it can get crowded in an author’s head sometimes.
It’s just speculation, but that may be the true reason for George R.R. Martin’s murderous tendencies in his Game of Thrones series. Just a guess. The saying is to “kill your darlings.” He may have just taken it literally.
Why do you feel you had to tell this story?
Well, the inspiration took hold after I asked myself one question: How would a teen with psychometric powers cope with walking through a Civil War battlefield museum. That scene was the first I wrote, even though it appears about halfway through the first book.
But the key word as to why I wrote the book at all is “cope”. Students often find that they connect with particular teachers and confide in them about depression, pregnancy, suicidal thoughts, etc. They are often looking for help, trying to find a way to cope, to deal with life’s problems in a time when they aren’t prepared.
I wrote A Life of Death to help people who may not have a favorite teacher or confidant they can go to. Each book explores the darker parts of reality and the supernatural—things we can’t quite put our finger on or explain—and passes on a message, a theme. Things might seem dark, but they will get better. Essentially, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
What do you hope for people to be thinking after they read your novel?
Well firstly, I hope they are saying to themselves, “Wow! I get it,” and feeling inspired to take on whatever dreams they may have. The second thing I hope goes through their minds is, “Let me go get the next book.”
What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?
I have a variety of things on my plate at the moment. The last couple years have been pretty exciting with hitting the bestsellers list a few times in and outside the US. Hopefully the future is even brighter. Here’s a breakdown of a few:
The audio books for the A Life of Death trilogy are currently in production. Ian Gordon, co-founder of HorrorBabble.com, is narrating them, and he’s doing a phenomenal job. Book one is available now on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. The reviews of book one are stellar so far. The audio book for book two, The Golden Bulls, should be finished in the coming months. The third book, Sacrifices, will follow.
I’m also working on a short story anthology that is totally my own work. Everything from an etiquette consultant with a price on his head to miniature aliens among us, mobster leprechauns, and a down-on-his-luck businessman who becomes permanently drunk and the luckiest man alive. There’s even a story about becoming the mayor of Hell, along with so many others. It’s a work in progress.
I also have a webshow that is about to debut in late September or early October. It’s an improv storytelling show called Prompt Joust where authors compete. Imagine Whose Line Is It Anyway? with props and authors coming up with stories on the fly. Superhero author Marcus Calvert and I are the hosts of the initial season. It’s been shot and is in production now.
There are a few other projects that will be unveiled later. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or via email to find out more. Email subscribers will even get a free e-copy of my co-written short story anthology Strange Circumstances.
What part of Alex did you enjoy writing the most?
Probably his naive uncertainty when dealing with these murderous psychic visions.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Hmmmm, believe it or not that’s a hard one for me. I want to believe.
My mother once told me a story from when she was little about her grandmother visiting her in bed to say goodbye. Her parents told her the next morning that her grandmother had passed during the night. My mother’s response was simply, “I know.”
However, I haven’t experienced anything like it myself. Maybe someday I’ll be able to accompany a team of paranormal investigators and see for myself. That would be awesome! Till then I guess I have to settle for shows, research, and my imagination.
Any Camp stories you would like to share?
One time, in band camp…. (Just kidding). As a horror author, even the mention of camp stories makes me search my memories for haunted tales. Unfortunately, I’m pretty average. Hell, when I took the SATs there were only two parts and I scored equally on both. A “statistically anomaly” they called it, I guess because most people do really well on one or the other. To me, I guess it means I’m the most average Joe around.
So far as camp stories go, the closest thing I ever encountered was back in Boy Scouts down in Texas. During summer camp we found a stream of quicksand. Being boys, we jumped in, pulled each other out when we started to freak about sinking too deeply, then jumped back in again. The scariest part was when I turned around the third or fourth time, sinking more and more with every second, and my so-called friends were gone. Nowhere to be seen. They left me there to get out on my own. That was terrifying.
If you had to go back in time and change one thing, if you HAD to, even if you had “no regrets” what would it be?
I would go back and tell myself to keep writing after the old 486 died. If I had realized I could actually do it—write books and stories, get them published, and people would appreciate my work—then my publishing adventure could have started far sooner.
Have you ever been really really freaked out by something on the internet? If so, what?
Fortunately, no… unless you count the Slender Man game. My students introduced me to that, and the first time I had no idea what to expect.
Last Halloween Costume you wore and when?
The grim reaper with the black hood and one-way see-through face covering. It really freaks people out when they expect to see a face… something… and there’s just nothing there but black shadow. That was back in college though. I’m not sure where that costume went… I guess I need to get a new one.
What was a time in your life when you were really scared?
Aside from summer camp when I turned around to find myself alone, in the wilderness, sinking in quicksand, the other scariest moment was probably when I had to go feed the chickens one evening.
We didn’t live on a farm, but we had a few acres and some animals down in Pipe Creek, Texas. It was pitch black except for starlight. Not unusual, but as I passed the garden and strode under the cedar trees toward the chicken coup, there was a nearly silent “thump” and the crackle of sticks and leaves under something’s feet. I turned slowly around to find large, yellow feline eyes staring back at me and a thick tail waving across the shadows about ten yards away. I turned and bolted for the house faster than a rabbit at a greyhound race.
I knew what it was the moment I saw the eyes and tail. A friend of mine had a cougar as a pet, but I wasn’t about to tangle with a wild one.
What decade during the last century would you have chosen to be a teenager?
Weston: I’m pretty happy having been a 90s teen, but if I had to pick something different, probably the 60s. People who know me always think I’m about twenty years older than I really am, and I’ve always appreciated 60s and 70s rock. So much so that I’ve been to see CSNY a couple times, Elton John, Billy Joel, Bob Dillon, and others in concert more than modern bands.
Scariest horror movie you have ever watched?
Oh man, that’s an easy one. It’s the first time I ever watched a horror movie. I went to a friend’s house for a sleepover one weekend when I was ten or eleven. His parents rented Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Pet Cemetery. We watched them both back-to-back. I can’t even count how many times I jumped out of my skin that night.
Introduction by 2016 Kindle Book Award Finalist Mark Matthews! Author of Milk-Blood and All Smoke Rises.
Ghosts are speaking to Alex, but can he bring them justice?
Alex is a troubled teen with a checkered past, a broken home, and a surprising ability: psychometry. When he touches items murder victims held in their final moments, he relives the events in gruesome detail. But who will believe a troubled teen, especially when murders implicate the town’s founding family?
If you like amazing supernatural stories that are intense, powerful, and fraught with emotion, then you'll love Weston Kincade's suspenseful coming-of-age trilogy, A Life of Death. Ghosts are speaking, and they want answers. Heed the call.
You can purchase A Life of Death at the following Retailers:
And now, The Giveaways.
Thank you WESTON KINCAID for making this giveaway possible.
1 Winner will receive a Signed Copy of the Entire A Life of Death Trilogy by Weston Kincaid.
Winner will receive an E-Copy of A Life of Death Trilogy by Weston Kincaid.
Winner will receive an E-Copy of A Life of Death Trilogy by Weston Kincaid.
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