Shaun Jeffrey gets Evil(ution)
01/12/2003 . Source: Donna Jones 

Horror writer Shaun Jeffrey sits opposite our Donna in the interview chair ... and she discovers how hard it is to mix the usual trappings of a day job with novel writing.

Shaun Jeffrey is a part-time writer of horror, who has published his first novel-length work 'Evilution' earlier this year. I caught up with him to find out how he mixes the usual trappings of a day job with his writing and how he has found being a newly published author.

SFCrowsnest: Hi Shaun, thanks for taking time out to chat to us. I wonder if I could start by asking what kind of reaction 'Evilution' has received?

Shaun Jeffrey: So far, the reaction to ‘Evilution’ has been pretty good. Most people have said they read it from cover to cover in a few days because they couldn't put it down.

On the whole, I would say 95% positive. There have been a few negative comments, which I have taken on board and which I hope will help improve my writing.

SFC: What was the inspiration behind 'Evilution'?

SJ: The story came about through an amalgam of separate things. First, I used to drive by a village every day that sat on a wooded hillside, and I started to wonder what would happen if the village was somehow isolated from the rest of the world. Then I needed a reason for the isolation, and while working at the gym, I started talking to a client about his work, and the final pieces of the puzzle fell into place (but to tell you what his profession was would give away the story).

SFC: Your take on the generic labelled food in the book, was one that tickled my sense of humour reminding me of supermarkets 'budget' ranges, I haven't touched them since! Where did the idea of that come from?

SJ: I wanted the food to come in tins that were non-specific, i.e. you wouldn't think twice about picking them up in a supermarket, that way they blended in. They are the chameleons of the aisle.

SFC: How many publishers did you approach before The Invisible College Press took on 'Evilution'?

SJ: I started out approaching literary agents (I think I contacted nine altogether), one of which was interested, but then everything went pear-shaped, and I started approaching publishers myself. In total, I think I sent my manuscript to five publishers before TICP accepted it.

SFC: How did The Invisible College Press eventually come to be involved in that publication?

SJ: As anyone who is trying to sell a book knows, you can spend ages browsing through market lists. In this respect, the Internet has been my greatest ally. It was through the Internet that I came across TICP.

They are not a specific horror publisher, but then ‘Evilution’ is not specifically a horror novel (it's been compared to the type of work of John Wyndham, and in ‘Dreamwatch’ magazine, the village in the book was compared to Silent Hill!). TICP is a small, independent publisher of work in the UFO, Conspiracy, Secret Society and Paranormal fields.

SFC: You've not had an easy time of getting your novel-length work published. Have you got any advice for new writers possibly in the same position?

SJ: You’re right, and I'm still not having an easy time! Just don't give up. Keep writing and keep learning how to improve your craft. At the end of the day, lots of people can give advice, but it's up to the individual writer to motivate themselves and keep trying. Also, make sure that what you send is as good as you can make it. When you think a story/novel is finished, put it away for a few weeks and then read it again, when hopefully you can spot mistakes that weren't noticeable at first.

Also, I have found that it helps to have other people read my work before I submit it anywhere as they undoubtedly spot mistakes that I missed (I think I write about eight to ten drafts for a novel before anyone sees it). On a similar note with the motivation point, an aspiring author e-mailed me out of the blue, since then we have corresponded on numerous occasions, and I sent him a list of publishers that might have been interested in his particular style of work.

I'm pleased to say that he wrote to me the other day and thanked me for motivating him, a result of which is that Storm Constantine's publisher, Immanion Press, have just accepted his first novel.

SFC: How difficult did you find writing 'Evilution' after writing and publishing so many short stories?

SJ: Actually, I prefer writing novels to short stories, so it wasn't difficult. In a novel, you can expand the story more and build the characters. ‘Evilution’ was really the fourth novel that I have written.

The first three are gathering dust in a drawer (one is salvageable, but the other two are, to put it mildly, rubbish). There were a number of years between writing my third novel and ‘Evilution’, but now that I am writing again, I hope to continue.

SFC: Your short stories have afforded more exposure, being chosen for anthologies such as 'Monsters Ink', 'Hauntings' and 'DeathGrip' to name but a few. Would you say that the market for short stories is greater than novels in the horror genre?

SJ: There are a plethora of markets for short stories. Some pay, some don't (which opens up the kettle of fish about 'should you get paid for what you write'). Any quick search on the Internet will reveal sources that list markets. As for novels, the arena is much smaller.

A lot of major publishers will not take unsolicited manuscripts or manuscripts that are not submitted by an agent. A lot of agents won't take on unpublished authors. Catch 22. Despite how good a writer is, there is also a good amount of luck involved with being published. I imagine everyone has heard stories of how many times such and such a successful author was turned down before being accepted.

No one disputed that they could write. In the end they were lucky enough to find someone who liked what they wrote.

SFC: Have you any thoughts on why this may be?

SJ: I think the short story market caters for the way people live their lives. We live in a disposable society where people like to live life in the fast lane. It doesn't leave a lot of time for reading...

SFC: You've worked on the railway, in ammunitions, a food factory and as a fitness instructor. After doing all of these jobs what made you take up writing?

SJ: Basically, I love writing. It's the only place I can escape from reality and create my own world.

SFC: Which job has had most effect on your horror writing and why?

SJ: I don't think any of my jobs have had an effect on my horror writing per se, but they have all made me strive to achieve something better with my life. When you are stuck in a dead-end job, you daydream; I use this time to come up with story ideas. I put the dead time to a practical use.

SFC: You obviously love writing by the time and effort you have put into trying to get your work published. Where did this love of writing start?

SJ: It's hard to say where my love of writing came from. I always loved reading books, and I suppose that when I became a bit disenchanted with what I was reading (at about 18 years of age) I started writing my own stories. I thought I could do better.

SFC: How has becoming a writer affected your life?

SJ: The greatest affect on my life is that I spend a lot of time locked away with my computer. This can be difficult on my partner Deb, as she is often left looking after our baby son, Callum. But she supports what I do 100%, and I don't think I could have continued as well without her support.

SFC: You grew up living in a cemetery (I hope not in a coffin or we'll all be running a mile and playing grab-a-crucifix!). Have you got any 'creepy' memories of that and would you mind sharing one of them with us?

SJ: I was very young when I lived in the cemetery. I lived there with my parents and grandparents in a house that looked out over the graves. I suppose this is strange enough to most people, but to someone who writes horror it's a perfect scenario.

My granddad was the caretaker, and he used to dig the graves and tend the plots. I don't have any specific creepy memories, but when people used to ask where we lived, my family always used to say, 'In the dead centre of town'. The house I now live in has a colony of bats in the loft, which might be creepy to some people.

SFC: What books do you like reading and what are you currently reading at the moment?

SJ: At the moment I am reading Bentley Little's 'Collection', Richard Laymon's 'Alarums', J.D. Salinger's 'The Catcher In The Rye' and Steve Lockley and Paul Lewis' 'King Of All The Dead'. I always have more than one book on the go. I like reading anything that takes my fancy, be it horror, fantasy, scifi or non genre.

SFC: What is your all-time favourite novel and why?

SJ: I don't have an all time favourite novel, but I did enjoy Graham Masterton's 'Tengu'. I liked the way he incorporated real life with fiction, making up a story about why the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima that had to do with demons. I also think that J.K. Rowling's work has been tremendous in encouraging people to read books. This is never a bad thing.

SFC: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

SJ: As I said before, don't give up. Learn everything you can about grammar, punctuation, creating characters, plot construction and just keep writing. When you finish a story/novel, don't just sit back and think that's it – write another one, then go back to the one you wrote before and edit it. Only you can motivate yourself. If you don't write, you'll never make it. Just find a place to write and do it. I scrawl ideas on scraps of paper all the time. I also have a scrap book that I put newspaper clippings in of strange stories and weird happenings that might inspire me.

SFC: Apart from writing, what other interests do you enjoy?

SJ: I enjoy going to the cinema, the gym, reading, and spending time with my family.

SFC: What projects and plans do you have next?

SJ: I am working on a new novel at the moment that is tentatively titled ‘The Tower’. It's basically a story about someone who lost a loved one, and then tries to bring them back – with devastating consequences. But I have a list of story ideas that I would like to write. Unfortunately, there just aren't enough hours in the day. I am also trying to publicise my book ‘Evilution’, and also trying to sell two other novels that I have written, ‘Dark Seduction’ and ‘The Kult’. As I said earlier, it never gets any easier...

SFC: Thank you very much for your time.

Interview conducted by Donna Jones

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