Luther Kross interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

A little introduction:

Hello book lovers and fans of the written word! I'm Luther Kross, author, entrepreneur, and lover of all things horror. I've been a horror fan for as long as I can remember. My dad, rest his soul, introduced to 80's horror when I was just a boy. I've been hooked ever since.

When did your love of books begin?

Elementary school. My favorite assignments were always book reports. Especially when we were left to choose which books we would read.

My favorites were always Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and the Choose-Your-Own Adventure series. Then, of course, came Goosebumps, which became my final stepping stone into more adult horror like Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Dean Koontz.

When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

Excellent question! It's a bit hard to pin down in my case. When I was in the sixth grade, I had started dabbling in poetry and eventually short stories. Admittedly, they weren't very good, but I suppose that is to be expected. For many years after those initial excursions, I had put story writing aside and only occasionally picked up my pen to write more poetry.

After discovering Stephen King's Dark Tower series, all of that changed. I started reading the series in high school, and followed it into adulthood. When I had reached the last page of the final book and closed the cover, I felt this deep loss. I'd spent so much time in that world with King's characters and now, it was over.

Somewhere inside of me, that deep feeling of loss took root and began to grow into something new; desire. The desire to write my own epic saga. To engage others the way I'd been engaged. And, ultimately, to provide others with a similarly spectacular journey.

How have you found the process for becoming an author?

For me, the road to becoming a self-published author has been a constant uphill battle.

In the beginning, I didn't take my own writing seriously. I guess that, back then, I never believed it could become anything more than a hobby.  As the years passed, I let my writing slide to the back burner and ignored it entirely. My time was spent searching for a bigger, better paycheck in the hopes of providing my own children with more than my wife and I had been given growing up.

By the time I came back around to my dreams of becoming an author, I was no longer able to view them through the lens of childish ambition. Anxiety and self-doubt had crept in over the years, endowing me with Impostor Syndrome.

Even as I sat down to work on the manuscript that would eventually become my first novel, The Toad Road Chronicles: Book One, I would remind myself that no one would ever read it. I told myself that I was wasting my time on a childish dream that I could never achieve.

During that time, my wife was a true angel. She encouraged me every step of the way, picking me up and setting me back in front of my keyboard. She inspired me to take another dive into writing short stories. This would become the birth place of both Fever Dreams and The Interwoven Underverse.

To this day, I struggle to get those ever evasive words on the page. But, I will not give up. Not now. I've simply come too far.

What would you say to those wanting to become an author?

To quote Margaret Atwood, "A word after a word after a word is power." Never forget that. You don't need a publisher or an agent to validate you as a writer. A writer writes. Simply by putting those words on the page, you are accomplishing something that a large number of people will simply never achieve. Don't let the nay sayers deter you, including your own inner critic.

If you've been bitten by the writing bug, embrace it!

Tell us about your book/books:

Let me start by saying, short stories are where I live and breathe. They are the place I go to play and cut loose.

This is evident in my series Fever Dreams. The series is an homage to my favorite short horror collections as a child. Everything from Scary Stories to Tales from the Crypt and Tales from the Darkside. That's why, even though they're much shorter reads, I've chosen to stick with the three story format.

This series runs the gamut from the truly horrifying to the just plain weird. I've had a ton of fun putting these shorts together, and I hope that shines through.

There will be many more volumes of this series to come.

In the realm of short story compilations, I also have The Interwoven Underverse. Here, again, I chose to stick to the three story format. For me, it's like coming home.

The difference between this series and Fever Dreams is in the way I've chosen to curate the stories. In The Interwoven Underverse each of the three stories is tied to the other by a common place, person, creature, idea, or theme. This is why I've chosen to give each volume in this series a distinct subtitle.

Parson’s Pond,  the first of the series, is a cautionary tale about urban legends, and those foolhardy enough to seek them out. Some things are better left to the imagination.

The Toad Road Chronicles: The Gatekeeper, The Book, and the Portal to Another World is the first book in a series that I believe will become my own Dark Tower.

Toad Road is a coming of age tale with a cosmic horror twist that centers on themes of loss, pain, and redemption.

On Christmas Eve of 1999, Donnie and Will DeWitt's father, Todd brutally murders their mother with an age before taking his own life. In the city of York, Pennsylvania, this leaves a stain on their family name, in every social circle. Despite this, the boys continue to work the family farm and move forward with their lives.

That is, until cosmic forces begin to influence their little corner of the world, and their father Todd returns from beyond the grave with a message that will alter the trajectory of their lives for good.

What do you love about the writing/reading community?

I don't usually answer a question with a question, but here goes. What's not to love?

I have found this community to be one of the most diverse and welcoming communities I've ever encountered. Especially within the Indie horror circuit.

The love and support that I see on a daily basis astounds me, and I am honored to count myself amongst its members.

If you could say anything to your readers what would it be?

THANK YOU! All I've ever wanted out of this writing gig is to be able to share my stories and provide some entertainment and rest for others, the se as my favorite authors have done for me. Because of you all, I am doing just that, and I couldn't be happier!

Where can people connect with you?

I'm all over the place these days, but to simplify it, I've gathered all my links together and posted them here: https://hy.page/lutherkross

I'll let the readers choose their own destiny.