I am an Australian-based author of teen and adult fiction whose
work, while covering a range of genres, usually has a dark flavour.
So why is this? I can trace back my fascination with the macabre
to one afternoon in year eight.
I was sitting in English class, barely paying attention, when my
teacher said he wanted us to write a story . He made only one
stipulation, that the story must contain the line 'A bottle of
champagne stood on the table, two glasses beside it. One was half
full, the other half empty.' I wrote from the perspective of
a young woman whose car had broken down and knocked on the front
door of a nearby house. When she gets inside, the guy seemed helpful
enough, and she even accepted a glass of champagne. Then, for no
apparent reason, he kills her. Brutally. When I finished reading
my story, I looked up. Some students looked pale, others' jaws hung
open; my teacher was gripping his markbook white-knuckled. That
day, one of my fellow students gave me one of the best compliments
I've ever gotten. As I sat down, he said, "You're sick, Jacko."
I began writing seriously at the age of eighteen, when I won first
prize in Hawthorn Secondary School's inaugural writing award with
my short story The Calling. The school gave me a trophy and
a cheque for fifty dollars - my first paycheck as a writer. I later
used the short story as the first chapter of an as-yet unpublished
vampire novel of the same name.
Over the last few years I've written novels, articles, movie reviews,
text book chapters and a screenplay for the independent horror film
When Evil Reigns, and every once in a while - you will be happy
to know - somebody still takes the time to say, "You're sick,
Jacko."
Read more about me and my writing in an interview with the Online Dark Fiction zine Horrorscope by clicking here. |
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