What inspired you to be a writer?
I grew up in the Oklahoma woods with Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who. They sparked something in my imagination at a young age. I would escape into my head, wander around the woods and pretend I was on another planet, in another world. I started telling stories with my toys. Sometimes I’d cast them in new roles, and those became my first characters. I’d build forts out of mud and sticks, then later, cities. I’ve always been a world-builder.
Was there any particular moment that was an “ah-ha!” revelation that inspired White Trash Warlock?
I used to live near a hospital that was in the process of demolition. As I walked through it and past it, I imagined a doctor and his wife dealing with something haunting them. That’s pretty much Chapter Two. Adam came later, when I was driving through North Carolina at night, listening to the radio and watching the moonlight break through the trees. There’s more than one reason that Adam’s car is such a part of his identity, but that’s how he started, so he drives a lot.
A lot of authors have quirks that get them into the headspace or groove for writing. Do you have any habits or neurosis that get you in the mood to be creative?
Coffee is a big part of my personal writing ritual. I warm up my brain while it brews listening to the playlist I made for the book or an appropriate video game soundtrack. I also practice dialogue out loud, like a lot, talking to myself, testing the sound of it to find the character’s voice. And I smell everything: food, inanimate objects, etc. I’m always working on getting better, realer details into my books.
I try to tune my feelings to what my characters are feeling, so I’ll relive memories and take notes on how I feel in my body. I like to work a lot with bioenergetics, how we feel things physically, how our bodies react to emotion so sometimes I can emotionally wreck myself by writing a powerful scene.
Your book has an emphasis on LGBT orientation. How has your own personal life influenced the characters and storylines you create?
Like me, Adam is gay, and I wrote White Trash Warlock to be the kind of book I always want to read but can so rarely find.
White Trash Warlock isn’t about the gay experience or gay trauma. It’s not about coming out, or AIDS, dying tragically, or struggling with self-acceptance. Better writers than me have got those covered.
I’ve always wanted books where the main hero just happens to be gay, but the story revolves around something else. It’s not where the conflict comes from. In my epic fantasies it’s not even an issue.
I’m really honored that my acquiring editor at Blackstone, Rick Bleiweiss, saw what I was trying to and wanted a story like that too.
Are you a night owl or a daywalker?
I have a pretty demanding day job, and that means I get up really early to write before I spend all my brain points before the conference calls start. It’s advice I got from Chuck Wendig and Gail Carriger at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference, and it’s made a real difference in my productivity, to treat it like a second job.
What about magic appeals to you?
I mean, the idea that there’s a whole other world just atop or beneath our own, or that the universe might have cheat codes is just so appealing. I think it would add mystery and maybe meaning to our already beautiful, incredible world.
I think many kids who grow up like I did, feeling poor and overwhelmed by the world, wish they had some spell or power to change things and make them better.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Why?
Teleportation. I’d love to be able to just snap my fingers and be anywhere in the world, even better if I could take people with me. London for the weekend? No problem.
That or time travel. I’d spend my life just researching history. Combining teleportation AND time travel would be perfect!
I’d bore everyone to tears just popping off to some foreign country or time to really figure out some bit of historical trivia.
Most everyone has one moment in time that they wish they could change. Do you have one of those moments? Would you mind sharing it?
My grandmother was the first person to really encourage my creativity, my imagination. She spoiled me a bit, protected me from my father when she could, and let me be myself. Not long before she died I was back home in Oklahoma. We were shopping at Sears and she saw a red jacket she liked. I was working four jobs at the time, trying to graduate college, and pay as I went. I could have bought it but it would have put me on ramen for a few weeks. Looking back, it would have been worth anything to pay back some of that love and sacrifices she’d shown me and put a smile on her face. I wish more than anything that she’d lived to see me published, for her to know how much she helped me get here.
If you could be any magical creature, what would you be?
Definitely an elf, but one of my elves: immortal, good with a sword, and kind of mischievous while being obsessed with old amusement parks and classic cars. Adam has a difficult relationship with them, but I think they’re pretty neat.
What’s next? Do you have any goals or ambitions you’re chasing right now?
I’m living my lifelong dream, being published and having my book out there. I’m working hard on finishing Adam’s trilogy and my agents are cooking up all sorts of things. I’m so lucky to get to work with Lesley Sabga, the Seymour Agency, and Blackstone. I have a trio of epic fantasy trilogies that I hope we sell soon and a few other urban fantasy ideas I hope readers get to see on the shelf.
I’m really honored that my acquiring editor at Blackstone, Rick Bleiweiss, saw what I was trying to and wanted a story like that too.
Are you a night owl or a daywalker?
I have a pretty demanding day job, and that means I get up really early to write before I spend all my brain points before the conference calls start. It’s advice I got from Chuck Wendig and Gail Carriger at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference, and it’s made a real difference in my productivity, to treat it like a second job.
What about magic appeals to you?
I mean, the idea that there’s a whole other world just atop or beneath our own, or that the universe might have cheat codes is just so appealing. I think it would add mystery and maybe meaning to our already beautiful, incredible world.
I think many kids who grow up like I did, feeling poor and overwhelmed by the world, wish they had some spell or power to change things and make them better.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Why?
Teleportation. I’d love to be able to just snap my fingers and be anywhere in the world, even better if I could take people with me. London for the weekend? No problem.
That or time travel. I’d spend my life just researching history. Combining teleportation AND time travel would be perfect!
I’d bore everyone to tears just popping off to some foreign country or time to really figure out some bit of historical trivia.
Most everyone has one moment in time that they wish they could change. Do you have one of those moments? Would you mind sharing it?
My grandmother was the first person to really encourage my creativity, my imagination. She spoiled me a bit, protected me from my father when she could, and let me be myself. Not long before she died I was back home in Oklahoma. We were shopping at Sears and she saw a red jacket she liked. I was working four jobs at the time, trying to graduate college, and pay as I went. I could have bought it but it would have put me on ramen for a few weeks. Looking back, it would have been worth anything to pay back some of that love and sacrifices she’d shown me and put a smile on her face. I wish more than anything that she’d lived to see me published, for her to know how much she helped me get here.
If you could be any magical creature, what would you be?
Definitely an elf, but one of my elves: immortal, good with a sword, and kind of mischievous while being obsessed with old amusement parks and classic cars. Adam has a difficult relationship with them, but I think they’re pretty neat.
What’s next? Do you have any goals or ambitions you’re chasing right now?
I’m living my lifelong dream, being published and having my book out there. I’m working hard on finishing Adam’s trilogy and my agents are cooking up all sorts of things. I’m so lucky to get to work with Lesley Sabga, the Seymour Agency, and Blackstone. I have a trio of epic fantasy trilogies that I hope we sell soon and a few other urban fantasy ideas I hope readers get to see on the shelf.
About David R. Slayton:
David grew up in Guthrie, Oklahoma, where finding fantasy novels was pretty challenging and finding fantasy novels with diverse characters was downright impossible. Now he lives in Denver, Colorado and write the books he always wanted to read. His debut, White Trash Warlock, will be published in October 13th 2020 by Blackstone Publishing.
Website: http://www.davidrslayton.com/
Twitter: @drslayton
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.r.slayton
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/davidrslayton
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