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Displaying VS.jpgTitle: Victim Souls by Andrew Terech
Publication date: November 8th 2014
Genres: Horror, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Sometimes, only bad guys can beat the Devil…
The plan is simple: get the money and deliver the car. What could possibly go wrong?
What can’t?
Things start to go south when Sam Drake realizes that his brother Johnny is hiding something, a secret about Sam’s troubled childhood that goes beyond his most feverish nightmares…
Then Johnny’s girlfriend, Ash, starts sending Sam the kind of mixed signals that can only lead to big trouble…
As the trio of small time crooks falls deeper into an abyss of betrayal and violence, they will discover that the greatest danger they face is not of this world.
With everything he believes about himself and the world around him shattered, Sam will become the unlikely champion in a battle with true evil, a fight to save a soul that has already been forfeited to darkness.
His own.


Interview with Andrew Terech:


1 How did you come up with Victim Souls?

I was working on a different novel and started to attend a writing workshop. I started to learn and grow as a writer and decided to focus on short stories to hone my skills. I wrote this one short story about a serial killer who is being tracked by an even worse serial killer. The concept of evil versus evil intrigued me, and I started to work with this new voice. I wrote a couple of test chapters and slowly molded these characters. I got a lot positive feedback, so I scrapped the other novel and focused on Victim Souls. The story grew organically from there. I never had a true vision for the story; it was always about the concept. I wanted to write something that forced the reader to root for these somewhat deplorable characters, and I wanted it to be relentlessly action packed and faced paced.

2 Why did you decide to write?

As a child I was always drawn to creating stories. I used to play with action figures that I would develop complex story lines for, so detailed that it would often carry over for several weeks and reach a climactic end. We’re talking killing characters off, relationships, backstabbing amongst friends... that stuff got twisted for a ten-year-old. When I hit college, I took a creative writing class and it was one of the few classes I actually had perfect attendance in. I considered majoring in English and pursuing a writing career but it didn’t seem like a pragmatic choice. Writing remained on my mind as a dream I’d like to accomplish “someday,” but it was my wife who pushed me to actually back up my words and write something, instead of talking about how much I’d like to be a writer.

3 What is your best piece of Writing advice?

Avoid writer’s block with one simple practice: Just write. See my answer to question 4.  

4 How do you deal with Writer's Block (if you get it)?

I’ve never had writer’s block by following this simple advice: When in doubt, just start writing. If you have a well-crafted idea then by all means take your time. If you’re stuck, just start writing. Don’t worry if it makes sense. Don’t worry if your sentences look like a fourth grader wrote them. You’d be surprised how it reads the next day. Whenever I get stuck and don’t know what to write, I just start writing.


5 What do you love about writing?

My favorite thing about writing is the immersion into a world that I get to create. It’s one of the few things that I have almost full control over, and is uniquely my own. As a horror writer, I love it when I write something that crawls under my skin and scares me. That’s the greatest feeling—scaring the crap out of myself.


6 Where does inspiration for writing come from?

My inspiration is fueled mostly by my love of the horror genre—films more so than books. I’m not as well read in the genre as I’d like to be, but I’ve seen every horror film that’s worth seeing, and many that weren’t. I try to pay homage to some of those films in my writing, while also attempting to bring something of my own to the genre.

7 What is your favourite book and why?

The Lost by Jack Ketchum. Ketchum is my favorite author. He’s brilliant at writing horror stories that are rooted in reality. I actually tend to read supernatural horror, which is why I love his writing so much because he’s able to scare me without using ghosts and demons. His style is so effective at building tension and fear. He can do it through describing mundane life experiences or delving into the darkest parts of humanity. Either way, I’ve never read an author as effective at writing this type of horror and The Lost is the best example of this.

8 Do you enjoy reading as much as writing?

Currently, I’d prefer to write. Mostly because I’m in school and I have to read a lot for work, so reading can feel like a chore at times. My hope is that one day I can get back to enjoying reading as much as I used to.

9 What do you do in your spare time?

I’m a huge sports fan, especially football, and I spend every Saturday morning on the golf course. The rest of the time is spent relaxing with my lovely wife, Laura. I work a fulltime job and am enrolled in a fulltime masters program so free time is at a premium. I also assist in facilitating a writing workshop once per week, which is where I keep my writing skills fresh.

10 What would you give up if you could write?

I would give up my job as the Regional Quality Support Manager for Arizona at a behavioral health organization. That’s a lot of words, and it’s a busy job. I actually used to run a Psychiatric hospital for the same company, but transitioned to a desk job. I love working in the behavioral health field, and I’m in school working on a second masters in that field. If I could make a career as a writer, I think I would give it up. That being said, I do have a passion for what I do, so I’ll let you know if that choice ever presents itself.



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AUTHOR BIO
Andrew’s a horror fiction writer who is also a massive fan of the genre. He’s been writing short stories and working on his novel for over 5 years. He has several short stories published, as well as some editing credits. He moderates a writing workshop in Phoenix, AZ where he’s been exposed to many different forms of fiction, which have broadened his influences. He aims to write stories that creep out his readers, while offering well-developed, rich characters they can sink their teeth into. He’s also a fan of experimenting with form and structure to create something uniquely my own.

Andrew grew up on Long Island in New York, and has lived in Arizona for the past 7 years. His professional background is in psychology where he’s carved out a nice career for himself. However, writing has always been his passion.

Currently, he’s hard at work, developing additional content to publish. He hopes to find an audience that loves the genre, and is up for a good scare.

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