Shaun Jeffrey was brought up in a house in a cemetery, so it was only natural for his prose to stray towards the dark side when he started writing. He has had three novels published, 'The Kult', 'Deadfall' and 'Evilution, and one collection of short stories, 'Voyeurs of Death'. Among his other writing credits are short stories published in Cemetery Dance, Surreal Magazine, Dark Discoveries and Shadowed Realms. The Kult was optioned for film by Gharial Productions. To read my review of his novella Dead Man's Eye please go here. To visit his website or sign up for his newsletter visit hereI know that you grew up in a house in a cemetery (how Addams Family). Did you ever have a weird or scary experience as you played around in the graveyard?
Actually, despite the morbid images that living in a cemetery conjures up, it’s very peaceful. There’s no noise from the neighbours, and it’s popular too, because everyone’s dying to get in. OK, I know, bad jokes. But seriously it is a peaceful environment, and I never had any weird or scary experiences, although my granddad (the caretaker whom we lived with there) did leave me down the bottom of a grave he’d been digging as a joke. Is it any wonder I turned out like I did?
The publisher sold the movie rights. I just had to green light the deal. As you can imagine, I was over the moon and celebrated with a beer or five.
I know when you traveled to the US for a book signing and to see some of the film being shot that you visited Denny's a lot. What was your favorite item to order? Also, did you visit any other eateries that you really enjoyed?
Yes, I was lucky enough to fly out to the US to see some of the filming. It was an awesome experience. Denny’s was great. It’s more difficult for me, because I’m vegetarian, so I stuck to the vege burger on the menu, but to be honest, it was nicer than the burgers I can get over here, which fast food wise are mainly from McDonalds (I was surprised to see that although McD do vege burgers here in the UK, they don’t do them in the US). I also couldn’t believe how many fast food joints there were in the US. Every other premises seemed to sell food so I was spoiled for choice.
Was America what you pictured it to be?
I had a great time while I was there. The people where I stayed in San Diego were really friendly and upbeat, which makes a change from the downtrodden attitude here in the UK. I guess that’s not representative of the whole of the US, but it was an eye opener. My visit also took me to LA and Las Vegas, which were pretty much as I imagined them to be from seeing them on films etc, but without the car chases and sadly no Terminators appeared while in LA.
Lastly, a little birdie told me that if someone signs up for your newsletter they can get a copy of Dead Man's Eye from Smashwords. Any truth to that and if so how long do people have to sign up to get a copy?
Yes, I’ll never be rich. Lol. If people sign up to the newsletter on my website, they receive a code to download Dead Man’s Eye for free from Smashwords. The offer will remain indefinitely, or until I decide otherwise, but it will be there for a long while yet I imagine. But for anyone who wants to purchase it and put food on my table, I priced it low at $1.99 at Smashwords and on Amazon for the Kindle.
2 comments:
Living in a cemetery sounds... decidedly scary. But I can imagine it being very peaceful too. Great interview, too! I'll have to check out the books.
As I was very young when we lived there, some of my earliest reading material would have been on headstones, which I guess is a little macabre. But some headstones are quite interesting, especially the older ones. But yes, it is peaceful in a cemetery, and allows for moments of contemplation.
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