Q&A

A conversation about the books, the years of investigation and research, and the writing.

1. You came to authorship through biblical studies and paranormal research rather than the usual writing path. How does that show up in your fiction? Answer: "Much of my fiction is based on real-life cases I've been involved with and stories people have told me about things they were experiencing firsthand over the years."

 2. You've said the short story and novella are "your neck of the woods." What does that length let you do that a full-length novel doesn't? Answer: "I feel like 20,000 to 40,000 words is enough to let a story work itself out without adding too much fluff, or extra words just for the sake of word count. Of course if I am telling a story that needs that extra space, then that wouldn't be a problem."

 3. Your first book, Path of the Heretic: Liber Erratum — "book of errors." Errors according to whom, and why claim the word instead of defending against it? Answer: "That's the gist of the whole title. Heretic means a person who opposes established religious dogma or rejects the core doctrine of the church. One who has chosen a path that is not universally agreed upon, or canon. Liber Erratum because the entire book is full of theological errors according to traditional, organized religion."

 4. Believer, skeptic, or something else — and how does that stance shape the stories you tell? Answer: "I always say that I believe in the possibility of paranormal or anomalous activity, but I don’t necessarily believe the guy who's telling me that the doorway to Narnia is in his closet."

5. The book grew out of a real investigation. Without naming names — what did that case leave behind that only a story could carry? Answer: "What I believe was actually going on in that house. An externalization of the man's emotional distress surrounding building that room for his wife."

6. Why Okinawa? What did you find in Ryukyuan beliefs that Oregon didn't have? Answer: "Originally I intended to have Magami be Buddhist, but she kind of grew into what she is on her own. I knew absolutely nothing about the Ryukyuan system starting off." 

7. John Schafer is a Seabee — a builder. Why did this story need a man who works with his hands? Answer: "I wanted to get across that he was a salt of the earth kind of guy. Not very worldly, but solid."

 8. The horror in Mabui comes from guilt more than from the house. Why can guilt be scarier to you than a ghost?  Answer: "A ghost is something external, outside of yourself. I’d imagine theres nothing worse than being trapped inside your own mind."

9. Mabui is a word for the soul's life essence. Why title the book with it instead of something in English?  Answer: "Because the concept is foreign to John. There is no word that his christian upbringing has supplied him with to understand it; and could only be explained or recognized through Magami’s traditions."

 10. What's the first thing you tried to talk beginners out of believing in your paranormal research course? Answer: "Believing or assuming that a location was haunted before they spent any time there. Lots of Ghost Hunting enthusiasts say, “we are going to check out a haunted house.” carrying a presupposition into the investigation before it even begins.