Genre(s) of your work: Horror, but to paraphrase the late Richard Laymon “I don’t actually write horror, I write crime fiction.”
Titles/Year of Published Work(s):
Marquand Tales, 2015
Weddings Suck: A Non Politically Correct Novel of Horror, 2015
Sasquatch: A Non Politically Correct Novella of Horror, 2015
Sarah: The Non Politically Correct Novella of Horror, 2015
IBRNSOB (Redux): The Non Politically Correct Novella of Horror, 2015
Booger Eating Bastards: A Non Politically Correct Novella of Horror, 2015
Nothing Ever Happens in Fox Hollow – Volume 2: A Horror Short Story Anthology; The Haunted Mirror by Jay Whales, 2020
Nanjing Fried Rice, in queue to be read on the Horrorific podcast, 2023
Bio:
Jay Whales grew up in a small Missouri town battling sasquatches, rednecks, witches, booger eating bastards, drinking Spine Likker fresh from the spigot and just having fun. Jay rode in the back of pick-up trucks, never heard of a seat belt until he started working and he and his best friend watched shitty horror movies every chance they got on VHS. Jay also dabbles in acting, it is a hobby, he is not expecting to be the next Clint Howard.
Why do you write in the genre that you do?
I have been an avid fan of horror, movies, books, comic books, you name it since the earliest days I can remember. I enjoy and I write every genre of horror as well. My earlier writings were pretty brutal and “non politically correct,” nowadays I would have to use the term that my writings were “non woke” in any way, shape or form.
How has writing changed/altered your life?
Writing is an outlet where-in I can express my imagination. My entire adult life I was in the military where at each and every step someone was telling me what to do. In my writing, no one can do that.
Who are your favorite authors and why?
If stranded on a desert island, I would want every Richard Laymon book with me. To me, he wrote “down to earth” stories that could happen to most of us. His writings never got boring or bogged down in inane dialogue.
Do you believe that audiobooks are the wave of the future, more of a passing fad, or somewhere in between and why?
Somewhere in between. I can not listen to audiobooks while driving, my mind works in ways where I am not listening to it. Others though are the opposite and live and breathe their audiobooks. Some people still haven’t accepted ebooks.
What have you found to be a good marketing tool? A bad one?
The best marketing tool is word of mouth, though of course to be a big time writer, a person would need word of mouth on the national level. A bad marketing tool would be to rely solely on user reviews. They are too subjective and any person can read any user review on any product and see an 180 degree swing in the users write up. Of course, I am aware, this is also “world of mouth,” that I just said was a good thing.
Do you believe writing should be censored – that some topics should remain taboo?
NEVER!
What is your opinion of Trigger Warnings?
Trigger warnings are a joke. A nation that has to put such warnings on peoples “art”, is a nation in decline. If trigger warnings were around in times past would the Bible have been written? Would the statue of David be around? The movie Soylent Green? The list is endless.
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