Annie’s Book Stop of Worcester was happy to have Howard Odentz, author of Dead (A Lot!) and the recently released Bloody Bloody Apple out to our store on November 22. We had a lovely discussion of horror and got to hear from both books. Dead (A Lot!), a humorous YA horror, has hit #1 on several Amazon lists, and Bloody Bloody Apple is a more adult thriller about murder in the small Massachusetts town of Apple. Howard shared a little look behind the scenes of his writing with us!
Thank you for visiting us at ABSW and on our blog, Howard!
Bloody Bloody Apple is Rotten to the Core
Howard Odentz
When I was seven, which is about a bazillion years ago, my parents left me alone in the house for ten minutes. It was an experiment on their part—not bad parenting. They wanted to see how long I would be comfortable alone. The promise at the end of their ten minute experiment was a chocolate marshmallow ice cream cone.
They banked on the fact that I would be just fine. What they didn’t bank on was the mega thunderstorm that rolled in on cue, the electricity going out, and my irrational fear of the wolf man.
When they came home, arguably more like fifteen or twenty minutes gone, they found me standing outside on the driveway in the pouring rain, wearing my slipper pajamas, with headache-worthy tears streaming down my face.
Hence, my fear of all things scary was born, including my parent’s house.
Now, as I turn the page on a half-a-century, I find that I’m still afraid of the wolf man, I’m still frightened of that creepy house, and I’m a smidge scared enough of just about everything to know how to write about it.
You see, it takes fear to know fear. I know what scares me so I think I know what scares you.
Of course, I was also blessed with seeing the funny in the world, too. So, for the most part, my writing has been horror infused with a touch of humor. How can I not find the humor in living with two llamas, two goats, a cat and a dog, right in the very heart of Western, Massachusetts—the most creepy and wonderfully spooky part of the country?
But do you want to know something really scary? How about when your literary agent asks you to write a thriller without infusing the supernatural into it? Now that’s downright pee-your-pants worthy.
That’s how my new novel “Bloody Bloody Apple” was created. Mix one part fear that your agent will dump you with one part fear that you won’t be able to deliver, and mix liberally with six-six-six parts fear of every creepy, backwater town you’ve ever encountered in New England. Voila! You have the murderous town of Apple, Massachusetts.
Talk about horror!
If you want to know more about me and my writing, including the full length dark comedy musicals, “In Good Spirits” and “Piecemeal”, check out my website at www.howardodentz.com.
Oh, one last thing. I’m running a contest now through the end of the year. If you purchase “Bloody Bloody Apple” and leave an honest review online through Amazon, Good Reads, or another forum, then let me know at igsthemusical@aol.com (don’t be an AOL hater), you’ll go into a drawing to win a character in my next book.
Talk about being immortalized forever without the prerequisite vampire bite.
Neat, huh?
Annie's Book Stop of Worcester 