Featured Interview With C. Michael Lorion
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Gardner, Massachusetts in the United States and lived in Gardner for the first 33 years of my life. In 2000, I moved to East Templeton, a town adjacent to Gardner, and that’s where I’ve been living for the past 14 years with my lovely wife and six of my seven wonderful children.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve loved books since before I could read when my mother would take me to the library to check out Dr. Seuss, Sesame Street, and Richard Scarry books. When I learned to read I read all the romanticized stories of the Old West–Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickock, etc. Then, when I was in 7th or 8th grade, I bought my first-ever novel–the paperback edition of Stephen King’s The Stand. That book opened up a whole new world to me. It was fascinating, frightening, vulgar, sad, and hopeful. That book changed my life. That book began my true fascination with holding a book in my hand and being transported to a different place to live out a different story other than my own.
I started writing many short stories when I was in junior high, but finished only one of them–a single page story (aptly titled A Short Horror Story) that you can read in its entirety on my website: chadmlorion.com.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Stephen King, Robert McCammon, Christopher Golden, Peter Straub, Dean Koontz, Orson Scott Card, Jack McDevitt, Eric Nylund, Patrick Rothfuss, Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Vernor Vinge, Joe Hill, to name a few.
Favorite genre is a cross of horror and contemporary fantasy.
I am inspired by a couple particular authors, namely Stephen King, Robert McCammon, and Christopher Golden. Their writing is so good, their characters well-drawn people I would want to meet, the honesty in their writing shines through on every page. My children also inspire me–the way they play with each other, the imaginary worlds they live in and explore, it’s all fertile soil for me and my own imagination.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My debut novel, Totem (Book 1: Scars), is the first installment of a trilogy and is now for sale on Amazon in the Kindle Store. It’s the story of Kimi and Achak, two people from a different time that have come back to the small city of Old Wachusett, Massachusetts, one seeking revenge for a horrendous act against the people that once inhabited the land, the other willing to sacrifice everything to save Old Wachusett. Abby and Josh, two teens who were once boyfriend and girlfriend, may hold the keys to unlocking the Totem, and ancient relic that holds the spirits–and more?–of a people long-forgotten. The story of the Totem trilogy spans one year in the fight for survival of Old Wachusett.
Totem (Book 1: Scars), took me three years to write (yes…three years!). Let me expound. I wanted to explore what would happen if a parent was responsible, either directly or indirectly, for the death of his/her child. I started writing that story, but about a year into it I realized I was writing a family drama, and although I have nothing against family dramas, those are not the types of books I read. I had a problem. I decided to keep the same characters and the same family situations, but I threw in a supernatural, contemporary fantasy, horror twist. I am now much more comfortable with the story.
The sequels, Totem (Book 2: Ashes), and Totem (Book 3: Ghosts), are due to be released later this year and early 2015 (that is, if I can keep on schedule in writing them!).
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