I hate violence, and I didn't plan to write horror; it just poured out of me.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I spent years only ever reading horror and then trying to write horror - and deep down, a horror writer is still what I'd love to be. But it wasn't until I started writing crime that things began to work for me.
Although I've said a million times that I'm not a horror writer, I do like horror.
Of course, I write crime stories, and I have to describe violence and the aftermath of violence.
Violence is very much with us, and we like to see it. I doubt if you can change that, and I'm not sure you should want to. I have occasionally been very upset by something I was writing, but it's quite rare: I keep my writing very separate from my life.
I am, after all, a thriller writer. I routinely delve into the darkest chambers of the human heart. I've written about murder, kidnapping, depravity, horror, violence, and disfigurement.
Writing saved me from the sin and inconvenience of violence.
I've had horror movies thrown at me and I just don't want to do any because violence isn't really good for society.
So, I outlined a horror novel and started writing.
I never set out to write literature; I set out to tell stories. And some of my work may be very raunchy and very bloodthirsty - but life, for me, is a violent thing.
I don't write that much horror. People tell me my books are scary, but they're not really; I don't go there.