Meet Ken Preston, a force to be reckoned with in the indie horror and thriller genres. From the joy of his first childhood stories to crafting intricate plots about assassins and vampires, Preston has come a long way. In this exclusive interview, he shares the challenges and rewards of being a self-published author, his impactful school workshops, and the exciting projects on his horizon.
What was the first story you ever wrote about and how has your writing evolved since then?
The very first story I remember writing involved a man driving his jeep through the jungle and being spotted by a hungry lion, who then excitedly shouts, ‘Meals on wheels!’ I guess you had to be there. Also, I was probably about seven or eight years old when I wrote that.
As I grew older and developed into an aspiring author I started many novel length manuscripts but always abandoned them. Writing a full length novel is hard. Finally though I typed THE END on a manuscript and celebrated (with a cup of tea probably!)
I can’t remember the title of that first novel, although I still have a printed out copy somewhere. The plot involved waiting for the end of the world. The characters sat around and discussed religion and the possibility of an afterlife. I showed it to no one and set about writing a second novel.
This one involved a Baptist minister searching for his missing teenage daughter in Birmingham in the 1980s. It was a sort of detective thriller, except there were precious little thrills and lots of scenes involving people sitting around and discussing the meaning of life.
Those first two books were very introspective, and dealt with issues I was wrestling with at the time. My own life and my current thoughts and fascinations are still threaded through my books, but in a much subtler way now. My primary aim these days is to write a good book that somebody besides myself would enjoy reading.
Can you share one of the most rewarding experiences you’ve had as a self-published author?
Community is amazing. Not just the indie-author community (which is brilliant and supportive by the way) but reader community too. I love receiving emails from my readers, I love those connections we’ve made through the stories I have told.
But my most rewarding experiences come from an activity slightly tangential to writing and self-publishing. I regularly visit schools as an author and run creative writing workshops with the young people. And I love the energy, the creativity, the enthusiasm of these sessions. Young people and children are amazing. I’ve worked with children as young as six through to teenagers, and I’m always surprised and delighted at their creative responses. I think it is my favourite thing that I do.
Can you tell us about any upcoming projects you’re excited about?
I’m currently writing the sequel to Reckoning, a thriller involving conspiracy theories, assassins, political intrigue, and lots of crunchy violence! The sequel is called Justice. After that it’s the seventh book in my vampire/gangster mashup series, Joe Coffin. I’ve got a standalone horror novel waiting to start, and an idea for a new thriller series, plus an idea for a middle grade book.
Too many ideas, not enough writing time!
Who are some authors that have greatly influenced your writing and why?
Stephen King has been a huge influence on me. I think purely because he has this ability to tell a story which grips you and won’t let go. It’s like sitting around a roaring campfire at night, listening to someone tell ghost stories. Just delicious.
Lawrence Block has also been a huge influence on me. His Matthew Scudder books are some of the finest American detective books ever written, and Block draws you into the story and keeps you there, even though Scudder seems to spend most of his time pounding the streets and sitting in bars drinking.
Are there any movies or TV shows that have inspired your storytelling?
The Joe Coffin books came about through a mysterious drawing together of several elements of my life, TV, and books.
Stephen King is to blame for the vampires and my desire to write horror. Especially Salem’s Lot. Also, in the years leading up to me writing the first Joe Coffin book, I had been revisiting a British TV series I had watched as a child, Gangsters. This 1970s drama is set in Birmingham, near to where I now live and where Joe Coffin is set, and it is gritty and downbeat and yet written in the style and pacing of an American thriller. That was an unusual combination at the time, but it worked well.
Then in 2013 I had a breakdown, and I was signed off work with depression. During that time, I discovered Breaking Bad and binged the entire series. I loved that overarching story told in an episodic format.
So, Stephen King’s vampires married the British TV series Gangsters, and gave birth to a mutated child of darkness but with the story telling chops of Breaking Bad, which then produced Joe Coffin!
Is there an overarching theme or message that you aim to express across all your work?
No. I don’t believe that writers of fiction should be trying to deliver messages. Leave that to religious leaders, politicians and con men. As for the themes, I believe these should be discovered by the author as they write their book, tell their story. If a theme emerges it will be much more powerful, and resonate with readers on a more profound level, than if it was purposefully inserted.
The story is the most important thing. Once an author has published a novel and it shuffles blinking and uncertain into the big wide world it’s up to readers then to shape it into their own vision of what the author originally intended. It no longer belongs to us.
Which of your books are you the most proudest of, and why?
I love them all! You might as well ask me to choose a favourite child!
But I suppose Joe Coffin Season One is the book that helped me realize I could do this thing called being an author.
What is your most recent book and/or what are you working on currently?
The Blackwood Hills Horror is my most recent novel, a standalone horror involving a group of American teenagers exploring an abandoned lunatic asylum in the middle of the night.
Is there a book project you have in mind that you plan to write one day? If so, can you tell us a little bit about it?
I would love to write a novel in the style of a David Lynch movie. Something like Lost Highway or Mulholland Drive.
You can find Ken Preston at his web site, on Facebook, or on his Amazon Author page.
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