Shelli Rosewarne

Hi all,

Yay for weekend. Have been feeling rather under the weather this week, so happy to have a chance to relax and take it easy for the next few days! I’m also thrilled to have the lovely Raz T. Slasher visiting today to chat about his new horror/dark comedy novel, The Mime. Now, you may be aware I’m a bit of a horror wuss so have a feeling I may not be sleeping tonight 😉

Thanks so much for being here, Raz. So, let’s start with you telling us a bit about yourself.

Raz T. Slasher is an upcoming independent horror actor and writer. When he’s not killing people he co-hosts the Twisted Geekdom Podcast with his best friends. Raz enjoys spending time with his family and friends, worshiping The Great Cthulhu, hanging out with his cat Stoker, and talking about himself in the third person. His favorite quote about his writing is “It’s like Lovecraft and Clive Barker had a love child and gave it up for adoption to be raised by Charles Manson.” Raz was born in Dayton,OH ,where he still lives today. He is currently banned from jumping out at people from dark rooms around the house.

Hehe, well the last part is definitely good to know! Was there a specific moment where you first knew that you wanted to be a writer?

I guess I’d always been interested in writing as a kid, there were the random little stories I’d think up and write down but nothing really that solid at first. My mom pretty much let us read anything we wanted, as long we looked up the words we didn’t know in the dictionary. It was in fourth grade when I picked up Dark Half by Stephen King that things changed for me. The novel struck some deep chord in me, it sparked some secret desire I didn’t even know I had till then. From then on out I just never stopped writing.

It’s wonderful, isn’t it, when you find that style that just clicks things into place for you 🙂 Do you have a particular writing routine, or any special rituals?

My favorite time to write is very late at night into the early morning. Everything’s so quiet and dark, it sets the perfect mood for horror writing. I usually make sure I’m loaded up with chocolate milk, bacon beef jerky, and cigarettes. I don’t know why I have to be so unhealthy while I write, just the way it is I guess. The only other thing I really do routine wise is scour the net for pictures that inspire me for what I’m working on.

Ooh, I’m a late night writer as well, though will stick to the chocolate rather than beef jerky lol! Tell us about the genre you write in, and what drew you to it.

Horror to me is this deeply mysterious and romantic thing. It’s inspired mankind since the first time a caveman told a story of something that walked in the darkness. I see horror as this tool to teach us to respect life, to respect fear. Every time you investigate a strange noise, check the back seat of your car when you drive at night, get startled when someone rounds a corner, that’s the cycle of horror. It’s this never ending thing that surrounds us every day. I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to be that reason people lose sleep. Who wouldn’t want that?

That’s a beautiful way to put it (eek, am I being converted to horror?). I think as writers we’d all like our books to keep people up all night, just maybe for slightly varying reasons 😉 Are there any particular authors or books that have really inspired you?

As I mentioned before, Stephen King was a huge influence to me in my youth. I also got very into Poe, RL Stine, and Christopher Pike around then. These things of course lead me to Clive Barker and HP Lovecraft, probably the hugest influences on me and my writing. Book wise I’d have to say the most influential were Dark Half by Stephen King, Cabal by Clive Barker, and the shorter work Call of Cthulhu by Lovecraft.

Ooh, see I do love a bit of Poe and have always been a Cthulhu fan – who isn’t, right? 🙂 What five things could you never do without?

My kindle, my laptop, chocolate milk, cigarettes, and bacon jerky

Lol, that may be the most unhealthy list we’ve had but hey, it sounds happy! Tell us a bit about your new release.

The Mime is a horror/dark comedy novel about one man’s descent into madness. It’s set in a changing timeline from the 1980’s to modern times. It’s a world full of rich characters, nods to various horror tropes and works, insanity, blood and gore, and a very unique sense of humor. If you’ve ever been afraid of a clown, then you’ll be terrified of The Mime.

Clowns? Oh, dear, and just when I was warming to the idea *shudders* I’m gonna go back to hiding under the bed 😉 Where did your inspiration for it come from?

There are a variety of amazing characters that fill out the world, all of them based mostly on people I’ve known and pieces of myself. It’s this weird HP Lovecraft inspired amalgam of John Carpenter’s Halloween and Stephen King’s IT. I basically took the films/novels that I enjoyed most and added my weird sense of humor.

That sounds like a both amazing and slightly terrifying combination! What did you find most enjoyable about writing it?

The most enjoyable thing about writing this was all the awesome research I got to do. I did interviews with medical professionals, retired police officers, and professional mimes. I spent time talking to a lot of my friends and family members about the 1980’s too. I feel like the process of writing this novel really brought me closer to others, and taught me things I never would have known before.

That does sound fascinating. What was the hardest part about writing it?

The hardest part about writing it was probably fighting with my own personal chaos. The novel took a surprising amount of patience and organizational skills that I wasn’t even aware I possessed. It started off as this crazy undertaking, with piles of notes scattered everywhere. It forced me to learn more about myself, that’s for sure.

*sighs* Very true, I possibly tend to have organisational issues as well (pauses for laughter from everyone I know). Who’s your favourite character in it? (I know, I know, favouritism!)

I’m gonna cheat and say The Mime, who’s actually the combination of Ryker and The Creature. I’d say these characters contain the most of myself, with a lot of my brother thrown into the mix. I was able to do so many things with this, and of course have stories of them together for far more than just this book. Writing them just came so natural to me. Once you start a conversation with characters like that, they just never seem to shut up!

Lol, that is true, characters are easy to start off, impossible to shut up sometimes! Well, just in case people are still now convinced (or, you know, wondering if they’ll sleep again lol), why should we run out and buy it right now?

In its’ 291 pages, The Mime will take you on a journey through madness. You’ll experience a roller coaster of emotions like no other. What started with an idea for a simple horror novel spawned into a unique world filled with one of the strangest and disconcerting plots you may ever read. This series is just the beginning of a planned trilogy, carefully constructed for those not faint of heart. It’s a great read for horror aficionados, though equally great for beginners to the horror genre. By buying this book, you’re supporting an independent artist that you’ll see is very passionate about his craft. Also, a portion of all sales go to the American Cancer Society.

Aww, well see, now if you end up scared stiff at least you’ll know it’s for a good cause! 🙂 The book details are here:

Blurb

In 1985 a tragedy occurred during a small town’s founders day festival and performer’s parade somewhere in Ohio. This event left one woman dead, and a local man missing. Shortly after a series of murders began taking place over a span of more than 30 years. Samantha was a little girl when it all happened. Things have never been the same since she watched her mother die. She’s struggled her entire life just to feel normal. All grown up now, Samantha’s finally moved on with her life. She’s in a stable relationship for the first time with an amazing woman, and even has a few close friends. It’s just another night on the town, until they find the body of one of her friends in a parking lot.

And you can get your hands on a copy here:

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Mime-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0195MBB56/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455846589&sr=8-1&keywords=the+mime

Barnes and Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-mime-raz-t-slasher/1123137771?ean=9781519697295

Don’t forget to follow Raz on facebook for all his news and releases.