Eric Woods, Author

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Questions:

1. Tell our readers a little about yourself and your writing (including publications).

I’m a horror author from Costa Rica. I consider myself a big geek; I love books, movies, TV shows, video games, anime, and, of course, I love horror in every medium. 

I’m gay, and I grew up in a tiny town in Costa Rica named Siquirres during the 80’s and 90’s, which means I didn’t have the most fun of times growing up, since being gay literally got you bullied within an inch of your life. But being a lonely kid comes with advantages. I had a lot of time to read and watch TV. I read horror comics and obsessed over horror movies and books. I learned a lot about local superstitions, tall tales, and horror stories. I like taking the stories and myths from my country and tweaking them for a worldwide audience, which can create a sense of unfamiliarity. 

I self published my first novel, White Harbor: Book 1, a supernatural horror novel about an isolated coastal town, where the town secrets, gossip and fears feed an entity that a local cult worships as a god. It was recently picked up by Slashic Horror Press to relaunch it and the rest of the trilogy. I also published a short story named Esperanza, which is a cosmic horror story based on a Costa Rican superstition.

2. What writing projects are you currently working on?

• The Local Truth: White Harbor – Book 1: The relaunch of my self-published horror novel, set for some time in August. The cool thing is, it’s not just a second edition, but an EXPANDED second edition. It’s a full re-edit, with new chapters at the end that were meant for White Harbor – Book 2 but actually round out the Book 1 story much better than the first edition. The updated manuscript is done, and we should have an official announcement soon. I’m so excited for people to read this!
• “I Am the Door: A White Harbor Story”:  A novella I’m releasing in July, it works as a prequel and a taste of what you will find in the White Harbor trilogy. This is a family haunting story, and I’m so in love with it because even though it ties with events in the main trilogy, you can read it as its own self-contained story (and then, hopefully, it will pique your interest in the other horrible stuff I have in store in the main trilogy).
• Blackout: White Harbor – Book 2: I’m working very hard on the second book of the series.
  

3. Are you a daytime writer, a mid-day writer, a nighttime writer, or just someone who writes when the mood hits you?

I’m MOSTLY a nighttime writer, but it’s like I write my first drafts at night and edit and polish during breaks and downtime at work. Sometimes I get an idea for a scene at any given hour and I just have to start writing this rushed draft so I don’t lose the idea, or at least record an “audio draft” until I can sit down and write.

4. Do you have a writing “Bucket List” (goals you want to accomplish as a writer)?

I want White Harbor to become a series or miniseries. I would sell my soul to the Devil to see White Harbor on HBO, or Netflix, or wherever. I actually have a pilot script written. I have a pilot, I have the whole series mapped out, and I even made a “series bible” with everything a producer would need to know (shameless self-promotion: TEXT ME!). I’m dead serious about making this dream happen before I die, and given my sedentary lifestyle, I need to hurry, lol.

5. Who is your favorite author and why?

Stephen King… I’m sorry, I know I’m supposed to say something different to seem more refined and highbrow, but I love his characters and how he makes horror feel like something that can live next door; endings? Meh… hit or miss. He’s more of an “enjoy the journey” author, even if the journey just sort of ends.  

If I go by the non-cliché answer, I’ll say David Wong (Jason Pargin), his writing can feel like it’s all dick and poop jokes, but there’s such profound existential horror in his writing that will terrify you to the core of your humanity… while at the same time laughing at a character’s jokes about dicks. I might be selling him short. Read his books. ALL OF THEM. Now. I’ll wait.

6. How many books do you read in a month? What are your favorite genres?

I don’t normally read for volume but enjoyment so, honestly like two-three books. I’m like 80% horror, but love sci-fi, fantasy, and—guilty pleasure: gay romance. I’m one of those people who cried reading Song of Achilles… I have just lost any horror cred I may have earned in my life now, haven’t I?

7. When did you know you wanted to be a writer? 

My whole life I made up stories for my friends when we played with our action figures, or sometimes told horror stories in little groups at my house, sometimes I wrote them, sometimes I drew them as comics in my notebooks, so the drive has always been there. The first time I “wrote, wrote” something was 20 years ago when I wrote the short story on which White Harbor is based. It was a short story named “Memories of Age”, about a character visiting his estranged mother who is in a hospital with Alzheimer’s; issue is his mother is abusive, evil, and wants to offer his wife and son as a sacrifice to an eldritch entity in exchange for bringing her son back in obedience to her. Everyone who read that story gave me great reviews, but I never thought I was good enough to actually publish. Took me half my life to decide to turn that into a proper novel.

I guess all of that to say, I’ve always wanted to be a writer.

8. HORROR AUTHORS (pick 1-3): What was the first horror movie you ever saw? What is your favorite horror movie? What is the worst horror movie you have ever seen?

• First horror movie: I think it was either Alien, Jaws, or Night of the Living Dead. I don’t remember, exactly. In either case, I ended up sleeping in my parents’ bed that night because I was a little kid, so I was terrified but loved them. There was this thing on Tuesdays in Costa Rican public TV called “Cine Misterio” in which we had uncensored horror movies on public TV. It was glorious, I never missed them once, and my parents never stopped me from watching them.
• Favorite horror movie: Too difficult to answer. I’d say The Exorcist and The Shining, because of the way they made me FEEL, they always feel oppressive and cold, they’ve aged wonderfully. Both are masterclasses in atmosphere setting. Bonus: The Others by Alejandro Amenábar and Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro. 
• Worst horror movie: If it’s for sheer incompetence while TRYING to be good? Feardotcom, that movie is absolute garbage. If it’s for being so bad it’s good? Urban Sasquatch, if you can’t find it, find the RedLetterMedia video about to it, it’s so bad it’s surreal, especially because the director SERIOUSLY thought he was making a serious movie with an environmental message.

9. Do you have any “rules” when you write? (EX for me: the dog never dies!)

Yes and no. I don’t think there’s anything so violent, depraved, or socially unacceptable that I won’t write about it, however, my rule is: it CAN’T be gratuitous. So yeah, even if I haven’t killed a dog in my writing (I love dogs), I would totally kill the dog, without hesitation, but it can’t just be for shock. There has to be some impact to the story to killing the dog. Horror is supposed to horrify, a book I write will most likely contain something that triggers someone’s sensibility, I won’t shy away from it at all, but I can guarantee it won’t be just for a cheap thrill.

10. Speaking of animals, do you have any pets?

I love dogs with all my heart, but I don’t have a dog because I don’t have the time for that responsibility. I have fish. They relax me a lot and they’re pretty. Yes, they do also carry a responsibility, but it’s less involved than a dog (but I would love to have a dog one day).

11. What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a writer?

Like I said above, it took me 20 years to believe in myself enough to actually say “fine, I’ll write a novel.” Don’t wait that long. If you feel you have a story to tell, write it. Publish it. Someone out there might like it, and if they don’t, you were brave enough to express yourself. You should be proud of that. So, just do it. 

When you DO write, just write everything as it comes to your head. It will be mostly crap. Guaranteed. But that’s fine. Come back to it later and do a second pass. The parts that need work will stand out and you’ll see that the second pass will be much better.

Check out Carlos Rivera’s books on Amazon!