I included receipts, faxes, newspaper clippings, all sorts of things. I've read novels composed entirely of emails or letters, but not assembled across this kind of mix of materials. I wanted to create the feeling of a detective going through a box of clues.

I need paper and pen to release my imagination. I can't create on a machine.

Anything is possible when tackling a blank sheet with ink. It's less distracting because I'm away from my computer and all of its convenient diversions.

The genres change but all of my stories feature ordinary people thrown into frightening, life-altering situations.

I think many of us live in a rut. Stuck in a groove we can't get out of, whether it's our job, family drama or the little frustrations of everyday life.

I came up with an idea to turn the cliché inside out: instead of humans threatened by zombies, what if a sympathetic zombie was threatened by humans?

The possession targets a vulnerability in each of its victims and amplifies it. Essentially, it removes the self-control and notions of good that keep us from acting out on our darkest impulses.