The Kendall Reviews Interview
William J. Donahue
William J. Donahue’s published works include the novel Burn, Beautiful Soul and the short-story collections Too Much Poison, Filthy Beast, and Brain Cradle. When not writing dark fantasy and horror fiction, he works as the chief editor and features writer for a lifestyle magazine in the Philadelphia area, as well as the managing editor of a literary and historical journal. His writing has appeared in Rue Morgue, Rockpile, and Reptiles, plus several business and lifestyle magazines. He lives in a small but well-guarded fortress in southeastern Pennsylvania, somewhere on the map between Philadelphia and Bethlehem.
Basil the demon king has come to a crossroads. He has grown tired of life underground and regretful of the atrocities he has committed to maintain his hold on power. Wanderlust leads him to the surface, to live freely among humans.
Considering the state of the world, most humans seem unfazed by his arrival – but not all.
A religious zealot with murderous intentions and a vengeful biker gang seek his end.
Meanwhile, Basil must contend with two internal forces: the disturbing dreams that suggest he once walked the earth as a human; and the pull of the underworld, drawing him back to deal with the troubles he left behind – namely, a cunning foe who craves the throne, a monstrous kraken, and an ancient evil as cold and dark as the soil.
Kendall Reviews: Could you tell me a little about yourself please?
William J. Donahue: I’m a former musician—metal and punk—who went on to have so-called respectable jobs as a journalist and editor. For my day job, I am the chief editor and features writer for a monthly lifestyle magazine in the Philadelphia area. I’m also the managing editor of a literary and historical journal. My debut novel, Burn, Beautiful Soul, came out in late 2020, though I had had several short stories, novellas, and other bylined stories published as far back to 2003. Most people would describe my stuff as “horror,” and that’s largely true, but “dark fiction” is probably more accurate, because I also veer into dark urban fantasy and science fiction. I grew up in Philadelphia and have lived in that neck of the woods for most of my life. I now live about an hour and a half outside the city, in a quiet farming community; most of our neighbors are cows, goats, and sheep.
KR: What do you like to do when not writing?
WJD: If I’m not working or watching Harry Potter movies, you can probably find me outside. My wife and I love to hike and hang out with the trees, walking our dog on wooded trails, or paddleboard on a lake in warmer weather. If there is a god, I find him/her/it in the outdoors.
KR: What is your favourite childhood book?
WJD: I’ve loved reptiles and amphibians since I was old enough to know what they were, so the Frog and Toad books from Arnold Lobel were among my favorites. I’m not ashamed to admit I can still appreciate good children’s literature and YA. Some of my recent favorites are A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Summerland by Michael Chabon, and The Boy Who Ran to the Woods by Jim Harrison.
KR: What is your favourite album, and does music play any role in your writing?
WJD: Oh, man. Choosing a favourite anything is almost impossible, especially when you’re talking about music. My favourite would depend on which genre we’re talking about. If we’re talking about the harder stuff, I would go with either Earth A.D./Wolf’s Blood from the Misfits, the first Danzig album, or Best Wishes from Cro-Mags. For something a little lighter, I love Disintegration from The Cure. My Spotify cache includes everything from The Accused and Carcass to Twisted Sister and Ratt to Josh Rouse and Carole King. When I’m writing, I’ll usually open the window and listen to the birds, but if I’m in the mood for music, I’ll put on something without lyrics—something like The Budos Band or classical music, because the human voice distracts me.
KR: Do you have a favourite horror movie/director?
WJD: John Carpenter. The Fog and The Thing—I love those movies. Big Trouble in Little China is probably in my top five movies of all time. It’s not straight-up horror, but there’s so much to love about that movie. To me, Kurt Russell as Jack Burton is one of the most memorable screen characters ever. He’s a great example of an antihero you can’t help but love.
KR: What are you reading now?
WJD: The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin. Author Andrew Smith (Grasshopper Jungle, Exile from Eden) recommended it, and I’m so glad he did. It’s a crusher of a novel about unfortunate life circumstances made worse by bad decisions and desperation. It’s one of those novels that does almost everything right, with great dialogue and characters I care about. I find I can’t wait to get back to it, even though I’m wincing as I read.
KR: What was the last great book you read?
WJD: In terms of horror, I’d vote for Scars on the Face of God by Chris Bauer. Bauer is a fellow Philadelphia native, and he has a very direct and gritty style. He’s been described as a “blunt-force thriller writer,” which seems pretty accurate. I’ve read all his books, but Scars is my favorite of his. It’s about the demons that loom over a small Pennsylvanian town, and the demons are not only figurative but also quite literal.
KR: E-Book, Paperback or Hardback?
WJD: I spend too much time looking at screens, so I’ll take a printed page over an e-book any day. A hardback is always nice, but most of the books I buy are trade paperbacks.
KR: Who were the authors that inspired you to write?
WJD: It began with Peter Benchley, Richard Adams, and the tandem of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The first novel I wrote was a creature feature that was largely derivative of Benchley’s Jaws or Beast. My style evolved after I discovered the work of novelists such as John Updike, John Cheever, Jim Harrison, Elizabeth Strout, and Philip Roth. They helped me understand that you don’t have to look too far to uncover horror stories in everyday life.
KR: Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer to just see where an idea takes you?
WJD: For me, a potential novel begins with an idea that interests me. I let the idea stew for a while and see if there’s a story there. I write everything in longhand first, and chances are if an idea grows on me, it’s going to become something, whether it’s a novel, a novella, or just a short story. Then, once I feel comfortable with where I’m going and I feel like I have a handle on the characters and what drives them, I’ll move the story from the page to the screen.
KR: What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
WJD: Once I have the idea locked in, I run with it. I’ll research anything I need to along the way, filling in the blanks where necessary. That’s what second, third, and fourth drafts are for.
KR: How would you describe your writing style?
WJD: I’ve been told I have a literary style. I hope that’s true, though I often veer into territory I know some readers might find uncomfortable or repulsive. Literature and horror are not mutually exclusive. A good horror story should have some elegance to it.
KR: Describe your usual writing day.
WJD: I’m an editor and features writer, so I write all day for a living. I see that as equal parts blessing and curse. The work makes me continually refine my craft and enables me to talk to new people who inform my characters, but it can also be draining. After a long workday, the last thing I want to do is sit down to another blank screen, even if it’s to write a story I’m excited about. I walk my dog twice a day for thirty to forty minutes a shot—once in the morning, again after work—and I use that time to think about my characters and the stories I’m working on. When I get home from a walk, I immediately write everything down in a notebook, which becomes my roadmap. That way, I have a good idea as to where I’m going when I sit down for a formal writing session.
KR: Do you have a favourite story/short that you’ve written (published or not)?
WJD: I’m shopping a novel right now that I had a blast writing, painful as it was at times. It’s about failure and redemption and snakes and 1980s hardcore punk, as I know a bit about each of those topics. It has some characters I love and others I despise, as well as one character I can’t decide whether I love or hate.
KR: Do you read your book reviews?
WJD: I do. I appreciate the good ones when they come, and I also try to learn something from the ones that are less than positive. I find that some criticism is valid, which can be helpful for future works, but I also keep in mind that not every reader is going to “get” every book. One recent review of my novel Burn, Beautiful Soul, which is a dark urban fantasy about an eight-foot-tall demon king who writes copy for an ad agency, was “unrealistic.”
KR: How do you think you’ve developed as an author?
WJD: In my twenties, my writing was largely derivative because my imagination was limited by the few authors I had read. Now, in my forties, I’ve had the benefit of some life experience and I’m honest about the kinds of stories I want to tell. In other words, I know who I am and I’m comfortable with it. If people like my work, that’s great and very much appreciated. If not, that’s okay, too.
KR: What is the best piece of advice you’ve received regarding your writing?
WJD: Someone once suggested I join a writers’ group, which turned out to be excellent advice. I have been part of a writers’ group in the Philadelphia area for almost ten years now, and through it, I have met some terrific writers who have become good friends. The group has also helped me grow as a storyteller. The critiques help you understand what you’re doing well and where you’re missing the mark. You also get used to criticism, in this case from peers who want you to succeed. You might as well get used to feedback before your work gets introduced to a wider audience.
KR: What scares you?
WJD: My stock answer has always been werewolves, sharks, lightning, and human babies. Each of those remains true, but my imagination likes to hurt me, so there’s a lot that scares me these days: demons, necrotic spider venom, mass shootings, civil war, getting crushed by falling debris, dying in a retirement home. I could keep going.
KR: Can you tell me about your latest release please?
WJD: Burn, Beautiful Soul, my debut novel, was released through Cosmic Egg Books in late 2020. It’s a dark urban fantasy with strong horror elements. Burn, Beautiful Soul follows a demon king who has grown tired of leading his subterranean kingdom, so he decides to ascend to the human world in search of something else. He has done and seen some atrocious things, but there’s another side to him that craves peace and beauty. He finds what he’s looking for by living among humans, but he also discovers that the mortal world may not necessarily be any better than the place he left behind. I also had my story “Demons of Chicago” accepted in the new anthology Shocking Verbs, Lawless Nouns. The story is about an ageing singer for a heavy metal band who no longer loves what he does, but he cannot imagine himself doing anything with his life other than what he knows.
KR: What are you working on now?
WJD: I’m shopping two novels now. One is a horror romance, and the other is post-apocalyptic sci-fi. I just started writing a new novel, which I guess you would call paranormal horror, but I’m still a few months away from completing the first draft.
KR: You find yourself on a desert island. Which three people would you wish to be deserted with you and why? You can choose one fictional character from your writing; one fictional character from any other book; and one real-life person that is not a family member or friend.
WJD: Tough one. From my writing, I would choose Basil, the demon king and protagonist from Burn, Beautiful Soul, because he’s interesting and tortured and tough as leather, so he’d be good to have around. From another author’s book, I would choose Treebeard the Ent from the Tolkien universe, because he’s a tree, and I love trees almost as much as Farrah Fawcett’s character from The Cannonball Run. Treebeard would provide shade and branches to climb, and he’s wise and probably wouldn’t be too chatty. Finally, from real life, I would choose a dog, if that qualifies as a person, and I think it should. If I can’t choose my dog Baxter, because he’s family, I would choose almost any other medium-sized to large dog—not a poodle or Pomeranian—because all things considered I much prefer the company of animals to humans.
KR: Thank you very much William.
Burn, Beautiful Soul
Basil the demon king has come to a crossroads. He has grown tired of life underground and regretful of the atrocities he has committed to maintain his hold on power. Wanderlust leads him to the surface, to live freely among humans.
Considering the state of the world, most humans seem unfazed by his arrival – but not all.
A religious zealot with murderous intentions and a vengeful biker gang seek his end.
Meanwhile, Basil must contend with two internal forces: the disturbing dreams that suggest he once walked the earth as a human; and the pull of the underworld, drawing him back to deal with the troubles he left behind – namely, a cunning foe who craves the throne, a monstrous kraken, and an ancient evil as cold and dark as the soil.
You can buy Burn, Beautiful Soul from Amazon UK & Amazon US
William J. Donahue
William J. Donahue’s published works include the novel Burn, Beautiful Soul and the short-story collections Too Much Poison, Filthy Beast, and Brain Cradle.
You can find out more about William by visiting his official website www.wjdonahue.com
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