A.P. Sessler
Featured Author: A.P. Sessler is a resident of North Carolina’s Outer Banks and frequents an alternate universe not too different from your own, where he searches for that unique element that twists the everyday commonplace into the weird. When he’s not writing fiction, he composes music, makes art and muses about theology and mind-hacking. He also likes to dress in funny clothes and talk about the first English colony in the New World.
His short stories have appeared in e-magazines, audio podcasts and print anthologies. His most recent works include The Stain in the Stairwell, an urban sci-fi horror, and The Water Elemental, which appears in Fearful Fathoms: Collected Tales of Aquatic Terror (Volume 1).
Featured Author: A.P. Sessler Interview
- How long have you been writing?
- What/who inspired you to be a writer?
- What genre do you prefer to write in?
- Describe your writing process. What comes first–character or plot? Do you “pants” it or outline?
- What is your daily routine as a writer?
- Are there any software tools, resources, or websites you often use while writing?
- What are some of your biggest challenges you feel like you have to overcome in your writing career?
- Do you prefer short stories or full-length novels in your writing?
- Can you give some us some insight into your story in Realities Perceived?
- What advice can you give other writers?
LHP: How long have you been writing?
A.P. Sessler: As a child I imagined these gory scenes from films I would never make, but it wasn’t until my teen years I bought an electric typewriter and began putting odd Lynchian vignettes to paper. Other artistic interests crept in and took over, then about ten years ago it hit me that I had to be a serious storyteller.
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LHP: What genre do you prefer to write in?
A.P. Sessler: Horror.
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LHP: What/who inspired you to be a writer?
A.P. Sessler: Life in general and Ray Bradbury specifically. Back to top >>>
LHP: Describe your writing process. What comes first–character or plot? Do you “pants” it or outline?
A.P. Sessler: Sometimes stories come in dreams or are inspired by a piece of music I’ll write, but in most cases I imagine a foreboding setting, the unusual situation that would arrive there, a beginning and end, cast characters to see who is best (or worst) suited for the story and deconstruct to fill in the gaps.
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LHP: What is your daily/weekly routine as a writer?
A.P. Sessler: I carry a small journal with me to scribble ideas and sketches whenever they hit me. Two of my off days a week I’ll hit my favorite coffee shop and spend about four hours writing on my laptop, but in truth, most nights after work I’m writing till midnight.
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LHP: Are there any software tools, resources, or websites you use often while writing?
A.P. Sessler: I’m a big fan of Open Office, though I only trust Word to export in desired formats. I frequent horrortree, darkmarkets and thegrinder, along with a few others whenever friends post links to open calls.
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LHP: What are some of your biggest challenges you feel like you have to overcome in your writing career?
A.P. Sessler: I know I have a way to go to become a consistently proficient writer, no matter how many ideas I have, and though I frequent certain circles of genre writers, I still feel I’m quite the outlier. I would love to find my niche, even if it isn’t among the horror greats.
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LHP: Do you have a set number of words per day you target? or do you set other goals to meet?
A.P. Sessler: I have no word counts, nor do I force myself to sit in front of a computer until words come out. However, I will open several unfinished stories and try to find which one is calling to me, and inspiration usually follows.
How much time is spent on “the business of writing” – queries, seeking an agent or publisher, marketing/sales?
A.P. Sessler: More than I wish lol. When I finish a story or a story gets rejected, it might take hours (usually over the next few days) to find a new market to submit to. I try to mention and link to every new publication on the handful of social media sites I’m a part of. As far as an agent, I don’t think I’m ready for that step just yet.
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LHP: Do you prefer short stories or full length novels in your writing?
A.P. Sessler: I am a fan of short stories, though often what is intended to be a short turns into a novelette. I only have a couple novella-length stories, which have yet to be published.
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LHP: Can you give some us some insight into your story?
A.P. Sessler: I am a huge fan of Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna, especially their interpretation of H.P. Lovecraft’s works. When I saw the film From Beyond, the “science” of pineal glands, resonators and schizophrenia rang entirely believable. Later I discovered Nikola Tesla and his work with electric coils and resonant frequencies so it seemed only logical to marry the two.
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LHP: What advice can you give other writers?
A.P. Sessler: Don’t give up. Find your voice and stand by it. Write what you love but challenge yourself to write to themed submission calls, and keep submitting until you get accepted, again and again.
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Realities Perceived
A.P. Sessler recently authored “The Mortal Coil” for Realities Perceived, on sale now.
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