Author Q&A: Christopher Flowers on Shackleford Banks Sasquatch: “I wanted it to be horrific, but also darkly comedic.”
What does Bigfoot mean to you?
New in stores is the bigfoot horror novella Shackleford Banks Sasquatch. About the book:
After Tom disappears while beach camping during the height of the summer tourist season, his best friend, Michael, travels to coastal North Carolina to investigate. With only a few leads to go on, Michael enlists the help of a local park ranger to explore Shackleford Banks—a wooded island known for its serene shorelines and wild horses.
Soon, the pair discovers a horrible truth: a mythical creature inhabits the area and is capable of much worse than they could have ever imagined…
Today we talk with the novella’s author, Christopher Flowers. He is an English professor and educational consultant in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. His poetry has been published in a number of journals, including Main Street Rag, Dark Sky Magazine, and Iodine. His first novel, Salt of the Earth, was published in 2011.
In our interview below with the author, Flowers talks about Shackleford Banks Sasquatch. He tells Monster Complex about how being an English teacher impacts his stories, explains his unique spin on horror fiction, and shares his pet peeves that he’s seen other writers do...
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Author Q&A: Christopher Flowers on Shackleford Banks Sasquatch
Q: You are an English teacher who also writes poetry—and now has a book about Bigfoot. How do you describe your new book—and how is it similar or different from the other stuff you write?
My goal with this new book was to write something that is—in parts—wildly over-the-top. I wanted it to be horrific, but also darkly comedic. It’s really a story about a person who’s processing the loss of a friend while also grappling with a reality and scenario that’s completely outlandish.
My first novel, Salt of the Earth, was a sprawling science fiction tale. This is a more focused yarn that can be taken in over the course of a day or two (for fast readers). The poetry I’ve published deals with nuanced and personal situations. So, writing Shackleford Banks Sasquatch offered a way for me to broaden my horizons as a writer while also expressing my love for the horror genre.
Q: How does being an English teacher impact how you write? Would you approach it any differently if you didn't know so much about the mechanics of language? (Does that make it easier or harder to be a storyteller?)
I’m my own worst critic. I think that’s something that many people who are familiar with the writing process contend with when they produce their own content. Besides doing everything I can to craft a story that isn’t boring, one of the main things I focus on when writing is trying to be as efficient as possible.
In other words, I don’t want my work to be too wordy. I don’t want the reader to have to work too hard to understand what’s happening, and I don’t want the language or vocabulary to become a barrier to enjoying the work.
Because of that, I find myself trimming out a lot of stuff that I thought was great when I was “in the zone” while writing. As writers, I think we have to be pretty cutthroat about removing stuff if it serves no purpose.
Q: How do you explain your unique spin on horror? What inspired you to go in this direction?
I’ve always been interested in bigfoot as a cultural phenomenon. For whatever reason, there’s something about the concept of a sasquatch that really captures peoples’ attention. I wanted to tackle the challenge of writing a horror novella that tried not to shy away from exploring what it could be like to be hunted by a creature that people often use as the butt of a joke.
Like, what would happen if a sasquatch *really* wanted to come after you? What if all of the descriptions about it were true, and it was this massive, hulking, mostly unstoppable thing?
I started there, and then I decided to set the story in one of my favorite places: eastern North Carolina. The contrast of having a mythical being that we typically associate with forests (a bigfoot) on a beach--with a bunch of locals trying to make sense of the situation--was just too fun to pass up. Once I put the characters in motion, the story unfolded into something that, for me, was very entertaining.
Q: What are your pet peeves that you’ve seen other storytellers do? How do you avoid making the same mistakes?
Using cliche descriptions is something that turns me off to writing pretty quickly. It’s sometimes tough to avoid cliches, though, because, well, they’re cliches for a reason. They’re descriptions people immediately understand, and they often work because of that.
To me, though, this doesn’t make the writing very interesting. I spend a lot of time thinking about similes and metaphors that I think grab people without being overly complex. It’s tough, though. I spend a lot of time during the editing phase asking myself, Does this actually say what I want it to? Can someone visualize this?
If the answer is no, then it’s back to the drawing board.
Q: What are the best ways for fans to keep track of what you’re writing (and related author news about you)?
I’m most active on Twitter (or is it “X”?); my handle there is @DrCFlowers. I also have a YouTube channel where I review horror movies, among other things (I can be found there as @FlowersFlix ). I’m also on Instagram from time to time (@prtcannon).
Video: Shackleford Banks Sasquatch—A Horror Novella
Flowers recently posted a video on YouTube where he offers some more info about Shackleford Banks Sasquatch. He shares why he’s so excited about this story and how it turned out. More details below!
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