I’ve always loved The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. The idea a portrait can carry the psychic damage created by your dark deeds, while you remain unaffected, is a complex and fascinating idea. When I began this book I imagined I would write a modern-day version of that story with all the hubris of Gray and his eventual retribution.

However, my book didn’t quite turn out that way thanks to Miss Nem’s invasion. But heck I threw the references in there anyway. If you haven’t read the book, do so. It might have been written nearly 130 years ago, but it’s still a relevant and entertaining horror story.

Morris Usher’s name is a nod to Edgar Allan Poe’s 1839 short story The Fall of the House of Usher. I grew up reading Poe, and his works have always been one of my inspirations. I love secretly adding my heroes into my books this way. It reminds me why I do this.

The good and bad reviews at the beginning of the book (not the New York Times ones; those I delighted in writing) are real and taken from my own books on Amazon. As a writer you take the bad with the good.

A lot of the publishing happenings are true. Authors stalking other authors happens. People on sites like Fiverr do offer for a small fee to leave positive reviews on your own book and nasty comments on perceived competitors’ book pages and social media. They are known as trolls for hire.

The behavior of William’s agent and publisher in dropping him happens more than you think. This industry is ruthless. Writers whose books don’t sell are dropped by publishers and contracts terminated. Sometimes agents dupe their clients. You can find many blog posts about this. Author Boyd Morrison wrote about his terrible experience when his publisher canceled his contract for no obvious reason.

There are so many horror stories like his, where expectations do not meet experience, when publishing a book through a publisher. Although many writers are very happy and I imagine the big guys like King, Koontz, Child and so on, enjoy wonderful support. But it is a business and you can’t fault any company from treating it as such.

I independently published my first book Behind the Fire in November 2013. This means I did it all myself without a publisher. Maybe I’m lucky because that’s been a great decision. No contracts to be canceled, no nefarious agents and nobody telling me what I can and cannot write.

And what of William and Orelia’s passion for writing? Yep, I’m with them. The more I write, the more I fall in love with telling stories. When readers tell me they’ve enjoyed a book of mine or its kept them up past their bedtime, there’s just no describing the thrill. Keep the emails coming to [email protected] and you’ll always make my day.

Back when I dreamed of writing for a living in my early twenties, I read a Stephen King quote which has always stuck with me. In 1981 he wrote a non-fiction book, Danse Macabre. Whenever doubt in my ability or the chance of success crept in, I’d think over these wise words.