Written Author Interview
Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do outside of writing. What is a day in the life like for you?
~I love nature and being outside. I used to compete in archery, but I have an autoimmune disease that makes me very sensitive to sunlight and also causes mobility issues in my right arm, so archery is on hold. I love hiking at dusk and night, playing ocarina, and spending time with my dog and partner.
If I were to tell you two things about me that hopefully helps paint a picture of me as a person, they would be that I did the plumbing in my house (copper, drains, the toilet and sinks, I’m pretty okay at it), and that I’m fluent in German because I love a German language band so much, I taught myself.
What inspired your first novel? What was the thing that got you into writing in the first place?
~My first novel, Black Rose (forthcoming from Graveside Press on the 7th of February) was originally a super cringe Van Helsing/Tombstone fanfiction when I was a teenager. For whatever reason, my dad has always believed in it. He always thought it was cool, old west monster hunters, cursed guns, all that. In 2020, my community went through the devastating CZU Lightning Complex fire. My parents got back in during the fire, while it was actively burning the neighborhood, and started defending properties with the next door neighbors.
My dad was seventy at the time, and he has balance issues from a traumatic brain injury. Even faced with these challenges, he drug a fully charged firehose more than 50 yards up a hill to pour water over my cabin while CalFire did a back-burn. My parents saved not only my home, but countless others, as the fire was successfully stopped right there, 15 feet from my door.
I’ve been driven to give Dad a special gift since then. I kept thinking about the old, stupid Black Rose story, the fanfiction. One day, for whatever reason, it just…clicked in my brain. I wrote the rough draft in about nine crazy days. I had the absolute honor of announcing its publication and giving him the beautiful cover art on Christmas Eve.
Black Rose has been a labor of love. I never thought my first book would be a western, but here we are.
As far as getting into writing, I knew I wanted to be a writer in second grade. I was in special ed for learning and speech problems (I’m Autistic) and one of the assignments was to make up a retelling of Cinderella. That, paired with Mom reading to me every night, and Dad making up sci-fi stories to tell me on the way to school…I just knew I wanted to be a story teller. It’s my greatest passion and drive in life.
How do you come up with characters? Are they spontaneous or meticulously planned?
~They are spontaneous and generally form out of songs, mental images, feelings, or fears. My characters come to life over several drafts of a story, usually growing more personality as they go.
What are some of your favorite genres to read? Are there any books you’d recommend to first time readers or people looking for something new?
~I like to read suspense, nonfiction, horror, and fantasy the most (but I’m open to just about anything with a strong narrative). I’ll recommend a few books by genre:
*nonfiction: The Real Valkyrie: the Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women.
*suspense: The Disappearance of Vanessa Shaw by Sarra Cannon (indie)
*fantasy: The Visitors by Simon Sylvester (contemporary fantasy/mystery)
What’s the most difficult thing about being a writer?
~In my experience, it has been learning to pitch, to market, to network. I’m very reclusive, I’m the flavor of Autistic where the ‘talk’ part of my brain often turns off, so I was so uncomfortable meeting people or promoting my work. I’m actively working on challenging this.
What is your process to completing a novel from outline to final product?
~It absolutely depends on the piece. I do outlines, and sometimes I stick to them, sometimes I pants it. Sometimes I write detailed outlines, sometimes I just crank up the music and let it take me places. The rough draft is the hardest. From there, I rewrite and rewrite, many, many times. I’m lucky enough to have amazing publishers and kick ass editors to help me through this process. For certain projects, I also have sensitivity readers.
No matter the project, I always have many drafts and revisions. I like to try things different ways and am not married to a certain ‘look.’ I try to learn and apply new skills and techniques with a goal of improvement. Writing is a craft, I try walk the line between my work being meaningful to me and it being too precious.
What’s the most unhinged thing you’ve written in your novel? Don’t worry, we don’t judge here.
~This is hard. Most of my work is unhinged. But I think showing a hard-boiled monster hunter feeding a scrap of fabric to a sentient sewing machine was pretty wild.
What’s one thing about being a writer that absolutely drives you up the wall?
~short form video content (YouTube shorts, TikTok). It’s on my list to try this year, but it’s not something I enjoy. It makes my brain hurt. Still willing to give it a try though. A lot of writer seem to have success with it. I’m in my ‘try everything era.’
What does being a successful writer look like for you? What type of life do you want to live as a writer?
~I want to be able to be comfortable on my income. The dream would be able to travel now and then without worrying about groceries after. My absolute delulu goal is to have enough/stable enough income to dedicate projects to causes. For example, I’ve outlined a folk horror novel about a community surviving a wildfire and all that comes after. I would love for the proceeds of the project to go to helping communities impacted by natural disasters. I’d love to make enough to help pay for someone’s medical bills, or be well-known enough to help push for positive change in my community. Something like that. I want to be a hermit, but I also want to help.
Describe your writing journey. If you had to write a story centered around it, do you think you could pull it off?
~I’ve been told no, give up, this isn’t the right fit, and why don’t you set your sights lower, one too many times. If I have one virtue, it’s determination. I am a creature of spite, and I will prove the naysayers wrong.
One of the biggest turning points in my career was meeting author Lillian Csernica and learning from her industry knowledge. She got me on the right path after spinning my wheels for years.
And yes, I think I could write a story about it. I’ve touched on the journey in a guest blog post I participated in.
Follow and Connect with Arlo Z. Graves
About
Arlo “Zven” Graves enjoys night hikes and playing the ocarina. Zven lives in a horror movie ready shack in the woods and writes mostly SpecFic with occasional memoir pieces.
Social Media
Website: http://www.arlozgraves.com
Black Rose: https://a.co/d/gVAyaKp
Instagram: @arlozgraves
Threads: @arlozgraves
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