Travis Thrasher Interview

A: I wanted to do something in the vein of Isolation-another “horror” novel. The idea came in the form of a character. I thought, What if I write about a horror novelist who doesn’t believe in the supernatural? That opened up a lot of possibilities in the story.

Q: Is this a genre you enjoy writing in?

A: I enjoy writing in all types of genre, but it seems like I’ve found one that I’m really comfortable in. I was encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response to Isolation.

Q: For those readers who have followed your career since your first novel, the self-proclaimed “sweet little love story” The Promise Remains, what can you say about the direction your writing is headed?

A: There is a strange link between all my novels. In my mind, they all deal with fears. The Promise Remains is ultimately about the fear of not finding that “right” person in life. The Watermark is about the fear of not being forgiven by God for something you’ve done. Each of my books deals with a fear I’ve had. The only difference is that in the early books, the tension came out of love stories. Now, I’m taking fears and weaving them into hair-raising tales. But even in Ghostwriter, there is the backbone of a love story between Dennis and his wife, Lucy.

Q: Since you have fans in both the general market and the Christian market, are you worried that this kind of story might impact your growing readership and alienate Christian readers by taking on the idea of ghosts?

A: My goal as a writer is to entertain readers while challenging myself. I don’t want to preach, nor do I want to teach. But I also don’t want to dishonor God in my writing. Look at A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens-look at the message of that story. There were three ghosts in that tale. As I explore the horror/supernatural-thriller genre, I want to take on the staples of that genre and make them my own. Isolation dealt with demon-possession (? la The Exorcist). Ghostwriter is my ghost story. I want to continue to build my readership, but I’ve never been the type of writer who is driven by other people’s expectations.

Q: Ghostwriter is your eleventh published novel. How would you describe the Travis Thrasher brand?

A: Like a Happy Meal that contains something different every time you get it. I have an outrageous goal as a writer- not to build a broad readership in one category, but to build a readership that follows me wherever I go. Perhaps that’s impossible, but it’s what I dreamed of doing when I was growing up, and so far, I’ve still been able to do it.

Q: What are you working on next?

A: That’s one of those questions I can never truly answer, simply because I always have a variety of things in the works. The way I can answer that is this: my next contracted book will be called Broken and is scheduled to come out May 2010. It’s another supernatural thriller.

Q: You’ve been writing full-time for a year now. What’s that been like?

A: It’s been exciting and scary. God continues to teach me a lot, especially about trusting Him. It’s been amazing to see God’s hand in my life this past year. The great thing about that is that I’ll be able to take some of those experiences and weave them into a story that might get published down the road.

Q: What’s something you’d like your readers to know?

A: I’d like them to know my honest appreciation for their taking the time to read my books. I say this a lot. It’s not a big deal for someone to pay fourteen bucks for a book. But it’s monumental for them to give their time for something I’ve done. I’ve put my heart and soul into every single one of my books, and I’m never going to stop doing that. My biggest hope is for a reader to be moved-to be scared silly or moved to tears or inspired. I’m going to keep trying, and hopefully I’ll keep getting better.