This week I'm interviewing four writers about how they cut their teeth on the horror scene, and how to be a horror author in the 21st century.

A few words about today’s featured writer, Lee Thomas…

Lee’s a schizophrenic. Most people would be content with one successful writing life, but Lee’s got two going simultaneously. As Lee Thomas, he’s a Stoker and Lambda Award-winning author of books such as The Dust of Wonderland and Snared (with Stefan Petrucha). As Thomas Pendleton, he writes critically-acclaimed YA fiction. His recent HarperCollins release Mason is receiving mad love. Lee discusses how he made this double-edged life happen…

What motivated you to become a horror writer?

I've always dug dark storytelling - movies, books, comics - and writing has always been a hobby of mine. When I was eight years old, I “wrote” my own versions of the Universal horror monsters and illustrated the stories. My teacher typed them up and photocopied them for the class. I wanted a larger distribution, but due to rather stringent copyright laws, that just didn't happen.

How long did it take before you made your first pro sale?

I never gave much thought to publishing until I took a short fiction class in 2001. The instructor, Terry Bisson, encouraged me and thought I might be able to sell my work. Turns out, he was right. I sent out six short stories and four of them were picked up. One went to a professional market, and two others went to semi-pro, while the fourth went to a for-the-love site. The sale was to a place called Gothic.net and the story was called “Lullaby.” I keep it posted on my website for posterity. But it was all a bit of beginner's luck I expect. A number of rejections followed those initial publications, and after about six-months I decided that I only wanted the professional markets, so things did get quiet for a while as I improved my work.

How did you go about promoting yourself and your work at the outset? Do you still do those same things or have you modified your self-promotional approach?

I've never done this well, and with so many books coming out, it's tough to switch focus from the project I'm working on to one that was written a couple years ago but is just seeing print. In the early days, promotion for me was all about message boards and advertisements in ezines. I'm not sure it was terribly effective beyond hitting a very narrow audience. Now, with MySpace and Facebook and the myriad other networking sites, writers can get the word out to a large audience fast and cheap, but there's so much noise on the web, it's hard to break through and get noticed.

Plus, I have an added difficulty in that I'm basically managing two writing careers. The promotional avenues for my adult work can be quite different than those for my YA work. There is some overlap, but often enough Lee Thomas and Thomas Pendleton (and Dallas Reed) are all battling for my attention. Now that's a bit of schizophrenia I never saw coming.

What was you first big break toward becoming a published pro?

Well, the deal with HarperCollins for the Wicked Dead series was a huge break, and it introduced me to young adult readers.  Though I continue to write for the mainstream (a.k.a. adult) market, it's exciting to explore a slightly different form and take on some new challenges.

Do you have any good rejection stories?

I had a story called “An Apiary of White Bees” that I sent to Borderlands for the sixth book in their anthology series. Tom and/or Elizabeth Monteleone rejected the story, but gave me some brief but excellent notes on what they thought it needed. So, I went back to the story and rewrote the hell out of it based on the suggestions. I ended up selling the story to Ellen Datlow for Inferno (Tor), which was probably the best-reviewed speculative fiction anthology of 2007, and “Apiary” went on to receive a nomination for the Bram Stoker Award.

Any advice for writers who are starting out?

Work your ass off on the material and shoot high. Writing is a craft, but publishing is a business, so learn the business, and don't become a permanent intern by giving your stories away “for exposure” (one of the small press's great myths). If you aren't selling to pro markets, take a serious look at your work and figure out why. If you don't have the perspective to see what is lacking, take some classes or build a network of personal critics who won't BS you about the quality of your work. Then keep sending the stories out.

Also, respect the editors and writers that have been doing this for a while. I've seen so many new writers come in with an attitude. They're argumentative and insulting, and a lot of them vanish pretty quickly. Most of the time they've built these little philosophies for themselves, explaining why their work isn't getting the recognition they feel it deserves, and they try to position themselves as David against the publishing Goliath. It's silly and kind of sad. The internet has given writers a great opportunity, in that they have access to established writers and many editors via message boards, blogs and other sources. They can get invaluable advice if they're willing to take it.

What's coming up for you?

On the adult side, I have a couple novellas that should be out in the next year. I can't really say much about those. I'll have plenty of short fiction out as well. My YA novel, Mason (HarperTeen), has just been released. The final two books in the Wicked Dead series, Prey and Skin, will be out before the end of the year, and Shimmer will hit bookstores at the first of next year. I'm currently writing a YA urban fantasy trilogy for HarperTeen. The first book is called Exiled, and that should be released in late 2009 or early 2010.

Lee Thomas is the Bram Stoker Award and Lambda Literary Award-winning author of Stained, Parish Damned, and The Dust of Wonderland. Writing as Thomas Pendleton, he is the co-author (with Stefan Petrucha) of Wicked Dead (HarperTeen), a series of edgy horror novels for young adult readers. Look for him on the web at www.leethomasauthor.com

Tomorrow’s feature: a q&a with Mario Acevedo, bestselling author of The Undead Kama Sutra!

JOHN PICACIO is currently one of the finalists for the 2008 World Fantasy Award in the Artist category. He has won two International Horror Guild Awards, the Locus Award, the Chesley Award, and the 2005 World Fantasy Award, all in the Artist category. He’s been a Hugo Award finalist (Best Professional Artist) the last four consecutive years. Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio, a lush, 200-page hardcover collection of his work, was a 2007 Hugo Award finalist. This year, Ballantine/Del Rey released a major trade paperback edition of Michael Moorcock’s Elric: The Stealer of Souls, debuting Picacio’s all-new cover and interior illustrations. He and his wife Traci live in San Antonio, Texas. For more info, please visit http://www.johnpicacio.com/index2.html, or his blog, http://johnpicacio.com/blog.html.