Author Interview: Dave Ferraro...

1. Please tell us a little known fact about you.

My favorite Disney movie is “Hercules,” and I love Megara, the leading lady. I’m always
on the look-out for Megara merchandise, but she gets the shaft in favor of the popular
Disney princesses. A friend actually found and bought me a really pretty Megara
ornament from Hallmark this Christmas, of her riding Pegasus, that I absolutely love.

2. What was your favorite genre to read growing up? Is this the genre you currently write in?

I was a voracious YA reader growing up. YA didn’t look like it does now back when I
was reading it. They consisted of mostly “teen thrillers,” which were basically slasher
books. But I loved them. And I’ve continued to read them as they’ve evolved into the
diverse category that they’ve become today. I am writing YA now, although my books
look more like what’s on the shelf currently, and not what first got me hooked on them.

3. What sort of atmosphere do you need to write?

I like writing at night. Anytime I try to write during the day, I have to constantly take
breaks and do other things and keep coming back to it. At night, I feel like I can just get
in a groove. I play music softly in the background and sometimes I put a scented candle
that I love, that smells like fresh-cut grass.

4. What is your all time favorite book?

My all-time favorite book is Ann Radcliffe’s “The Mysteries of Udolpho.” It’s a classic,
a sort of pioneer of Gothic literature, and it’s just oozing atmosphere. Plus it’s got
forbidden romance, great action scenes, and intriguing mysteries. It just sort of left me
breathless, and made my imagination run wild, although anyone looking to read it is in for
a commitment – it’s a huge, epic novel.

5. Who is your all time favorite character that is not your own.

Buffy Summers. Joss Whedon’s slayer is a kick-ass, capable girl who’s relatable, funny
and flawed. She feels like a real person, and I love that she has a dark side, and some
really messed-up things going on in her psyche.

6. Who is your favorite character of your own creation?

Shanna Hunt is my personal favorite of my characters. She’s the star of the “Hunters
of the Dark” series, and I put a lot of myself in her, which is why I think she is so three-
dimensional. She has a messed-up past, but is overcoming it, despite the challenges she
faces. She gets depressed and gets insecure, but she’s a sweetheart, and can fight like a
pro, and banters playfully with her friends, which lightens things up a bit.
7When did you decide to become a writer?

I started to make up my own stories, based on the covers of books I would buy, and the
synopsis on the back, before I would start reading them. Sometimes my stories were
better than the ones I was reading, so I started writing them myself. I still have my first
book in a box in the closet, written in a notebook, from about twenty years ago.

8. Where are you from?

I grew up in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, until my sophomore
year of high school. Then I moved to Big Lake, Minnesota in the middle of the semester,
where it was a little tough to make friends. It was a much smaller community than I was
used to, in central Minnesota, and I never really found my place there.

9. Why do you write?

Writing is definitely therapeutic for me. I think I get things off my chest by funneling
my feelings and thoughts into these characters I’ve created. But I also just have so many
stories that I want to tell. I’m constantly thinking about my characters, and where they’re
headed, and I can’t not tell their stories.

10. What’s the best piece of writing advice you have ever been given?

To read classics. I went to college specifically for English, so I have definitely read my
share of classics, but I try to keep up on them because I really do believe that the more
good, polished writing that you take in, the better writing that you’re going to produce.
You just kind of pick it up through osmosis.

11. What’s the worst thing someone has ever said about your work?

As a self-published author, I’m really paranoid about affirming the stereotype that
self-published books are full of grammatical mistakes and punctuation errors. Since I
graduated with a B.A. in English, and have always been pretty good with grammar, I
feel like I have it down really well, and have people proofread for errors before I publish
them, just in case. So I’m more embarrassed than anything when an error is pointed out.
Some things I see after the fact, and I’m just horrified that it slipped through, but I have
to remind myself that mistakes happen in published books too. But while I cringe about
that sort of thing, a blogger made fun of one of my early covers, and that really hurt my
feelings because it was so cruel and unnecessary.

12. Has your writing ever been compared to another, famous author? If so, who?

One reviewer compared the psychological horror of my novel “The Tomb” to Henry
James’ “The Turn of the Screw,” which is completely flattering, because I’m actually a
really big fan of Henry James, but he’s one of the big guys, so I can hardly agree with the
comparison, even if it does make me ridiculously happy to hear.

13. And last, but not least, something really random: (Please choose one question)
~ Real books or eReader?

eReader. My books are only available digitally, but’s that’s only part of the reason. I think it’s
just more convenient to have books on a device. I still have books I purchased before I got my
nook that I don’t read because when I go to bed (where I do most of my reading), I can turn
on my nook in the dark room and not bother my boyfriend. Plus, I can buy a book on a whim,
whenever I want to. The only downside for me is graphic novels. I’m a huge fan of comics, and I
think eReaders don’t do them justice, so it’s real books all the way where they’re concerned.

Here are the links I have for social media:

Website: http://www.ferrarofiction.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @Dave_Ferraro
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dave-Ferraro-Author/126155667463299?ref=hl