Timothy Goodwin
Timothy Goodwin
Welcome to the Artists Blog
When did you first become interested in writing?
When I was about twelve years of age, I became interested in writing as a way to express myself through images of the imagination.
What style of writing do you use most?
Fantasy–whether it be epic or horror, I tend to lean toward the fantasy genre; my life-story I think is too depressing; and although it might be written properly, I think that people might have the tendency to think I was feeling sorry for myself; I caught a brief glimpse of the possibility in my novel”Pariah”, as the main character was once homeless, and suffers from a bipolar disorder, with schizoaffective tendencies.
| With slow deliberation the thing that was Alacha’ rose from the pool of darkness beneath its throne. A shapeless bulk of immense proportion, horrifying and preternatural. An unutterably hideous mass of amorphous putrescence, which filled the throng that was standing and watching with a sensation of unimaginable terror and helplessness. |
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“Darkness Within”
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Has your style changed from when you first began as an author?
It has changed tremendously. And only for the better, I can hope. Although to be perfectly honest, I never expected to be writing horror
In what way do you usually put down your ideas first?
Sometimes my ideas come to me fluidly enough where I’m allowed to sit down at the computer and just”go to town”–other times they come far too quickly, and it becomes necessary to use a notebook, to slow the thought-process down.
What made you choose that medium?
My English teacher in Middle School said that I had a natural talent for it; naturally I pursued all avenues that I seemed to have a natural talent for–art, theater, etc
Do your ideas come from life or imagination?
Both. My first novel found its foundation in my real life experiences, before it took a detour into fantasy.
| It was slimy, morbid, ghoulish. Seething, surging, stewing forth; with long tentacles and grotesquely twisted appendages that moved with a repulsive kind of writhing, protruding from its horrid bulk of potted pustules that glittered sickly with a diabolical light of dark imaginings. |
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“Darkness Within”
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How do you choose your characters?
The characters essentially”Choose” themselves; that is to say that I provide a situation, and the characters rise up and bring to my attention how the situation should be dealt with.
Who is your favourite author?
I really don’t have a favorite author. But I have read the works of some authors more than others; they include, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, John Saul, Terry Brooks, H.P. Lovecraft, and Michael Crichton
What is your favourite piece of work by yourself?
I’m enjoying the crafting process of”Darkness Within”; it presents many challenges to me, that lead me to feel I have accomplished something when the challenges are overcome.
| A collection of eyes, some sunken and suppurated, others floating on stalks that wriggled and undulated horribly, covering almost the entirety of the vile epidermis of the abomination in a multitudinous presentation—looking, peering, seeking, in multiple directions simultaneously, and glistening with a certain kind of malefic glee. |
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“Darkness Within”
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How much time (on average) does it take to complete a work?
It usually takes me anywhere from 3-5 years to complete a full-length novel.
How well do you take criticism?
Well, let’s see…having lived homeless on the street for about three years, I can honestly say that there was a time when I had literally lost it all; I have no insecurities; I try to write the best work I can for the entertainment of the audience; if I fail, it wasn’t for a lack of giving it my best shot.
What do you do to overcome a ‘block’?
I don’t believe in a”block”; when you write, you write; when you can’t write, you don’t; you cannot force writing anymore than you can force any form of art–with maybe the exception of acting. Sometimes I may compose a compost pile through freewriting during the times that the writing isn’t coming to me.
| While many mouths filled with fangs separated by spiny teeth and serpentine tongues, babbled with the voices of the damned, screaming with torment and sanity lost. |
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“Darkness Within”
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How do you know something is ‘finished’? Is it easy to walk away?
No. Walking away is the hardest part. Especially if I’m wanting the work to be published. Because now, after pouring our my blood, sweat, tears, and soul, out on paper, I get to hear those infamous flesh-flaying words:”Unfortunately it’s not…”
Have you had been published?
Yes I haven’t been published. And I wear an albatross around my neck since 2004 for having been stuck in a seven year contract with a publisher that doesn’t care if the book sells or not.
Have you any publications planned for the future?
Only if I get published by a more reputable publisher.
What are your plans for the future?
To keep writing. The world comes and goes; sometimes fortune is so good that you think that you’ve been blessed by the gods; other times it’s so lousy you can find a friggin’ penny to save your soul. Writing gives me so semblance of control over mine environment.
| A weekend at the cabin becomes a journey into a nightmare of inexplicable horror for fourteen young adults and college students who unwittingly breach the veil between our world and another of unspeakable evil. Here they must confront the hideous entity of this realm, lest the world that they know ceases to exist, lost to the heart of chaos and oblivion… |
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“Darkness Within”
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What advice would you give new authors?
Don’t publish with Publish America; in fact, don’t go with any Print on Demand or self-publisher; unless you like to hear the echoing of crickets in the audience. But rather find an agent; someone who only gets paid to represent your work and in which your success is in direct relation to how much they get paid; so they will promote your work…because crafting the novel is the”easy part”; self-promotion and marketing is like the Seventh Circle of Hell!
Thank you very much for the interview! Sounds like you have had a rough time of it. I hope things get better soon on the publishing side.
You can contact Timothy and see his art, at his website http://www.redbubble.com/people/orion005