5-STAR Fantasy / Sci-Fi

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Indie Author Interview: T. Reilly


Indie Author Interview with T. Reilly - Author of the Gothic Mystery Novel Grayscale.

T. Reilly is an American author drawn to the dark and surreal. His stories often blur the line between reality and invention, while digging deep into the gritty and vulnerable human condition. Reilly’s obsessive pursuit of character development and sense of the visual results in stories that are almost cinematic.

Interview with T. Reilly

Author T. Reilly
Author T. Reilly
Alan Kealey (Indie Author News): What is your (writing) background?
T. Reilly: I consider myself an unknown author who is just being discovered by readers and that is an exciting experience. I spent years refining the craft. I took advantage of writers groups and organizations like the Philadelphia Writers Conference (PWC). I won a few awards for my short stories through PWC and was published in one of their anthologies.
And I spent a lot of my free time pursuing the traditional publishing route, but like many authors out there, didn’t fit in with an industry that focuses on genre and the safest bets for return on investment. I am not knocking the traditional route, there are great works given light through traditional publishing, but it accounts for a small number of interesting voices.
Today, we find a democratization of art. Independent musicians, independent filmmakers, and yes, independent authors have bigger forums via the web to be seen, heard and read.
So, here I am.

Who or what are your writing influences?
I have always tended to read work that has a darker feel. Something Wicked This Way Comes is an all-time favorite for me and I hold Ray Bradbury high on the influence list. Other classic writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley and Ernest Hemingway are constant reservoirs of influence. For modern writers, no other has influenced me more than Joyce Carol Oats.

"I thought about being a superhero [...]"

When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?
Shortly after leaving the womb. There were moments growing up when I thought about being a superhero, or villain, gangster maybe, or stuntman. Writing is safer.

Please, describe your workspace.
There are two workspaces for me.
The first is a small office off my bedroom at the front of the house with two windows so I can watch the world unfold. The room is also packed with vinyl because music is a must to stimulate my brain.
The second is the outside world, usually coffeehouses, where I can people watch, another stimulation for the brain.

"The hardest, every draft that follows the first."

What do you find easiest about writing? What the hardest?
Easiest, the first draft. That is when I am in love with the idea, the story, the characters. It’s freeing. No pressures to make perfect, just let it unfold.
The hardest, every draft that follows the first. Then, it becomes work.

"When the pen can’t move fast enough [...]"

What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
When words appear like magic. When I am on a roll. When the pen can’t move fast enough or I can’t hit enough keys to keep up with them. The closest I have ever gotten to an out-of-body experience.

T, please tell us a little about your Gothic Mystery Novel Grayscale.
I call Grayscale a modern Gothic mystery, because it feels like a ghost story. Although, I wrote the story to be intentionally ambiguous. It is meant to be haunting, and mysterious, but what is actually happening is up to the reader’s interpretation, and I am fascinated by the various interpretations that readers have gifted back to me.

Grayscale (T. Reilly)
Click to Read an Excerpt

The main character is a successful graphic novelist who creates under a pseudonym. He is a troubled being who either sees what others don’t or has self-proclaimed wakeful dreams that are nothing more than delusions. He is drawn into a mystery about a missing couple that seems to be tied to a story that goes back generations.

What inspired you to write the book?
The origins of Grayscale are actually a short story that I had written years ago called Porcelain Doll. The story won honorable mention, or third place, in the Literary Short Story category for the Philadelphia Writers Conference many years ago, and I spent years creating different versions of a more developed work, until finally Grayscale came to be.

Are you working on another book project? Can you tell us a little about it?
Earlier this year, I published a collection of short stories called Overcast. The work has a similar dark and surreal feel as Grayscale. And, Porcelain Doll is one of the stories.
I am currently collaborating with an illustrator on a children’s book that hopefully will be completed soon, but I will leave that one a secret until it is ready to face the world.

How can readers connect with you?
They can send me an email at my website, author-treilly.com. They can find me at Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram @ t._reilly.

Thank you very much for the Interview, T.



About the Book Grayscale

Grayscale (T. Reilly)
Click to Read an Excerpt
Quinton is a recluse with lifelong visions he calls wakeful dreams and is haunted by a moment from his past. An anonymous artist who, under the pseudonym Jay Walker, has seen success from two graphic novels and several ink sketches for contemporary magazines.

When he agrees to take on a new project about a missing couple, Quinton is hurled into a story that could span more than a century, or not.

Grayscale is a modern gothic mystery where the line between what is real and not is blurred.

- "[...] T. Reilly weaves a gothic tale of mystery and suspense, with hints of humor throughout. There is a thin line between reality and fantasy in the story, and sometimes you don't know which side you are on. Well written and a main character you can connect with and get behind, Grayscale is a type of book that you don't want to put down, and can't wait to get back to." - Reader Review




Links to the Book

Link to the Paperback Grayscale on Amazon

Link to the eBook Grayscale on Amazon




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