How Music / Video Games Inspired My Fantasy Writing

People frequently ask: Where did you find inspiration for this story?

To answer that, I'll use an example from one of my latest completed manuscripts, EMBRACING THE BEAST. Those who know me well are aware that I'm a huge fan of metal music, horror, video games, and reading. I grew up reading authors like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Anne Rice, thanks to my mother who passed the books down to me after she read them. Those closest to me know that my mom has always had a morbid side. Her mother, my grandmother, was a heavy metal fan and signed her birthday cards as "Metal Grandma".

Returning to my novel, I was inspired not only by my upbringing but also by a song from the metal band Chimaira—The Venom Inside from the album The Infection.

Additionally, a video game, Prototype and its sequel Prototype 2, also contributed to the inspiration for this novel.