![\"Thomas](\"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Thomas-Kleaton.jpg\")
<\/a>A couple of icebreakers to start: When did you first decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?<\/strong><\/p>\nI started writing two years ago. I could say that it\u2019s something I just started on a whim, but that wouldn\u2019t be the case. It\u2019s something I\u2019ve wanted to do for years, but thinking about it doesn\u2019t work and it all comes down to sitting in a chair and typing words on the screen. It\u2019s important to write on a daily basis, but I have no Bad Thoughts (sorry, I can\u2019t help referencing “It\u2019s a Good Life,” one of my favorite Twilight Zone<\/em> episodes) for someone who doesn\u2019t write every day. Writers need a break now and then as well.<\/p>\n As for my favorite authors? I won\u2019t deny it; I was heavily influenced by Stephen King, and am definitely a Constant Reader. Dean Koontz is another; his Sole Survivor<\/em> and Intensity<\/em> really bowled me over. Peter Straub\u2019s Ghost Story<\/em> is a personal favorite. I also have newer favorites, writers like Rose Blackthorn, Richard Schiver, and Aaron Gudmunson.<\/p>\n As a writer, do you have a particular genre that\u2019s your favorite?<\/strong><\/p>\n Horror, horror, and more horror. Actually, although I like horror best and it seems to be the most flexible genre, I do enjoy a good science fiction story here and there. Stories like Harlan Ellison\u2019s “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.”<\/p>\n In addition to short stories, you\u2019re a prolific drabble writer. Because the medium permits only 100 words, is your approach to crafting a drabble different than crafting a short story? Do you have any pointers for other drabble writers out there?<\/strong><\/p>\n Brrr!<\/p>\n But I think you get the picture. It\u2019s all in the details. Once you have the story worked out, it\u2019s time to condense it down to 100 words. Easy, right? I\u2019ve spent hours on one drabble! But it\u2019s worth it when you see the final product.<\/p>\n Out of your published pieces, do you have a personal favorite?<\/strong><\/p>\n I do. A short story titled “Birds and the Bees,” found in Sanitarium Magazine issue #31. I saw a photo in a magazine in which a woman\u2019s seed-filled hands were outstretched near a bird feeder. Chickadees sat on her palms eating the seed, and I imagined a little girl seeing her grandmother doing this, and wanting to impress her grandmother by imitating her. Only she can\u2019t find any birdseed in her grandmother\u2019s garden shed. Not one to give up, the little girl finds a substitute. That puts a sting into things.<\/p>\n Where would you like your writing career to be in five years?<\/strong><\/p>\n To a point where I can write full-time. This may not happen, but I will not give up on it, and at the very least I\u2019d like to have a good following by then. After all, the first reason a writer should be writing is because he or she enjoys telling yarns to entertain others. Being told by someone that his\/her story really resonated with them can put a writer on the moon.<\/p>\n Big thanks to Thomas Kleaton for being part of this week’s author interview series. Find him online at his website<\/a> and his Amazon Author Page<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Happy reading!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome back to my author interview series! For the first spotlight of 2016, I’m pleased to present Thomas Kleaton. Thomas is an accomplished writer of short fiction, and his work has appeared at The Horror Zine, Riding Light Review, and Sanitarium Magazine among other outlets. Recently, he and I discussed his influences and his long-term […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-interviews","tag-sanitarium-magazine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1035,"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions\/1035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>A drabble is all about the core idea. For instance, in my drabble, “Whistling Past the Graveyard,” found in Spooky Halloween Drabbles 2015<\/em>, I kept seeing this little girl playing Patty Cake with her mother. Then playing Patty Cake with her dead mother. The situation came next, which was of a father bringing his little girl to visit her mother\u2019s grave. Only her father is a killer, and his mother is buried in a shallow grave. Shallow enough for hands to stick out and\u2026<\/p>\n