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Heavily guarded by yard gnomes at his haunted farmhouse, Jeremy Shipp takes time out from talking to ghosts to chat about his latest novel, Cursed.

How do you and your wife like living in a semi-haunted Victorian farmhouse? What are the weirdest things you’ve seen/heard since you moved in?

We love living here with the ghosts, the kittens, the yard gnomes, the coconut monkey ninjas, and the attic clowns.  We’re a diverse group, but we get along (aside from the occasional spork accident).  As far as the ghosts go, my weirdest experience so far was during the renovations, when I was working with my dad in the attic (this was before the clowns moved in).  My father and I were taking apart the old chimney, and we came to a mound of ash.  At one point, something started rising from the pile.  At first, we thought it was an animal, but it turned out to be an old doll.

Does your legion of yard gnomes protect you from things that go bump in the night? Who is your favorite gnome and why?

The yard gnomes protect us from myriad bumpy phenomena.  Gnomes are non-violent, for the most part, and they usually defend our home by convincing evil creatures to turn over another leaf.  But some monstrous beings, like attic clowns, hate touching leaves.  And so, the kittens usually protect us from the clowns.  The kittens are ruthless, when they need to be.  Oh, and my favorite gnome is Stinky.  He likes a lot of the books and movies I do.

Tell us about your latest book, Cursed. How did you get the idea for it?

Cursed is a story about friendship, and invalidation, and respect, and abuse.  Nicholas and Cicely are cursed, and they create an informal support group for cursed individuals.  Together, this band of weird human beings set out to discover who cursed them and why and how they can find their happiness.  This story was primarily inspired by my wife’s experiences with CFIDS.  For years, my wife was disabled, and there were those who treated her like she was making up her pain or like she was less than whole.  To me, disrespect and invalidation are the real curses in our world.

Do you ever feel like your life in cursed in any way?

I feel both cursed and blessed.  I’m not a big fan of the systems that exist within civilization.  I find hierarchical thinking to cause a massive amount of suffering in our world.  But at the same time, our world is also brimming with compassion and love.  Every day, I write down 10 blessings.  Small moments or big moments that touch my heart.  This helps to keep me grateful.

How is Cursed different from your first two books, Vacation and Sheep and Wolves?

I like to think of Vacation as the book of my mind, Sheep and Wolves as the book of my fears, and Cursed as the book of my heart.  I do put my heart into everything I write, but with Cursed, I wanted the emotions of my characters to be the focal point of the novel.  Cursed is the story of their raw feelings, their relationships, their connections. 

How has your writing style changed since you published your first book?

My writing style has changed dramatically over the years.  I’ve been writing about one novel a year since I was 13, and with each new novel, my style evolves.  At 13, my style was quite traditional.  Now, I’m a minimalist, and I like my narrative voice to reflect the psyche of my point of view character.  Nicholas, the main character in Cursed, is quite obsessive and insecure, and the style of the book reflects this.

You’ve been described as “Kafka on drugs,” with unique plots that are highly addictive. Are those difficult brands to live up to?

I’m always shocked and thrilled and honored by the positive feedback I receive from readers, reviews and other authors.  When writing a story, I don’t think about what’s expected of me.  And the only expectations I focus on are my own expectations of the story.

Why horror? Have you always had an interest in dark fiction?

I always loved monsters as a kid.  When I played pretend with my brothers, one of the characters was death.  So I suppose I always enjoyed exploring the darker and stranger aspects of my imagination.  In truth, I never set out to write a horror/Bizarro/dark fantasy story.  I just write what’s in my heart, and these are the stories that come out.

As a kid, what was the one thing that terrified you beyond belief - that kept you awake, shivering at night?

School.

How do you keep your writing fresh in a genre that has, for the most part, seen it all?

I’m a weird person with weird ideas.  This helps.  And I suppose it helps that I don’t restrict my imagination.  I enter a zone, and I write whatever comes to me.

You’ve produced several stories that appeared in at least 50 publications. You also created a short film, Egg. Fill us in on the film. Do you prefer screen writing to novels and short stories, or vice versa?

Egg is the story of a man with a shattered psyche.  His past and present collide, and his memories are always changing.  I wrote the screenplay, and Jayson Densman directed the film.  I’m very happy with how it turned out.  Here’s the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHvPMM_pc9s&feature=related

I love writing screenplays, comic scripts, novels, short stories, music.  But novels will always hold a special place in my heart.  I love spending so much time with the same characters.  I love exploring their spirits.

In a war with zombies and vampires, who would win?

The zombies would turn the vampires into zombie vampires and the vampires would turn the zombies into vampire zombies.  Then the vampire zombies and the zombie vampires would team up, and eat everyone else.  In a war like this, no one wins.

Who’s on your To Be Read list?

The Bizarro writers are quite the prolific bunch, so their upcoming books are always on my To Be Read list.  I’d recommend any fans of weird literature to check out the authors who inhabit http://www.bizarrocentral.com.  I’m also really looking forward to the new Wimpy Kid book.  And I’m still reading through the works of Haruki Murakami, Kurt Vonnegut, Lois Lowry, and many others.

Where can we find you on the Web?

You can find me chatting with Homsar or tickling Salad Fingers.  You can also find me at the following sites:

http://www.jeremycshipp.com

http://www.twitter.com/jeremycshipp

http://www.facebook.com/jeremycshipp

http://www.myspace.com/jeremywriter