INTERVIEW: Tim Miller

Buy on Amazon

I originally wanted to get this interview posted before Halloween, but shit happens. And speaking of that, lots of bad shit happens to the unfortunate people/victims/meat-sacks who populate Tim Miller’s books. Ever since Hell, Texas put him on the extreme horror map, Miller has been carving out his bloody niche in horror’s redheaded stepchild of a subgenre. One of the nicest authors I’ve ever had the pleasure of discoursing with, Tim recently took the time to answer some questions and made one thing perfectly clear—Stephen King is not extreme.

MARK: Thanks for stopping by Guns ‘N’ Guts, Tim. Speaking of guts, your novels have buckets of ‘em. Since you did not start out writing extreme horror, what attracted you to that particular subgenre? And yes, “lack of a gag reflex” is a perfectly acceptable answer.

TIM: I had just always read that heavy gore was against the “rules” of writing horror. Not sure who made up those rules, but I stumbled across Ed Lee and Jack Ketchum and loved it. So I decided to try it for myself and it was a blast.

MARK: Far as I’m concerned, the rule-breakers often make the best horror writers. What is your goal when writing an extreme horror story? Besides inducing spontaneous projectile vomiting.

TIM: I always think of some kind of story. Unlike a lot of extreme stuff, the gore for me is just window dressing. I want to have a compelling story with fun characters and put them in the worst situations I can think of. If I can not only repulse the reader but make them feel sympathetic to my villain and elicit an emotional reaction on different levels—good or bad—then I feel I did my job.

MARK: Are there other genres besides horror that you would like to take a shot at someday? You know, will we ever see a Tim Miller erotica novel? (And no, the skinned-and-raped scene from Hell, Texas does not count as erotica.)

Buy on Amazon

TIM: Well, my stories all border on some level of dark erotica, especially Dollhouse. I’ve toyed with the idea before. I’ve done a sci-fi story and a young adult book already. So if I get an idea, I’m cool with running with it.

MARK: I tried to run with something once, but my mom made me put down the chainsaw. Is there a certain author (or authors) that you draw inspiration from?

TIM: When I first read Jack Ketchum, he’s the reason I decided to do extreme horror. Depraved by Bryan Smith challenged me to write Hell, Texas. 

MARK: No doubt about it, Depraved is a deranged classic of the genre. OK, if someone put a shotgun to the back of your melon and told you to gouge out one of your eyes using only your fingers or sever your tongue using only your teeth or else they would splatter your brains, which would you choose?

TIM: I’d probably just opt for the shotgun, LOL.

MARK: Agony avoidance trumps survival instinct, eh? All right, back to more serious questions. What do you consider the most important ingredient in extreme horror: plot, characters, or gore?

TIM: I think characters. I try to make them as fun and colorful as possible. All of those things play a role, and often my stories are plot driven. The characters reacting to things around them. But you can’t make it the same type of reactions in every story.

MARK: What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to an author aspiring to find success in the extreme horror genre? (Other than write romance instead.)

TIM: I’d say to read a lot of extreme authors. I know so many who want to be extreme but they read Stephen King and Edgar Allen Poe. Those are brilliant authors, but they are not extreme. If you want to know what audiences want, you need to read what they are reading.

MARK: Good advice. Read some Jack Ketchum, Ed Lee, Wrath James White. And of course, some Tim Miller. What do you think is the single worst mistake new authors make?

TIM: I’ve noticed a trend the last couple years of new authors feeling like they need to latch on to someone with a name. Or who they think has a name. I guess they do so thinking those guys will somehow propel them to fame. But all it does is water down your own brand and forever binds you to that author’s shadow. I’ve seen many do this with a lot of different well known authors. I have a lot of author friends at various levels of the spectrum, but I don’t try to cling to any of them to further myself. I just don’t see how that can work for anyone. Be your own person.

Buy on Amazon

MARK: Good advice for anything in life, not just writing. Anyone who peruses your Facebook Page on a regular basis will see that the cheese grater scene from Return to Hell Texas is perhaps your most infamous torture sequence. Do you have a particularly nasty scene that rates as your personal favorite? (I should probably also ask you where you come up with this stuff, but I’m too afraid.)

TIM: I really liked the scene with Buzz from Return to Hell Texas. I was giggling the whole time I wrote it, but then I outdid myself with the cheese grater scene later, so everyone seems to forget that one. In Rape Van, I coined the phrase “Chocolate Creampie,” so use your imagination on that one. Kinda proud of that.

MARK: Well, I’m not sure what your version of a Chocolate Creampie is, but I’m guessing we won’t find it in the snack aisle next to the Twinkies. Now, Halloween season recently whipped by like a witch on a turbocharged broomstick and while it’s utterly cliché to ask, I’m going to do it anyway—what’s your favorite horror movie?

TIM: My most inspirational movie has been the 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

MARK: A classic that I still can’t believe garnered a PG rating … though if I’m being honest, I prefer the remake, even though it lacks the raw, visceral grit of the original. Anyway, books (and films like your books) have been crassly labeled by critics as “torture porn.” What’s your opinion of that particular term and do you object to having that label slapped on your writing?

TIM: I don’t care for that term personally, though I use it myself to describe it to someone who may not be familiar. To me, torture porn means there is no story at all and nothing happening other than some guy torturing his victim with nothing else going on. I guess that is what some people take away from my stories but if you look past the gore there is something being said.

MARK: You write prolifically, cranking out novels on what seems like a monthly basis. How do you keep up that frenetic pace? Copious amounts of Red Bull and Mountain Dew?

TIM: I just set a goal to write 1000-3000 words per day. My books are usually 30-35K so in about 4-6 weeks I can have a new title finished. I use Grammarly editing software, then have two friends who go over and help me clean it up before its ready to publish.

MARK: I had friends once. Then they read my books, LOL. Let’s wrap this up by having you tell us what’s next on your publishing agenda.

TIM: Rape Van went live on November 4th. Then in December I have the sequel to my book Hacked—called Hacked Again—being released. For 2017, I’ve got several stories already lined up and in the works.

www.facebook.com/TimMillerHorrorAuthor
www.twitter.com/TimMiller2011
www.timmiller.org