Author John Saul

In the early 1970s, John Saul lived in Oshkosh, where he worked on his first horror novel, "Suffer the Children." Here's what he had to say:

When you're as suggestible as I am, it's probably smarter to sit in a
closed and locked room with bright lights and no windows, than in an airy room on Bayshore overlooking a broad expanse of lawn and the shores of Lake Winnebago. I can say this from bitter experience, given that I was happily writing one of the more frightening scenes of "Suffer The Children" in that airy room, and doing my best to convince myself that the dire events of which I was writing existed only in my imagination, when suddenly a very real and terrifying animal leaped at the window, sending me out of the room and into the safety of the hall in less than a second.

When I finally regained my wits and courage (both often sadly lacking in me) I realized that the fearsome beast that had nearly caused me to go into cardiac arrest was nothing more than a squirrel looking for his daily handout of peanuts. Feeling utterly foolish, I found his rations, returned to my desk, opened the window, and offered the little fellow the treat for which he'd come.

He took it.

Then he bit me.

I should have stayed in the hall, but of course if I had, "Suffer The
Children" would never have been finished....

Saul writes like Stephen King, minus the first 100 pages. His official web site is here and he published two books this year: Black Creek Crossing and Perfect Nightmare. Enjoy!