I chatted about local author W. H. Chizmar about his first solo effort “THEM” and his love of horror.
Talk about your upbringing, where you grew up, etc
I grew up on the Abingdon and Bel Air line. I was born in 1998..so I’m a little on the younger side. Growing up, my dad worked at Cemetery Dance Publishing and my mom was a physical therapist. Mondays were hard for them to secure childcare, so my dad would pick me up from school and bring me to the publishing warehouse in Forest Hill. Sometimes you could see small planes taking off or landing on this tiny runway.
The publishing office would have tons of books everywhere. Stephen King, Bentley Little. I was really young so I would just read the book jackets. I would imagine the rest because I was too scared to read it. I grew up immersed in the horror genre. I was doomed to be a horror writer from day one ::laughs::
Your dad is local author Richard Chizmar. I interviewed him back in 2017 for the release of his first “Gwendy” book.
Oh wow! I told him about this and he knew that you guys interviewed before but he couldn’t remember for which book. I think he thought it was more recent.
What is the best piece of advice he’s ever given you?
There’s a lot. We wrote “Widow’s Point” together; it’s about a haunted lighthouse. It’s hard to pick just one. At this point, we know each others weaknesses and strengths by now. He can dissect me and tell me “you’re doing that again” and “you gotta cut this out.” Stuff like that keeps you honest. As far as general advice, it’s about getting everything down. It’s so hard to write a first draft but even harder to revise it, kill your darling, or create new ones. He’s always emphasized the art of revision. The story gets so much better in the second or third draft, so don’t worry about this first one. Get to a spot where you can groove back over it so it looks like a well manicured lawn.
If you had a superpower, what would it be and why?
I think about this waayyyymore than I should.
I love it! I love it all!
The easy one is teleportation because you can go anywhere. I hate traffic so much, it would extend my life twenty years. I would have to say the ability to talk to animals and understand them. Like Dr. Dolittle. I love my dog JJ, my parents dogs; I love animals in general. I’m the biggest dog guy. I feel like my dog JJ and I can almost communicate. Sometimes he’s so stubborn I just want to “What is going on in that head of yours brother?”
In that photo you sent me (above) he KNOWS he’s handsome.
::laughs:: Oh yeah, he does. He’s so used to getting so much attention. If you start petting one of my parents dogs, he gets jealous because he’s gotta be the King.
I’m assuming you’re a Stephen King guy?
Yes!
How cool is it to sort of know him?
I’ve been lucky to meet him in person three times. The first time I was a freshman in High School. I talked to the Dean of students to get a half day so my dad and I could go to New York and watch him and his son do readings of “Doctor Sleep.” King’s longtime agent and a really good dude came before the show and got my dad and I to go backstage for a minute to say hi. He talked to me about whatever my dad had just posted on Facebook about my football game. He said “Oh you’re the football player!” He’s such a normal down to earth dude.
Another time when I was in college in Maine, my dad flew up twice. There used to be a theater at the Bangor mall. Every time a Stephen King adaptation came out, King always made sure there was a Maine premiere. All the tickets would be given out on the radio so it was just locals that would attend. You would be getting popcorn in the lobby and he would just casually walk in.
We screened “It” Part 1 and “The Dark Tower.” The part in “It” that made me jump the most was when they’re watching the old film reel in someone’s garage and Pennywise pops out of the projection. King knew it was coming and he was sitting right behind us. And right as the jump scare about to hit, he reaches for us and grabs my dad and I both by the shoulders, and scares the shit out of us. It got me SO GOOD. He just started belly laughing. He left both movies halfway through and went to bed ::laughs::
What is your solo debut “Them” about?
It’s a story where the monsters win. There’s only two human characters and we follow one of them on his journey up the east coast, trying to find anyone alive, all the while avoiding these massive three legged armor played monsters; who people call scorpions. The other character is a very guilty military man who was in Area 51 when all of this was going down. He has all the explanations that the reader and our other character wants. As far as our main man knows, they’re everywhere and unkillable. Our character loves to look at the monsters and that’s where my personality bleeds into the main character.
What did you learn about yourself while writing this book?
I started this book during Covid. I was a Junior in college in my Early American Women Writers class when I saw half of my class look down at their phones and sure enough, we got an email saying we needed to be off campus by that Monday. We did online classes and miraculously got back into school for my Senior year. For my online classes, I used my dad’s home office and I was surrounded by all of these incredible books. I was going stir crazy and wanted to write my own book instead of reading what other people wrote. I was frustrated by a lot of things at the time, but I found as I kept writing, that started to subside. So this really was a cathartic experience for me.
How are you feeling about getting out there and talking with your fans about your book?
I’m feeling good! I’m so lucky for so many reasons. One of them is having my dad around me. We’ve done this before with “Widow’s Point.” We took a train to New York, then flew to Michigan, then flew to Texas, then flew to Arizona. It was SO exhausting, but it was a BLAST. It was great practice for when I get to do it solo.
I’ve been seeing your dad post on his page and his fan page about your new release. He’s sooooo proud of you, dude!
Yeah… :: pause:: ::laughs:: It’s a little embarrassing. Him posting for me is hugely helpful. As technologically inept he is, he’s great at social media. I’m such a luddite at that stuff.
Are you excited about the release of your book “Them?”
I’m a little nervous. I want to make sure I do right by everyone. I’ve had so many people put so much effort into this. From my publicist Lucy, to my editor, Ed, the best editor in New York. He’s the King Midas of Editors. My agent, Kristen. My street team, who take bookmarks and put them in local bookstores. I’m excited to get out there and promote the book and hope everyone enjoys it!
“Them” is available NOW wherever you buy your books!
Follow W.H. on IG