Interview with Writer J. Rocky Colavito
1. How did you get started writing fiction?
Done it intermittently since I could hold a pencil. Wrote poems, little stories, first extended thing I recall writing was a sci-fi thing where these explorers beamed down to a planet and were attacked by dinosaurs. That was in the fourth grade. The teacher liked it. Should have listened to her.
2. What kind of fiction do you enjoy writing? (Such as fantasy, romance, horror, or unspecified)
Horror of all kinds is my bread and butter: cryptids, creature features, extreme, professional wrestling adjacent horror, eco-horror. Lately, I’ve been dabbling in hard-boiled noir as well.
3. What was it about writing short stories that just seemed to "click" with your writing career?
It aligns with the way I teach my Horror Writing class; we start with a six-word story (see “Baby Shoes”), let that grow into six sentences, then a drabble, then a flash fiction, and finally a short story. I do the exercise alongside them.
4. Is there a type of short story that you enjoy writing most? Please explain.
I don’t have a preference, but will say that I’ve had a lot of fun writing short stories that end with the monster seeming to win.
5. What was it like when you sold your first short story?
The first thing I sold was self-published, so the satisfaction was a bit muted but I did take joy in the fact that I was able to show my students that publishing isn’t as daunting as one might think given today. I had a piece accepted in Dark Dossier (unpaid) and that was cool because it was the story I wrote the first time that I taught the horror writing class. My first two paid sales were a flash fiction on toxic positivity and a vampire story that was the first appearance of a character that has become a staple of my work. Buck Neighkyd is his name; he’s a former porn star turn occult detective. He has become a serial character in Caveman Magazine, and in novels published by QuestOmnimedia.
So that was very satisfying!
6. Where do you find short story markets to submit to?
Horror Tree, Angela Yuriko Smith’s Authortunities, Facebook, and connections with folks in the industry. I’ve used leads others have supplied to good ends.
7. What is one lesson you have learned as a writer when it comes to writing short fiction?
To not be afraid to give it a shot. I don’t seek to write in any one genre, so I treat the various calls that I submit to like puzzles to solve. For example, there’s a pending call for the revival of Weird Tales that is focused on crytpids. I have never tried to write weird fiction but the challenge is a good one for me. If the project isn’t accepted, I haven’t lost anything because I can just submit it elsewhere.
I guess that’s one of the other lessons I’ve learned. Any finished piece has value because if it doesn’t fit one place it can always fit another.
8. How is writing short fiction different from your work as a writer of longer fiction?
Pantsing works against me when writing shorter pieces because I always find myself overwriting and then having to cut. But that’s not an issue for me—well, finding time to do it is. I can usually turn a short story draft in two days given my daily writing goals, but sometimes it takes longer. But I like pantsing because of its organic nature. I like to go where the words take me.
9. What is some of the best advice you have received from other writers or editors when it comes to writing short fiction?
Grow a hide when it comes to submitting. I have yet to have received bad responses to anything I’ve submitted. Rejection is part of the job. Same for critical responses to your work. It’s not for everyone (some of my own writing especially!). Just do it, clean it up, and send it out! Don’t let the pursuit of perfection stymie your efforts.
10. Do you have any advice of your own to share with other writers?
Do it every day and count every word written as a win. Make writing a non-negotiable in your daily schedule. Set aside time whenever. I’ve had my students write continuously in class for fifteen minutes with a timer; some students have written as many as 700+ words! Just set a reasonable goal and work for it. When I started this phase of my life, I set a goal of writing a thousand words a day, every day. I did that for a year, found that I was routinely writing over that goal, and decided to go to two thousand words a day, which I have been doing for the past eighteen months. Again, I usually go over. And I haven’t missed a day in the time I started.
Not bragging here; it’s just what I set as a personal goal. That’s the most important part. Set a minimum goal, set aside the time to write, and just do it. Prioritize building the habit of writing every day; you’ll find yourself more motivated because it becomes like working out.
ABOUT ROCKY:
J. Rocky Colavito is nearing the end of a forty-plus year career of teaching college students English, Literature, Rhetoric, Film Studies, and Horror. His classroom journey has taken him from upstate New York, to urban and rural Arizona, to the bible belt of Louisiana, to the urban sprawl of Indiana. He started writing horror very early in life, took a long hiatus because of a bunch of different factors, and returned to it in 2017 courtesy of a random opportunity to teach a horror writing class. Out of that came the short story “Red Eye” (published in Dark Dossier), and the collection Can You Handle This, My Darling? (recently updated to Malevolent Micros). Participation in a writing group led to his first paid sales and the beginnings of his association with Buck Neighkyd, his first serial character whose adventures can be followed in Caveman Magazine and in the novel Creative Control (Buck’s Origin story). He has subsequently published in a variety of horror genres ranging from quiet to extreme. He is the author of the Neo-giallo series (five works, and counting), the stoned cryptids series (inspired by Cocaine Bear, two books forthcoming in 2024), and professional wrestling adjacent horror (also forthcoming in 2024). He hails from Western New York, but calls Tucson, Arizona his adopted home. When he’s not curating his social media and dealing with his classes and grading, he follows local professional wrestling, the writings of a special group of author friends, and practices the arts of cooking and puzzle solving courtesy of the New York Times.