Chad Aaron Lehrmann Interview Published on: 01, Nov 2021

I grew up on a a ranch outside a small town in Central Texas. We raised sheep and cattle. Had horses for a bit- it was a great experience.

Definitely. Always liked darker stuff- Goosebumps as a young kid, but I aged out of them as a teen. I grew up before the big young adult fiction boom, so I dove straight into Stephen King. Loved It, but The Stand was and is my all time favorite. Also, Lord of the Rings- which was dark in itself.

Tons of Stephen King. The Shining and It from him. There’s a Christian horror author who put out some good horror like This Present Darkness. I find it hard to discover horror that actual scares me- but I enjoy looking for the ones that will shock me.

I believe it comes from the “social sciences” because history, geography, psychology and sociology are inherently social. They are about people and their interactions with others and their environment.

I started writing it around 16. That beginning eventually became the Sawyer Shepherd Chronicles. So much of the core concepts of that first “book” evolved into what I write now.

Book 4. Easily. It’s still now out because it’s in the editing and cover design stage. But it’s been a work in progress for almost a year now. But it’s coming soon. Promise.

My kryptonite is time- I still teach high school full time. It is very difficult to focus on writing when your brain has been processing all day. What inspires me is music- I love to write with music in the background. I’ve even started putting Spotify playlists in the books.

I think we all love to think about “the good old days.” But we often remember them more happily than what they actually were. Bane of Nostalgia is about the past coming back to haunt you in ways that ruin your rose colored view of childhood.

A good, dark, room with a wood or leather scented candle is a huge plus. And gotta have that music going. Love to write on cold, rainy days, too.

For me, it’s more about consistency in time than word goals. While I have general goals for word-count at the end of the book, I’d rather just try to write some each day and see where that takes me.

I think the key to writing a good scare is very different than showing a good scare. In writing, it’s about turning the safe and innocuous setting or situation into one that is filled with tension. Horror set in “safe” spaces like schools and churches and small towns seems to hit harder. Also, creating a sense of claustrophobia in the setting is good, too.

I struggle with this. I still believe the “don’t judge a book by its cover” mantra. I find the genre theme trend to be detrimental to getting good books out to readers. A good cover means you have the money to pay for a good cover, not that the book is good. So for me- the more simplistic the cover, the more authentic the cover- the better.

Short term decisions with long-term consequences. Both good and bad choices are made when you don’t think beyond the moment. Lots of students do this by taking on way too much too fast.

Killtown- my first pure horror book- is out right now- debuted October 23. Sawyer Shepherd 4- Fall of Man- will be out by the end of 2021.

I think it’s been a good place to get my name out. I wish I’d seen more of a boost in sales, but it’s still been a positive experience.