Amy Grech has sold over one hundred stories and three poems to various anthologies and magazines including: Apex Digest, Fear on Demand, Zombie CSU, and many others. Damnation Books will publish her second collection, Blanket of White, this September. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/amy_grech.

Muse: Amy, first of all, Whispers of the Muse welcomes you and Blanket of White to the site. Tell us a little about yourself. What part of the world do you live in? Tell us about your background?
Grech:  I currently live in Brooklyn, NY.  I'm in Manhattan all the time; NYC has inspired several stories in my collection, Blanket of White.  From the urban grittiness of the East Village, the trendy, Upper West Side, and the posh Upper East Side.

I started writing short stories in high school and started selling them in college.  I attended Ithaca College as an English/Writing Major.  Over the past 15 years, I have sold over 100 short stories to various anthologies and magazines including: Apex Digest, Fear on Demand, Funeral Party 2, Inhuman Magazine, The Book of Dark Wisdom, The Flash Fiction Offensive, The Horror Express, Space & Time, Zombie CSU, and many others.

Muse: Who are your favorite authors?
Grech: Old masters would be: Franz Kafka, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, and Mary Shelly.  Contemporary authors whose work I admire include: Gary Braunbeck, Stephen King, Joe Hill, Joyce Carol Oates, Monica J. O'Rourke, Weston Ochse, and Jeremy C. Shipp.

Muse: Why do you write?
Grech:  I've always been extremely creative; when I was a little girl, I loved to draw and paint. In high school, I started writing.  I have an overactive imagination, so writing is the perfect outlet!  There have been times where my muse has woken me up demanding that I jot down notes for the story I'm currently working on – my work is better for it.  It's a great feeling!

Muse: What is your writing regimen? How often do you work on a novel? Do you set daily time or word goals? What keeps you meeting your deadlines?
Grech:  I write for several hours every day; I find listening to music is a great way to jump-start my muse.  I try to write a thousand words a day, but if I've been doing research, or working from handwritten notes, I may fall short.  Dedication and a steady stream of inspiration keep me focused on my deadlines.

Muse: Does the way you personally look at life reflect in your writing style?
Grech:  Absolutely!  I write from my soul!  I have a knack for capturing humanity at its worst: incest, murder, treachery, technology gone awry, revenge are all common themes in my work.  I pull my readers in by making them care about the characters before all hell breaks loose!

Muse: What are the creative jumping off points for you? Are you inspired by dreams? Music? Nature? The occasional black nightmare? What triggers your imagination?
Grech:  Anything can trigger my imagination.  For example, if I see someone with an interesting tattoo on the subway, I will make some notes about it in the little notebook I carry with me everywhere.  That's how several of the characters in my story, Apple of My Eye came to have some interesting tattoos. Sometimes my dreams can be a springboard for story ideas. I've had dreams about several of my characters that have helped move the story along quite nicely.

Muse: Tell us about the stories in Blanket of White.
Grech:  The collection contains 14 short stories, including two never-before seen stories.  The books offers readers an eclectic mix of subtle horror stories, extreme horror and even some sci-fi.  Several stories are set in NYC.

Muse: What was your inspiration for this collection?
Grech:  Blanket of White was inspired by my fascination with man's ability to suffer, evolve, repent, forgive and love his fellow man, despite dire, circumstances ...

Muse: What is your favorite scene from the book and why?
Grech: From Apple of My Eye the scene where the father catches the eye doctor having sex with his daughter and exacts his own unique brand of justice … It’s a visceral climax!

Muse: Have you written other books?
Grech:  Yes, back in 2006 Two Backed Books published my first collection, Apple of My Eye.  The book contains 13 short stories, a blend of subtle horror and more extreme stories.

Muse: Tell us about your other books?
Grech:  Apple of My Eye went into a second printing, not bad for a first collection, but alas, Two Backed Books folded, so the book it out of print, making it a rare find.

Muse: How do you feel about the current publishing marketplace?
Grech: I think publishing, like every other industry, has been adversely affected by the recession, but authors with a good track record are still able to sell their work to publishers who believe they will turn a profit.