This week, I’m thrilled to showcase Arjay’s fascinating interview. It was a true pleasure to receive this written interview because Arjay has led a fun-filled, extraordinary life. Goes to show that the path to being an author isn’t always the road most traveled, or even sort of traveled. It’s YOUR path and the way YOU have traveled it. Let’s give some applause to Arjay.
Mackenzie Kiera | LOTF: Would you tell us a little about yourself? Where are you in the world and what is it like?
Arjay Lewis: I have been a professional magician and entertainer for over 45 years. I started as a street-performer back in the 1970s. I was seen by a casting director for the Broadway show BARNUM in 1980, and did that show for two years. I have gone on to perform at casinos, cruise ships and private events and made a good living. Now I live in New Jersey with my wife, author Debra Snow, in a 170 year old farmhouse last updated about 120 years ago. I spend a lot of time upgrading my home one room at a time.
MK | LOTF: When in your life did you start to get into horror?
AL: I actually can give you the exact date, June 19, 1999. I started writing a short story called, THE DARK, about a night guard who saw things in the dark that were actually there. That story eventually sold to the HP Lovecraft Magazine of Horror. I had never written horror before, and I found it odd I was attracted to it. The next day I found out that Stephen King had been hit by a truck and was in the hospital. I got an odd feeling that there was something that wanted that story to be written, and since King couldn’t do it, it ended up with me. That concept led me to write the novel, THE MUSE, about a serial killer author with a symbiotic creature that moved from person to person. Since then I have written three horror novels, along with the other genres I write in.
MK | LOTF: What was the first thing you remember writing and how old were you?
AL: I remember writing a puppet show when I was 16, and went on to write plays and screenplays for years afterwards. I have several mentors who were writers and I starting writing short stories and novels in the 1990s.
MK | LOTF: A lot of people have been having a hard time finding their creative muse this past year. How has your experience been?
AL: My output has been reduced a bit. I only put out 3 books last year as opposed to 5 in 2019. However, the quality of my writing has improved immensely. I recently started to work with a new editor, and she challenges me in ways that force me to improve as an artist and writer.
MK | LOTF: Do you have any upcoming projects you would like to discuss? Tell us about The Vanishing.
AL: THE VANISHING is a new angle on the legends of the famed Jersey Devil combined with well-rounded characters and an exciting storyline. I did research in the Pinelands of New Jersey right before the lockdowns began. I have several horror novel ideas and I will be working on them in 2021.
MK | LOTF: Which (or which one(s)) classic book have you NEVER read and don’t intend on reading? (Think, like, Moby Dick, Wuthering Heights--that stuff)
AL: I tried to get through MOBY DICK, but after the chapter about “The whiteness of the whale” I lost interest. I fought my way through ULYSSES by James Joyce, but found it incomprehensible. However, I love Dickens. For a modern audience his stories start slow, but he truly was the Shakespeare of the Novel.
MK | LOTF: Do you have a favorite monster? And why have they stolen your heart?
AL: I have a soft space in my heart for Frankenstein’s monster. (Then again, I have played the character at private events. But my favorites are the ones I come up with. For THE MUSE I created a symbiotic creature that could move from person to person and take control. For KEPT IN THE DARK, the novel I wrote based on my own short story, I came up with shadow creatures from another dimension. With THE VANISHING, it was folklore about the Jersey Devil and other famed Native-American monsters that were the focus. My personal favorite is the creature from THE MUSE, which is simply called “The Other.” It just wants to survive, despite the terrible things it does to each of its hosts.
MK | LOTF: and where can our listeners/readers find you?
AL: My books and audiobooks are available on Amazon, and of course you can visit my site at www.arjaylewis.com
Arjay Lewis (aka R.J. Lewis) is a multi-award-winning author, entertainer, and magician. He has experienced every level of show business from street-performing to Broadway.
Arjay’s novels have won over twenty-six awards. The Muse: A Novel of Unrelenting Terror, won 14 awards in the Horror category in book competitions. His urban fantasy novel, The Wizards Of Central Park West won 6 Awards including the coveted Eric Hoffer Award. He also is the author of the In The Mind series, which consists of ten novels with more to come.
Arjay’s published stories have appeared in H.P. Lovecraft Magazine Of Horror, Weird Tales, and Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine. He also has been published in the anthology The Lacy Curtain Between Life & Death.
He has collaborated on several films including: Down In Flames: The True Story Of Tony ‘Volcano’ Valenci, which has won seven Film Festival awards. His screenplay for Dummy (co-written with Pamela Wess) was the winning screenplay for the 2017 Garden State Film Festival.
He is married to the author of romantic mysteries, Debra Snow.