Thomas Gaffney was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He fell in love with horror and storytelling while reading a beat-up copy of Stephen King’s IT. Gaffney survived 12 years of Catholic school before embarking on several careers–including computer programmer, barista, and account manager–while writing in his spare time. His collection of short stories, Stranger Things Have Happened, was a 2020 Book Excellence Award winner for Horror, a 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Award finalist for E-Book Fiction, and a 2019 New Apple Literary official selection for Short Stories. Much like Henry Bemis in the Twilight Zone episode “Time Enough at Last,” Gaffney considers himself a bookish little man whose passion is the printed page. He currently lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife and spends too much time and money in random coffee shops.
1. How long have you been writing and what got you started?
I’ve been writing for over twenty years, but the first half of my writing journey was nothing just starts & stops and forgotten manuscripts. What got me going was re-reading Stephen King’s IT. It’s a masterpiece, on top of being the scariest book I ever read, and it made me want to tell my own stories.
2. What is the best piece of advice you have for new writers?
Finish something. Even the shortest story. You never know how to finish something, or if you can finish something, until you do. Completing my first short story is what helped me go from incomplete/forgotten manuscripts to completed stories and a finished (still being edited) novel.
3. What is your favorite type of fiction and who are your favorite authors?
Horror. Horror all day long. I grew up on Stephen King before discovering the genius of Shirley Jackson. I also like John Saul, Joe Hill, and Dean Koontz’s scarier novels.
4. Are you an outliner or discovery writer? Or somewhere in between?
In between. I’ve tried flying by the seat of my pants and I always end up losing the plot somewhere in the middle. I write a general outline of each chapter, to keep me focused and so I know where I’m going, but I don’t always stick to it. I let my characters do their own thing.
5. How do you deal with rejections?
I started with printing out all my rejection letters and hanging them on a corkboard as my “Wall of Motivation” to get better. After awards and positive reviews came in, I plastered over my rejection letters with good news. I still get rejections, but now I just shrug them off. Horror and short stories aren’t everyone’s cup of tea.
6. In your opinion, how important is a writing degree or MFA when it comes to achieving success in writing fiction?
I don’t believe it’s mandatory. But I HIGHLY recommend at least a writing degree. I self-published my first collection of short stories without either a writing degree or MFA, and it’s won a few awards. But I’ve gone back to school since for a bachelor’s in creative writing and my classes have helped so much. You don’t know what you don’t know. And there was a lot I found out I didn’t know.
7. Do you participate in any online or in-person critique or writing groups?
At the moment, I do not. When I worked for Barnes & Noble, a group of us baristas got together every Sunday and would offer writing prompts as well as read/critique each other’s works. I loved it, and I miss being a part of one. Very helpful. Shout-outs to Vicki, Candace, Tiara, and Stewart!
8. What are your writing goals for the next twelve months?
I’m working on the first draft of a horror novel tentatively title DIE. It’s about a cursed/haunted artifact. So far, this story flows easier than anything I’ve ever written. I’m hoping to have the first draft done (and maybe edited) in the next twelve months.
9. What book(s) are you reading right now?
I just finished the first book of The Witcher series, cause the Netflix show was awesome, and now I’m reading Dan Simmons’ Hyperion. I also have started Joe Hill’s Full Throttle and need to get back into that.
10. Is there anything you’d like to plug? Feel free to share a link.
You find my website at www.thomasgaffney.com and you can get all my social media links from there. Also, you can find my self-published collection of short stories from 2017 on Amazon (eBook or paperback) here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07585W5BL and it’s also on Apple, B&N Nook, Kobo, and Smashwords.
