Dark Veil Society - David Parkinson

The Dark Veil Society is a collective of independent horror authors united by a shared love for the eerie, the unsettling, and the unknown. Founded by a group of self-published writers, we are storytellers who breathe life into nightmares and find beauty in the macabre. Our mission is to craft tales that linger long after the last page, to champion the dark corners of fiction where others fear to tread, and to uplift the voices of fellow creators walking this shadowy path.

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Interview

Tell us who David Parkinson is.

That's a tough question; I’m not sure myself most days. Seriously though, I’m just a working-class lad from London who was a little different as a kid, who liked to read, and whose imagination has never known how to take a day off. I’ve tried on a lot of different hats over the years – I was a business manager for a while, and an analyst after that – but the only roles that have fit right have been being a father and a writer.

What are you currently working on? Can you tell us a bit about it?

I write in mad rushes of inspiration, so I currently have a stack of sixteen handwritten novellas and short stories staring at me, demanding to be typed up and whipped into shape. I’m working through them story by story, with the aim of putting out maybe one or two collections down the line.

As with my previous collections, The Tales of Terror and Torment, each story is completely different from the last. I don't enjoy treading old ground. There’s an altered-states story; a cultist tale set in a shopping centre; a Gen X sex-and-submission story; a wild cosmic horror; a twisted zombie whodunnit; a saga set at the end of time, and so on.

What is most difficult about building your brand?

I value my work and believe in it, but I struggle to play the promotional game. I don’t enjoy marketing at all. I’m not, nor have I ever been, a salesman. It’s necessary, though, so I’ll work on it, get better, learn what brings in readers, what doesn’t, etc., but I’ll never feel comfortable doing it.

For all my whinging, I will say there have been plenty of positives. Writing is a solitary pursuit for the most part, but through my attempts at marketing I’ve made amazing friends in the indie space, read fantastic books by authors I wouldn’t otherwise have found, and discovered a thriving community of like-minded people.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

The trite answer is from everything and everyone. I’m of the Alan Moore school of thinking on this: that art is, like magic, the science of manipulating symbols, words or images to achieve changes in consciousness. I think I’m just wired with that shamanic trait. Stories come to me organically, drawn from simply experiencing the world. It also helps that I’m naturally curious. Most of the writers I admire are like that, I think.

How do you make time to for personal projects around your other commitments?

I suffer from bipolar disorder. My moods change rapidly. One of the ways I try to manage it, to keep it under some semblance of control, is to have a fixed routine. I plan everything, and that has helped me organise my time effectively. I’m also particularly good at saying “no” if I don’t want to commit to something.

What do you need in your workspace?

My setup is pretty simple: pens, paper, notebooks, and a PC. I try to keep my space orderly to reduce distractions. I also have my desk right beside my window. Our house is halfway up a hill, so I get plenty of natural light, and we have a pretty spectacular view of the city.

What piece of horror has been the most inspirational for you as a horror author?

At the ripe old age of thirteen, I’d already watched plenty of horror before I saw it, but Don’t Look Now, the 1973 film by Nicolas Roeg, starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, was the first film that genuinely terrified me. I stayed up all night, too disturbed to sleep, going over every scene of the movie in my head, and I remember thinking, “I want to do that.” It wasn’t until later in life that I actually started writing, but that movie was the genesis of it.

What has been the most difficult scene you’ve written? Why was it difficult?

Not a scene specifically, but rather a series of them. In the first half of my novella Man-Tiger, the protagonist, Neville, goes through each day in pretty much the same fashion as the one before. It was a challenge and a risk writing repetitive chapters with only minor variations, hoping readers would stay with the story as it slowly came to a boil, but it was essential to do it that way – to better immerse the reader in Neville’s worldview. It was one of the few stories I didn’t handwrite first and, by far, the most difficult story I’ve ever written.

Have you ever written something that changed the way you think about the world?

I don’t think so, but I’ve certainly read plenty of books that influenced my way of thinking. The themes in my own stories are often attempts to explore unusual ideas, so I usually begin writing with a clear intention. If I could pick a story that came closest, it would be Sentient, my philosophical sci-fi horror. Huge questions about the purpose of existence are asked in that story, and my own views on life’s meaning were thoroughly tested.

What advice would you give to others?

Know the rules, then do what you want. That, and actually just get on with it. Write things. Finish them. Move on and write some more.

Do you have any other talents or hobbies?

Tell us about yourself! I love to draw. I’m not talented; I lack a professional’s polish, but I’ll happily scribble scenes and characters all day long. Half my notebooks are full of silly little sketches. I’m also a footie fan (soccer) and have supported Liverpool FC all my life.

How do you develop your characters?

Are any of them based on people you know? I’m more of an ideas guy, so I tend to develop characters around the story’s central themes. Once I know the kind of person I need, I’ll create them and then flesh them out a bit afterwards. Character studies are a different animal, like Neville from the aforementioned Man-Tiger. For him to work, I had to develop a full backstory, his personal history, if you like. Only then could I begin his story. As for whether any of my characters are based on people I know, I’d say rarely and never fully. Some of my characters are odd amalgamations of people in my life – little traits or behaviours combined from different individuals.

What is your dream project you hope to complete?

I have a ridiculously huge sci-fi/horror novel mapped out in my head with characters, scenes, and plotlines all jotted down in my notebooks. It will likely be the longest, richest, most involved thing I’ve ever written, but it will take me months to write, and I still have those sixteen stories to finish up first.

See more of David and his novels HERE.