Meet EV Knight | Bram Stoker Award winning Novelist & Physician

We had the good fortune of connecting with EV Knight and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi EV, what do you attribute your success to?
I think the most important factor in determining “success” is to define what that means to you. I discovered Stephen King novels when I was in sixth grade, after that, I wanted to be a published writer too. Of course I dreamed of being as popular and prolific as Mr. King, but I had other career goals as well. So, I was in my late thirties before I was really able to take the time to start writing. At that point, all I wanted was to write a novel, see it published, and hope that it resonated with a few fans. For me, that was success. I went back to school, got an MFA in Creative Writing. In that process, I met a lot of other writers in the horror field and attended a few cons. One in particular was put on by the Horror Writer’s Association, called StokerCon. They give out an award–The Bram Stoker Award–and the statue is a haunted house. When I saw that, I made it my goal. Success, at that point in my life, was to be acknowledged by my peers and win a “Stoker.” With that goal in mind, I wrote my first novel, The Fourth Whore, a complex, multiple story-line horror novel about revenge and redemption. That novel won the Stoker for Superior Achievement in a Debut Novel. Success. I’ve never made a ton of money from it, I’m certainly not well-known or a constant NYT Best Seller. I’ll never be in the same league as Mr. King or his contemporaries, but since then, I’ve published another novel, three novellas, and multiple short stories. I have a lot of friends in the horror writing community and a handful of fans/readers who tell me they enjoy my work. I’m successful.
I think we all tend to view “success” as a glittering pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, some rarely achieved feat reserved for an elite few. But when you personalize it and make it your own, you’ll find it isn’t hard to find at all, you just have to determine the direction and start walking.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I write horror. I’ve loved scary stories since I was a kid. My grandmother used to read me Grimm’s Fairy Tales when I was little and I always loved the creepy, grotesque ones best. I knew I wanted to write stories at a young age. But I also really wanted to be a doctor when I grew up, so writing/creativity took a back stage for a very long time. I worked very hard to graduate medical school, gave up most of my free time to reading and studying. What little time I did have was devoted to my family and raising my children. But deep in the back of my mind, this little creative spark burned like a pilot light just waiting for its chance to cook up something great. Once I’d established my practice in Women’s Health, and my kids were older, I decided to try my hand at writing again. It was not easy. It had been years since I’d taken a grammar course. I had story ideas but not the foundation for actually writing them. I made a decision to go back to school for an MFA while working full time and taking call as a physician. Yet again, I found myself giving up most if not all of my free time. I graduated and a year later, published my first novel.
Was it easy? Not at all. I felt like I was always working. There was no such thing as free time, I carried notebooks with me at work and tried to write between patients, I gave up weekends to write. I took my notes on vacations and worked late into the night or while the kids were playing. There were so many times I asked myself “Why don’t you quit writing? You have a good job, you don’t HAVE to do this. You’re the only one imposing this crazy schedule and stress on yourself.” But the thing was, I couldn’t quit. I had this drive, this need to create and if I tried to ignore it, it would take over my thoughts entirely. I’ve spoken to a lot of creatives who say the same thing. They have to create. It’s not something you can ignore.
Before my life as a writer began, I was never one to organize my life outside of work. I was always a go with the flow kind of person. I didn’t carry a purse, just threw my keys and some money in a pocket. I always forgot to take pictures because I was living in the moment. Now, though, I schedule everything. I have to if I want to continue to succeed in both aspects of my life. That’s my advice for overcoming the stress, the challenges of building a career/brand/etc. You have to organize and schedule your days to keep it all running smoothly. Make sure to schedule free time. I’ve found that if it is on the schedule, I don’t have to feel guilty about it and in those moments, I can still be the go with the flow gal I used to be.
While it has been extremely hard to balance a medical career with a writing career, I have found that having the medical background has helped me as a horror writer immensely. As a female horror writer, I tend to write a lot of feminist horror, I use strong female protagonists and villains. They’re well rounded characters who don’t need to constantly play the victim or simply be reactionary characters to male counterparts. That’s important to me and having the career in women’s health allows me to really understand women’s psyches and to write them from all sorts of different life experiences. My patients have taught me so much and I am forever grateful because I have built my brand based on the knowledge I’ve amassed in this field. I’m proud to by a female horror writer and it’s important to me to bring more “stand alone” female characters into the fictional horror universe.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I don’t live in Miami. I live in Savannah, GA. So I would take her to Bonaventure Cemetery because it’s gothic and peaceful and the sculptures are gorgeous. We’d go to Grave Face Museum because we’re both totally into the occult and true crime. In Savannah, drinks are “open carry” so I couldn’t possibly narrow it down to one or two bars. We’d probably hit a few of my favorites like The Bamboo Room Tiki Bar above Sorry Charlies and then grab an espresso martini at Circa 1875.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people who have contributed to my success as a writer. First and foremost, my mentor, Dr. Michael Arnzen. Mike is an amazing, award winning horror author who encouraged me every step of the way. I wouldn’t be where I am today without his help. His work inspired a lot of my writing and he became my “official” mentor when I went back to school at Seton Hill University for my MFA in Writing Popular Fiction. The publisher of both of my novels, Raw Dog Screaming Press who make you feel like a member of the family, who cheer you on always and have been a great support system throughout my journey as a writer.
Last but not least, my friends and family who put up with my constant brainstorming, insisting they help me with plot holes, and whining about deadlines. They are my biggest fans and I love them dearly.

Website: www.evknightauthor.com

Instagram: ev_knight_author

Twitter: @evknightauthor

Facebook: EV Knight