Welcome back Roomies, did you have a fun tour of the graveyard last episode? You know they imposed a curfew for a reason… really it’s to keep the ghouls in at night.
But I’m glad to have you back with us celebrating another horror as we take a long walk towards this week’s episode, ‘All For Me’ by Dave Lasota.
GR: Welcome back to The Grey Rooms Dave, this is your second tour in the rooms. Last season we had the ghostly tale, ‘Reunited’, that kept people as far away from the pool as possible. Have you been writing for a long time?
DL: Regularly – about 2.5 – 3 years but I have always been a storyteller. My first career was working in and managing bars. You get a lot of great stories from and about the guests.
GR: I’m sure you’ve heard many crazy tales amongst the bar scene, what was it that pushed you from listening to other people’s stories and got you into writing?
DL: Always had a bug to write, just never committed to putting pen to paper. I love to read, so wanting to write my own stories was something that was just there. I dipped my toe into fantasy writing briefly in college, but it never took off.
GR: There are some parallels between the fantasy and horror realms, though- you ask anyone around here and they will always vote for horror. Do you have a favorite kind of horror?
DL: This is tough because I really do love all sub-genres of horror. But if I had to pick my wheelhouse so to speak, it would have to be a good ghost story or possession. Something that makes me really think about reality and the existential dread that comes from something that is out of your control. But I’m also a sucker for a good old fashioned slasher too.
GR: Who doesn’t love an old fashion hack & slash. Now for the age old question- How do your story ideas come to you?
DL: Sacrificial offerings?
GR: As you’d expect from any of our Grey Rooms authors…
DL: Ideas come from all over really. Sometimes I use prompts, one came from a viral video, sometimes just meditating on an idea generates a lot of possibilities. Life experiences, spitballing ideas in group chats. When the muse strikes, I just try to tune into what she’s telling me.
GR: I think a lot of young writers can get stuck in that rut of worrying about if an idea is good, or if it fits in a certain genre- following the muse and just writing seems to be the best piece of advice we get from our authors. Would you agree with that? Or add anything else to inspire the community?
DL: Don’t get it right, get it written. So many times I have stared at the blank sheet/screen waiting for the perfect sentence to start the story and it stifled the entire process, never got a word down. Oh, and get outta your head. I do this all the time with ideas and talk myself out of writing it. Your idea isn’t dumb, it WILL be someone’s favorite. If I could put the Shia LaBeouf “Just Do It” gif here I would. Honestly, run with the idea, get it down, tune it up, and submit it.
GR: That’s the truth, get it written, get it out of your head and submit it. if you don’t submit it, you’ll never know what might happen or who might fall in love with your story. Especially submitting it to us here at The Grey Rooms *wink wink- we love reading new crazy stories!* What has it been like for you hearing your story produced, versus just having it published in its traditional form?
DL: Amazing. There is something added to the story with the ambient sounds, background music, and the passion the actors bring to the piece that makes the story come to life. As a writer I should be able to, but I really can’t put words to how it feels hearing this produced.
GR: I think you can always imagine the space the characters are “living in” but it’s always fascinating to HEAR that ambience around them. Listening to the characters come to life. Its always a fun part of the process for us to build those worlds. Speaking of new worlds- what projects are you working on now?
DL: Currently editing my first novel, doing some teaching, and I contribute and edit for Horrorbound.net where we cover everything from book reviews to true crime/real life horror stories. Oh, and anxiously anticipating Season 4 submissions.
GR: Thank you again Dave for taking the time to sit down and chat with us – I’ll eagerly be looking for your Season 4 submission. It’s been a lot of fun having you haunting the rooms.
If you’d like to hear more stories from Dave Lasota, you can take a peek behind the door and check out these episodes: Reunited
GR⊗
