Coming soon to a bookstore near you
SYDNEY — A question from one of his children about 25 years ago took writer Richard Myerscough down a path that can be only described as both gory and literary.
“My son asked me if AIDS could be transmitted through a mosquito bite so I did some research into the subject,” Myerscough said in a recent interview with the Cape Breton Post.
In addition to learning that AIDS could not be transmitted this way and the fact he had just taken a course on writing for children, it inspired him to start writing a Goosebumps-type of story for his children who were just becoming interested in the horror genre. Goosebumps was a series of spooky books geared towards children in the 1990s that sold millions of copies.
He found his attempts at kiddy gore didn't go quite as planned.
Myerscough, 64, discovered as he kept writing, the story kept getting darker. It eventually reached the point where he wouldn't allow his children to read it.
“You've got to be a little mature to handle it,” he said. “I still consider my first book my PG version which is my interpretation of it because there's no swearing in it … there's no sex, but there is a lot of violence. A lot of violence. So I refer to that as my PG version.”
After 13 revisions, by 2013, he felt confident enough to have that first novel, “Bat Blood - The Devil's Claw,” published by Friesan Press, a Canadian self-publishing entity.
Since then, he's written three more books, including two followups to the first book and a mystery, “Author - A Murder With A Twist,” his most recent, that he wrote in a mere eight weeks although he did spend about nine months on subsequent revisions. He is currently working on a third volume to the Bat Blood series which he hopes to have ready sometime in 2022.
His books tend to be gruesome with plenty of violence.
PUBLISHING COMPANY
He's created his own publishing company for all his books, Fighting Roosters Press, and uses Ingram Publishing Services based in the U.S. He says he can't be bothered to go the mainstream publishing route since they only want to deal with writers who have agents and you can only get an agent if you have a proven sales record.
Using self-publishing and marketing services, he's managed to sell his books around the world including Russia, India, Italy and the U.S. Until now, Myerscough's books have been selling through online giants like Amazon and Barnes and Noble but he will soon have all four of his horror-oriented books for sale at Mayflower Mall's Indigo bookstore.
Although he has signed the occasional book, to date, Myerscough has never done a book launch or even a book signing, something he hopes to soon change, once COVID fears and restrictions lessen.
Originally from Brantford, Ont., Myerscough moved to Cape Breton in 2005 after the store where he worked closed and the owner gave him the option of coming with him to Cape Breton to work as a manager at the Sydney Canadian Tire store. He's worked there ever since as the seasonal manager, looking after the department that brings in items according to the time of year, such as lawn mowers in the summer and shovels for winter.
He lives in Sydney Forks where he keeps his writing and his work in retail entirely separate from each other. When he's in writing mode, he's spending as much time, if not more, researching his books.
“I write gory stories but I have to write something that I can believe is plausible,” the former lab technician said. “I don't believe in zombies or ghouls or vampires. I don't believe aliens are going to be coming to Earth and doing strange things to us — they got other stuff to do. I don't believe in any of that. I feel man is the biggest monster on Earth so why not make him the bad guy? This is why I am very conscientious about my research.
“I have to believe what I am writing is plausible.”
Despite his output and subject matter, Myerscough will be the first to admit he's not making a fortune — but to him, that doesn't matter.
“If you want to get into writing to make money, look elsewhere. Writers write because they have to. I write for me.”