Interview with Robert Royal Poff, author of THE EMPTY SPACE BETWEEN THE STARS

 

I am super excited to introduce today's interview participant, Robert Royal Poff. I was unaware of their work prior to this year and I honestly think that's a crying shame. They have such a desxcriptive storytelling style and it's amazing! In this interview we primarily focus on two of their currently published books, CALL TO THE VOID: DEFINITIVE EDITION and THE EMPTY SPACE BETWEEN THE STARS. Please check trigger warnings for CALL TO THE VOID before reading it. Trigger warnings include: Gore, Death, Suicide, Mental Illness, Violence, Cannibalism, Abuse, Torture, Starvation

In this interview we talk about where they got the ideas for these stories, the surprise similarities between writing horror and romance, tips for writing descriptively, and what else they're working on. At the end of the interview, as always, you can find the links to purchase the books to own as well as links to follow Poff on their social media sites.    

⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜

How and when did you first get started with writing?

I first started in the fifth grade when a teacher utilized storytelling as a way to help me cope with my severe ADHD I was struggling with managing at the time while I was within a classroom setting. I wrote a short story about two bears fighting that she paraded around and had me read to the class which was my first time ever receiving positive feedback about something I did within school as I was used to struggling to maintain grades and get by. It gave me a sense of individualism I hadn’t had before as well as an outlet for my bustling mind.

That's awesome! I'm glad that that happened! Sounds like it was a good experience for you!
What inspires your writing? Where do you get the ideas for these stories?

My writing has been inspired by many things from movies, to novels, to day-to-day life. More specifically Call to the Void Definitive Edition was inspired by my fears in life, representing themes such as grief and living within dysmorphic views of the self. The titular story Call to the Void was inspired by The Happening, meanwhile stories like The Colours of Death were inspired by experiences with my therapist. The Empty Space Between The Stars reflects my more hopeful side. It was inspired in big part by the film A Silent Voice and the series Your Lie in April. I’ve always been obsessed with communication and specifically the way the human experience reflects the different ways in which we communicate.

Ooh that's amazing! I'm impressed by how much you've been inspired by as well as how you utilize these experiences and things to write your stories.
Your two books, CALL TO THE VOID: DEFINITIVE EDITION and THE EMPTY SPACE BETWEEN THE STARS, are quite different from each other. Can you give a brief description of the main focus of each of those books?

I think people underestimate just how similar romance and horror are when boiled down to their basic elements. The timing, the intense emotions, the suspense and buildup are all very similar so learning how to write one will actually improve your ability to create in the other space. I did both of these as reflections of two very different parts of myself that have very similar impacts and themes. Call to the Void Definitive Edition is the darker aspects of my personality, its main focus is stories of grief, loss, and self preservation at the hands of your own mortality. But, I think most importantly, the stories typically end slightly more positively than they started, the characters may not have happy endings but they have roads towards happier times. I wanted to reflect hope even in the face of such events. In The Empty Space Between the Stars there’s the same feeling where even if there isn’t a happy ending there’s a human ending, one that continues onward. With that collection the main theme was always communication, in one way or the other. How we as people interact and whether it be through sign language, a crack in a protective door, or through the legacy one leaves.

You've got me there. I never really considered the similarities between the storytelling elements used for these genres. It makes sense that they utilize similar elements but different personal aspects.
In your previous answer, you said that you wrote these to show two different parts of you. What made you want to do that? To explore those parts of you.

I always knew I wanted to be a horror author, the genre has always gravitated me towards it from the time I was young but I think a lot of genre authors get trapped within that genre by publishers and their audience. As I’m currently self publishing I wanted to establish myself as someone who could and would express themselves in whatever genre they saw fit. I see the darker stories as working through my issues/fears while on the other hand my lighter stories are more a breath of fresh air that highlights the happier sides of life. I feel like everyone’s trying to balance these two things, their darker and lighter sides so it’s always been interesting to me to explore.

That makes an astounding amount of sense! I'm glad you got to write in horror, the genre you've been pulled to, but that you were also able to write in whatever genre you'd like. That's amazing and I hope you never feel trapped to writing a certain genre.
I don't think many people would see the similarities in writing horror and romance. How did you come to realize how similar they were? Did you realize it before, during, or after writing these books?

I think studying the layout of both genres after boiling down the specifics that define each genre reveals the similarities. Everything from the slow build up of tension to the burst of excitement and little things in-between (for example: both genres center more heavily around the ambiance and emotional payoff of scenes than other genres) can be categorized and written similarly. I knew this going into my books from studying films and books in each genre extensively as they’re my two favorite genres to read/watch. I think the venn diagram of their similarities and differences are interesting to me.

That's amazing!
Where did you get the ideas for some of the other stories from?

I get a lot of my ideas through consuming media. For example Under Silent Sight started off conceptually as a ‘what if I wrote a Junji Ito like piece in my own style,’ kind of question. I was dealing with chronic insomnia at the time and was having hallucinations throughout the day and one of them was an eyeball outside my window that I thought would make a really neat story. As another example, The Other Side of Grandeur was a modern twist on a Lovecraft styled story. Meanwhile, The Empty Space Between The Stars started off as me recognizing that my biggest setback in writing was my inability to craft believable, well-rounded dialogue. I set out to practice through the various scenarios within that book so the jumping off point of each story is how can I craft a unique dialogue driven experience. Both sides of each concept creep into each other with fears like rejection finding a place in The Empty Space and more positive aspects like self acceptance finding place in Call to the Void.

Thank you for telling me more about the ideas that inspired these stories. I love hearing where authors get their ideas from!
Is there any specific thing you want readers to get after reading CALL TO THE VOID: DEFINITIVE EDITION and THE EMPTY SPACE BETWEEN THE STARS? Any messages or reminders or anything like that?

With Call to the Void Definitive Edition it may sound weird reflecting off such a dark and at times intentionally vile book but the core message I want readers to pull from it is that their own fears can be worked through and if not diminished at least reasoned with. Everyone has their own ways of fighting their internal demons, mine was making them external by writing them. I want the reader to discover their own way of dealing with their fears along the way. Every story in Call to the Void Definitive Edition is intentionally much larger than life, even the more mundane by comparison story The Tree With A Thousand Hands carries this big otherworldliness. I wanted to reflect fears in a way that wasn’t so lifelike so that my readers wouldn’t be bogged down in the sorrow of the stories and could take what they needed from them and leave what they didn’t. Meanwhile, for The Empty Space Between The Stars, I want readers to take away the importance of communication and hopefully add their interest to learning new things, whether that’s something palpable like picking up some sign language or just simply acknowledging the differences in others in a positive light. I wanted them to fall for my characters in the short time they’re with them and find a better understanding of themselves along the way.

That makes a lot of sense! I really hope readers understand the messages that you were trying to convey.
You've got a very descriptive writing style. Do you have any tips for others on how to write like that?

My biggest and best tip would be to picture every scene like you’re looking through a camera or directing a movie. I want the reader to experience the same sensations as if they’re watching a film. How does it smell? Taste? What’s around you and the characters? Put yourself into the scenery and really feel out each scene before writing it. Sometimes it even helps to draw it out or find reference photos and study them or dig into your own memories and pull from similar experiences.

That makes so much sense! That's honestly an amazing way of looking at writing descriptiveness. Thank you so much for sharing!
Are you currently working on any other writing projects?

I’m currently in the editing stage for my first novella, currently titled Sleeping Among Wolves, that will combine my knowledge I’ve gained from both of my collections as it is a horror romance story. Set in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-adjacent world where an infection is tearing through society and causing normal everyday people to develop an insatiable hunger for living flesh enough to drive them to kill, Atlas must get his boyfriend Moose across the country to a safe zone in Pennsylvania all the while slowly turning from the infection. In this LGBTQ+ road trip styled story I basically combined ideas from stories like 28 Days Later with ones like Call Me By Your Name to craft a nightmarish take on topics such as addiction, ostracization, and the dangers that come with complete and total love. I wanted it to be equal parts disturbing horror and beautiful romance.

Ooh, that novella sounds absolutely amazing! I look forward to eventually being able to read it. Good luck with your editing! I can't wait for the book to come out.
Thank you so much to Robert Royal Poff for participating in this interview.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜

You can find Robert Royal Poff on TikTok and Twitter.

You can buy Robert Royal Poff's books from Amazon.

If you can't buy their books but you still want to read them, consider requesting them to your local library or suggesting them on Overdrive!