‍1. Have you always been a writer?
That is an interesting question. I guess I have been “writing” all my life with stories I created in my head. Even as a child, I used to create adventures and such with my imagination. It wasn't until over 13 years ago, that I started typing them out and really dive into the world of writing.

2. When did you realize that maybe writing was actually a "thing" you could do, get published and even sell?
When I had three poems accepted into a small press publication titled Radical Dislocations. When I held that small book physically in my hands and the reality hit, I thought, “Holy Crap! This is for REAL now!” You cannot beat the rush of getting published for the first time. That train left the station at that point, and the journey was on.

3. What was your first sale as a writer and how did it feel to sell your work?
It would have to be for an anthology titled Lustcraftian Horrors: Erotic Stories Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. Just seeing that first payment, not to mention sharing that anthology with such esteemed authors, left me speechless. It was a feeling I cannot describe when I actually made a sale on what my weird imagination conjured up.

4. How has writing helped you in other areas of life?

It is a sort of therapy for me. I went through some drastic life experiences years ago, and writing is one of the things that practically saved my life.

5. What was your biggest accomplishment as a writer?
Having a reader communicate to me how much they enjoyed my story, and how it inspired them to write one. That is a feeling that is hard to put into words.

6. Who has inspired you the most in the writing field?

Man, that is a loaded question. There have been so many through the years. Lovecraft, Poe, Richard Matheson, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury ... the list goes on and on.

7. What are some of the challenges you have faced as a writer and how did you overcome them?
Books. Reading and collecting them. Painting, crafting. I love to create. I feel when the writer's block hits, I have to step away and create something. It kind of reboots my brain, and when I go back to the story I was working on, I come back to it with fresh eyes or ideas on how to complete it.

8. What is the best writing advice you have ever received and why do you feel it is important?
Do not worry about the damn word count. Just write the story.

9. What sort of writing do you do now?
What I have always done. Weird fiction, horror, erotic horror. I would like to try my hand at science fiction one day.

10. Where can we find some of your work online?
My website:
Rick Powel Author

11. What advice do you have for aspiring writers thinking of taking the leap of getting their work published?
Get a good editor. Get a good network. Keep writing and learning every step of the way. Do not be afraid of rejections or if your work is not good enough. We all have a story within us.

12. What are your final thoughts about being a writer?
Write for yourself. Write for the pure love of it. Writing has introduced me to a whole new world and new friends. It is grueling and painful at times, but the sheer joy of finishing a story or poem, cannot be matched. You created something no one else has. A part of yourself that you did not know existed. It is a piece of yourself that you leave behind long after you are gone. That is true immortality.

ABOUT RICK:
Rick Powell lives in Oak Forest, Illinois. He is a lover of horror and dark fiction and his poetry and stories have appeared in numerous publications including Bon Appetit: Stories & Recipes for Human Consumption, The Ladies & Gentlemen of Horror 2014 & 2017, Infernal Ink Magazine, and Lustcraftian Horrors: Erotic Stories Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. His poetry books consist of the titles My Soul Stained My Seed Sour and More Regrets Than Glories. He also has a collection of short stories titled A Vault of Whispers, and most recently A Glimpse Beyond the Veil.