Growing up as a product of the black civil-rights movement, I had a lot of different models for black weirdness, whether it's Richard Pryor or James Baldwin or Jimmy Walker.

Growing up devouring horror comics and novels, and being inspired to become a writer because of horror novels, movies, and comic books, I always knew I was going to write a horror novel.

I started writing in the '90s, so I was free to just have an eccentric career and not conform to some idea of what a black writer has to do. I didn't have the burden of representation.

For me, choosing between fiction and nonfiction is really only about picking the right tool for the job.

Although I performed in high school, my first real experience with theater was performing with a student-run organization at Vanderbilt University called The Original Cast where I learned that I loved performing and especially loved theater people.

I first learned how to do hair from drag queens. I learned eyelashes are the key to life, because they make everyone look fabulous.

It was a wonderful experience to live the life for a year; to spend all day doing Shakespeare and then do a play in the evening.

When I was younger, I thought you had to be in control of your own life. That takes a lot of discipline, hard work and focus. You just can't let it all fall by the wayside. Later on, I learned that God is really in control of everything. But you still have to put your best foot forward and be the best you can possibly be.