We chat with author Adam Cesare about Influencer, which is a tense and timely psychological thriller about a teen girl who begins to suspect the charismatic new kid may in fact be a murderous psychopath.
Hi, Adam! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi I’m Adam Cesare, I’ve been publishing for close to 15 years now in the indie/small presses, always horror fiction, and my first YA horror novel, Clown in a Cornfield, won the Bram Stoker Award, spawned two sequels (and counting), and is going to be a film real soon. I’m interested in the places horror cinema and horror literature intersect.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
Even before I could read and write I can remember using crayons and markers to make my own comics, but my love of horror started at an early age, entranced by the video rental section of our local supermarket.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: This is a toughie, definitely not the first but I remember my dad reading me the first issue of Spawn as a four or five year old, before I could confidently read all those words on my own.
- The one that made you want to become an author: In college I read Joe Lansdale’s The Drive-In, and I won’t say it’s the book that made me want to become an author, but I’ll say it’s the one that “gave me permission” to be an author. It was a book with big ideas and a preoccupation with film, and lots of gore and monsters, so really just everything I’m interested in. Great book.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: 6 months ago or so I read Coup de Grace by Sofia Ajram for a blurb and I can’t stop thinking of the (multiple) endings to that one.
Your latest novel, Influencer, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Really really really f*ckin’ sick.
What can readers expect?
My previous YA novels, the Clown in a Cornfield books, are slashers. So more for fans of stuff like Halloween and Scream. I wanted to stretch my muscles a bit and do something a little more… disturbing. This is the book for you if you’re a true crime junkie or serial killer documentary devotee. Although, maybe you won’t be afterwards.
Where did the inspiration for Influencer come from?
As the title implies, there’s a big social media element to the book. It’s about a sociopathic Instagram poet who thinks he’s the next coming of Charles Manson. And honestly, being an author in the 2020s puts me in that “sociopathic Instagram poet” mindset. The antagonist, Aaron, is very good at being online, and manipulating people, and I kind of hate how much I resonate with him, needing to be ‘very online’ to promote my books.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
In the Clown in a Cornfield books our protagonist, Quinn, arrives on the scene fully formed. She’s very competent, compassionate, and emotionally intelligent even before the horror starts. The protagonist in Influencer is kind of the opposite. Crystal, the girl at school who has to try and stop Aaron, is painfully insecure, anxious, and has to fight against these facets of herself… while also playing a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a serial killer.
What’s next for you?
My next book is called [CENSORED, seriously, it hasn’t been announced and I’d get in a lot of trouble if I said] and I can’t wait for people to check it out!
