Russ Williams
 Official Website

 Novelist, Screenwriter & Poet

About the Author     

Russ

Russ Williams is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. During the 1970s, he received a bachelor's degree from the George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he studied English, music and education. In the same decade, he completed a bachelor's degree in journalism and broadcasting at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri. He received a master's degree in communication from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, near Chicago, in 1981.

While in his 20s, he lived in Appalachia for several years and worked variously as a school teacher, professional musician, restaurateur, and bookstore manager. Williams was also lifestyle editor with The News Chief (daily) in Winter Haven, Florida, during the early 1980s. He has worked as a technical writer for the computer industry and now does a variety of free-lance writing.

He was married during the 1970s and has a son, John Mark, who lives with his wife, Jennifer, and teaches language overseas. Williams is also the proud grandparent of a delightful baby grandson, Jake.

Currently, he resides in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, after having lived in Los Angeles for many years. His favorite pastimes include music (all kinds, notably classical), film, walking/hiking outdoors, photography, the natural sciences, religion, and studies in myth and legend, especially the work of Joseph Campbell.

Williams has published short stories and poetry in regional literary magazines, Arkenstone, the Ozark Review and The Epiphany. His teleplay "Shy's Hill," based on a Civil War theme, was produced in connection with the PBS television station in Springfield, Missouri. Williams was a journalism intern with Sojourners magazine in Washington, D.C., during the summer of 1979. For Sojourners, he wrote an article on the politics of Pat Robertson that predicted Robertson's run for the presidency a decade later. The article included a personal interview with the future candidate.

Also a screenwriter, Williams wrote the script for the independent film The Last Year (2002), which received select theatrical release and excellent critical reviews. The film is currently available on DVD.

If you want to buy a copy of The Last Year, through Wolfe Video, click here.

The Night Hunter is Williams' first published novel, in 1990. It has since been rereleased by another publisher. He has written four others: The Sword and Chalice (1981), Fall of the Sparrow (1986), What Gift, Oh Father, Father (1995), and Past Help and Grief (1998). By popular demand, The Night Hunter is now still in print, in electronic and paperback editions.

If you want to buy a copy of The Night Hunter, through Barnes and Noble, click here.

Though Williams' stories contain strong elements of horror and suspense, he calls his writing style "Gothic realism." His stories are realistic and character-centered. His subject matter, though rooted in the everyday and ordinary, contains overtones of other, supernatural worlds. In the course of his narratives, these alternative realms rapidly collide with and soon dominate ordinary life. However, in the end, often the reader must determine what is real and what comes from "beyond."

Williams writes in the Gothic tradition of such literary figures as Charlotte and Emily Brontë, Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, H.P. Lovecraft, Flannery O'Connor, and William Faulkner. These are his favorite literary authors. His work also shows influences from the Latin American "magical realists," especially Gabriel García Márquez and Miguel Ángel Asturías. Poetic imagery and rhythm infuse his writing style, so much so that his narratives could easily be called "poetry in prose." Most likely, this results from his love of and extensive work in music.

Currently, Williams continues his efforts in creative writing. His home in Petaling Jaya is near the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. However, his primary literary efforts now focus on his poetry, which he is publishing in the blog on this site (click here for his blog). He is also seeking the production of his latest horror screenplay, set in Malaysia, and beginning work on a new novel.

 

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