My name is Jay Lemming and I’m an author living in Montgomery County, Maryland.
I write young adult horror (YA horror) fiction, blending elements of coming-of-age stories with the fantastic and the supernatural. I’m a big believer that a lot of what characters (and readers) experience in horror fiction is a reflection of fears and concerns from their real lives. A monster, vampire or dragon may represent some real source of uncertainty or vulnerability they are dealing with.
For example, in the opening scene from my first YA novel, a 12-year-old boy is scrambling up a mountain in the grip of some unspeakable dread. Branches snap in the forest beneath him, as though some malevolent force is in dogged pursuit. Then the noise of fallen branches turns into the thunder of a full tree crashing to the ground. Jessie can just barely see the trunk slicing down through the air as it topples to the earth hundreds of yards behind him. Whatever creature is back there isn’t far behind. Did I mention it is dusk? And did I mention that this is the moment when arms with clawing hands begin crawling out of the ground, attached to god-knows-what creatures under the hard dirt?
That scene will soon be available for free. Stay tuned!
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
