An Interview with Robert Devereaux
Interview conducted c. early 2010s
Introduction
Robert Devereaux is a horror and dark fantasy writer best known for Santa Steps Out and a body of work that blends the grotesque, the erotic, and the satirical with emotional intensity. His fiction frequently juxtaposes the fantastical with raw human experience, favoring provocation, risk, and imaginative excess over restraint or convention.
This interview was conducted during a period when Devereaux was articulating a fiercely personal philosophy of storytelling rooted in voice, instinct, and imaginative freedom. The conversation explores idea generation, character desire, minimal outlining, and an unapologetically visceral approach to narrative construction.
Devereaux’s responses reveal a writer who treats storytelling as both craft and confrontation. He privileges spontaneity over polish, emotional truth over decorum, and a willingness to offend in service of authenticity.
This interview is preserved as part of the Better Storytelling Archive, documenting the voices and working methods of contemporary genre creators.
RobertDevereaux_Interview
The Interview
Life as a Writer
How did you get into writing?
Reading and writing have always danced together for me. Fourth grade was the turning point, when I discovered the local library and the work of Heinlein, Bradbury, and others. Around the same time, I wrote my first story for school, inspired by what I was reading. From there, writing never really stopped.
When did you first realize that you have what it takes to be a writer?
You know it early. Doubt exists, of course, but the drive persists. As you submit work, receive acceptance, and find your voice strengthening, that early certainty is reinforced. You keep going, taking risks and growing.
Premise
Where do you get your ideas from?
From imagination unleashed, roaming freely through lived experience and the fantastic. Ideas are everywhere, but the ones that matter are those that refuse to let go. If you can get two such ideas to collide in one piece of work, you’re in rare territory.
How do you develop your ideas into a story?
I understand my characters and what they want, feel the tone of the piece, choose a point of view, and sense the overall direction. From there, I move forward and see what emerges.
Genre
What kind of stories do you enjoy working with?
Stories grounded in emotions everyone recognizes, paired with fantastical elements that engage the dreamer in all of us.
What genres would you like to explore in the future?
At this stage, genre matters only insofar as it serves as a doorway into more interesting material.
Structure
Do you work from an outline?
For short fiction, only the barest outline. For novels, yes—using a top-down approach that clarifies chapter structure and scene purpose. The outline frees me to go wild within each scene.
Plot
How do you build your story?
Word by word, trusting spontaneity and revision.
Character
For you, what makes a great hero?
Someone flawed, with hidden power, strong appetites, and the capacity to change others. Generosity helps.
If one of your characters were to describe you, what would they say?
A cautious man who takes risks on the page; a friend to humanity who grieves for its missed chances; a mind that might inspire sympathy, terror, devotion, or disrobing—depending on who’s looking.
Setting
How much time do you spend researching the setting for your stories?
Very little. I establish just enough detail to allow the reader’s imagination to complete the picture.
What settings would you like to explore in the future?
Places shaped by indulgence and excess.
Theme
Do you like to know the purpose of your story before you sit down to write it?
There is always a thematic core, though it’s rarely rigid. Around it spins a freedom to explore whatever sparks along the way.
Dialogue
Do you have any favorite lines from your stories?
Dialogue should be simple or savory. If characters talk too much without acting, they’re dismissed.
Writing Process
Do you have a routine?
I write at home, often on the couch, with birdsong outside. Music is unnecessary. A coffeehouse may call next.
How do you deal with writer’s block?
I push through it one word at a time. Other kinds of block can go hang.
Story Development
How do you go about fixing a story?
If the problems are major, I abandon it. If minor, I polish until it gleams. I don’t believe in salvaging broken work through endless patching.
How do you know when to stop?
Instinct tells me when the story has delivered all the psychic damage it can hold.
Words of Advice
What words of advice would you give to new writers?
Silence the inner editor and let your voice loose. Hone it, shape it, surprise us, and practice your particular magic. And if possible, save the world.
Final Thoughts
What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?
Santa Steps Out: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups.
What are you working on now?
The third—and possibly final—novel in the Santa series.
Closing
This interview captures Robert Devereaux’s commitment to storytelling as an act of liberation rather than compliance. His reflections emphasize voice, instinct, and imaginative audacity, offering a perspective shaped by risk-taking and resistance to convention.
Presented here as part of the Better Storytelling Archive, this conversation preserves a voice that treats fiction as both provocation and possibility.