Donald Ray Pollock spent 32 years working in the Mead paper mill at Chillicothe, Ohio. His father retired from that same paper mill after working there for 40+ years. Pollock figured he would do the same. Then he had another idea.
Pollock decided to try to become a writer. In 2008 he published his first book, a collection of short stories he named "Knockemstiff." Pollock was inspired by memories of growing up in a little southern Ohio community known as Knockemstiff. Pollock visited the Book Nook in 2008 to talk about it and he mentioned that he had begun working on a novel, a story about a serial killer.
He has just published it. "The Devil All The Time" is what Pollock describes as "gothic hillbilly noir." In this interview he talks about his writing process and the journey which has taken him from that factory to the quiet attic in Chillicothe where he creates his work.
