Local teacher Jeremy Mays credits RLC with early encouragement for budding writing career

INA, Ill. - It’s one thing to curl up in a comfy chair and read a good horror story. It’s another thing entirely to write one. English teacher Jeremy Mays of Mt. Vernon has just started down his path to authorship, and with two short horror stories already in print, Mays credits some of his early success to his education at Rend Lake College.

Mays started his education at RLC in 1992, focusing on getting a general associate degree before transferring to Eastern Illinois University with the goal of becoming an English teacher. He currently holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with Teacher Certification degree and Master of Arts in Educational Administration degree. The Woodlawn native is now teaches at Mt. Vernon Township High School (MVTHS) as the Communication Arts Department Chair and part-time at RLC in ACT preparatory classes. The ’94 grad says the culmination of several instructors, classes, and projects at RLC pushed him in the right direction.

Jeremy Mays uses his outgoing personality and unique teaching skills in his classroom at MVTHS to encourage his students.

“I used to write fantasy stories when I was younger. All of my friends wrote about knights and dragons, adventure things. Then I got more into horror writing and started playing around with it,” said Mays. “Dr. Barbara Luchsinger taught mythology when I first attended Rend Lake, and one of the assignments was for me to write my own myth. Well, I wrote one and she made me read it to the class, and I got really into that.”

Two other professors, Scott Tietz and the late Mike Mullen, made big impacts on his collegiate career. Former English Professor Mullen encouraged Mays to publish his writing with the college newspaper, then called the RLC Times.

“The first time I was published in the RLC Times was a letter to the editor. I had a teacher at RLC who was part-time and wanted to be hired on full-time. He was a phenomenal teacher who cared about his students and his classes,” said Mays. “He was very distraught and was sure his job would end at the end of the semester. I did some researching, interviewing, and wrote a letter. After my letter, Mike Mullen approached me about writing for the paper.”

His first published story in the Times was about a band named Smoked Stacked Lightning, whose members lived in Dahlgren and attended RLC. Tietz, a former English instructor, Communications Department Chair, and Vice President at RLC, encouraged Mays to look to the future with his hobby, echoing Mullen’s sentiments.

“Mike invited me onto the staff at Rend Lake, and I took a class with him and joined the newspaper for two years,” said Mays. “I also took a short story class with Tietz and he helped me get to that next level. He really pushed me to pursue writing.”

Thanks to two inspiring instructors at RLC, Mays says his favorite class at MVTHS is creative writing because it offers him the chance to return the favor to his students.

“I worked my way up the ladder to get this class, because I wanted to extend my love of writing to my students and provide them similar encouragement that I received from my high school and college teachers,” said Mays. “We are putting together an anthology at the end of the year with their work. I want them to have the opportunity to experience what it feels like to be published.”

"I just enjoy writing. It’s not just a hobby to me, but it’s something I feel I have to do."
- Jeremy Mays, RLC English alumni

Mays’ first short story to be published is titled “I Walk” and can be found in the Temporary Skeletons anthology published by Chupa Cabra House. More recently, two more of his fiction pieces have been published: “Midnight Rendezvous” in James Ward Kirk Publishing’s Terror Train anthology and “Let Us to Billiards” in Horrified Press’ Twisted. He expects to have several more pieces printed soon, including “Onyx” in Werewolves, Vampires, and Shape Shifters by Horrified Press, “The Hunted” short story in Horrified Press’ Wildwood, and five tales in an anthology called Tales from the Blue Gonk Café, also by Horrified Press.

“Tales from the Blue Gonk Café is a flash fiction anthology, so all the pieces are 500 words or less,” explained Mays. “It’s a very different anthology where the authors are sitting in a café eating and telling horror stories to one another. My pieces are ‘A Fine Collection,’ ‘The Basement,’ ‘Frozen Thoughts,’ ‘Trotline,’ and ‘Do You Want Fries with That?’”

With inspiration from early literary influences, such as authors Stephen King, Richard Matheson, and Edgar Allan Poe, Mays says many of his story ideas come from his day-to-day life.

“I get my ideas from the world around me,” said Mays. “I like to people watch and use a great deal of ‘what if’ type scenarios. The world is filled with story ideas and characters, you just have to take the time to look and listen.”

On the side, Mays is putting together an anthology of his own featuring one story with each of his eleven children as the main character, plus one about himself and his wife Jessa. This “baker’s dozen” anthology spawned from one of his daughters and a special birthday request.

“She told me she wanted me to write a story with her in it for her 10th birthday, and I was very excited to do something like that. It’s a pretty awesome request,” said Mays. “Now, several of the other kids have asked for the same thing, so I thought I’d put them all together.”

As if his plate isn’t already full, Mays is also working on a couple of novels, and he and his wife are working on a children’s book.

“I just enjoy writing. It’s not just a hobby to me, but it’s something I feel I have to do,” said Mays. “I’m the oldest of 20 to 25 cousins, and I used to tell them scary stories. I was always the storyteller. Now I’m just in a habit of writing them down. I’m so happy that people are reading my stuff now.”

In the future, Mays said he’s looking to have books published and dabble into film. All of his published works and on-goings can be found on his Wordpress site: www.jeremylmays.wordpress.com.

For more information about Rend Lake College, visit www.rlc.edu.