Interview with Author Michael Tyree
Interview with Michael Tyree
1. Thank you so much for joining me! Let’s talk a little bit about The Pale Horse, your short story collection. For those just learning about your work, can you tell us a little about this project?
The Pale Horse, my second collection, is made up of two novellas and four novelettes. It’s based on the mythology of The Reaper, and the deconstruction of death. Some stories have characters who meet an unfortunate end, but rather than pearly gates or brimstone, they are offered another chance as vengeful avatars. Other stories have you question the weight of taking a life. In Necessity, a young man is car jacked on his way home and forced to drive to a remote location. He makes a split-second decision that will change his life forever, whatever is left of it. A Glimpse of the Last Hours, the last novella, dissects the barrier between the living world and whatever mirrors that. It’s a surreal head trip, and the first story to begin tackling my universe’s mythology. TPH has some gruesome moments, but I leaned harder into the grief horror and social commentary with this one. I tell people, if they want to be emotionally wrecked, this is the one for them.
2. Out of the six stories, do you have a favorite?
My favorite in The Pale Horse is Cherrywood Hearts. That was the most difficult story to write, but I feel like it was worth the heartache. I’m happy with the ending. Sometimes stories end and I feel like I could have done more, but not this time. People messaged my after they read it, saying it gave them nightmares, brought them to tears, even rethought what they would do if they lost a loved one. My editor told me, even though he had already been through that story twice before, the third read through still gave him anxiety. As story tellers, all we could hope for is to get the desired emotional response from a complete stranger. It’s a rewarding feeling when it does happen.
3. Were any of the stories particularly challenging to write?
Going back to the previous question, the hardest story to write was Cherrywood Hearts. For starters, this story is pulled from a deeply personal event that I didn’t speak about often. A little over ten years ag, my wife had a miscarriage, on Valentine’s Day, as if it couldn’t be worse. If you take out the witches, golems, tree sex, and the fact that we’re both still alive, Cherrywood Hearts is the story of what happened to my wife and me.
Just like with any important, and difficult topic, I wanted to write a story about infertility in order to maybe spark some of those difficult conversations. But the problem I had was tip toeing around such a sensitive subject. I wanted to be respectful, but honest. My hang ups about the subject made me scrap and rewrite this story until I had worked through close to 5 different versions. Originally, I thought it would be shitty to tackle the subject head on from my wife’s point of view, not sure if I could speak for her. I planned on telling the story from my experience in the situation and how that loss affected me. But I put a stop to that. I got cold feet and figured even though I’m trying to be honest, it’ll probably come off as mansplaining PCOS and ectopic pregnancy, despite my sincerity. The original draft had Sandra die and Damon struggling to live without her. I thought it might be kinda cheap to write about infertility and kill the one woman within the first ten pages.
The next few versions were closer to the final story. Damon would die first, or Sandra does not die at all. I had an ending reminiscent of Midsommar, where Sandra inadvertently joined this Stepford Wives cult within Zelda’s support group. But I squashed that one when I realized Sandra was way too smart to pack up everything and move to the suburbs with all the sketchy white women. I had a version where the witch takes the form of a young twenty something and seduces Damon before later sacrificing him in the same “life for life” ritual. The first problem I had with that version came about once I really fleshed out Damon as a character. I’ve killed a lot of horrible people in my stories and some not so horrible. Either way, I usually don’t put much after thought into them. But Damon felt different as a character. Not only did it feel like “he” wrote his own dialogue, but he dictated his own moral fiber. When I started hashing out scenes with him running around on Sandra with the witch, under spell or no spell, it never felt right. It almost felt like a character assassination. Even in the final version of the story, during the car crash scene, I actually felt remorse for that character, which is weird for me.
4. What are the themes of this collection and why did you gravitate towards them?
The main theme is centered around The Reaper, literally, figuratively, and philosophically. The title story, The Pale Horse is straight and to the point with the personification of Death as someone disarming, who convinces the main character to let her walls down for a time, just so they can have a conversation on life. In Cherrywood Hearts, the protagonist loses everything but her own life. In her grieving, she learns how to figuratively live with the dead through the memories she clings to. In Survivor’s Guilt, the protagonist lives with the actual dead, as he carries the collateral damage of his past. Imagine an ex-politician/war criminal, suffering from something similar to Mary Winchester’s curse.
I wanted to put the ideas of living and dying, coexisting with the dead, as well as carrying the weight of grief under a new lens, and hopefully through that, break down some cultural norms.
5. Where can readers find you online?
Folks can find me at the usual haunts. I’m on Twitter (or whatever they’re calling it these days) as @MSTyree1 and Instagram @Michael_Tyree13.
Interview with Author Tim Murr
Interview with Author Tim Murr
First, congratulations on your Stoker eligible bookSummer’s Venomous Kiss! For those just discovering this story, can you share with us what it is about?
Summer’s Venomous Kiss is a Southern horror crime novel. A bit of Jim Thompson meets Splatterpunk with a dose of cosmic horror. It takes place in a small town on the first day of summer, when a dormant serial killer re-emerges for one last hurrah, bringing his death cult out of the shadows. The comps I use are Cobra meets Henry; Portrait of a Serial Killer in The Town that Dreaded Sundown.
How did you come up with this premise?
This story actually goes all the way back to sixth grade when I met my late friend, Jason Gollihar. We were both comic book and horror movie fanatics and we started writing and drawing our own comics, which evolved into high school where we got into the 90s black and white indie comics like Faust, Deadworld, and The Crow. SVK was meant to be a comic book, but we kept rewriting and rewriting, never satisfied, always seeking perfection, but mostly arguing over directions. Eventually, the task was handed over to me to simply write it as a novel that Jase would illustrate. So, I did several drafts of varying lengths. Unfortunately, he passed away 8 years ago. Finishing this thing and putting it to rest is my final tribute to old friend.
Do you have a favorite character in this book? If so, who and why?
A character named Bad Penny wound up being my favorite at the end of the day. An earlier version had her as an almost rock and roll Lois Lane chronicling the chaos of this night, but she became more of the heart of the story with Robert Jackson. Two broken innocents shoved headlong into madness.
When did you first develop a love for horror?
I was a monster kid. My dad showed me Jaws and Alien when I was 4, I loved Godzilla and Frankenstein from around then as well, but I didn’t embrace horror until 1987, when I saw Night of the Living Dead and Halloween II on the same night. I’ve been obsessed since then.
Where can readers find you online?
These days I’m primarily active on Facebook and Instagram, Tim Murr and Stranger With Friction respectively .
Interview with Author Tiffany Morris
Interview with Tiffany Morris
1. First, congrats on the upcoming publication of your Stoker eligible novella Green Fuse Burning! For readers just discovering this book, can you tell us a little about it?
Wela’lin- thank you, Nico! Green Fuse Burning is a swampcore ecohorror novella about a queer Mi’kmaw artist who goes on a retreat at a remote pond and confronts natural and supernatural threats. The story is structured around the paintings she’s done while on the retreat and we get to see how weird and gory the art gets as her time there progresses.
2. What sparked the premise for this novella?
Our mass culture is very death-denying, and I really wanted to write something that interrogates what that means and how it shows up in the world. I was also developing this idea around grief and swamps. I think that swampcore – while not a full-fledged aesthetic movement just yet – could be a rich field for examining the forces of life and death. Wetlands, including swamps, ponds, et al. are disregarded, but vital – they’re where still waters drain toxins and sustain ancient, primordial ecology. Uncovering and embracing those mysteries is a fascinating antidote to capitalism’s false ideas of eternity – I’m thinking Ice Age bogs versus the half-life of plastics in a landfill.
3. Where there any scenes that were more emotionally taxing to write than others?
Oh gosh, so many – while Rita is not me, we share some of the same trauma experiences, so every flashback scene was difficult. Making up a person where you are both the architect of their misery and someone who empathizes with it in the very process of inflicting it is a wild emotional experience.
4. You also have a horror poetry collection out entitled Elegies of Rotting Stars. Do the writing techniques applied to poetry cross over to your prose, and if so, how? For example, do you find it easier to write descriptive lyrical prose?
Definitely – my writing across genres and mediums tends to be image-heavy and metaphorical, with less emphasis on plot than theme and atmosphere. Writing fiction can be hard for me in this way; I want to be true to my style but leave some room for my reader to breathe. I don’t feel compelled to do that in poetry, as the space is shorter and the expectations for storytelling are different. Mi’kmaw language reclamation is present in both, as well – the process of reclaiming the language and feeling my way through the different ideas that it can express is so important to me.
5. Do you have a favorite short story that has been published?
I’m partial to this flash story that was published in Dose of Dread! The Corpse of Hours – Dread Stone Press. Some new stories and other favorites that are not online will be in my collection coming out from Nictitating Books in 2024!
6. Where can readers find you online?
I’m sticking it out on twitter for the moment - @tiffmorris. Same name on bluesky! Cryptidsarecute on Instagram. Also my website: tiffmorris.com. Wela’lin!
Interview with Horror Author Chris DiLeo
Interview with Chris DiLeo
1. First, congratulations on your Stoker eligible book The Hands of Onan! For those just discovering this story, can you share with us what it is about?
The Hands of Onan is about a writer tasked with rescuing his friend from an all-male masturbation cult. To do this, he must confront his own addiction to onanistic pleasures.
Author Chris DiLeo
2. What was the inspiration behind this story?
Few things terrify me more than religious fanaticism. I’d explored the dangers of cults previously in the book Children of Fire, which is about an ex-detective who must save a child from fire-wielding zealots. Almost as a parody, I thought up the most outlandish and ridiculous cult I could imagine: masturbation worshippers. Much to my delight and horror, I found actual biblical passages to support my imaginary cult. Check out The Book of Genesis (if you dare!).
3. Was there any scene in this book that was challenging to write?
There were many times while writing the climatic (pun intended) sequence at the end when Mike confronts the supernatural power behind this cult when I wondered if it was too gross and repulsive and then I dared to be even more disgusting.
4. What would you say is your writing “brand?” What type of horror do you write?
I write stories that are visceral, emotional, engaging, and even thought-provoking.
5. Where can readers find you online?
I’m everywhere as @authordileo
Interview with Elin Olausson
Interview with Elin Olausson
1. First, congratulations on your book Shadow Paths! For those just discovering this story, can you share with us what it is about?
Shadow Paths is a collection of five short stories, and it’s part of the Tales From Between Presents series where each volume highlights the work of a single author. The book features the stories “The Old Man”, “love”, “Wishes”, “The Lion Game”, and “Scar”. Like the majority of my stories, they all belong to the psychological horror genre, although “Scar” is set in an imaginary world and could also be called dark fantasy.
Author Elin Olausson
2. You’ve had many short stories published in 2023 including Stoker eligible “Daughter” (Saltwater Sorrows), “Eats” (From the Depths), “Little Monster” (34 Orchard), and “Lilies” (Takes From Between: A Strange Literary Journal) just to name a few! Out of all the short stories you published this year, which one do you feel best represents your writing style and point-of-view as an author?
This is such a hard question! I feel that all my stories are representative one way or the other, but my most recently published story “Daughter” has been very close to my heart ever since I wrote it. It’s a dystopic tale set on an island in a world where there are no people left other than the main character Noë and the old woman she lives with. In the sea around them there are strange, mermaid-like creatures, and Noë feels a connection to them that she can’t explain.
My stories are usually female-centered, told from the point of view of a child or adolescent (or, perhaps, an adult stuck in a childish state of mind). I tend to write about dysfunctional families, about books and nature, and I’d describe my writing style as dreamy and lyrical. “Daughter”, I think, is an example of all those things.
3. Writers often tap into their own history to find inspiration. Are any of these stories inspired by real events?
In “Lilies”, which is about a teacher who moves to a remote village for a job, some of the settings were based on real places, such as my old school. My stories often have these small details that are inspired by real life, like the name of a pet or a scary photo that scared me as a child, but I’ve never published a story that was heavily inspired by something I’ve been through. I did have a supernatural experience growing up that I might turn into fiction one day, but so far it hasn’t happened.
4. Have you ever considered expanding any of your short stories into novels? If so, which ones?
Yes, absolutely. I’ve written quite a few dystopic stories, since that is one of my favorite genres, and I’d love to build on some of those ideas and write a dystopic novel. That is one of my greatest dreams.
5. Where can readers find you online?
I’ve got a website, www.elinolausson.com. I’m also on Twitter (@elin_writes), Instagram (@elinolaussonwriter) and Bluesky (@elinolausson.bsky.social).
Interview with Author Lillah Lawson
Interview with Author Lillah Lawson
1. First, congratulations on your upcoming Stoker eligible book Tomorrow and Tomorrow, co-written with Lauren Emily Whalen! Could you tell us a little about the book?
Thank you! Tomorrow & Tomorrow is a gender-flipped, dark contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, set in the Athens, GA music scene! It has all the things you expect from Macbeth – ghosts, witches, prophecies, and plenty of murder most foul – but it also has lots of band drama, beautiful locales (both in North Georgia and Scotland!), a badass heroine or two, and if I say so myself, a truly terrifying villain.
Author Lillah Lawson
Lauren and I are both massive Joan Jett fans, and we knew we wanted her and The Runaways to be the unofficial muse(s) of this book. So, it’s very feminist, very rock n’ roll, but without sacrificing any of that dark, psychological horror of Shakespeare’s play. It turns out that the story of a Mad King full of hubris and drunk with power leant itself very well to an adaptation about a small-town band trying to break into the scene. It’s all about networking and backstabbing – basically power, and what people will do to get it. Anyone who has been part of a local arts scene will be able to see the parallels!
I know there’s been discourse about the term “cozy horror”, but I think our book applies. It’s scary as hell, but it’s got a comforting quality to it, and dare I say, it’s really fun. I’m so proud of this book and I hope people love it.
2. How did you and Lauren Emily Whalen end up teaming together on this project?
Lauren and I have been friends for over ten years, and we’ve been on this writing/publishing journey together for most of it. Our writing careers have followed similar ebbs and flows and we’re both fans of each other’s work. We’d been talking about writing something together forever, but pretty much only in the abstract; just sort of daydreaming. But during COVID, we found ourselves talking a lot over increasingly lengthy voice messages and just started bouncing ideas back and forth for a book. Lauren has done a number of Shakespeare retellings, and she’s excellent at them. I’ve always been a “bard bitch”, but I never had the guts to try an adaptation. Finally, I was just like, “What if…what if you did Macbeth? And I helped?” I knew I could bring the darkness! We talked about it for months and ended up with this amazing plot and characters, and had the whole thing mapped out before we ever set pen to paper. So when we finally sat down to write it, it came out of both of us so easily. It was one of the most enjoyable and easy experiences I’ve ever had writing a book. We enjoyed the process so much we’ve talked a bit about doing a second book together, but that’s all under wraps for now!
3. Since Tomorrow and Tomorrow is about an all-female rock band, did you develop a playlist as inspiration for this book? If not, what songs or bands would be a part of this book if it had a soundtrack?
Oh, yes. I make extensive playlists for every book of mine; I start them long before I ever begin writing, and I’ll listen to them for weeks to get in the right headspace. I think Lauren does something similar. One of the first things we started doing was making a playlist, and since we’re both such music nerds (with somewhat different tastes), it was a very, very long playlist – well over a hundred songs. We recently cut the playlist way back (let me tell you, that was agonizing for me) to make an “official” playlist, which we’ll be releasing during our Hype Week in October at Sword & Silk Books (our publisher). So stay tuned for that!
The playlist is a secret ‘till then, but I can tell you it’s a perfect blend of goth, classic rock and pop that’s dreamy and dreary and a little bit spooky. Obviously there’s Joan Jett, and some Athens locals like Tears for the Dying and Lera Lynn. And as with anything I do, Ghost and Queens of the Stone Age are involved. And you can trust Lauren to bring the Taylor Swift! Something for everyone!
Lately I’ve been on an indie/outlaw country kick and I’ve been daydreaming hardcore about Joan Jett doing a song with someone like Lera Lynn or Tyler Childers for the soundtrack. I’m just sitting over here manifesting!
4. In addition to Tomorrow and Tomorrow, you also have a short story eligible for the Stokers called “Oblong Objects in the Mirror (are Closer Than They Appear)” which was published in the anthology Aseptic and Faintly Sadistic by Cosmic Horror Monthly (May, 2023). What inspired this story?
If I’m being honest, I was nervous submitting this story, and I assumed that it wouldn’t make it through the slush pile. It’s a deeply personal story, probably the most personal one I’ve ever written, and it skates on the borders of horror. The experiences described within are definitely horrific, but they are told in an abstract, fuzzy-memory style that’s full of symbolism and a lot of self-loathing prose. It’s basically sitting inside the mind of someone who has been utterly broken as they try to put themselves back together again.
I’ve written versions of the story many times over the years, adding pieces of poems and going back to edit certain parts. I used to think that PTSD and trauma, once worked through, were just gone; all better. But one thing I discovered during a particularly low period during the pandemic is that PTSD and trauma don’t just disappear when you “do the work”. Yes, you get better, but healing is not a linear process. My favorite book is The Great Gatsby (I know, I know) and the last line of the last page – boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly to the past – always makes me cry. It’s been my favorite since I was a teenager, but I never applied it to my own life until recently. Healing from trauma is a two steps forward, one steps back sort of situation. You get better, you have a setback. It’s a lifelong journey, and some days you just feel like Humpty Dumpty, fallen off the wall and shattered, your yolks running out all over the place. Messing up somebody’s floor, a total embarrassing inconvenience. So yeah, it’s a story about the messy, cracked-egg parts of healing, and how it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. A lot of it is terrible, horrific. Not pretty at all. And that’s okay.
Woof. I feel like I got way too heavy there. Everybody have a sip of iced coffee! Anyway, I have to thank the excellent Jolie Toomajan for accepting the story and including it in the wonderful anthology Aseptic and Faintly Sadistic, published by Cosmic Horror Monthly, proceeds of which go to The Chicago Abortion Fund. Jolie was also kind enough to blurb Tomorrow & Tomorrow! I can’t thank her enough. And I strongly encourage everyone to grab a copy of Aseptic and Faintly Sadistic. Not only does it benefit a wonderful cause, but every single story in the anthology is incredible – not a dud in the bunch.
5. Where can people find you online?
You can reach me in the usual social media places – I’m on Instagram, Twitter (I refuse to call it “X”), for now anyway, Threads, BlueSky and Facebook, all under the handle @ LillahLawson. I’m also on Goodreads! I do have a website, but I’m woefully bad about updating it. Still, if you’d like to give it a visit, it’s lillahlawson.com.
Interview with Horror Author Roxie Voorhees
Interview with Roxie Voorhees
1. Congratulations on your new splatterpunk western book The Longest Thirst! Can you please tell us a little about it?
Thank you! The Longest Thirst is a splatterwestern that follows Lilly, a young woman of wealthy means in the early 1890s. In the first scene, she kills her father, whom she just discovered isn’t an honorable man, and rescues a Native woman. Her actions are noble and just, but later this comes to bite her in the bud so to speak. It's a sapphic feminist warcry and Lilly is really sick of men’s shit.
2. What inspired this book?
Red Station by Kenzie Jennings was a big influence. I absolutely loved the raw power of the female character.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but I mix my horror with social issues. As a queer autistic genderfluid person, these issues are horrific to me and horror is a safe space to create the stories I love with characters more like me. The biggest issue I have with most westerns is the common social issues with the time, a few other horror westerns I’ve read used the N-word and such. With The Longest Thirst, I wanted a story that could still be genuine to the time and setting while also addressing those problems.
Creating The Painted Cat was my answer, a safe space in the wild frontier where anyone from anywhere was welcomed. Ran by a transwoman, Madame Frenchie, we find a place where women own their bodies and queers and migrants are offered sanctuary. The Painted Cat isn’t real, but places like it were, are. Queers have always been here.
3. Is this your first time writing a western? What drew you to the genre?
It’s likely my one and only, or at least the only I have planned right now. It won’t be the last time I visit Calico though.
This was my first time attempting more extreme horror. The genre allows the raw violence and vulgarity I required to paint how brutal the world is for non-cishet white men. I wrote the first four chapters shortly after reading Red Station, but quickly TLT became a white savior trope and unable to find a solution, I shelved it for two years. Then the ending hit me randomly and in the first two weeks of March 2023, I furiously finished it. The result is something I find tragically honest.
4. This book certainly doesn’t hold back. There’s TWs as well as a raw intensity that grips readers from the first breath-catching page. As an author, what is your process for writing such extreme topics? For example, do you find it taxing on your own mental health to get into the head space necessary to explore these topics?
Author Roxie Voorhees
Great question! The Longest Thirst does have a healthy list of trigger warnings and unfortunately many of them, I have personally experienced. There is a scene in the book where the woman almost dies in Lilly’s arms before they get to Calico and the emotion of that scene comes from my lived experience. In 2018, I found my then 15 yo unresponsive. The words Lilly used are what I remember saying, thinking. I did those exact actions. Prior to this, Lilly sings a lullaby to the woman’s stillborn that I wrote for my oldest son who was kidnapped by his father at 12. Everything I write has pieces of me sprinkled throughout and it is hard. But it's also part of my healing process. For many years, I avoided feeling and became emotionally numb. By writing these traumas, I’m forced to feel and then heal.
5. As a fan of your work, I know all of your writing is beautifully lyrical! How did you develop your unique style and voice?
I’m going to sound like a real jerk and say, it just happened. I enjoy clever narrative—when an author makes you think while you read—read what they aren’t writing, if that makes sense. So I apply that to my writing. I’m fully aware it isn’t for everyone, but Toni Morrison said to write the book you want to read and that’s my only goal.
6. What tips would you have for new writers who are struggling to find their own creative spin on their voice?
Talk the story out loud, even to yourself. Pretend you are telling the story to someone. How would you phrase things, what would be said first. Try it several different ways, then find what feels comfortable to you.
Don’t fake your voice, readers can tell.
Take all the things you enjoy about other authors and apply them to you. Maybe you like short concise sentences instead of long sweeping ones. I like including at least one word I don’t know to each piece, because I enjoy finding those in what I read.
7. Finally, where can readers find more about you?
My website www.roxievoorhees.gay and I’m active on Twitter @theb00kslayer and Instagram @the.book.slayer
Interview with Author Lor Gislason
Interview with Lor Gislason
1. Congrats on your debut novella Inside Out! For those who have yet to read it, can you please tell us a little about the book?
Lor: Thank you!! Inside Out is essentially a series of shorts taking place in the same world, after a mysterious outbreak caused humans and animals to get all melty and gross. There’s an overarching thread that connects them, but they can also be taken as separate little “segments”. Several have art to accompany them for some added fun!
Author Lor Gislason
2. What inspired this novella?
Lor: I had a really detailed dream from the POV of a guy melting, and how I could feel my senses fading—Luckily I remembered to write it down after I woke up, and the other segments branched out from there.
3. Nina The Wandering Reader, a book reviewer, called it “Gross! Gross! Gross! Bleegghhhh!!!! I loved it!” That has to be a lot of fun, as an author, to receive feedback like that! Was that the visceral reaction you were going for?
Lor: Yes, absolutely!! The “that’s gross, I love it” is the best reaction I could hope for. Sure I write some pretty gnarly gore, but I want it to be fun at the same time, like the Evil Dead films. Horror is great because you can mix so many different emotions into it.
4. As evident through your work, you’re a fan of one of my favorite subgenres: body horror! Do you have a favorite body horror book or movie?
Lor: Body horror is my favourite genre, I’m sure that comes as no surprise! The 1988 remake of The Blob is definitely the first that comes to mind, just spectacular gross kills and pink slime galore. Books are tougher because I tend to be the “whatever the last book I read, that’s my current favourite” kind of guy, but right now it’s probably HELPMEET by Naben Ruthnum. Vivid and romantic and gruesome in the best ways.
5. You are also the editor of Bound in Flesh: An Anthology of Trans Body Horror published by Ghoulish Books. Can you tell us a little about that process?
Lor: I love how this project came about, it feels very Peak Internet. I tweeted a joke about being trans and how there should be a body horror anthology penned by trans and non-binary authors, and Max Booth III of Ghoulish DM’d me and said “ok but what if that was a thing, would you want to do it?” I said yes immediately! It’s been such a fun learning experience and chance to connect with other writers.
6. As an editor, what tips can you give writers looking to submit to an anthology?
Lor: Every editor is different but I really appreciated a small introduction in submission emails, and when people referred to me specifically instead of “dear editor” or something generalized. Little things can go a long way.
7. Publishing is a constantly evolving business. What would you like to see out of the industry in the next ten years? What changes would you like to be made?
Lor: The horror community has always been very cishet centric, with men taking up a lot of space and often using that power to be shitty toward others with little consequence. While it’s gotten better, I think we need to call out these types of behaviours and protect each other as much as we can. If you’re uncomfortable, tell someone you trust.
8. What is your writing process? Are you a plotter? Pansters?
Lor: I’m a panster for sure, although lately I’ve been trying to outline things more. My memory is terrible so my notes are sometimes twice as long as the stories themselves!
9. Where can readers find out more about you?
Lor: You can find all my relevant links here https://linktr.ee/lorgislason including where to get my books, my blog and SM accounts!
Queer and Fat-Positive Creator Joshua R. Pangborn Interview
Joshua R. Pangborn Interview
1. Thank you so much for joining me! You have so many incredible projects out in the world! For those who don’t know your work, can you please tell us a little about yourself and your brand?
Thank you so much for taking the time to explore the Crewniverse and share it with your audience! I’m grateful to have the chance to talk about what we do at SideKick Productions–we are a production company focused on telling queer, fat-positive, and sex-positive stories, mostly in film and television, having migrated from the stage in 2014. So far we’ve produced our soap opera, Skeleton Crew, which just finished its 5th season, our horror comedy series, Demon Doctor, which will be premiering its second season in the fall, our mockumentary (created by Ashley Monique Menard), The Art of Blowing It, and two short horror films, Wasted on the Young and Scratched. We’re in production now on our first feature film–A Taste of Youth, a queer, fat-positive horror film inspired by our short, Wasted on the Young. We’re so fortunate that our work has found audiences all around the world (based on YouTube analytics, Skeleton Crew’s second largest audience is in Saudi Arabia!), and critically has resonated with festivals around the globe–we’ve won numerous awards for all our productions.
2. Skeleton Crew is amazing! What inspired you to create this incredible queer fat-positive series about a polyamorous couple?
Skeleton Crew started life as a play, called The Skeleton Crew–but, like Facebook, I dropped the “The” and transitioned to the screen! But seriously, I had known for a while I wanted to try my hand at making a series–and when I wrote The Skeleton Crew, it was the first play I had written that I felt I had more story to tell. It was around this time I was also really figuring out what I wanted to be as a creator–people were telling me I had to be sure I had enough “straight people” in my work (even today, I’m still hearing that), but I wanted to make something unapologetically queer, that featured people who reflected the world I knew, and the people that were a part of it. You generally don’t see polyamorous couples in cinema and television unless in a negative way, and you certainly don’t see fat characters in leading roles having sex. And while the series is mostly a comedy, there is nothing funny about the way we treat our fat characters–they are real human beings, kinks and all.
3. How did Dueling Pianos: A Skeleton Crew Musical spin off from the Skeleton Crew and what can viewers expect from this series?
As I was writing Season Five, I knew I wanted to make a musical episode, but I felt it was going to be too hard and too taxing for the resources I had at my disposal. So I canceled those plans and resigned myself to putting it off for the future. Then Nakia came along and heard about what I wanted to do and told me we had to do this. So he and I worked together and wrote 15 incredible songs for what has become a feature-length episode of the series. And then as we were in the middle of filming, the pandemic happened, and that forced us to slow down, retrace our steps, and redo a lot of the work we had done to make it better. In some ways, I’m a machine who doesn’t like to stop, so being forced to stop gave me the opportunity to really perfect this incredible musical with Nakia and the cast and crew. And now we have not one but three albums streaming for this episode–the cast album, a karaoke track version, and an album by Nakia.
When you tune into Dueling Pianos, you are thrown into the virtual reality world first introduced in our Season Four sci-fi/horror extravaganza, “The Huxley Proxy”--which was, up until Dueling Pianos, probably one of the most challenging and yet exciting arcs we’ve made. Simon, played by Mark-Eugene Garcia, takes the audience on a journey which is ultimately about love–loving yourself, loving your partner, but also realizing love isn’t always enough. Plus, it’s also very funny, and a tinge scary.
4. Let’s talk about Demon Doctor. What can horror fans expect from this spooky series?
Demon Doctor is my homage to 90s genre television. I grew up on Buffy and Charmed and The X-Files, and I still have a deep love for those series. I wanted to delve into my love of horror fantasy and create something which celebrates fat and queer characters in a horror fantasy setting.
Demon Doctor is the story of a demonologist and a detective who meet under unfortunate circumstances, and who develop a deep friendship with each other, all while fighting against the creatures lurking behind The Veil.
We feature all practical effects for the most part, creature makeups, and most of all, a good dose of horror and humor. It’s a sexy, fat, queer good time! And for fans of Skeleton Crew, it’s a chance to see many of the same actors in different roles.
5. When did you first develop a passion for storytelling?
I think storytelling has always been a part of who I am. My mother once told me how, as a young child, I would often come into the room and start regaling the adults present with fantastic stories and adventures. When I played with my toys, I always selected the “cast” I needed to enact the story I woke up with in my head. I can’t remember a time I wasn’t moved to tell a story (my mother probably still has dozens of notebooks in storage from half-finished novels and ideas I had written down over the years).
6. If you could collaborate with any writer/actor/producer on an episode of Demon Doctor, dead or alive, who would you pick and why?
I am a HUGE fan of collaboration–I love to explore the ways my ideas and others intersect for the betterment of the project. And I’m such a huge fan of so many people who have influenced me, this is a tough question. I think Kevin Smith, Sam Raimi or James Gunn would be dream director/producer collaborators for me. They all started where I am now, I think–they started indie and low-budget and made the most with the least. I think I could learn a great deal from them. Plus, they infuse their work with a great deal of comedy, regardless of the genre, and that’s sort of my style too. I’d love to work with Ari Aster too because the films he’s created are so incredible.
The list of actors I’d like to work with is endless–that’s a tough one to answer! I suppose I’d say Nick Frost is at the top of the list–he’s made a mainstream career for himself despite not looking Hollywood, and that’s very on brand for me.
And, if anyone has A24’s number–I’d love to have their help producing a film!
7. What is your favorite horror subgenre and why?
I’d say it’s probably body horror–I imagine it stems from my own issues with body image over the years. While I’m pretty happy with my body now, it took me some time to get to this point, and I think a lot of body horror tends to come from a similar place–people being unhappy with who/what/how they are and seeking change. And there is something so universal about it.
8. Where can readers learn more about your and your various projects?
You can watch all of our content on our YouTube Channel at youtube.com/sidekickproductions. If you want to support us, please do so by joining the Crewniverse at patreon.com/sidekickproductions. You can find me on Instagram and on Twitter . If you want to follow Skeleton Crew, you can on IG @Skeletoncrewtheseries and on Twitter @TVSkeletonCrew. Follow Demon Doctor on IG @Demondoctortheseries and on Twitter at @DemonDoctorTV. For Dueling Pianos, stream the albums and watch at nakia.me/duelingpianos1 and follow on Twitter @DuelingPianosSC. And you can follow the adventures of making our feature film by following @ATasteofYouth on IG and Twitter, and visiting www.atasteofyouth.com.
Interview with Horror Film Veteran and Author Jude S. Walko
Jude S. Walko Interview
Jude S. Walko
1. Thank you so much for joining me! For those who don’t know you, could you please introduce yourself?
Hi Nico, my name is Jude S. Walko and I am a nearly 30 year veteran of the film
business. I am a Producer’s Guild of America producer, a Screen Actor’s Guild Actor, a
screenplay writer and a member of the Horror Writer’s Association, as well as the
International Animated Film Association. Those are just fancy ways of saying I’m super
creative.
2. Without giving away any spoilers, could you please tell us a bit about your book The Unhallowed Horseman?
Absolutely! Here’s a brief summary.
In a town enamored with its Unhallowed Horseman legend, a distraught teenage boy
must come to terms with his personal demons, and perhaps the Horseman himself.
Set on All Hallows’ Eve, psychological thriller The Unhallowed Horseman takes place
against the backdrop of a seemingly peaceful, picturesque American small town with an
iconic past. The story follows Vincent, a distraught and troubled high schooler, and his
descent into the demons that plague his mind. Some things about the town and its
inhabitants aren’t quite as they seem. Generations of families have been living there with
a deep and dark secret, one on the verge of reincarnating itself once again.
With the help of his newfound love for classmate Lorraine, Vincent navigates the
treacherous obstacles in his life. Whether it be the overbearing no-holds-barred sheriff,
his tempestuous mother, or the holier-than-thou townsfolk, Vincent seems to be under
constant bombardment from prying eyes. What's more, Lorraine's overprotective father,
Deputy Constance, suspects Vincent of having committed some heinous crimes.
Only after uncovering the town's history does Vincent begin to unravel its complex
mystery and that of the people living there, including his own ancestors. Can he solve the
mystery in time to save the people he truly loves, or will he, like others before him, fall
prey to an age-old curse passed down through the centuries. The town prepares for the
return of a killer legend, while one young man prepares to take on his innermost demons.
The Unhallowed Horseman is a contemporary reimagining based on characters in the
American classic "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving, the Father of
American Literature.
3. What inspired this book?
I was a big fan of the original story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” growing up. I look at
it now as kind of a primer into my horror and gothic sensibilities of today. I remember
every Halloween the story would resurface again and you would get the unequivocal
creepy-cool feeling of the haunting season, even as kids.
As I grew older, I leaned hard into classic literature and one Halloween season as an adult
I read all of Washington Irving’s and Edgar Allan Poe’s creek writings. Those readings
inspired me to write the screenplay version that eventually got fleshed out into the book,
nearly a decade later.
4. Could you please tell us a little about your movie The Incantation?
Sure! It’s also a bit of a witchy cultish movie. It’s a story about a young American woman
named Lucy Bellerose (played by the amazing Sam Valentine). She goes on a trip to
France, for her Great Uncle’s funeral, and while there meets some rather unsavory
characters including Dean Cain (former Superman) and myself.
After researching the area, and her family, as well as the massive castle she’s staying in,
she learns of the areas dark past and their dealing with witchcraft, the occult and even
devil worship.
It’s akin to “Rosemary’s Baby” in a way, but it’s not very graphic or gory. More of a
psychological thrill ride in some beautiful locations.
5. Um…how did you get Dean Cain attached to the project??! 😊
I produced a film Dean acted in way back in 2008 in Austin, Texas called “Circle of
Pain”. Dean had some scheduling conflicts come up last minute and with the help of
some kind crew, I managed to get him out early to a much more lucrative job.
Then almost a decade later I called him up, and being the forever gracious person he was,
he returned the favor and did my film. Although I can tell you, we otherwise really would
not have been able to afford him.
6. So, let’s say a newbie filmmaker comes to you and says, “I have this great idea for a movie, but I have no idea how to get it off the ground.” What tips do you give them?
That happens often. I take the Marine Corps approach of break them down and then build
them up.
First I say everyone has ideas, which is true. You might read an article, have a dream, or
simply put two completely different things together like clowns and space, for example.
So that’s nothing new.
Then I say the film businesses is ultra-competitive, long hours, not glamorous 95% of the
time and very hard.
After they drink their beer mug full of tears, I say keep your chin up. Write those
thoughts down. Then read books like Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey” or “Save
The Cat” by Blake Snyder. Once you have a basic grasp of story structure, arc and
character development, you’re well on your way. This applies to flash fiction,
screenplays, novels, whatever.
Now most importantly remember every little piece of work you put in on that project gets
it closer to becoming real. Most people never get past that idea stage. If you manage to
flesh out into a script, a novel and or a development or pitch package, you’ve already
jumped up the ladder.
If you want to be a DP or Director, start shooting on your phone or whatever is available
to you. There are plenty of cheap or free apps for editing for beginners. Also there are
slews of videos on social media and YouTube about shooting, editing and putting stories
together.
If you want to be an actor (or even technical crew member) get involved with local
friends, universities or students. Stage plays, shorts, Indies and theater productions are
just as good to cut your teeth on as anything else.
The point is no matter the field, or the project, you have to be willing to put in the work.
No one is going to knock on your door and ask you for the next great Harry Potter or
Marvel idea or to star opposite Jennifer Lawrence. Just like you wouldn’t be expected to
fly a 747 without decades of experience and knowledge. These careers are all crafts and
take a ton of effort and decision to succeed in.
7. What is the most challenging aspect of being a filmmaker, in your opinion?
Staying relevant. As I mentioned our business is highly competitive. That means you
constantly have to reinvent yourself. What’s more, you can’t wait for those phone calls
and emails to just roll in. You must stay proactive. Keep writing, acting or auditioning,
polishing your technical skills and self-promote ’til the cows come home. There’s a
saying “You’re only as good as your last film” and this applies to everyone from the
interns and production assistants all the way up to the Johnny Depps and Brad Pitt’s of
the world.
8. What’s next for you? Any projects you can talk about?
I always have a ton going on. “The Unhallowed Horseman” is always in a state of
development as a film or series. It seems to garner a lot of interest, but it still hasn’t found
a home yet.
My business partner at Blue Falcon Productions LLC, Dan Campbell, is a former Alpha
Company 1/24 Marine and we are currently developing a docu-series based on the lives
of all affected in Fallujah in 2007 called “Sons of Fallujah”. This includes those who
served, families of Marines killed in action and the Iraqis themselves, among others.
And finally I am writing an official biography of some iconic filmmakers, but I can’t
quite talk about that yet, although it’s probably my favorite project for many reasons.
Stay tuned for that!
9. Where can readers find you?
THE UNHALLOWED HORSEMAN
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59316303-the- unhallowed-
horseman
Amazon - https:// www.amazon.com/Unhallowed-Horseman-Jude-S-
Walko/dp/0578303566
Twitter - https://twitter.com/HorsemanRides
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheUnhallowedHorseman
Website - http://www.theunhallowedhorseman.com/
JUDE S. WALKO
Amazon Author Page - https://www.amazon.com/Jude-S-Walko/e/B09K6ZLSGF
IMDb - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0908351/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/judeswalko
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/JudeStephenWalko/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/judeswalko/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/HollywoodhoBRO
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/judeswalko/
Linktree - https://linktr.ee/JudeSWalko
Interview with Horror Author Nat Cassidy
Nat Cassidy Interview
1. Congratulations on the upcoming release of your book Mary: An Awakening of Terror! Without giving away spoilers, could you please tell us a bit about the premise?
Thank you! I'm so excited for people to get to read this weird-ass book! Let's see, a spoiler-free recap of the premise …
Mary Mudgett is about to turn 50 and she's feeling incredibly unsettled. In life, in her own skin. It's not just the hot flashes or the restless sleep or the body aches … it's the voices in her head urging her to do awful things, and the increasingly terrifying visions of decomposing corpses she sees on the street and in the mirror. Her symptoms are all dismissed as textbook menopause, but she's unconvinced there's not something really wrong. When she's fired from her job in New York City, she decides to accept a job from her abusive aunt back in her old hometown (a tiny desert town in the deserts of Arizona), thinking it'll be a good opportunity to reconnect with herself, her past, and maybe get to the root of what's happening.
But when she arrives, the visions get even worse, the voices get even louder, the urges get even stronger ... and she soon learns the horrifying history of this town and what often happened to women just like her ...
Mary's about to discover how she fits into all this. But that's when the real horror begins.
2. What was your inspiration for this book?
I go into this in depth in the Foreword/Afterword of the book, so I'll try not to repeat myself too much for those who want to read them. Basically, I first wrote a version of this book when I was 13 and its major inspiration then was that I wanted to write an homage to Stephen King's Carrie. I'm a lifelong King obsessive and Carrie is one of my very favorites. (The title of my book rhymes with Carrie quite purposefully.) I knew pretty much nothing about menopause other than the fact that it existed and was a sort of second puberty, but I loved how Carrie tied this universal, biological rite of passage to a scary story, and so I wanted to do something similar with menopause. I became intrigued by the idea of what Carrie might be like if it took place in middle-age instead of High School. What would it have been like for Carrie White to have lived so many decades feeling invisible and neglected and abused? And what if she didn't have any special powers like telekinesis? What if she was just a normal person, like, say, my mom (who would have been in her mid-40s at the time and who was nowhere near as introverted as the character of Mary, but who'd had far more than her share of unfairness thrown at her)?
There was another book that I was also really into, The Parasite by Ramsey Campbell, which is very metaphysical, all about astral projection and metempsychosis and stuff like that, and that's where I got the idea to explore reincarnation. With those elements, the premise for Mary was born.
I revisited the story a few times as an adult, and it was then that I realized there was richer thematic ground than I could've appreciated as a teenager. There was an opportunity to explore more about how society treats women of a certain age, how menopause is still treated as a weirdly taboo subject, how the bullying Carrie White experienced becomes less overt but more insidious. My original attempt at this book had all these ingredients already—the ideas of cycles (both physical and social), of serial killers and the inheritance of violent patriarchy, etc—but now I felt mature enough to see the threads and actually tie them together in ways they deserved. Hopefully I did it some justice.
Oh! And also, J-horror and gialli. Those were big influences on the actual execution of the book as it exists now. I should mention that, too, because, well, how a book is told is just as important as what a book is trying to say, isn't it?
3. You write the female voice extremely well! It’s so refreshing to have a woman protagonist, turning fifty, who is experiencing the symptoms of menopause…Honestly, when I picked up this book, I didn’t pay much attention to who the author was. I selected it because of the description and cover art. Halfway through, I remember thinking, “Wow, this woman can write!” I was surprised to discover that it was written by a man! How did you research this POV? Did you have women beta readers or critique partners help with the voice?
That means the world to me to hear. Women have been the primary influence of my life. I was raised by a single mom (who herself came from a family of three daughters, and the only children my mom's sisters had were all daughters, as well). With a few exceptions, almost all of my closest friends at every stage of my life have been female. I've just always felt much more comfortable around women than I do men, and honestly, most of the protagonists I write tend to be female or nonbinary.
But obviously, with Mary, the story is about something very specific that's outside of my lived experience as a person without a uterus, so I was incredibly lucky to work with a brilliant array of women—from my editor, Jen Gunnells, to a number of beta readers from all sorts of backgrounds and at multiple steps of the drafting process—just to make sure what I was writing sounded authentic and respectful. I also read several books and watched countless videos on the experience(s) of perimenopause. I feel like that's the least you can do if you're going to write about something that's not yours. (And, of course, Mary is narrated from one particular POV but I tried to acknowledge in the Afterword that not every woman goes through menopause and not everyone who goes through menopause is a woman. Just wanted to have that said since I'm running my mouth off about women and menopause so much here!)
4. I’ll admit it. This book legitimately scared me in the most deliciously terrorizing way! What book or movie have you seen recently that scared you?
Yessss. Writing horror is so weird—sometimes you just know when something you're writing is going to be scary, but a lot of the times, you get so desensitized during the revision process that you start to forget how certain moments will actually affect readers. It reminds me of when you're rehearsing a comedy for the stage—after a while, you're so into the mechanics of everything that you kinda forget you're doing a comedy until you finally put it up in front of an audience.
Mary was definitely like that. I was so caught up in making sure the internal logic made sense and that Mary was a complete character that it's incredibly gratifying now to be reminded that, oh yeah, scary shit happens in this book!
As for stuff I've read or seen … Because I'm part of the Nightfire family, I've been incredibly lucky to read the other books that are under the same imprint. Books like Just Like Mother, Sundial, Black Tide, Manhunt, Dead Silence (I haven't read Echo yet but I loved Hex so much that I know I'm gonna love that, too)—it's the honor of my life to be included among them. If you haven't read the other Nightfire titles yet, you're in for a treat; they're each terrifying and brilliant in their own specific ways.
Some other recent reads (or rereads in some cases) I loved include Sarah Langan's Good Neighbors, Rachel Harrison's The Return, Michael Seidlinger's Anybody Home?, Eric LaRocca's We Can Never Leave This Place, Gus Moreno's This Thing Between Us, Richard Chizmar's Chasing the Bogeyman, Jonathan Janz's The Siren and the Specter. Horror is having such a moment right now, it's almost infuriating. There's just so many good books to read.
Plus, I'm so looking forward to reading your Beyond the Creek, Nico! I've got a copy on my Kindle just itching to be cracked open!
My answer's probably getting too long to get into the stuff I've watched lately, too, but I watch a ton of horror movies and TV. If I were to randomly pick one thing that got under my skin recently, I'd say … Koji Shiraishi's Occult from 2009. I just watched that for the first time a few months ago and it's insane.
5. In addition to writing books, you’re also a screenwriter and actor. How is writing a script different than the experience of writing a novel?
Less and less different the more I write novels, actually!
I actually didn't start writing scripts until I was in my 20s, but for the past 15 years or so, that was pretty much all I wrote. Plays, screenplays, teleplays, you name it. So the bulk of my mature, professional writing career has been scriptwriting. It's how I approach breaking stories, outlining, shaping, etc. I try to make sure scenes are vivid and necessary, that information is relayed through interaction, and, more than anything, that the characters are interesting enough that someone would want to play them.
When I decided to get back into writing novels (which I'd spent my childhood doing), at first I was really excited that I'd have all these new tools to play with—access to characters' inner thoughts, an ability to really set scenes and indulge in descriptions and backstory and digressions, etc. However, I pretty quickly realized those are all traps! You still want to keep your novel lean and mean and propulsive, just as any script! Even though a novel writer has access to more tools, the principles are the same. Keep it grounded in physical action, try to have each scene contribute something new, and try to create a sense of escalation with as little redundancy or wheel spinning as possible.
The biggest difference between script writing and novel writing, I'd say, is that a script is a means to something final (ie, a production, a film, whatever) while a novel is the end result itself. So, with scripts, you need to leave more space for collaborators. Your focus is on the characters, the dialogue, the physical action—but, unless it affects something in those departments, you don't have to worry about, say, the costumes, the lighting, the camera movements, and so on. When you're writing a novel, you're ALL of those things. You're the director, you're the actor, you're the gaffer, you're the costumer, you're the caterer, you're in charge of stunts.
But, ultimately, the goal of any writing is the same: keep the audience wanting to move to the next sentence. The methodology and the rules are different depending on the medium, but it's like how music theory is the same no matter what instrument you're playing.
(I will say, though, there's one other big difference between script writing and novel writing that I definitely miss whenever I'm working on a book: when you write a script you can just hand a draft over to some actors and have them read it outloud in front of you over the course of an hour or two, to see if it's working. You get to make a little event out of it, with cheese and snacks and wine. With novels, you have to sit alone, in quiet, and read your own damn work over and over and over again! It's downright brutal sometimes.)
6. If Mary: An Awakening of Terror was every made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead?
I am so embarrassed I don't have an answer ready to go for this! I mean, I'm an actor and director—I should've cast this in my head down to the background actors already, right?
I will say when I made a little mood board during the drafting process, I used Nicole Kidman's character from the movie Destroyer as one of the stand-ins for Mary. There was a haunted, exhausted quality to that face that I really responded to. But the most important aspects of the character that an actor would need to play are that she's capable of both great meekness and great rage, and that even at her most withdrawn she's still got a sense of humor.
7. What is one writing tip you would give to writers trying to break into traditional publishing?
Write about werewolves. It works every time.
No. Just write. And read. Write write write. And read read read. Write write write write. And—you get it.
No one's path into traditional publishing is the same—my own was long and circuitous and strange and happened because I wrote a lot of plays which happened because I was frustrated with my career as an actor—but the only constants I know of are that you have to love writing and you have to love reading. Writing only happens when you write, and reading makes you a better writer (also, if trad publishing is your goal, reading also helps keep you up to date about the business side of things: who's publishing what, etc. It's win win!).
Also, one bonus tip: take the pressure off of yourself as far as time or age or anything like that goes. Don't get caught up in the Word Count Wars on social media. I wrote the bulk of Mary during quarantine while taking care of two elderly pets that required constant care and only allowed me 4 hours of sleep a night. I usually only got to work for a couple hours in the early morning, before the sun came up, and most of the time I was so exhausted I barely wrote anything and fell asleep at my desk. I'm not saying this as a way to be like, "Don't complain! No excuses!" Instead, I just mean that, even if you don't feel like you have the time to write (or, fuck that language, even if you straight up DON'T have the time to write), just give yourself space to write even a dozen words a day. A sentence. It'll all add up, I promise—the most important thing is to try to do it as regularly as you can and remember that no one can tell your stories but you. I complained in an answer a few thousand words earlier that writing a novel means you have to play ALL the parts … but that's really the beauty of it, too.
8. Where can readers find out more about you?
Contact your local police department and—
Wait. I have a website. Use that instead. Natcassidy.com
Or find me on Twitter if you want to see me shout about things that make me angry: @natcassidy
Or find me on Instagram, where I'm less active now that both of my pets have sadly passed away and I no longer have a reason to share photos of just how weird they were, but I'm sure we'll be getting some new critters again at some point: @catnassidy
Oh! And after several years away, I finally gave in and reactivated my Facebook profile so I could set up an author page: @NatCassidyAuthor.
Interview with Author Stephanie Feldman
Stephanie Feldman Interview
1. Thank you so much for joining me! For those who don’t know you, could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work?
I’m a Philly-based fiction writer. My first novel, The Angel of Losses, draws on Jewish folklore and history to tell a story about two sisters struggling with their haunted past. My second novel, Saturnalia, veers closer to horror, with alchemy, monsters, and secret societies, and a young woman trying to reclaim the future that was stolen from her.
Author Stephanie Feldman
2. Congratulations on your upcoming release Saturnalia! Could you please tell us a bit about the story and what the inspiration for this book was?
My first inspirations are always stories. When I sat down to write Saturnalia, I was thinking about the conspiracies in Foulcault’s Pendulum and the doomed partygoers in The Masque of the Red Death. I also wanted to write a story that takes place over one night and use Philadelphia (my hometown) as a setting.
The other big inspiration—or perhaps driving motivation—was the uncertainty of the past five or six years. Society began to feel unstable in a way that was new to me. What happens when we can’t trust our institutions and networks, when we’re afraid of what tomorrow might bring? Will we work together or fend for ourselves? Will we strive for survival or will we give into hedonism? These are the questions driving my characters.
3. If Saturnalia were ever made into a movie, who would you like to cast as the protagonist?
All actresses interested in playing my main character, Nina, are welcome to contact me! Nina is a particular person, of course—a mid-20s woman from a humble background, someone who has long struggled with her fear of being left in the background. But I like to think her struggles are also universal—ambition vs. self-doubt, pride vs. shame, love vs. fear. It would be exciting to see an unexpected interpretation of her.
4. Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter” in terms of organizing and writing your stories?
I can’t finish a draft without a plan. For me, an outline is both a critical thinking and generative tool: it helps me consider the heart of my story and brainstorm meaningful and exciting moments for my character. Of course, I always stray when I write, following new idea. Then I create a new outline before tackling the next draft.
5. In addition to writing, you are also an editor. What is one editing tip that you can pass along to writers that you feel is invaluable to writing success?
Editing your own work is tough. I always get feedback from trusted readers—and I listen to it. Sure, sometimes a critique is off the mark, but if a reader is stuck on something, it’s worth sitting with and considering.
I always read my own work out loud. That’s not a new tip, but it’s worth repeating, because it’s such a miserable task that we often dismiss it. It’s tedious and sometimes emotionally challenging, but if you’re able, it’s well worth the effort. I hear so many things that my eye misses, from repetition and rhythm to plot elements.
6. There’s a lot of debate in the indie writing world about the value and/or necessity of earning an MFA in Writing. What would you say is one advantage to having an MFA? Are there any disadvantages you’d like to discuss?
I may have an unusual perspective. I don’t have an MFA but I do teach in an MFA program. I see so many benefits for my students: consistent writing and feedback, developing a critical perspective, building relationships within and exposure to the industry. Many students value the program because it forces a sustained practice—submission deadlines, assigned readings—and demands a finished manuscript.
On the other hand, not all writers are born to thrive in an MFA environment, and there are plenty of opportunities to take classes and meet writers outside the academy. I’ve taught amazing students through the independent writing program Catapult and built friendships at conferences.
The other major consideration is cost. Publishing income is fickle and teaching positions are scarce. The return on investment here is personal, not financial (at least, not immediately or dependably). For some writers, it’s absolutely worth it, but for others, it won’t be. And there are MFA programs that offer funding, or tuition-free enrollment.
7. Where can people find you online?
I hang out on Twitter at @sbfeldman and Instagram at @stephanie.feldman. You can also check out my website and mailing list for news on Saturnalia, upcoming events and classes, and coaching and editorial services.
Interview with Author, Editor, and Founder of Black Spot Books Lindy Miller Ryan
Lindy Miller Ryan Interview
Thank you so much for joining me! For those who don’t know you, could you please introduce yourself?
Thank you so much for having me! In addition to my own work as an author, editor, and short film director, I am the founder of Black Spot Books, a small press with a mission to amplify voices of women-in-horror, which was acquired as an imprint of multimedia corporation Vesuvian Media Group in 2019. Currently, I serve on the Board of Directors for the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and am the co-chair of the inaugural Horror Writers Association Publishers Council. I was also a Publishers Weekly Star Watch Honoree in 2020.
Let’s talk a bit about Black Spot Books. What inspired you to start your own independent small press?
I’ve been in publishing for long time, but usually on the other side of the pen—as an editor and author of nonfiction and various fiction genres. In 2017, as I was wrapping up a nonfiction project, I started becoming interested in genre-blending projects and other forms of experimental writing that could translate from page to screen, as well as putting together collections (anthologies, poetry, showcases, etc.). I wanted to build a small, traditional press that was had the ability to support these “risky” projects with a focus on bringing fresh new voices to bookshelves, and thus Black Spot Books was born. We started out in broader speculative fiction, but quickly found our home in horror. Around the time we were acquired by Vesuvian, we discovered our passion for amplifying women’s voices in horror, and that has since become our primary mission.
What is something you wish someone had told you before you opened Black Spot Books?
Probably how much work it is being a publisher—but, honestly, I doubt I would have listened. What I have learned and taken to heart, though, is the importance of strategic partnerships, of an author-focused mindset, and of embracing community. These were lessons I learned quickly, which led to Black Spot’s explosive growth in such an incredibly short amount of time.
What is the most rewarding aspect of owning a small press?
Freedom—both to pursue your passions and to help others do the same in a place where we are all collaborating and energized to reach the same vision. As a small press, we have the benefit of being adaptive, creative, and allowed to take risks. As a small team, we’re able to work much more closely with our authors to give them the best publishing experience we can and to ensure everyone is involved, invested, and championing that process from acquisition to post-publication. Whether it’s a single-author project or one of our showcases with many, many contributors (Under Her Skin, for example, involved several dozen poets as well as artists, illustrators, and designers), being able to work as a community on projects we love is such an incredibly rewarding experience, and I’m grateful for every moment.
Let’s shift a bit and talk about writing. I noticed you have written several romance novels, which is exciting because I started out in romance as well! Can you tell us a bit about your journey as a romance writer and how you ended up in the horror genre?
I’ve been writing (and editing) for a long time—in fiction and non-fiction, in books and screenplays. I’ve dabbled quite a bit in romance—especially in book-to-film romance with several titles adapted for screen, and some screen-only—but my heart belongs to horror. The question of toggling between romance and horror is one I get often, but I always give the same answer: balance. There are moments when I need to dive headfirst into the darkness, and other times when I just want to write about finding love in a bakery. Sometimes, one project starts as one genre and becomes another, and those can be the most delightful surprises.
Do you have a favorite book or short story that you’ve written?
My favorite book I’ve written thus far is what my pal George C. Romero described as “Monsters, family, and down-home horror”—it’s part-gore, part-tender, and deeply, deeply personal, because it’s set in my hometown and inspired by the women in my family, most of which are no longer living, so writing them back to life was incredibly cathartic and celebratory. Unfortunately I can’t say too much more about that project just yet as it’s recently been acquired and announcements are pending, but I’m too excited NOT to talk about it either! In terms of short stories, I really haven’t written too many, but my favorite probably is a Bride of Frankenstein-inspired story called “Something Borrowed,” which is part of the upcoming CLASSIC MONSTERS UNLEASHED anthology. I am a huge Frankenstein fan, and writing this modern take—wherein Victor and his monster “shop” for parts for a bride via dating apps—gave me such a fun opportunity to consider how the story might reshape with today’s technology (and dependence on social media). Christopher Brooks—my co-author on the upcoming occult thriller Throw Me to the Wolves—and I are also hard at work on several new projects, so it’s a busy, exciting time for sure!
When you edit anthologies, what do you look for in writing submissions?
The specifics depend on the anthology, but I’m typically looking for stand-out voices, engaging storytelling, and unique ideas that blend well to fit the theme. Editing anthologies is an incredibly challenging task, because you’re looking for amazing individual pieces at the same time you’re building a complete whole, and sometimes this means you get many similar wonderful stories and you have to turn some down. There’s a careful balance to strike, and it often means tough choices.
What tips would you give writers just starting out?
I know it’s cliché to say “read a lot,” but, really, read a lot. Read not only books you’re drawn to, but authors you’ve never heard of. Read books on writing. Study craft. Ultimately, find your voice—and know that, just like anything else, it will grow and change over time.
What’s next for you? Any projects you can talk about?
Speaking of anthologies, we’re hard at work promoting Black Spot Book’s upcoming women-in-horror anthology Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga, which pays homage to (you guessed it) the Baba Yaga of Slavic folklore. There are twenty-three stories in this collection from women horror writers around the world, including many Bram Stoker Award® winning and nominated authors, New York Times bestsellers, and “freshly hatched” voices with I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E stories to tell. Some lean more into horror, some more into dark fantasy, but all are empowering, powerful tales that portray the wildness of the female spirit. There’s also a bloody brilliant poem by Stephanie M. Wytovich and an introduction by Christina Henry, so this truly is one helluva spectacular collection—releasing November 8, 2022.
Where can readers find you?
Black Spot Books is online @BlackSpotBooks and I’m at @LindyRyanWrites as well as www.LindyMillerRyan.com.
Interview with Critic, Essayist, and Audio Producer Chelsea Davis
Interview with Chelsea Davis
1. Thank you for joining me! For those who don’t know you, could you please introduce yourself?
Hi there. I’m a critic and essayist who writes about film, literature, and culture. I typically focus on horror, although I’m broadly interested in how our art and media depict violence, across genres and formats. For instance, my PhD dissertation focused on war literature, and my ongoing essay series Shrieks and Howls looks at the weird overlaps between horror and comedy, two films at a time. My work as an audio producer for the podcast Pseudopod is constantly bringing me into contact with stories that demonstrate the range of dark experiences that humans are heir to. Horror is a ghost story that never leaves the walls of a single apartment; horror is a zombie outbreak in Calcutta; horror is a shapeless dread overtaking a spaceship.
I’m also a poet and am putting the finishing touches on a chapbook about classic horror films. Some of those poems have already been published in Vastarien (on The Exorcist), The Racket (on Jaws), and elsewhere.
2. Let’s talk a little about your research within the horror genre. I hope everyone reading this interview will take a moment and check out your powerful and insightful article “American Psycho,” “American Beauty,” “American Pie”: White Male Rage at the Turn of the Millennium.” How do we combat this “white man ire” that Hollywood loves to perpetuate?
Thank you for the kind words about that essay. I think your word “perpetuate” is a key one here. Movies like Joker aren’t responsible for creating the problem of “aggrieved entitlement” (a term that sociologist Michael Kimmel uses to describe the anger that people feel when they lose unfair privileges to which they’re accustomed). Instead, revenge fantasies in this style merely articulate undercurrents of white male rage that already exist in the real world. They also provide certain viewers with tidy narrative proof that that their own anger is valid, heroic, and has a justifiable outlet in mass shootings, murder, and sexual assault. In this way, the stories we tell ourselves (on the big screen and elsewhere) are part of the problem of white male violence.
But I think they’re only a very, very small part. For instance, the research remains inconclusive as to whether brutal movies and videogames truly make players/viewers act in more brutal ways. (If onscreen gore were one-to-one responsible for offscreen bloodshed, way more horror fans probably would have become serial killers by now.)
Unfortunately, I think the opposite is also true: film is relatively impotent in terms of its ability to heal such a highly dangerous and materially motivated cultural impulse. White men (and white women, for that matter) have a deeply vested interest in keeping power and resources to themselves, and I’m not confident that they’ll/we’ll give that up just because fewer movies focus on pissed-off white men, or because more movies feature lead characters of color. So the most honest answer to your question is that it’s infinitely more important to destroy white supremacy in meatspace than it is to do so in our fictions. That means funding expert efforts to nip white terrorism at the bud in the places where it likes to roost, and pushing for structural changes to racist policies in the realms of housing, education, and the justice system. Kimmel’s book Angry White Men is a good place to read more about all of this.
3. You’ve written several articles about the use of color within horror stories. What is something surprising you’ve learned about your research into this topic?
It blew my mind to learn how far back color first appeared in film. Take a guess. Nope, earlier than that. We’re talking the 1890s! Granted, these films weren’t shot in color; they were colored in post, one frame at a time, by a human hand holding a tiny paint brush. But still. This means that audiences have been watching moving pictures in color nearly since the birth of the medium itself.
There are intriguing implications for our favorite genre, too. It turns out that color has had a particular relationship to horror and other SFF movies from the jump. The first colors used in film were so bright and otherwise artificial-looking that they weren’t especially well suited to the more realist genres. Very early horror, science fiction, and “faerie” or fantasy films figured this out, and exploited the surrealism of vivid color to render their dream (or nightmare) worlds all the more alien. For Gothic and sci-fi examples, check out George Méliès’s films The Haunted Castle (1897) and A Trip to the Moon (1902).
4. Who are some of your favorite authors?
I think Carmen Maria Machado is doing some of the most formally inventive stuff that we’ve seen in horror for a long time. Paul Tremblay has a real gift for turning the screw. Thomas Ligotti’s work always makes me feel like I’ve just bitten into a maggot-filled pie (in a good way, I guess). Ottessa Moshfegh is impossible to pigeonhole into a single genre, but her amoral characters and bizarre plots are far more disturbing to me than any Eli Roth movie. And all of these shock effects I’m describing—formal innovation, disgust, surprise—is why we read, right? To ax-murder the frozen sea within us.
5. Let’s shift a bit and talk about PseudoPod. As co-producer, what are your responsibilities for the podcast?
I’m an audio producer for Pseudopod, which means I use audio software to stitch together the individual ingredients of our episodes (narrator, host track, music, etc.) into the finished product you listen to in your podcatcher. In some cases I also get to play with the audio, warping voices and sneaking creepy soundbeds under the vocals. In the past I also served the ‘pod as a slush reader, which was crazy fun and which I hope I have time to return to in the future.
6. For anyone looking to get into podcasting or radio work, what tips would you give them?
Go for it! Radio is an artistically delightful medium and a relatively democratic one. Though the technology might seem intimidating, don’t let that part scare you off. There are loads of free online tutorials out there and it doesn’t cost much to create a basic audio recording setup at home.
The more important thing to consider carefully from minute one is what your niche will be. If you’re hoping to start a podcast (rather than to pitch and report one-off pieces as a freelance radio producer), think long and hard about your “angle” in terms of both format and content. There are already a million horror podcasts out there that consist of three bro-pals chatting about their favorite movies in a freeform manner and with minimal production. There’s nothing wrong with that, but are you sure you want to create the million-and-first variation on that theme? Can you find a novel focus or format to draw more listeners to your pod and give them a reason to keep coming back? For instance, I recently did a guest spot on a podcast called The Beauty of Horror, which, true to its name, examines horror movies that are beautiful or that philosophically engage with the theme of beauty. I found the show’s tight focus to be a real virtue—ironically, a narrow subject often opens into more expansive discussion than directionless riffing.
7. What changes do you hope to see in the horror world in the next five years?
I’m most attracted to art that pushes and blurs the boundaries of genre, and in the future I hope we see more filmmakers and authors use “horror” as a jumping-off point rather than a strict set of conventions. Americans could stand to take a page out of international filmmakers’ books, in this regard. Julia Ducournau’s Titane was my favorite movie of last year because it constantly kept me off-balance: there’s body horror there, sure, but seen from another angle the film is also a tender love story, and it is also a slasher, and it is also science fiction. The Brazilian-French production Bacurau (2019) and the Swedish film Border (2018) are two more stellar examples of this kind of genre-fucking. It is aesthetic sluttiness, not safe remakes of classics, that keeps horror fresh. (Please, no more remakes or sequels that aren’t doing anything new with the subject matter or medium; there’s been such a scourge of those lately.)
More structurally speaking, but not unrelatedly, I also want people of color, women, and queer people to be given more capital to make their art. And I want that art to get more media coverage and awards consideration when it debuts. We’ve been writing books and creating visual art in the speculative genres for centuries, but we need money to sustain ourselves as we do so. This shift is already underway in horror, but it should be happening faster, and outside of the mainstream, too. It’s far more important to me that an indie feature from a first-time filmmaker gets funded than that an already-comfortable, already-famous author scores a fourteenth award.
8. What’s next for you? Any projects you’d like to share?
In addition to the chapbook I’m wrapping up, I’m thrilled to be making a small narrative contribution to my first board game: The Zone, a horror role-playing game by Raph d’Amico. The online version already exists (you can play it here for free), but I’m working with Raph to develop some aspects of the physical iteration, which will be born sometime in the near future. The game is part Annihilation, part Event Horizon, part whatever particular nightmare keeps you up at night—you are, after all, the one telling the strange and terrible story of The Zone.
9. Where can people find you online?
Much of my writing is posted on my website at chelseamdavis.net/writing and I’m on Twitter @UnrealCitoyenne. Let’s make something together!
Interview with Lasse Wennerstrand of Drawmoore Pictures.com
Interview with Lasse Wennerstrand of Drawmoore Pictures.com
Question:
Thank you so much for joining me! For those who don't know you, could you please introduce yourself?
Answer:
I was born at an early age, and have not recovered since. Somewhere along the way someone checked my ID and mistook me for an adult. I am a Swedish Graphic Designer, Illustrator, and 3D Artist with a keen interest in storytelling, no matter the medium. I am guilty of being the father of three little hellions and we have a dog who always pretends that he is starving (hint, he is not. That mutt is a liar!). I mostly spend my scarce spare time drawing my webcomic if I do not have my nose buried in a good book, comic, or playing videogames. That is when I am not changing dirty diapers, cleaning up another mess, or hiding in the kitchen cooking dinner.
Question:
What is the premise behind Curly: The Cursed Con Man?
Answer:
The whole story revolves around the titular character Curly, a born and raised con artist from Ireland who accidentally causes the death of a family. For his crimes, he is cursed to be hunted and haunted by the archdemon of revenge, Arioch, and dragged down to hell for eternal punishment. So Curly does what he does best, getting the heck out of dodge at the first sign of trouble, and now stumbles from misadventure to the next with his newfound friend, the recently widowed literature teacher Khazal “Kaz” Malik. The stories are a mix of horror and comedy while also dealing with the sense of loss, childhood trauma, and loneliness. What I like to do is to put my character in these horrific situations and scenarios with monsters, aliens, or cooky cannibals, and then the humor comes from the characters themselves, how they react and cope with all this messed up stuff happening around them. But they are flawed, scared people who struggle with everyday life as much as the supernatural hijinks.
Question:
What inspired Curly: The Cursed Con Man?
Answer:
Lasse Wennerstrand
Funny thing is, that I had this idea of a road-tripping ghosthunter roaming the Americana backroads for a long time. However, I could not figure out a good enough main character so I had to put the concept on hold. I also played around with the notion of a con artist pulling off scams and heists but could not find an interesting enough scenario to put him in. Then one night, while I was having trouble sleeping while hospitalized, I got the idea to merge my two different, half-finished concepts and et voila, Curly the cursed con man was born! Brilliant I thought and went to sleep, forgetting about the whole thing until a few weeks later. I then started to sketch out characters, and read up on folklore, myths, and monsters before trying to put all the pieces together into something readable. Artwise I took a lot of inspiration from Disney artist Floyd Gottfredson, the legendary Jack Kirby, and of course the master of supernatural comics himself, Mike Mignola! Other inspirational artists were Eric Powell of The Goon fame and the whimsically delightful art of Marvel artist Skottie Young.
Question:
Other than your own, do you have a favorite horror comic?
Answer:
I love the Hellboy comics and the different spin-offs, especially if they are drawn by Ben
Stenbeck! Otherwise, I have a soft spot for the old Ghost Rider comics and the darker Moon Knight stories from recent years. Eric Powells The Goon and Hillbilly are two great titles that blend humor, tragedy, and horror fantastically and I would recommend everybody to read them at least once.
Question:
If you're open to it, let's talk a bit about your disabilities. How did your diagnosis of severe Fibromyalgia and Parkinson-related tremors affect your work?
Answer:
Quite severely I am afraid. After years of hardships, trying to measure my ability to work, I have been deemed too ill to hold a regular job by two out of three government agencies. Still having trouble with the last one, which means I still have not received any disability benefits despite being afflicted by my disabilities for over a decade now. Living with chronic illness is hell, and I have been ready to give up many times. Over the years, I have been to many different experts in chronic pain management and to rehabilitation, where I learned how to live somewhat easier with my disabilities. Some days are better than others, but it is like a rollercoaster with its ups and downs. Just that the rollercoaster is on fire, has no brakes and the rail is broken in several places. One of the most important lessons that I learned, however, is that I am NOT my disabilities. I am not my illness. My creativity helped me a lot over the years and I think it could help others too. If you have an illness or live with disabilities, that is not the end of the world, having a creative outlet helps release some tension and there is almost always a way to do what you love. There are cheap tools to aid you and do not lose hope. Giving up is not an option, there is always a way, even if it is hard to find or figure out.
Question:
What is next for you? Any projects that you can talk about?
Answer:
Well, I am always open to the odd commission. Currently, I am working on some short humorous comics and faux horror articles as a guest writer for the Hook Cove Gazette, the baby of D.A Holmes, who is building up this fascinating comedic horror town, full of monsters, cryptids, and slasher killers. I am also trying to adapt my webcomic Curly into an adult animated pilot to pitch around when I feel brave enough. So I am going over the manuscript once again. As a proof of concept, I am doing a short animation, where I am figuring out how to use paint over 3D backgrounds in combination with 2D animated characters. The same method that they use in Archer and some Adult Swim cartoons, which is very exciting since it has been a while since I animated anything.
Question:
Where can readers find you?
Answer:
For more Curly, they can visit my website www.drawmoorepictures.com and read every chapter of the comic for free! If they can not get enough of my charming personality, I am often joking around on Twitter @Drawmoore_Pics (link: https://twitter.com/Drawmoore_Pics ) or over at the Hook Cove Gazette (link: https://hookcove.com/ ) where I am a guest writer.
Interview with Award-Winning Author L. Marie Wood Interview
L. Marie Wood Interview
1. Thank you so much for joining me! For those who don’t know you, could you please introduce yourself?
Hi! My name is L. Marie Wood and I love to write. Here is my official bio:
L. Marie Wood is an award-winning dark fiction author, screenwriter, and poet with novels in the psychological horror, mystery, and dark romance genres. She won the Golden Stake Award for her novel The Promise Keeper. Her screenplays have won Best Horror, Best Afrofuturism/Horror/Sci-Fi, and Best Short Screenplay awards at several film festivals. Wood’s short fiction has been published in groundbreaking works, including the Bram Stoker Award Finalist anthology, Sycorax's Daughters and Slay: Stories of the Vampire Noire. Her poetry has been showcased in the critically acclaimed collection, Under Her Skin. She is also the founder of the Speculative Fiction Academy, an English and Creative Writing professor, and a horror scholar. Learn more about her at www.lmariewood.com or join the discussion on Twitter at @LMarieWood1 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LMarieWood.
That’s a lot of words to say I like to write. 😊
2. If you had to describe your writing “brand” in three words, what would they be?
Engaging.
Authentic.
Unsettling.
L. Marie Wood
3. Congratulations on your Golden Stake Award for Literature at the International Vampire Film and Arts Festival for your book The Promise Keeper! It’s very cool that it’s shaped like a stake! Without giving away spoilers, could you tell us a bit about this book?
Thanks so much! I absolutely love that thing, by the way. I keep it out so that it’s within grabbing distance, you know… just in case…
The Promise Keeper is a lot of things at once. It is a vampire tale first and foremost, but it is also a story packed with mystery, love, fear, and suspense. It is historical fiction meeting present day; it spans the globe from Benin to New York; it has shapeshifting, demons, vampires, and something far worse. It is a very complex work that I absolutely adore.
Have you ever seen the book trailer? If not, treat yourself to this visual: https://youtu.be/u4A6lK_2We8
4. What inspired The Promise Keeper?
Nothing in particular, to be honest. I like vampires and I wanted to see how I could use the antagonist in my psychological horror. This is the output of that exercise. It was so much fun.
5. In addition to books, you also write screenplays. What tips would you give aspiring screenplay writers?
Keep writing AND keep watching movies. Pick studio movies and indies and figure out why they feel different. Watch movies you like and ones you don’t. Figure out why you feel the way you do about both. You have to put in research and time to be able to get it right – there is truly something to be said about that due diligence.
6. Which of your screenplays is your favorite and why?
I always say, and truly mean, the screenplay, novel, short story, poem, etc. that I am currently working on is my favorite. And it should be. Why? Because you should be so entrenched in that world that you live, breathe, eat, and think about it all day long – even when you’re not actively doing anything within it. It should be all-consuming – literally the only thing on your mind. In my case, they are all special to me for various reasons – even the stories that never see the light of day.
7. When did you first develop a passion for horror?
At the ripe old age of 5. Seriously. I always knew I liked stories that unsettled me – I didn’t have a word for it the and it wasn’t that I was particularly excited to be frightened… it was just that I was entertained by the off-kilter. And still am.
8. What’s next for you? Any projects you can talk about?
So much – this is a fantastic year! I have nine individual titles come out this year – WOOT! And that’s not counting the stories in anthologies and such. I am so excited. I have my first dark romance coming in early May (!!) called The Tryst – it is the first in the series and I am over the moon about it. I have a mystery - Mars, The Band Man, and Sara Sue - coming in late May. I have a very cool horror project happening over the summer months and, later in the year, book 3 of my trilogy, The Realm. To date this year I have release a novella called The Black Hole about paintballing gone awry (so much fun - this one is realistic horror so it should make the hair stand up on the back of your neck for sure!) and a textbook (!!!). I have so very proud of this textbook, I must say. It is the tool I wish I had when I was in grad school. If anyone wants to learn about the history of the horror genre and/or tighten up the skills they are working on, this book, About Horror: The Study and Craft, is perfect for them.
OOH!
My novella, Telecommuting, came out last year and we just released the audiobook version. The voice actor absolutely killed it – this story just sounds so good. If you have about 3 hours to spare, you should definitely check out this neat tale – it is psychological horror and it is definitely creepy.
And then there’s the cool stuff coming next year! WHEW!
9. Where can readers find you?
Check me out at www.lmariewood.com. You can find out about all the books I talked about here, where I’ll be this year, and what’s coming next. You can also sign up for my newsletter, Random Musings, there as well. I also hang out on Twitter and Facebook. Come by and say hello!
Interview with Writer and Horror Podcaster Julie Saunders
Julie Saunders Interview
Julie Saunders
1. Thank you so much for joining me! For those who don’t know you, could you please introduce yourself?
Sure! I’m a bisexual former Mormon who was raised in the woods in Oregon (well, more or less). I grew up on a small farm in rural Oregon, went to Utah to study Acting and Playwriting, then spent a few years in denial working as a Human Resources rep in the San Francisco Bay Area. For the last six years or so, I’ve been living in Los Angeles and writing just about every kind of story that has ghosts, monsters, or aliens in it. I have two dogs, two cats, one spouse, and an irrational fear of moths.
2. In three words, how would you describe your podcast Believer?
X-Files, extra sarcasm
3. What inspired you to start this podcast?
Well, I first got into audio drama podcasts back in 2015, when I binged all of Limetown while driving back and forth between San Francisco and LA. I quickly fell in love with the medium as a whole. It didn’t occur to me to make my own, though, until a few years ago when the Austin Film Festival held their first Podcast Script Competition. I repurposed a TV pilot script idea I’d had, went to the festival, and learned a lot.
Once I realized that I could actually make my own production, without anyone else’s input or permission, I played around with a few ideas. I wanted the show to be something that I loved; a way to say, “If I could make anything in the world, I would make this.” And there was this character that just wouldn’t leave me alone. She was a paranormal problem-solver. She didn’t believe in ghosts, but she did believe that your perception shapes your reality, so manipulating someone else’s beliefs was often the best way to help them.
Looking back, I realize how much of this came about as I was formally breaking away from the religion I was raised with, and how much of Lara’s worldview captured my attempts to find a new line between what I believed was true, what I believed was useful, and how I wanted to live my life. But at the time, I just thought, “I can’t stop thinking about this character, and how much I want to challenge her over and over again.”
4. How did you go about finding the perfect voice actors?
I put together a casting notice with short bios of each character and audition sides for actors to read, then posted it on my show’s website. I shared that as widely as I could, mostly relying on online podcasting and voice acting networks that I knew about. The actors I found were a mix of complete strangers who found that notice, and people I knew or who were friends of friends.
For example, Camille and Jake were basically written for my next door neighbors at the time, Sara Gorsky and Jason Markoff. I’d met Alli Slice, the writer of Elaine’s Cooking for the Soul, and I loved Rosa Delgado’s performance on that show, so I asked if Alli could put me in touch. I saw two of the other actors at a staged reading for another script, chased them down after the show was over, and invited them to audition.
For season two I’m hoping to cast an even wider net, as I think casting mostly from my own social networks means I end up with a less diverse cast than I might otherwise find.
5. For those looking to start a fiction podcast, what tips would you give them?
Put your passion first. If you go into independent podcasting looking for a business opportunity, you’ll burn yourself out. So don’t focus on what’s been market-tested or what seems the most impressive and original. Instead, look for the idea that you love so much you’re willing to live with it for months at a time, with or without a reward at the end.
Also, network with other writers. Look for other producer/writers on whatever social network you’re on (I’m mostly on Twitter), reply to their posts, follow each other, send messages. There are some really great Discord communities as well - CastJunkie was vital for me in the beginning. For the most part, indie fiction podcasters are some of the nicest and most helpful people in the entire world. A lot of us work alone much of the time, so we love hearing from other people and helping them out.
And listen to fiction podcasts! There’s a bit of a meme in the community these days about production companies who show up claiming to have invented a new genre of show that’s been around for years. Learn what’s out there, think about what you like and don’t like or what you’d borrow and what you’d change about each show. That alone will give you such a great advantage.
6. Since the podcast is all about the paranormal…have you ever seen a ghost? If not, what would you do if you did encounter a spirit?
I have not seen a ghost, though I know people who claim to have interacted with dead relatives in various forms. But there’s a bit of old Mormon folklore that says the best way to test a spirit is to offer to shake its hand. An angel who’s been resurrected can return your handshake. An angel who hasn’t been born yet will decline to shake your hand. And an evil spirit pretending to be an angel will try to shake your hand, but be unable to because God hasn’t given it a body. So I have a feeling that if I saw a ghost, my first instinct would be to try to shake its hand.
7. Besides your own, what are your favorite spooky podcasts to listen to?
There are so many great ones! Lately I’ve been catching up on Hi Nay, Desperado, and The Silt Verses. As far as all-time favorites, though, The Magnus Archives, The Black Tapes, Archive 81, and Old Gods of Appalachia are all giants of the genre for good reasons. Mabel is surreal queer horror-romance that seeps into your bones and doesn’t let you go. Unwell, Call of the Void, and Parkdale Haunt all have casts of characters I just love to hang out with. And I have a special love for frozen isolation horror like The White Vault, Station Blue, and Tartarus. Stepping outside the indie world, BBC Sounds has a fantastic slate of horror audio - my favorites from them so far are The Lovecraft Investigations and The Harrowing.
8. Where can readers find you?
I’m on Twitter and occasionally Instagram . I love to connect with other creators and help each other out, so feel free to reach out - or just tweet at me for podcast recommendations. Believer: A Paranormal Mystery is available on every major podcast platform, online at http://www.believerpodcast.com, and on most social networks as @believerpod.
Interview with Horror Author Madeleine Swann
Madeleine Swann Interview
1. Thank you so much for joining me! For those who don’t know you, could you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your writing?
I’m Madeleine Swann and I write weird and strange things. Sometimes they’re funny and sometimes they’re a bit nauseating. Nicholas Day described my stuff as malicious whimsy and I think that’s the best description I’ve ever heard.
2. How would you define bizzarro horror?
It’s almost impossible to define, in my opinion, so I prefer to say I write weird. It’s not exactly “weird fiction,” it’s just weird. I’m reclaiming weird.
3. Let’s talk a bit about your short story collection The Sharp End of the Rainbow. What inspired this work?
It’s a collection of short stories, some previously published and some new. All of my fears, worries and things I find funny are in here, and I like how it shows a progression in my writing. I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of letting a story unfold in its own time, particularly the nightmarish Victorian stories.
4. Do you have a favorite story from the collection?
That’s a really hard question, because some are on the creepy side and some are just daft, but I’ll always have a soft spot for How to make a Live Kitten Necklace
5. I had a blast playing your Choose Your Own Adventure game “Return of the Egg.” I’m guessing you were a fan of the book series when you were younger. Am I right? Where you a book lover as a child or did your passion for reading and writing come later in life?
Reading was one of my main pleasures as a child. I used to hide in the attic for hours reading and my family just left me to it ha! I’m sure it was nice for them to be able to get on with their day and know that I was quite safe.
Author Madeleine Swann
I did go through a big Choose Your Own Adventure phase but I used to cheat and wouldn’t let go of the old page before checking out the new. We made sure that was impossible with this one, which might have turned people off! I’m really glad you enjoyed it, it really fried my brain. It’s a lot of work and planning, much more than I expected.
6. Who are some of your favorite authors?
I’ve been inspired a lot by Thomas Ligotti. Although he’s not someone I read for the joy of it often, his stuff always has a way of creeping in when I think of things. I also love Leonora Carrington and Dorothy Parker. I sometimes joke to my husband Bill that I’m a cross between the two although, to be honest, I’m not much like either.
7. What’s next for you? Any projects coming up that you’re able to talk about?
I’m putting everything into the book I’m currently working on. I don’t know if it’ll get anywhere, or if people will like it, but I feel like I’ll have told the story deep within me and be happy with it.
8. Where can readers find you?
I hang out a lot on twitter https://twitter.com/MadeleineSwann
And also there’s my YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6wDXC7R4gDR9ZGDX5De3Ew
And website http://madeleineswann.com
Interview with Horror and Dark Fantasy Writer and Poet Marsheila Rockwell
Marsheila Rockwell Interview
1. Thank you so much for joining me! For those who don’t know you, could you please introduce yourself and your writing?
Thanks for having me!
Boozhoo (hello) to everyone! My name is Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell. I am an award-nominated tie-in author and poet, as well as the author of thirteen books. My work includes Marvel Untold: Sisters of Sorcery, SF/H thriller 7 SYKOS, and The Shard Axe series, set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons Online, as well as dozens of short stories, poems, and comic book scripts. I write primarily dark fantasy and horror, with the odd foray into science fiction and the Weird West.
Marsheila Rockwell
I am also a disabled pediatric cancer and mental health awareness advocate and a reconnecting Chippewa/Métis. I live in the Valley of the Sun with my husband, three of our five children, two rescue kitties (one from hell), and far too many books (yes, there is such a thing, LOL).
2. Congratulations on your recent release Sisters of Sorcery from Marvel and Aconyte Books! Can you please tell us how this project came about?
Thank you so much! The process was pretty straightforward. I sent in a writing sample to Aconyte, they liked it, and they put me on their list to receive notifications about upcoming calls for novels. When I saw a call I was interested in, I sent in a few pitches, my editor picked some and asked for expanded pitches, and then we narrowed in on one and developed a detailed synopsis. Marvel approved it and it was off to the races! The whole process from first pitch to first draft took about a year.
3. Without giving away spoilers, what is the premise of Sisters of Sorcery?
The book centers on Clea, the Sorceress Supreme of the Dark Dimension and estranged wife of Dr. Strange. Her mother, the tyrannical Umar the Unrelenting and current ruler of said dim dimension, has obtained a supercharged new energy source that she intends to use to power a campaign of multidimensional conquest. Clea is the only one who can stop her, but she can’t do it alone, so she recruits some powerful witches from Earth to help her – some of which comic book fans may be familiar with, and some of which they probably won’t. Witchy girl power for the win!
4. In addition to writing stories, you also write poetry. Do you have a favorite poem that you’ve written?
It’s hard to pick a favorite, but one I’m most proud of is “Reservation Fairy Tales 101 – Final Exam,” which was published in Augur Magazine 4.1 and has been nominated for this year’s Science Fiction Poetry Association Rhysling Award. It’s a poem about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (#MMIWG2ST) epidemic, presented in the form of a multiple-choice test that’s intended to make the reader consider not only the issue itself, but the role they play in it.
5. When did your love for writing first begin?
I learned to read when I was three and books helped me through a rough childhood. They were an escape for me, and writing was a way to not only keep that escape hatch open for myself, but to help other people who might need one. The first story I remember writing was a 20-page Conan pastiche in sixth grade, complete with a talking cat and a princess in need of rescuing, but I’m sure I was opening doors to new worlds well before then.
6. Do you have a favorite book or comic?
I am in love with pretty much everything Guy Gavriel Kay has ever written. His Fionavar Tapestry trilogy is a longtime favorite (though I usually recommend folks start with Tigana, because it has everything I love about the FT trilogy, but in one book instead of three). As for comics, you can’t go wrong with anything Gail Simone has written (especially Wonder Woman).
7. What’s next for you? Any projects you can talk about?
I do a lot of tie-in work, so I’m under various non-disclosure agreements and can’t say much about forthcoming projects. But I am working on some more pitches for my editor, so hopefully one of those will get greenlit and I’ll have another book out in a year or so. I’m also involved in an exciting new anthology based on a fan favorite property, so that should be a lot of fun. And I’m always writing poetry and short stories, and hoping to get some time to work on an original novel when my contracted (i.e., paid) work allows.
8. Where can readers find you?
I have a website, a blog, a FB page, and am on Twitter way too much, LOL. I also have some local con appearances in the fall, pandemic gods willing; folks can keep up to date with that on my social media. Here are my links:
Website: https://marsheilarockwell.com/
Blog: https://mrockwell.dreamwidth.org/ (mirrored on my website)
FB: https://www.facebook.com/MarsheilaRockwellAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarcyRockwell
Interview with Daniel Richardson, CEO of TPS Productions
Daniel Richardson, CEO of TPS Productions Interview
Daniel Richardson
1. Thank you so much for joining me! For those who don’t know you, could you please introduce yourself?
Hello! My name is Daniel Richardson. I'm an underground filmmaker from Bedford, Indiana. And I'm the CEO of TPS Productions.
2. Congratulations on your short film “The Death of an Aristocratic Family!” Could you please tell us a bit about this film, without giving away spoilers?
Thank you! And, sure. "The Death of an Aristocratic Family" is about this detective who visits a particularly gruesome crime scene that just shakes him to his core. He starts questioning, not only if he still wants to be a cop, but if he even wants to live in a world where something so heinous could happen.
3. How long did it take, from conception to final edits, to produce this short?
Ha-ha, we're getting really good at producing shorts. It took us less than three weeks. This was initially supposed to be a part of the Monthly Movie Challenge. I saw their post and decided to give it a shot. We were currently waiting to resume production on our next feature-length film, so I thought this would be something fun to do while we were down.
4. Who is your dream director to collaborate with?
Well, in a dream scenario, it would have to be Queintin Tarantino. Like he would definitely be slumming it working with me, ha-ha, but that would be awesome. Maybe if he ever did another "Grindhouse" film, I could contribute one of the fake trailers.
5. What is your favorite horror movie?
The original "Halloween". It just doesn't get any better than that.
6. What tips can you give aspiring filmmakers?
My advice is to just do it. Don't wait for the perfect conditions. There's always a million reasons not to film and it's easy to get sidelined with those reasons. You want to make a movie? Go make your movie!
7. What’s next for you? Any projects you can talk about?
On the directing side of things, I have an anthology horror film entitled "The Copperville Chronicles", which will serve as a follow-up to our first film, "Unspeakable Acts". And then as a producer I will be working closely with Josh Chaney and Angel Lopez as they are each working on their own shorts.
8. Where can readers find you?
Facebook and Instagram are both under TPSProductions666. On Twitter: @TPSProductions7. And finally on YouTube at youtube.com/c/TPSProductions. This has been great! Thank you so much!
Check out the trailer for The Death of an Aristocratic Family below!