Fantasy Author Jesse Nolan Bailey #Interview
Jesse Nolan Bailey Interview
1. Congratulations on the release of your debut fantasy novel The Jealousy of Jalice (A Disaster of Dokojin Book 1)! Please tell us a little about this book.
Thank you! This adult dark fantasy begins with a pair of women determined to somehow overthrow a tyrant chief who has plagued the land with violence and chaos. Afraid of his aether magic, they opt for kidnapping his wife. But astral demons and forest monsters stalk their every move, and secrets of the past threaten to undo their schemes. This story explores how sins of the past haunt the present, and that is better to face one’s mistakes than try to bury them in denial.
2. If your book were made into a movie, who would you want to play Annilasia, Jalice, & Delilee?
Annilasia would be played by Frieda Pinto
Delilee would be played by Bonnie Wright
and Jalice would be played by Karen Gillan
3. Without giving away spoilers, what was your favorite scene to create in this book?
That’s a tough question, there’s so many scenes that were so fun to write. Without giving away spoilers, I’d say the scenes of Jalice interacting with the Black House and what resides inside it were probably my favorite. That setting is quite different than what the rest of the book contains aesthetic wise, so I liked exploring that.
4. Let’s talk a little about writing. What would you say is your writing kryptonite?
Distraction or stress. If there’s too much external stimuli happening around me, I can’t concentrate and get the right words down. If I’ve got emotional stress going on, that’s another quick way for me to hit a sense of writer’s block. I can’t write when I’m upset or stressed.
5. There’s a theory floating around the artist community that creative people need to experience suffering in order to write about suffering. True art comes from suffering. What do you think of this idea?
I think that’s a bit of an overstatement. It’s certainly valid that an author’s personal experiences are a huge component of what they put into their works. Emotions and experiences shape us, and often art is a way of expressing those. My book contains bits and pieces of me and my story, no doubt about it, and many of the emotions embedded in this book are from a source of hurt and pain. But I don’t think art is contained to suffering. Joy and peace can produce just as beautiful a work as the traumatic moments of life.
6. How much of your work is autobiographical?
I haven’t encountered an actual demon in real life, and I haven’t kidnapped a tyrant’s wife. With that disclaimer, the basis of the story stems from some personal traumas I went through as a teenager regarding my sexual identity and how others around me reacted to that. This particular lens of the story probably isn’t immediately seen by the average reader, but with a little insight such as my explanation here, I think other readers will see something deeper going on in the book.
7. You’re a self-professed geek. When did your geek-ness first develop? Also, feel free to use this space to defend your love of The Phantom Menace LOL
Listen, the Star Wars prequels are far from perfect. As an adult, they’re cringe-worthy at moments, especially the acting. But there’s so many other gems to be found in those movies and the stories they tell. For one thing, the music produced by John Williams for these are masterpieces. Even if someone doesn’t like the films, I doubt they’ll go so far as to say the accompanying soundtracks are bad too. Then there’s the Darth Maul. Some people complain about how he had so few lines in the movie, but I think that only added to his ominous presence whenever he showed up on screen. And come on…he’s got a double bladed lightsaber.
Ok, I’ll stop. I’m sure half of your readers have dropped off now.
As far as being a geek, I’ve always gravitated towards that subculture. Scifi and fantasy books, movies, shows, games—they’ve been a part of me since childhood. The moment a dragon, laser gun, or alien show up to the party, I’m there.
8. What’s next for you? Any projects you can discuss?
I’m currently working on a stand alone novella, unaffiliated with A Disaster of Dokojin. It’s weird, hopefully in a good way, and mixes science fiction with fantasy. I’m going for a M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village meets Sherlock Holmes meets Alien. I’m hoping to have this out before end of year, and then my focus will be entirely on a sequel to The Jealousy of Jalice.
9. Where can people find you online?
My website is jessenolanbailey.com , and my email is jessenolanbailey@gmai.com. If you’re on social media, follow me at Twitter or Instagram
10. Last chance! Anything else you’d like to say?
To all those out there working on their first novels, and think it’ll just never happen: please don’t give up. I wanted to so many times. But I stuck with it, and eventually got a place where I was sick and tired of not being published, so I wrote nearly everyday until I had that dang manuscript done. Someone out there needs and wants your story. Now, sit down, and finish writing it.
Horror Author Thomas Gaffney #Interview
Thomas Gaffney Interview
1. Congratulations on the release of your award-winning book Stranger Things Have Happened! Can you tell us a little about this book?
TG: Thank you! It’s still weird to think about. It started off a vanity project, I had a few short stories (around 1500 words max) that I submitted to contests and anthologies but were rejected. I was really enjoying writing short stories at the time, so I wrote a few more and collected them together. I self-published Stranger Things Have Happened to get the stories (and my name) out there, and submitted it to any contest that came along. I was very fortunate Stranger Things Have Happened anything, honestly.
2. Without giving away any spoilers, do you have a favorite story from the collection and why?
TG: That would have to be FEEEEENIX or FRAXINUS AMERICANA. FEEEEENIX is a very personal story to me. It’s the first one of these short stories that I wrote, the two main characters are based on me and my wife, and my father was a firefighter (but, luckily, both my parents are still with us). FRAXINUS AMERICANA is the second story I wrote and the one I was most “in the zone” while writing. That one flowed from like I creating a new world, and it was the most I felt like a “real” writer.
3. How long, from conception to final edits, did it take you to write Stranger Things Have Happened?
TG: I’d say a full year to write all nine stories that appeared in the book, and probably another year to edit them all with the help of a writer’s club I belonged to when I worked for Barnes & Noble. Some stories, like FRAXINUS AMERICANA and EIGHT DAYS A WEEK came easier than others.
4. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
TG: Growing up, I made my own comic books and Choose Your Own Adventure books for the neighborhood, but I never equated that to wanting to be a writer. I always assumed it was from my love of drawing. I stopped writing stuff until rereading Stephen King’s IT in my mid-thirties. It’s a masterpiece of 20th century storytelling, IMHO. After that, I sat down and said, “I want to tell stories.” And having grown up devouring horror novels (and King in particular), I knew exactly what genre I wanted to write.
5. What would you consider to be the hardest part of writing?
TG: Whew. I would have to say the monotony more than anything. I never had an issue coming up with ideas. Nor any problems with “killing my darlings” in the editing process. Yeah, I would hit some writer’s block, but I could usually transition to another chapter, or another project, until I got through it. The hardest thing for me is sitting at the same desk and working on the project for years on end. I have a completed novel in the middle of a third draft that I’ve been working on forever, and I had to put is away for a bit and work on something else, because working on that for 3 years straight finally got to me.
6. What changes would you like to see in the horror writing community over the next ten years?
Thomas Gaffney
TG: I’d like it to continue the path it’s on. More tension and less reliance on blood and guts. The best King books had their share of gore, which helped cement his reputation, but they also were adept at delving into the human psyche and that got overlooked by the death and gore. I want to see more diverse characters, and more of the everyday world where a tiny corner gets peeled away and underneath the bad day you’re having at work is a horror so unimaginable, it turns your hair white. And I do think the horror writing community is on the right path with that. The best horror stories, IMHO, are what would YOU do if you walked into your usual Starbucks and your regular barista was turned inside-out by a hell demon and begging for your help?
7. Is there anything you won’t write about?
TG: Off the top of my head, nothing is off-limits, per se, but I’m trying to make it a point not to put any romance into my stories. One, I’m probably terrible at writing it. And two, just because the story might put two strangers together to get out of a situation alive doesn’t mean they have to fall in love over the course of the book. A good portion of my stories have a female main character, and honestly, she doesn’t need a boyfriend or any man to help her save the day.
8. What’s next for you? Any projects you can discuss?
TG: I’m working on the first draft for a horror novel about haunted/cursed dice. I pitched the idea to one of my Creative Writing professors (who is a Bram Stoker nominated author) and he thinks it could potentially be purchased by a publisher. I wrote a short story about the same cursed dice for another Creative Writing class (it’s a sort-of prequel story) and it’s on a short list to be bought by an online magazine for their next anthology (fingers crossed). After that I’ll go back to the 3rd draft of a completed horror novel about a woman with unique eyesight and the creature that’s after her.
9. Where can people find you online?
TG: You can browse my website or find me on twitter where I’m most active. I’m also trying to use my Facebook and Instagram more often . Stranger Things Have Happened is available anywhere ebooks are, from Amazon to Apple to B&N to Kobo to Smashwords and Google.
10. Last chance! Anything else you’d like to say?
TG: If you want to be an author, stop making excuses. Believe me, I tried them all. But the writing bug never left me, and I found that any excuse is lame. I think my writing is junk, but I keep at it. The only way to get better is to practice by writing more. I work 40 hours a week, I simultaneously take online classes at Southern New Hampshire University, and I’m married and juggling home life as well – but I can always find time to write. Yeah, I wish I had more time, but there is always time if you want there to be time. Stop with the excuses.
BUY STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED HERE
Horror Author Nicole Henneman #Interview
Nicole Henneman Interview
1. Congratulations on you forthcoming Witch of Whidbey series! Can you tell us a little about these books?
Whidbey Island has always been a special place for me. My step-father was in the military and I grew up there. The concept for the books came to me while I was sitting in a 9th grade history class learning about one of the island’s first white settlers, Isaac Ebey. He was decapitated by a group of Native Americans as retaliation for a military attack, but I always wondered how the narrative would change if it had been someone else who killed him. While Ebey’s Landing is a fictionalized account of those events, it is rooted in island history. The first book follows Ebey’s life up to his eventual death, while the second book is set in modern day.
2. If Witch of Whidbey were made into a movie, who would you want to play the heroine, Andrea?
The Witch of Whidbey series has two quietly determined female protagonists facing very different circumstances. In Ebey’s Landing, Olivia practices folk magic and is wronged in the process. I could see her being played by Morfydd Clark or Maggie Rhee. Andrea is newly single, lives in San Francisco and knows nothing about magic. Andrea not only struggles with catastrophic events but also the aftermath of her own naiveté. Her character would be a good vehicle for Florence Pugh or maybe Laia Costa.
3. On your website, you mention you write paranormal fiction among other genres (mysteries, children’s imaginative fantasy, YA adventure). Have you ever experienced anything paranormal?
When I was younger, I encountered lots of shadow people but never the infamous Hat Man. As I got older, the experiences became less frequent but one time I was home alone and heard a man call my name from another room. My most recent experience was in 2013 when we videotaped an orb floating through our living room. Generally, they have been fairly benign experiences. Strangely, later I did have a dream of the Hat Man. In my dream I was screaming and I woke up standing straight up on the floor-still screaming.
4. Do you ever research real events, legends, or myths to get ideas?
The Witch of Whidbey was borne out of my love of lore. In elementary school I read Greek mythology books and the Legends of King Arthur repeatedly. I still spend time researching myths of various countries and people. While those stories have not inspired any books yet, I am definitely influenced by their tone and structure.
5. When did you first realize you wanted to be an author?
I have always loved stories but did not realize I could create my own until I won a writing award in second grade. However, I was not one of those writers blessed with the perseverance to write a novel early on or forge my way into the industry. I am an introvert who experiences anxiety and intense writer’s block. The Witch of Whidbey series has been a decades long project in the making, so the fact that I am still working on manuscripts stands as an inner testament to the craft.
6. In your opinion, what one stereotype about horror writers is absolutely wrong?
That we base characters on people in real life just so we can kill them off. Wait, no, we do that. Okay, maybe that we only wear black. I definitely own a few grey shirts. So that stereotype is completely wrong.
7. Let’s have a little fun. Would you rather spend a weekend in the house from The House on Haunted Hill or The Overlook Hotel with Jack?
That is a hard one. While each location has its merits and challenges lurking amongst the walls, I think ending Jack would ultimately prove easier.
8. What’s next for you? Any projects you can discuss?
I will be publishing a YA book (The Mack Morgan Mysteries) and working on a new paranormal story (Catfish).
9. Where can people find you online?
My website
10. Last chance! Anything else you’d like to say?
Thank you for this great opportunity! Please check out my books and continue supporting the work of horror writers.
Nicole Henneman
Horror Author Brian Bowyer #Intervi
Brian Bowyer Interview
1. Congratulations on the release of your horror novel Apocalypse! Can you please tell us a little about it?
Thank you! In the novel, a biotech company develops a phone that’s implanted in human flesh. Everything was fine with the first version, but after SkinTech releases the DermaPhone 2, half the people on Earth who get the upgrade become homicidal maniacs.
2. If Apocalypse was made into a movie, who would you cast as the leads?
I have no idea, but I do know I would love to direct it!
3. Are you a pantser or plotter?
Both. I’ll often start with a plot, but the characters usually take off in completely different directions, and then I’m just along for the ride.
5. Do you have a favorite author? Who and why?
No, but I have a long list of authors whose work I love. Some of those are Jack Ketchum, Kathe Koja, Edward Lee, Caitlin Kiernan, Wrath James White, Brian Keene, the list goes on and on.
6. What book are you currently reading?
THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE by Mariana Enriquez.
7. What are some of your hobbies outside of writing and reading?
Brian Bowyer
Playing guitar, shooting pool, throwing darts, taking walks, and listening to music.
8. What’s next for you? Any projects you can discuss?
I recently released a collection of horror fiction called PERPETUAL DREAD. I have another finished novel that will be available soon. And I’m over halfway through the haunted-mansion novel I’m currently working on.
9. Where can people find you online?
You can find my books here. I’m also active on Facebook and Twitter.
10. Last chance! Anything else you’d like to say? Yes. Thank you very much for the interview.
Horror Author Eve Harms #Interview
Eve Harms Interview
Congratulations on the release of your successful series The Demonic Diaries! Can you tell us a little about these books?
Thank you! The books are a mix of occult horror and suspense, with humor thrown in, told in blog format. With the blog format, there is a lot of emphasis on the character's voice, in this case a twenty-something horror writer named Kendra Temples. The first book was actually posted online as a blog and written under the pen name of the main character, but I've since transitioned to writing under my real name. Probably a good thing, since Kendra tends to be a polarizing character!
Without giving away spoilers, do you have a favorite out of the three books?
Definitely the third book, Shadow Puppet. It's more conceptual than the first two, and has more twists and turns. I let myself run a little wild with it, but I think it still nestles into genre fiction and doesn't get too literary. But you have to read the first two to get the most out of it!
On your website, you describe yourself as writing “freaky fun horror fiction.” What inspired this brand?
It encapsulates my writing style. Whatever I write ends up being some ratio of weird, dark, and goofy. Practically, my brand has sort of morphed into being about the occult, which is a passion of mine, but I don't want to be pegged into any specific subject matter.
How much of your work is autobiographical?
There will be snippets of my actual experiences throughout my life inserted into some of the books, but the characters are never meant to be me or anyone I know. For example, in Shadow Puppet, Kendra goes to an experimental, noise music show. Readers who aren't familiar with those kind of shows might think I made all of those weird details up, but at one point in my life, I would often go to shows almost exactly like that.
But the most autobiographical aspect of my work is theme. Book 2, Hellcrafter, is all about loss and trauma, and my experience of the sudden loss of my brother drove the thematic aspect of that work. Shadow Puppet has a theme of losing and striving to regain bodily autonomy. There aren't any trans characters in the book, but retrospectively, it's a narrative highly informed by my experiences transitioning, as well as my history with chronic illness and pain.
How would you like to see the horror writing industry evolve in the next ten years?
More diverse voices!
Please tell us a little about The Cornfield Creeps and Other Stories, which is the free book given to those who sign up for your newsletter.
The Cornfield Creeps is a Kendra Temples novelette that is her sort of origin story, and explains how she got exiled from her hometown and ended up in Los Angeles. I included additional short stories so readers can get a taste for my non-Kendra work.
I send out a newsletter twice a month, one is an original article on an occult or esoteric topic of my choosing, and the other is highlights of esoterica around the web and book recommendations. If you don't mind me dropping my sign up link, here it is: http://eveharms.com/free-book/ :)
What is the most fascinating piece of information you’ve learned from your occult studies?
Right now, I've been diving deep into Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism. It is the most fascinating, and spiritually nourishing aspect of my studies so far. I love it so much, and want to share it with others, but I have no idea how to distill it into a single tweet and/or article.
When it comes to folklore, one of my favorite figures is Aicha Kandicha. She's a half-jinn from Moroccan folklore, who appears as a woman with camel hooves, and lures men into the desert to kill them. Theories of her origin range from a Phoenician Fertility deity, to a real noblewoman, or even an anti-colonial resistance fighter. I consider her a part of a club of misunderstood female "demons", along with Lilith and Medusa, that I have a special affinity for.
What’s next for you? Any projects you can discuss?
My next series is going to be based on the Kabbalah! It's going to be a sort of metaphysical dark fantasy series with aspects of neo-noir, and will take place in the spheres of the Qliphoth, the demonic shadow realms of the tree of life. It may take awhile, because I'm researching heavily, and I have no idea how many books it will be. I'm still in early stages. I may release some standalone books and short stories in the meantime.
Where can people find you online?
My website as well as twitter and instagram.
Last chance! Anything else you’d like to say?
Thank you so much for the interview!
Horror Author Kit Mann #Interview
Kit Mann Interview
1. Congratulations on the release of your horror novel A Distant Whisper! Can you please tell us a little about it?
Ya know. I am proud of that novel for personal reasons. Professionally, it is a bit outside my comfort zone, with the romance story that weaves throughout. But there is a wild story behind that novel and how it came to be. The story itself is about a man who has kind of lost himself, until he meets a woman who changes his perceptions of what love is…and then tragedy strikes. He begins seeing her as a ghost, even though she is still alive….and the ghost has a message for him that leads him to some big decisions.
2. Can you give us a little peak behind the curtain? What is your writing process like? Are you a pantser or plotter?
I plot. I don’t understand how you can’t, really. I know people that pants it and they ALL, invariably, hit road blocks and plot holes and contradictions – it’s my experience that plotting and outlining and committing to the story, keeps me from giving up and moving on to something else. It’s an investment. Also, there are FAR less revisions to do when you’re done, because you have been faithful to your story arc from the beginning. But hey, that’s how I do it. I have an extremely specific process for outlining and doing character profiles before I even start writing. I don’t write a word until I have a beginning and an end. I know where I need to go and THAT enables me to get there more efficiently and it enables me to have a high daily output. If you don’t have to worry about what to do next, it makes the writing so much easier.
3. What have you learned about self-publishing that you wish you knew before starting the process?
I went into with my eyes open. I have some traditional publishing experience, so I knew the obstacles. There are two things that I wish others would know, however and that is…Put some money behind your work. The biggest difference between Trad and Indie publishing is the marketing and final product. Pay for a professional editor and pay for a cover designer. And, if your goal is to sell books, then realize that you must invest in marketing. It doesn’t always mean an investment of money. It could be time. But the less money you have for marketing, the more time you will have to spend and vice versa. There it a lot more to marketing without a budget than sitting on Twitter all day begging other authors to buy your books. I know that my next book will have a FAR different approach than I had with DISTANT WHISPER. I have a marketing strategy and I have hired an amazing cover artist and an editor with more of a horror background.
4. What was the first horror book you ever bought?
Not counting children’s books? First adult book that I ever bought was THE EXORCIST. In fact I can quote you from my bio: "The first book I ever bought with my own money was The Exorcist. My junior high school (that's what middle school was called back then) principal took it away from me, tore it in half and handed me a Bible.
And then he called my mom.
My grandmother, seeing how distraught I was, took me to a used bookstore and told me I could spend $2.50 for any of the $0.50 paperbacks that were in there.
I bought the Exorcist again. Amityville Horror. Ghost Story by Peter Straub. Salem's Lot by Stephen King and an Edgar Allan Poe anthology. And I was hooked…..
6. Just for fun: Would you rather spend a night in The Overlook hotel with Jack Torrance or the high school gym during prom with Carrie?
Probably the Overlook. I think I could take him. Carrie always freaked me out. There was something about her that actually gave me the willies. I think I could kick Jack’s ass though.
7. What are some of your hobbies outside of writing and reading?
I play the guitar. I think I am pretty good. I used to play in front of people, but now it’s more of a meditative thing. I pick it up and everything else just fades away. I play disc golf in the summer and I like working in the yard and building stuff for the house.
8. What’s next for you? Any projects you can discuss?
My next book is DRAW BLOOD and it’s back to traditional horror for me. Its an old west Vampire story with kind of a True Detective eeriness to it. eArcs will be available in September and we’re shooting for release in late October. By Halloween for sure.
9. Where can people find you online?
Instagram and I have a Patreon page as well.
10. Last chance! Anything else you’d like to say?
I appreciate you letting me ramble here. I love that there are people out there that are into supporting horror or whatever genre they dig. As writers, when we do things to help each other, it makes the process of being indie more enjoyable. There are already so many people trying to kill your dreams because they are jealous. It is nice to have support. That all being said, my goals in 2021 are to connect more with READERS through the internet and in person. We have extremely high hopes for DRAW BLOOD and am already getting some amazing feedback. Unlike A DISTANT WHISPER which was more of a personal thing for me to publish, the next three books are all aiming at the traditional horror reader. I can’t wait!
Author Kit Mann
Horror Author Mark Towse #Interview
Mark Towse Interview
1. Congratulations on your debut novel release Face the Music! Can you please tell us a little about this collection?
Thanks. Hell, I love talking about my work! Face The Music is a collection of 23 old-school style horror stories ranging in length from 500-6,000 words. I say old-school because a lot of these stories pack a twist, one that I hope the reader doesn’t see coming (and according to the exceptional feedback, they don’t). The art of the twist seems to be something long forgotten. I used to love the jolt of being thrown in a different direction, mouth hanging open, and a feeling of being cheated, in awe at how the writer had weaved a new path without me even noticing. The stories cover everything from cults, remote places, anxiety, grief, murder, morality, and all have the underlying thread that sooner or later, someone is going to have to face the music. I can’t promise happy endings with these stories, and I don’t apologise for that – there is no room in horror for empathy.
2. Without giving away spoilers, what was your favorite story in this collection and why?
Many are special to me in terms of the great feedback I have received from readers, but I have to say my personal favourite is ‘Wing and a Prayer’. It’s the weirdest out of the bunch with definite tones of ‘The Wicker Man’. I love putting readers in a strange place with no idea what is happening or why it’s happening — that is for me to know and them to find out. Immersing myself in such a world was fun, and I was quite sad to leave it. I love cults, crows, strange places – what’s not to like?
3. Let’s pretend one story from your collection is made into a movie. Which one and who plays the leads?
I have two in mind that I think would make for an exceptional movie. The Paperboy is terrifying, and I would have a field day casting the old people from Newhaven Crescent – perhaps the likes of Robert De Niro, Maggie Smith, Billy Crystal, Judi Dench, Christopher Plummer. Oh wow, that would be so much fun. Also, I would have to revert to ‘Wing and a Prayer’ again. I’m not sure who I would cast for this, but a young Nicholas Cage would have been perfect.
4. From your Amazon page, you say “I like old-school stories with a twist, but they seem to be a dying breed. I want to resurrect them.” What are some examples of old-school stories that you enjoy?
The Interlopers - Saki. The Lottery – Shirley Jackson. There’s also a recent film by M. Night Shyamalan called ‘The Visit’ that aligns with my style and twisted sense of humour perfectly. It plays on the idiosyncrasies of the old in a very sinister fashion, and I dig that. I loved Hitchcock growing up, 'The Twilight Zone,' and there was also a British TV show called ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ that I couldn't get enough of.
5. You’ve had enormous success in the short story world with publications in many big-name magazines such as Flash Fiction Magazine, ParABnormal, and Suspense Magazine. What tips would you give a newbie writer trying to get a short story published?
Persistence. It’s been said before, but without it, you'll get nowhere fast. When I first started this journey just over two years ago, I sent my stories to an array of magazines, and used to get frustrated when the rejections came back, but it’s as though I had to go on that journey first to be able to get rid of all the bile that was in my head and to get down to the good stuff. Practice is key in perfecting structure, grammar, style—you can’t put pen to paper after a 30-year gap and expect to write a masterpiece. I still have so much to learn, but it’s going in the right direction. I would say don’t take on too much advice in the beginning, just write, and write as though you’ve never written before. Oh, and don’t write what you think people want to read, write what you want to read. Have fun with it.
6. This is my favorite question for authors. Pretend the FBI has taken control of your computer and searches your internet history. We all know authors have, um, questionable search histories. What will the FBI find on your computer that is “for a story?”
How long does it take for a body to dissolve in acid? Would a mole eat human flesh if that was the only source of food? Are the effects of morphine immediate? What do eyes taste like? And these are just the tame ones.
7. Who is your favorite author and why?
My favourite author as a child/teenager was Stephen King. I consumed as much of his stuff as possible. I don’t really have a favourite author now and prefer to open myself to all sorts of styles. I do love the work of Christopher Wilson. I tend not to read a lot of horror as would prefer my style not to be influenced by others.
8. What’s next for you? Any projects you can discuss?
I will continue to write short stories for the time being as I just bloody love it. People keep asking when I’m going to write a novel, and I’m not sure I ever will. I’ve got some crackers in the ‘to be sent’ pile. I’ve just finished editing a new story called ‘Crawl Space’ that I’m excited to get out there, and also just finished a draft for a story about the exploration of fear, yet to be named. I’ve written 91 stories to date, but there are many more simmering away.
9. Where can people find you online?
10. Last chance! Anything else you’d like to say?
Always. Look out for my forthcoming story ‘Devil’s Ink’ in the forthcoming ‘Midnight in the Pentagram’ anthology from Silver Shamrock Publishing (August). This one is a career highlight to date as I share the pages with the likes of Graham Masterton, Chad Lutzke, James Newman, Todd Kiesling, Catherine Cavendish, Brian Keene, and Willie Meikle to name a few. My story ‘The Taste of Bourbon’ will feature in Love Letters to Poe. ‘Candy Man’ is to be featured in the anthology from Soteira Press, ‘A Monster Told Me Bedtime Stories’. There are so many to mention. Erm, ‘Old Times’ in the anthology ‘The Half That You See’ anthology from Dark Ink Press (early next year). Check out my stuff on The No Sleep Podcast and The Grey Rooms. Incidentally, I have at least 4 stories in production for Season 3 of The Grey Rooms so watch out for them. There is so much going on. Great fun! Thanks so much for allowing me to waffle. Mark
Mark Towse
Horror Author Justin Fulkerson #Interview
Horror Authro Justin Fulkerson #Interview
1. Congratulations on your most recent release Crossroads! Can you please tell us a little about this collection?
The first three stories (Unfinished Business, One More Cup and Knackelflerg) were some of the first I published to Amazon back in 2011-12. I was playing around with the platform back then and wanted to get my name out into the publishing world. The last three are novellas I wrote shortly afterward (Paranormal Alien Crap, Koyaanisqatsi, and Gate of She’ol). These are all the first stories that I shared with the world and I thought it would be fun to collect them into one volume. The introduction explains the origins of the stories and a few tidbits about each one.
2. Without giving away spoilers, what was your favorite story in this collection and why?
I would have to say Koyaanisqatsi. What could be better than Lee Harvey Oswald, Charles Manson and Jim Morrison teaming up to defeat time-traveling demons and aliens in order to save the world?? The story takes place in an alternate timeline when the Cuban Missile Crisis leads to nuclear Armageddon and the survivors are drawn to a figure named Phoenix that promises them safety. Hope that doesn’t qualify as spoilers, lol.
3. I’ve had the pleasure of reading your terrifying book Freckles the Clown. It was a delicious blend of disturbing gore and horror. Can readers expect this level of horror in your other works? In other words, how would you describe your horror brand?
Justin Fulkerson
I think Freckles the Clown pushed the envelope more than most of my past writing. My horror brand deals more with the human side of horror and the fact that there are no real ‘good guys’ on the world. Everyone has a dark side or secrets they do not want brought to light. The majority of my works are character-driven. The characters are the heart and soul of the horror I produce. Sure, in my novel Hallowed Ground there are a few zombies, in An Hour for Magic there is a power-hungry demon set to take over the world but the majority of my antagonists are human. Psychology plays a major part in my story-telling. Unfinished Business follows an elderly serial killer in search of his fiftieth victim on a Texas highway, One More Cup takes on the subject of an innocent person being accused of following someone else and how these situations can spiral out of control.
4. You’ve published eight horror books. What’s one tip you wish someone had told you before you began your journey as a writer?
Don’t give up!!!! Several times I stopped writing because I could not find a market. I even had one retired agent tell me that horror was dead and had been for more than ten years. He said there was no market for horror and that I should try something else. I won’t say his name, but he was a big name agent. It hurt momentum for a while, but then I became determined to prove him wrong. Write what you love and what you feel is a good story. Let the chips fall where they may and go for it. There will be a lot of people in the way, but you have to ask them to step aside and give let you take the path.
5. There’s a theory floating around the artist community that creative people need to experience suffering in order to write about suffering. True art comes from suffering. What do you think of this idea?
Wow. Well, suffering does give you fuel. But feeling sorry for yourself will get you nowhere. I am going to tell a story that I don’t share with a lot of people. To make a long story short and leave out the sordid details, I have been supporting myself since I was seventeen years old. I have worked full time since then. I am now 44 years old and I can truly say that I owe no one anything. I have gotten through this life without being indebted to anyone, including family or friends. Sure I owe my mortgage and bills, but have never had to ask anyone to help me financially.
6. Who is your favorite author and why?
Of course, you know the answer to this one. Stephen King. One of the most significant reasons I ever read him was because my mother was whole-heartedly against it. She said when I was 12 that I could read whatever I wanted, as long as it wasn’t Stephen King. So, I went behind her back and my father (they were divorced) bought me Cujo one month. I was hooked. My mother was livid but eventually came around. She said, ‘okay, as long as you don’t read The Shining.’ Well, what do you think I did next? Now I have an entire wall of my office papered with pages from IT, ‘Salem’s Lot and The Gunslinger. I have covers from Carrie, The Shining, Pet Semetary, The Stand and Misery polyurethane coated to the counter. I have 6 books signed by his son Joe Hill. So, yeah, I am a big fan of Stephen King. It humbles me when sometimes I am compared to him in a review.
7. What’s next for you? Any projects you can discuss?
I am working on four at once, but two of them are quite promising. Space Hobos is coming along nicely (you got a sneak peek of this one). Here is a blurb for those interested:
A galactic adventure rife with cultural relevance in today’s political and social media driven climate, Space Hobos launches the reader into a plausible sci-fi drama and never drops out of orbit.
For quite a while the future has been bleak for Holistic Henry and Cancer Carl and it isn’t getting any better. As the government begins to round-up the homeless population for an involuntary mission to space, Henry and Carl attempt to evade capture, fleeing with acquaintances Junkie Julie, Castaway Carl and Bike Mike. But their luck quickly runs out.
Trillions of dollars behind schedule, the government and sponsoring corporations scramble to find enough manpower to finish preparing Mars for imminent colonization. Current social economic challenges give them the perfect opportunity to capitalize upon. They make themselves champions of the homeless, forcing upon them a permanent solution to their predicament. A potential workforce of 554,000 homeless is at their fingertips.
Exiled to Mars, the hobos must stick together in their isolation. What the rest of the world sees as opportunity for them, they see as a death sentence. The people in charge have a deadline and don’t care what they have to do to meet it.
When an uprising begins, orchestrated by Carl and Henry, the powers that be see the imminent threat and decide to quash it before it can gain momentum.
Will Henry and Carl survive not only the harsh living conditions of Mars but live long enough to see their revolution become a reality?
Sounds good, right? This is my first stab at a full sci-fi novel.
I am also working on a post-pandemic novel from two different perspectives with my friend Dan Hubbard. It is called Cabin Fever.
Two families, one apocalypse.
When society breaks down after a worldwide pandemic, two families set out from opposite sides of the country in search of a safe haven. Two separate stories running parallel on an inevitable collision course until the two families finally cross paths. Forever changed, they each realize what sacrifices have to be made in order to survive the horror around them.
Both of these stories will be completed in the near future.
8. Where can people find you online?
9. Last chance! Anything else you’d like to say?
Thank you for taking the time, that is all I ever ask. Let me tell you a good story and make you think about how good your life is in comparison to my characters. Enjoy the ride and please leave a review when you read a story. A few words is all it takes to help an author like me gain attention.
Vanessa Dun #Interview
Vanessa Dunn Interview
1. Congratulations on your recent release Sebastian: The In-Between! Can you please tell us a little about the book?
Sebastian is an outsider bullied by everyone because he is very different from us. There has always been something off about him. His best friend is his overprotective mother, Samantha. She is all the family that he has, or so he thought. At the age of 13, he witnesses a gruesome murder by a supernatural being that no one else can see, but him. That night he learns of his abilities, about what he really is, and about his mother's lies. As his world crumbles, Sebastian's newfound gift quickly becomes a curse, when he realizes that he can't control his growing powers. Especially when he almost kills his mother. Now he doesn't know who to trust, especially himself, which forces him into hiding with a stranger, who is the only one that understands him, but has an evil past of her own. Sebastian realizes that he must evolve from a shy, newly angry outcast to a fierce warrior--or die trying. As an old enemy stays close in the shadows to exterminate him, and everyone in his bloodline. Everyone that is an In-Between.
2. What was the most challenging aspect about writing Sebastian’s story?
Him going from this sweet shy kid that feels nothing to this kid who is starting to become a more impatient and angry kid, and rightfully so.
3. From conception to publication, how long did it take to create this book?
It took me about 5 years. I started out as a thesis for school, but became a full novel.
4. Are there any topics you refuse to write about?
I won’t write erotica novels. I might have a sex scene, but nothing too graphic.
5. What is one tip you wish you had known about publishing before you went through the process?
How some agents just don’t respond if they’re not interested. I understand why, but I wish they would.
6. Who is your favorite author?
I don’t have just one. I love Sabaa Tahir, Stephen King, Joe Hill, Robin Wasserman, Jo Knowles, John Vercher, Dean Koontz, John Searles, and Stephanie Garber, and Tomi Adeyemi.
7. Okay, this is my favorite question to ask writers. We all know writers have, um, interesting search histories. If the FBI seized your computer right now, what would they find on it that is “totally for research?”
Unfortunately there is nothing that I researched that they would be interested in.
8. What’s next for you? Any projects you want to discuss?
I am working on Book 2 of Sebastian’s story. It hopefully won’t take me as long as the first one did.
9. Where can people find you online if they want to follow and support your work?
10. Last chance! Anything else you’d like to include?
My book is available on Amazon in ebook and paperback. I really hope people enjoy it as much as I did creating it.
Sci-Fi Author Gem Jackson #Interview
Gem Jackson Interview
1. Congratulations on your upcoming sci-fi release The Aggressive! It sounds amazing! Can you please tell us a little about the book and what inspired the plot?
The Aggressive is my attempt at an action packed, sci-fi thriller. I wanted to write a story that was first and foremost a piece of entertainment, but wasn’t just stringing tropes together. The book is set 150 years in the future and follows three people who are at the heart of the Solar System descending into war. There’s Anton Biarritz, a terrorist paid to carry out an attack on Earth, September Long, a brilliant but disgraced agent who has been on his case for a decade and Leon Wood, a young pilot who gets caught up in it all and just wants to make it out alive. By chance, they all end up on the same warship, The Aggressive, and the story unfolds from there.
I’ve always been fascinated by how significant events in history are played out by individuals who are just trying to solve their own local problems. For example, take Gavrilo Princip, who shot Franz Ferdinand in 1914. He didn’t know he was triggering a world war. He was acting as a part of his own cause of Yugoslavian nationalism, but circumstance put him at the centre of WW1. In the same way, I wanted to tell three personal stories that feed into a much larger narrative.
2. This is book one of the Titanwar saga. How many more books can we expect to see in the series? Do you have everything mapped out or are you more of a pansters?
In my head, it’s a four book series. I know where I’m going to end up and some of the major plot points, but not much more than that. My writing is always inspired by music, and a song that sits at the heart of the series is Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World. I love the idea of driving the stakes higher and higher for my characters, forcing them to make hard, complex choices. It’s just going to get worse for them as the series progresses.
In terms of planning, I tend to plot ten chapters at a time. I plan each chapter scene by scene, write them and move onto the next section. With The Aggressive I was really structured in some ways. Three parts, each made up of ten chapters, each chapter is three scenes and each scene is around a thousand words.
3. Let’s talk writing. What is one tip you wish you had known about publishing before you went through the process?
I wish I appreciated the importance of networking. It’s a horrible term, but the principle of working with other writers, reviewers, BookBloggers and so on is such an important one. For a start, it’s just really nice to be contributing to a community of talented people. As a writer, I get a lot out of it myself. Plus, it has the advantage that you’re not an unknown quantity when the time comes to publish your own book. If I had my time again, I’d be a lot more involved, a lot earlier on.
4. If your book were made into a movie, who would you want to play Leon Wood, Anton Biarritz, and September Long?
This is a great question, though my answer might be a bit odd as I can only answer for two of the three. For Anton, I’d want either Peter Capaldi or Michael Fassbender. If you’ve ever seen Peter Capaldi give a death stare on the BBC comedy The Thick of It, that’s Anton; tall, wiry, grey, charismatic, explosive. I’ve always imaged Anton as a kind of Harkonnen James Bond, if you’ll forgive the Bond-Dune mishmash. He’s brilliant and hands-on, but is utterly self-interested.
September is an interesting one. There’s an actress called Rebekah Staton who played a fantastic character, Della, on a TV show called Raised by Wolves. The character is a single-mother raising her daughters in her own style of working-class intellectualism. She’s super confident, glamorous albeit in her own way, and simultaneously terrifying and magnetic. Another great choice, especially given September’s Spanish heritage, would be Stephanie Beatriz.
For Leon—I have no idea. This might sounds strange for a writer, but I don’t have a picture of Leon in my head. Never have done. At the start of the story he’s just a gawky kid who is trying to make something of himself without dying. Let’s say either Asa Butterfield or Dev Patel. In a lot of ways he’s the antithesis of Ender Wiggins. I could never square how Ender was morally neutered in Ender’s Game. It’s as if Orson Scott Card wanted to have a military genius kid, who could end civilizations through strategic masterstrokes, but wanted him to be morally pristine at the same time, untainted by his actions and choices. Leon is the opposite of that. He’s going to have some big choices to make and he has to bear the responsibility for them.
5. When did you love of science fiction first develop?
Super early. I was the kid who read everything, growing up. Books, cereal boxes, whatever I could get my hands on. I remember sneakily reading Jules Verne and Alduous Huxley at night when I should have been sleeping aged 9 or 10. I’d already been introduced to Star Trek and Star Wars so it all just developed from there.
6. What is your favorite sci-fi book?
Dune, hands down. It’s not an especially creative answer, I know, but reading it as a young teenager was a transformative moment. I was blown away by this expansive, complete universe all found within the pages of a book. It’s a masterpiece of science fiction as a complex, multi-layered piece of art, wrapped up in a fine story. Whilst it’s not quite contemporary, I’d say Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy runs pretty close. Biotech is going to be such an important field in the near future and Atwood hits the nail on the head in her depiction of a dystopian bio-hacked society.
7. Okay, I may regret admitting this, but I prefer Star Trek over Star Wars. How about you?
I want both. Is that cheating? If we’re asking who would win in a fight? Star Wars. I’ve never understood why they don’t makes the ships bigger in Star Trek. It’s not like you’d run out of metal if there are thousands of systems to explore. Star Wars is such a great demonstration of scale through the Super Star Destroyers and the Death Star. Which universe would I like to live in, though? Star Trek. I’d be captaining (is that a verb?) a miranda class science vessel and avoiding Khan like the plague. The miranda classes are such cool looking ships.
8. Okay, this is my favorite question to ask writers. We all know writers have, um, interesting search histories. If the FBI seized your computer right now, what would they find on it that is “totally for research?”
There’s some pretty nasty stuff about torture and interrogation. Parts of The Aggressive deal with a military junta taking control of a population and asserting control, so I did a lot of research on what occurred when this happened in places like Argentina, Chile and Greece. Mrs J was reading the book a few days ago and as she got to a nasty bit, asked ‘What’s wrong with you? This is horrible!’ Luckily, I was able to reassure her that she shouldn’t be worried about me, but that some unpleasant stuff tends to go down when the wrong people take over a state. It’s all there in my internet search history.
9. Where can people find you online if they want to follow and support your work?
You can follow me on twitter as @gemjackson2, on facebook on my website where you can also sign up for my monthly mailing list.
10. Last chance! Anything else you’d like to include?
Just a big thanks to yourself for the interview & your readers who made it this far down the page! Look out for The Aggressive on pre-order and it’s release at the end of August.
Interview with Sonora Taylor
Horror Author Sonora Taylor #Interview
Congratulations on your new book Seeing Things! Please tell us a little about it.
Thank you! Seeing Things is my third novel and follows a teenager named Abby who discovers she can see the dead. Unfortunately, none of them want to talk to her. She leaves for an annual summer visit to her uncle’s house with tons of questions, and it’s during that visit she gets answers -- but she may not like what she finds out. It’s a contemporary Gothic story and definitely turns some dark corners as Abby figures out just what the hell is going on.
What was the inspiration behind Seeing Things?
I used to see this elderly man walking through my old neighborhood every so often. He never had anyone with him, and no one else ever acknowledged his presence. I used to pretend that only I could see him. From there, I thought, wouldn’t it be funny if someone could see the dead, but none of them wanted to talk to her?
The idea started as a short story prompt, and was originally more about grief and letting go. I wrote some notes and several passages, but felt stuck; so I set it aside. I revisited it in summer 2019, when Little Paranoias: Stories was out for edits, because I was struck with an idea: what if instead about grief, it was about dark secrets? I also thought up Abby’s family, and from there, it expanded into a novel.
Have you ever seen a ghost?
Never seen one, but I’ve heard them. Usually it’s something rustling or a bit of static. I’ve also seen ghost lights and flickers of paranormal activity.
This is your sixth novel. What is one tip you learned along your writing and publication journey that you wish you knew ahead of time?
First, to clarify, it’s my third novel -- my other three books are short story collections. It’s definitely been quite the journey writing and releasing all of them. It’s a journey that was very nerve-wracking, and as such, I was afraid to promote myself in the beginning. I didn’t want to seem like a show-off, like someone needing attention, etc. But other writers I met online made it a point to say that marketing is part of the job. You wrote this thing -- you should be proud, and you should tell people about it! So, I’ve tried to promote myself more, even if it means saying some version of “Hey folks, me here, I hope you’ll buy the book I wrote. Link is below.” I wish I’d known that earlier, because now, I need to do retrograde marketing for the earlier books! But that’s the beauty of books: they’re out there as long as they’re being published, so they always have a chance to be found and read.
You are the co-founder of www.frightgirlsummer.com, which is an inclusive platform to boost the signal for women in publishing. Please share a little about this. How did this idea come about? What do you hope Fright Girl Summer accomplishes?
The idea originated with V. Castro, author of Maria the Wanted and the Legacy of the Keepers and, most recently, Hairspray and Switchblades. She wanted to create a festival to celebrate authors on the margins and have it be for the summer. I believe she said “Something like Hot Girl Summer but for books,” so I suggested, “How about Fright Girl Summer?” So she chose that name, and then I contacted her and volunteered to help with the website as well as curating reading lists and putting out calls for fiction, nonfiction, art, etc.
I hope it encourages people to read beyond what they’re used to, and to keep doing it throughout the year. As our list shows, there are TONS of books to choose from that aren’t written by cis white authors. Expand your TBR. Add more Black voices. Add more queer voices. Add more.
How can individuals participate in Fright Girl Summer?
If you’re an author, essayist, blogger, or artist, you can submit to us! We want to read your work. Check out our guidelines on the front page: frightgirlsummer.com
For readers and authors alike, you can participate by writing reviews, filming yourself doing readings, and most of all, reading books! We’re challenging participants to choose three books from our list to read this summer. Check out our page for more: https://www.frightgirlsummer.com/reading-list
How can people find you online?
My website is the most efficient way to learn more about me and my books: sonorawrites.com
I’m also active on Twitter. In addition to tweets about my books, I talk a lot about hockey (when it’s on), movies, and beer.
I’m also on Instagram and post a lot of the food I cook. I aspire to be like Ina Garten.
I’m also on Facebook and Goodreads.
Finally, you can find my books for sale at the links below:
Is there anything else you wish to add? Closing thoughts?
Nope! Thanks so much for interviewing me.
Horror Author Loren Rhoads #Interview
Loren Rhoads Interview
1. Congratulations on your upcoming novel Angelus Rose! This is a sequel to Lost Angels, a book you co-wrote with Brian Thomas. Can you please tell us a little about the series and what we can expect with this much anticipated new book?
The As Above, So Below series explores the story of the succubus Lorelei who saw Azaziel in her master's nightclub and thought it might be fun to bring an angel down. She never expected him to possess her with a mortal girl's ghost -- and he never expected to fall in love with her.
Angelus Rose is your basic Romeo + Juliet story, if Romeo had wings and Juliet had a barbed tail -- and all the angels and demons of Los Angeles were trying to keep them apart. The angels were inspired by Chrisopher Walken in The Prophecy. They think they are the good guys.
2. What inspired this series?
My co-writer Brian Thomas found a burned-out church in LA and wondered who might have lived there and how he might have provoked Hell to set fire to his home. One weekend when I was down in LA visiting Brian, I noticed that one of the apartment buildings near his house was called The Lorelei. Pieces started falling together, almost like fate.
3. If this series was made into movies, who would play Lorelei and Azaziel?
Wow, casting Lorelei is hard. When we first started writing the book, we were inspired by Angelina Jolie, especially as she played Kate Libby in Hackers. These days, Elodie Yung (she played Hathor in Gods of Egypt -- definitely the best part of a bad movie) or Rosa Salazar, who has been in the Maze Runner movies and Alita: Battle Angel. Azaziel is easier. I envision him as Matt Ryan, who has played John Constantine on a couple of different TV shows.
4. How autobiographical is your work? Do you draw off real events?
There are scenes in Angelus Rose that are very autobiographical. Lorelei and Aza have a date in Westwood Memorial Park, the cemetery where Marilyn Monroe and several of the cast of the Poltergeist movies are buried. Brian took me there one evening. He meant to get us there about sunset, but we couldn't find the cemetery. It's really tucked in amongst the skyscrapers. By the time we found the graveyard, it had gotten really dark. Red vigil candles burned on some of the graves, but other than that, we couldn't see much. It was surprisingly quiet in the heart of the city. I was glad to be able to work that memory into the novel.
5. When did your love of the horror genre develop?
I grew up watching the black & white Universal horror movies on TV on Saturday afternoons. My mom pointed out that many of the monsters were inspired by books, so I read The Invisible Man and Frankenstein and Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. I really fell in love with horror novels when I read Mina's baptism of blood in Dracula. After that, I was well and truly hooked.
6. What tips would you give newbie writers looking to break into the industry?
Join the Horror Writers Association and work with a mentor. It's wonderful to be able to have a professional who can answer your questions and help make connections. Mentorship is free, beyond the price of a membership.
7. What book(s) are you reading right now?
I'm reading E. M. Markoff's The Deadbringer. It's a Latinx-inspired dark fantasy about colonization, indigenous gods, and necromancy. It's completely unlike anything I've read before.
8. What is next for you? Anything in the works?
I drift back and forth between writing fiction and nonfiction. I think my next project will be to finish a guide to the pioneer cemeteries in the San Francisco Bay Area. The area's Western population began with the Spanish missions in 1776, then exploded with the Gold Rush. All kinds of people are buried here from Levi Strauss to survivors of the Donner Party to Wyatt Earp, Mary Ellen Pleasant, and Robert Ripley. The cemeteries are threatened by earthquakes and erosion, of course, but also by California's wildfires. I want to record them before they vanish.
9. Where can people find you online?
10. Thank you so much! This is you chance to say anything that wasn’t asked. Closing thoughts?
I've read some really great horror recently. Leigh Bardugo's The Ninth House was amazing. I just finished L.S. Johnson's story collection Rare Birds got better and better each story I read. I'm looking forward to Dana Fredsti's third Lilith book. This is such a great time to be a horror reader.
Dark Fiction and Horror Author Beverley Lee #Interview
Beverley Lee Interview
1. Congratulations on your supernatural series The Gabriel Davenport Series! (The Making of Gabriel Davenport, A Shining in the Shadows and The Purity of Crimson). Can you tell us a little about the inspiration behind these books?
Thank you so much, Nico. I’ve always written dark fiction, and I have a particular love for vampires and the nocturnal world they inhibit. But when I was writing Gabriel, I had no idea that it would span into a whole series. Back at the beginning, I had the idea for a house that was used as a base for a paranormal investigation team, and had even tried in the past to pen something, but nothing stuck until Gabriel and then it all became a monster that insisted on dragging me along for the ride! I’m a huge fan of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles (the early ones) and my vampires are very much inspired by the ones Anne created. There’s something so appealing about intelligent but deadly creatures who are very much at the head of the food chain. But my series isn’t only about vampires. There are witches and ghosts, monsters and people, a constant heartbeat of loyalty and courage and atmosphere, all mixed together with a healthy dose of mythology and the drip feed of dread ;)
2. Out of the three, which was the most challenging to write and why?
Definitely Purity, as I had to tie up all of the loose threads from the previous books and bring all the point of views together. This was the rebel child of the three, refusing to be hurried, and I really thought at times that it would beat me. I think I wrote over 300k in my search for the right pathways, and countless times I ended up at dead ends with the feeling it just wasn’t working. And then an idea struck for a character, which I knew was right, and that was the catalyst for the last third of the story. It stands at about 92k now and I bled through every word ;)
3. What tips can you give writers looking to develop a series versus a singular book?
I probably did everything wrong if you follow the other advice out there on writing a series. As I mentioned above I had no idea when I was writing Gabriel that there would be more, even though I knew my ending. But it was clear when I finished that there was much more to tell. When I started Shadows, I went into it knowing the character arcs of two of my main characters and the ending. That’s all I had. I just started writing and then another character threw me a lifeline (I’m hugely character led, I listen to what they tell me all of the time). What he gave me shaped the rest of the book, and a great deal of Purity too. So I’ll say do whatever works for you. Would it have been easier to have the whole series planned out before I started? Without a doubt. Would that have given me what I have now? I don’t think so. I have a huge admiration for writers who can do this, but I’m definitely not one of them!
4. How would you brand yourself as a writer? Supernatural? Dark fiction? A bit of fantasy?
I’m not a great fan of putting myself in any particular box. My stories are a genre blend of horror/dark fantasy/supernatural suspense, so I guess dark fiction would be the correct tag. I don’t think there is one book out there that can be identified as just one. A good story is a good story, and I’m simply a story teller.
5. When did your love of dark fiction begin?
I’ve always loved the darker side of anything. As a child, I used to visit an old stately home near where I lived, and I remember walking down a very ornate staircase, completely alone, looking at all of the portraits of long-dead people on the wall and wishing I could see one. I’ve had a few very shivery moments regarding things that can’t be explained, so bringing my interest and encounters into my love of words seemed only natural.
6. If you could co-author a book with any author, living or dead, who would it be and why?
Ooh, tough question! I’d love to write something with Neil Gaiman. He has the incredible knack of blending genres seamlessly and making magical realism seem perfectly feasible. I’d love to co-author something very dark with him, exploring not just things monstrous and wicked, but those same characteristics inside the human psyche.
7. What book(s) are you reading right now?
I’m reading The Bone Weaver’s Orchard by Sarah Read, and then it’s Dear Laura by Gemma Amor and Pretty Marys All in a Row by Gwendolyn Kiste. All the love for the ladies of horror in women in horror month!
8. What is next for you? Anything in the works?
I have a standalone novel due out on April 7th 2020. It’s very dark and combines my love of folk and fable together with horror and a twisted dash of dark fantasy.
Barrington Hall is a place of secrets—something Dan Morgan has worked hard to forget. But when a heart-breaking loss brings him back to the place where he spent his childhood summers, Barrington Hall will do what it must to make him remember.
Faye Morgan blames her husband for the death of their teenage son. She doesn’t want to leave the place Toby called home. But after she catches a glimpse of a strange boy in the midnight woods and learns of his connection with Barrington Hall, her need to learn more pulls her further and further into a nightmare world filled with past atrocities and the burning flame of revenge.
A tale of grief and horror, A Ruin of Delicate Things explores how loss can leave a hole inside of us. A hole large enough for anything to crawl into.
9. Where can people find you online?
All my books and where to find them are listed on my websitewhere you can download a free short story, a dark and twisted fairy tale, a kind of taste before you buy ;)
My favourite place to hang out is on Instagram, but you can also find me on:
10. Thank you so much! This is your chance to say anything that wasn’t asked. Closing thoughts?
This is such an exciting time to be involved in the horror community. There’s been a wonderful influx of new writers into the fold over the last few years. From all walks of life. Diverse, intelligent writers with their own stories to tell, driven by how they view their world and fuelled by their backgrounds and experiences. I think in the future we’ll see a break away from some of what is considered traditional horror, with more emphasis on cosmic horror, body horror and cross overs into noir. And, of course, the horror of a post-apocalyptic world, with the political climate and the environment. It’s a very sobering thought that this last one might be more fact than fiction.
BUY THE GABRIEL DAVENPORT SERIES (3 BOOKS) HERE
Sci-Fi, Horror, Fantasy Author Vale Zalecki #Interview
Vale Zalecki Interview
1. Congratulations on the release of These Are Not The Trinity Papers! It sounds like an incredible story filled with intrigue, mystery and corpses. What inspired this manuscript?
Author Vale Zalecki
Funnily enough, the characters were inspired by an actual dream where I briefly inhabited the body and the emotional inner landscape of being my protagonist. It was a very disorienting experience. The themes and the plot were inspired by my own struggle with mental illness and the way some people romanticize the dangerous idea of good art stemming from craziness. All of this is taken to its own crazy extremes in my book, of course.
2. Are you a pantser or a plotter?
I’m absolutely a plotter for novels, I need to have the roadmap out in front of me or I’m too intimidated to even begin my journey. I can pants it better for short stories.
3. How autobiographical is your work? Do you draw off real events?
Not very much at all, despite drawing emotionally and thematically from my experiences. I find it easier to write if there’s a veneer of separation between me and my characters.
4. We all know that authors have, um, unusual search histories. If the FBI were to search through your history, what would that find that is totally, complete for “research?”
“How to kidnap [insert name of famous billionaire tech visionary] here,” possibly. I promise it was for the most innocent reason though it probably sounds pretty incriminating.
5. What tips would you give newbie writers looking to break into the industry?
I don’t feel like I’m qualified to be doling out advice, I write to niche and my writing is usually very weird and hardly marketable. What I have discovered though, is that so much of writing is the physical act of writing; you gotta sit down and plonk down one word after the other no matter what you gotta do to make yourself do it. That’s somehow always the hardest part for a lot of writers (including myself), I think.
6. What book(s) are you reading right now?
Universal Harvester: A Novel, by John Darnielle. I’d been meaning to get around to it for a while and I’m glad I’ve finally found the time. I also just finished The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander and I think that was one of the greatest books I’ve ever had the fortune to read.
7. If you could co-author a book with any author, living or dead, who would it be and why?
Mark Z. Danielewski. House of Leaves was one of my most formative books, and I feel like messing around with form would be really fun to do with someone that skilled at it.
8. What is next for you? Anything in the works?
I’m working on a dark fantasy New Adult series about a guy who dies and then discovers the system of death works by nepotism. I’m in the drafting process and I can’t wait to be able to share it with you.
9. Where can people find you online?
You can find me on twitter and my website . I also make video games and draw things, and you can find those at HERE
10. Thank you so much! This is your chance to say anything that wasn’t asked. Closing thoughts?
I hope everyone who reads this gets to pet a cat today. Or if they’re allergic, some other cool animal of their choosing. Thanks!
BUY THESE ARE NOT THE TRINITY PAPERS HERE
Horror Author Sola Cordis #Interview
Sola Cordis Interview
1.Congratulations on the release of Anhedonia! What inspired this plot?
Thank you so much I'm very proud of all the work I put into this book. The idea came around because of that old mother goose thing, "Rub-a-dub-dub, Three men in a tub, And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, And all of them out to sea".
I was just thinking about those three people and sort of daydreaming. It also occurred to me that there are certain monsters you just don't see in many forms of media, so I wanted to find a way to use them and make them really dominant.
I also wanted to show different forms of villainy. People don't always choose to be evil. It's just the path they wind up going down, and it happens without realizing. Sometimes the nature of a thing is just that- its nature, you know? It;s only evil when you feel like the victim much of the time. The relationship between the two main characters was important too because I myself was in a relationship that I was beginning to realize was...troubled. So, I imagined what something good could be like. The relationship that you see reflects a lot of my own.
Many books and movies romanticize couples in rather violent or abusive relationships. I think it's weird how stalking someone is considered romantic. I just wanted a romance that included respect. I wanted to do so much. Honestly, a great deal of the small domestic scenes got scrapped because they didn't really move the story forward. I'm still unsure if I should have pulled them. They were things that, to me, seemed like those trivial things that make life worth living. The original draft was actually much longer, but I had to pull the parts that didn't move the plot.
2. Do you believe in writer’s block? If so, how do you combat it?
Writer's block is something that happens when you don't know what happens next. So about halfway through this book I decided to actually write out an outline of the story. That allowed me to smooth out a lot of kinks and helped me sort of steamroll forward. Yes, writer's block can happen but I guess at that point you can just look things over to make sure what you have so far is cohesive. Well, that's what works for me, and also a good playlist of course!
For this book, I listened to a vast list of tavern-style music and some of that old 'chant' music.
3. You’re a self-published author. What tip do you wish you knew ahead of time, before
entering into the self-publishing world?
Editing is way more expensive than I thought it would be. I wish I would have started saving money for a really good editor as soon as I started writing the book. A good editor is worth every penny. At this point, I did manage to find an editor that I could afford, but I didn't pay very much. As a result, a few things were missed, and that's my fault for not saving up ahead of time; however, it is a lesson I did learn well. Since I've started writing my second book, I've been putting some money aside and looking around for good editors. I want the next book to be more polished.
Even though I do intend to hire an editor, I still need to brush up on grammar and for myself. That and outlines. I spent six years 'pansting' one story that still isn't finished, so if I could go back and tell myself something it would be to stop being a brat and just outline my work.
That's really the biggest thing I've learned.
4. We all know that authors have, um, unusual search histories. If the FBI were to search
through your history, what would that find that is totally, complete for “research?”
I don't even know where to start with that one, especially right now. I mean how much research on cults can you do before they flag you? I was researching scarification and blood loss and you know for a writer it's all pretty tame stuff i suppose.
5. When did your love of all things creepy and eerie begin?
One day, I wanted to be a vet. Then, I wanted to do comic books, and I have absolutely no idea at what point I fell in love with beasties and all the lore that follows them. I guess it just crept up on me, but it is really wonderful. I love being able to explore fantasy and fairy tales in a different light. I love the concept of mermaids as maneaters. These things are meant to be ugly and repulsive. They're excuses for why bad things happened when people couldn't explain why tragedies happened. Monster and ghost stories are what many mothers would use as a warning for why children and people should behave because if you didn't you might change and become something else or something wicked might reach out to take you away. Some foolishness like that. So many monsters were and are like strange guardians of a sort. I love monsters. I love them most when they're not the villain or don't see themselves that way.
6. Do you have a favorite author?
Gerald Brom. He wrote the Child Thief and Krampus and few other books. He does such spectacular paintings to adorn his writing but honestly even without the art his worlds are visceral and substantial. He took Peter Pan and made him ominous for a very different reason than one might think. He wrote a first page so hurtful that I had to close the book and brace myself for the rest. The man is absolutely amazing
7. What book(s) are you reading right now? At the moment, I'm adjusting to a new work schedule so I mostly read my friend's fan fiction on the bus rides to and from work.I used to write a lot of fanfics myself too. It's kinda funny now.
8. What is next for you? Anything in the works?
I have one manuscript that's nearing a close. I'm almost finished writing the 1st draft, and I have another planned to start after that. For now, I'm trying to focus on the 1st draft of what I think might be more thriller than horror. The one I have lined up after that s definitely going be a fantasy type horror.
9. Where can people find you online?
I don't know anything about manning a website but boy am I trying. Check it out here. I'm also on twitter but it's under @aleushadrake because I have no idea how to change that handle.
10. Thank you so much! This is your chance to say anything that wasn’t asked. Closing thoughts?
I'm afraid i must get back to my writing now. This was an absolute pleasure. I hope one day to do it again!
Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasty Author Stuart Conover #Interview
Stuart Conover Interview
1. Let’s start by getting to know you as an author. What would you say your “brand” is?
That is a rough one! If you had asked me this when I started writing I would have responded with zombies. Later it would have been horror. These days I've been branching out to focus also on science fiction and fantasy. Genre work is the easiest answer but I like to pen stories that either put the characters in difficult positions, be part of something larger than themselves, or have a more poignant message included.
2. You have a lot of experience writing and success in the publishing world with short stories. I scrolled through your website, and the amount of publications you have in anthologies is inspiring! What is one tip you would pass on a newbie who wants to get a short story published?
Author Stuart Conover
I feel there are two key tips to help out. The first is read the submission guidelines. They are there for a reason. If you skimp out on following directions the editor is likely going to toss your story in the trash before finishing it even if it is the best thing they've ever read and a perfect fit for the collection. The second is, either find someone who can edit your work or really read up on self-editing. It is extremely easy to miss mistakes in your own work. You can't rely on tools like Word or Grammarly to find these mistakes (though they will find some!) and when you self-edit your mind knows what you meant to put and you have to find tactics. A few easy examples are taking time between writing a story and editing it as well as reading it out loud as you edit.
3. You write drabbles. I LOVE drabbles! Does your writing approach change when restricted to only 100 words?
Vastly so! Pounding out 100-words to say something is easy. To find a way to throw in character development, a twist, a reveal, a complete story, or something worth reading really makes you focus on what is important. I feel this has expanded my overall writing process to keep it clear of clutter.
Also, it helps to keep focused on longer works. You do a one-off drabble every few chapters and it seems to lessen the temptation of stopping working on whatever short story or longer tale that you're trying to complete for the latest idea to pop into your head.
4. We all know that authors have, um, unusual search histories. If the FBI were to search through your history, what would that find that is totally, complete for “research?”
All of my searching is done in logged out browsers, in incognito modes, over VPNs, with a few more techniques mixed in for privacy. I'm in the clear!
Seriously, I'm not sure. I've searched for so many random topics that I can't even imagine what would stick out the most. I'm sure we've all looked into various ways people die (what temperature do bones burn at, what temperature is too cold to survive, how long can you survive without oxygen, etc) or hiding evidence that we're all likely on multiple lists at this point!
5. When did your love of all things creepy and eerie begin?
It was actually quite early. I watched most of 'Alien' on HBO when I was pretty young one night after my parents had gone to bed and I couldn't sleep. Nightmares for weeks but I feel that my love for both horror and science fiction can be traced back to that moment.
6. Do you have a favorite author?
Yes, no, it depends what I'm reading and what mood I'm in. The easy answers are Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Frank Herbert. They've all written what fall into my top favorite books. However also falling into this category are Ania Ahlborn, Lauren Beukes, Joe Hill, Chuck Palahniuk, Susanna Clarke, and William Gibson among so many others!
Conover’s work is published in this amazing anthology.
7. What book(s) are you reading right now?
Due to handling reviews for multiple outlets, I always have a ginormous To Read pile. (I'm sure I would even if I wasn't a reviewer!) At this time, I'm just about to start in on a release coming from Titan Books later this month – 'Alien: Phalanx' by: Scott Sigler.
8. What is next for you? Anything in the works?
I've got a few projects in the works at the moment. I'm quite close to finishing a novella and am probably about 40% into a second one which I'm working on with another author. On top of this, as the editor of Horror Tree we put together two "Trembling With Fear" collections each year that are both almost completed. Finally, I have work coming out in another couple of drabble anthologies which are soon to be released by Black Hare Press and a horror western anthology called 'The Dark Frontier' by Wild West Press.
9. Where can people find you online?
Thanks for asking! You can find me on my homepage over at https://www.stuartconover.com/
Socially, I'm most active on Twitter over at https://www.twitter.com/stuartconover and try to check in on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/StuartConoverAuthor when new releases come out.
10. Thank you so much! This is your chance to say anything that wasn’t asked. Closing thoughts?
For those who are wanting to get to know me better, here is an influx of a slew of random facts!
I live near Chicago and equally love to include the Midwest in my stories or go way out of my comfort zone and do research of other areas. I have a family who takes top priority in my life and a day job working as an IT professional in the Finance industry which comes in as a close second.
On top of that, I write for multiple websites and am the owner of the author resource Horror Tree which was founded in 2011. I'm a freelance writer for Science Fiction and have been writing there since 2012. I'm not a Vegan but I have a plant-forward diet and probably only eat meat once or twice a week at this point and honestly don't miss it as much as I thought I would.
Finally, most of my works take places in three separate universes. One infested by a zombie apocalypse, one which features cosmic horror with something larger than humanity or our planet as a distinct otherworldly threat who mostly has no care for Earth, and finally a fantasy world.
Horror, Fantasy, and Supernatural Thriller Author Kerry E.B. Black #Interview
Kerry E.B. Black Interview
1. Let’s start by getting to know you as an author. What would you say your “brand” is?
Author Kerry E.B. Black
Thank you for interviewing me! I'm a bit of an eclectic mess. I write short stories, drabbles, and flash of many genres. I've a YA supernatural thriller novel with its sequel already penned and in the editing stage. Essays, poetry, articles, and reviews also seize my imagination. I adore boosting fellow writers when I can. I write for this great game designing company, Games Omniverse, when they need, too. I write whatever inspires me, be it history, horror, or non-fiction. Actually, my newest collection of short stories will be fairy tales and myths.
2. Congratulations on the audio book release of Season of Secrets! What inspired this manuscript?
Thank you! Megan L. Hysell did a wonderful job with the Audible adaptation. I'm a huge old-time horror nerd, so late-night Chiller Theater episodes, classic tales of terror, and jaunts through haunted houses formed elements of my perspective. In Season of Secrets, some college kids awaken something paranormal. (Or maybe not. Who knows? Readers, I suppose. haha!) When people in the small community begin dying, these young people feel they must face whatever it is they released during that equinox ceremony high on the hill above the charming Ol' Nor'Eastern campus.
3. How autobiographical is your work? Do you draw off real events?
It depends on the story, really. I've had a lot of experiences in my life, so I do have a wealth from which to draw.
4. We all know that authors have, um, unusual search histories. If the FBI were to search through your history, what would that find that is totally, complete for “research?”
My most recent searches involve the history of witch trials.
5. What tips would you give newbie writers looking to break into the industry?
Find a supportive writing group, whether it's online or in person. Writing can be lonely business, so having others with whom to bond is special. Value a good editor and beta readers. And write those great ideas into stories.
6. What book(s) are you reading right now?
"The Lift" is an anthology of short stories on my Kindle. I have "The Tenth Girl" from my library for the Ladies of Horror Read along. And I read to the youngest of my five children every night, so we're reading "Seraphina and the Seven Stars" with them.
7. If you could co-author a book with any author, living or dead, who would it be and why?
I would love to write with Neil Gaiman. I greatly enjoy his writing and approach to the craft.
8. What is next for you? Anything in the works?
I always have something brewing along with my Earl Grey. Besides the two previously mentioned projects, I'm working on a story called "Wolves at Bay" that I hope will boost disability awareness.
9. Where can people find you online? Bookbub Instagram My Wesbite Facebook Twitter Goodreads
10. Thank you so much! This is your chance to say anything that wasn’t asked. Closing thoughts? Thank you again for including me!
BUY SESON OF SECRETS HERE
Horror Author Simon Paul Wilson #Interview
Simon Paul Wilson Interview
Horror Author Simon Paul Wilson
1. Congratulations on your upcoming release Ghost City Girl to be published in 2021! Can you please tell us a little about this story?
Thank you very much! Although it’s still a year away from being published, I’m so happy that Not A Pipe Publishing have given my book a home. GhostCityGirl is a sci-fi horror novel, and the first in a planned trilogy. I started writing it almost 8 years ago, stopped a few times to do real life stuff, and then finally finished it in 2018. after that, I started submitting to various presses and waited with all digits crossed for good news! But enough of that, it’s time for the blurb!
Serial killers, starvation cults, and spicy noodles - It’s just another day In Nihon City for Kichi Honda.
The year is 2155, one hundred years since Tokyo was ravaged by a ghostquake and all talk of the supernatural was made illegal.
To escape her unhappy family life and mundane job, Kichi spends her off days visiting Mister Tanaka, an old man who tells her illegal ghost stories and tales of haunted Japan.
When a hover cab accident strands her on level one of the city, she meets an impossible girl who claims to have come from Tokyo
Kichi soon learns the truth about what really happened all those years ago and that history is about to repeat itself…
2. Do you believe in writer’s block? If so, how do you combat it?
I certainly do believe in writers block. The blank screen of death and I are old friends! When the block hits, I tend to walk away for a while and listen to some music, read, watch a movie. These things usually help me get my writing mojo back. It can be hours til it passes, sometimes days! But it does pass eventually!
3. Are you a plotter or a pantser?
A bit of both. Before I start writing any kind of story, I have to plot it all out first and make copious amounts of notes. Then, when I think I know what I’m doing, my characters go off on their own and I end up writing chapters I never planned in the slightest! All good fun though.
4. We all know that authors have, um, unusual search histories. If the FBI were to search through your history, what would that find that is totally, complete for “research?”
Nothing too risky. I mostly search for name meanings, urban legends, and folklore. Mind you, I did look up quite a bit on serial killers for the character, Red Raku. I had to stop after a while, as real life was becoming scarier than fiction!
5. When did your love of all things creepy and eerie begin?
My grandmother introduced me to horror movies when I was really young. I think I was about five or six. She would tell me the plots of all the late night movies she used to watch. So I learned about vampires, zombies, and monsters. Things I shouldn’t really have had in my head at that age. It was great! A few years later, my dad joined in with my tuition on all stuff scary. It wasn’t long until I started watching with him. The first few scared the hell out of me, but I persisted and began to love being creeped out. Then, i discoverd books by James Herbert and Stephen King. And that was it - i was hooked permanently.
6. Do you have a favorite author?
Just one? Damn, that’s tough! If we are talking horror, then I’d have to say Brain Keene. He’s an awesome writer. Much to my shame, I only started reading his books in 2019. However, I now have a vast back catalogue to enjoy! The Complex and Urban Gothic are my favourites so far. Brutal, gory, and just bloody brilliant. I’d also like to mention Adam Nevill. I’ve just finished his latest book, The Reddening, and am definitely going to have to read more of his.
7. What book(s) are you reading right now?
City of The Dead by Brian Keene. It’s the sequel to The Rising. Told you I was a fan!
8. What is next for you? Anything in the works?
I’m now working on a bizarro novella called Evil Anime. I’ll be working on GhostCityGirl edits soon, which will be very exciting! Then I need to map out the sequel, which will be called GhostCityGirl:Armageddonauts.
9. Where can people find you online?
I can be found on Twitter . I do have a website, but it’s now kind of old and needs a refurb. When I get round to that, I’ll let people know. :)
10. Thank you so much! This is your chance to say anything that wasn’t asked. Closing thoughts?
Thank you so much for interviewing me. It’s been a pleasure!
Since Simon took part in this interview, he has learned that GhostCityGirl will now likely be released in the autumn/fall of 2020. He will keep you all informed on Facebook and Twitter of the novels publication date.
Horror Author Clint Smith #Interview
Horror Author Clint Smith
1. Thank you for joining me! Let’s talk a little about what makes you different as an author. If you had to define your “brand” in a couple of sentences, what would you say?
I’m really grateful for this opportunity of this conversation, Nico. While I’ve been practicing (self-aware of it or not) to be a writer most of my life, I only entered the publishing dimension ten years ago, so I’m still relatively new to the industry’s scaffolding and its more notable residents. Where proximity is concerned, I’m not from the coasts—my writing is informed by the Midwest, a place poised in the middle. There is, of course, a pro-con duality in this.
I don’t possess a pedigree of the elite, literary aesthete, and my work is typically void of an attractive, commercial shock factor. I’m neither a “slick” or a “pulp.” In short, I am still somewhat of an outsider, and that provides a certain redeeming dye to my writing.
2. You’ve published a ton of short stories over the years. What tips would you give a newbie writer trying to get their short story published?
You have to do your homework a bit here. You also have to maintain the armor of your literary ambitions.
In his book, Best Words, Best Order, Stephen Dobyns asserts that young writers must preserve a certain amount of gall. Established writers, Dobyns suggests, “[A]re more concerned with what they can’t do than with what they can. They are afraid of appearing inadequate so they constantly censor themselves.” Quite simply, “Nobody told John Keats he couldn’t be a poet and so his gall remained in tact.”
It was Saul Bellow who said that a writer is a reader moved to emulation. I would compile the short-story collections of four or five (relatively contemporary) writers whose aesthetic and work ethic you’d like to emulate; I’d do some research on where these stories were originally published and begin to create a “hit list,” of sorts. Start submitting at the top, where the “pros” reside. Then if you get shot down, no big deal—move on the next tier. Be practical, but also demonstrate some gall.
3. Congratulations on your novella When It’s Time for Dead Things to Die! What inspired this plot?
Very kind of you—thanks! In my twenties, I spent a lot of time in the “Region,” in and on the outskirts of Chicago. This period was critical, as I was not only completing my culinary arts degree in the city, but I was working in the foodservice industry. This period was a rather liminal one—a part of my life where I was encountering some questionable characters while simultaneously questioning my own character.
4. How autobiographical is your work?
Though I do make strides in my writing to slip into the “skin” of characters and situations outside my own experiences, I often feel like those exercise ring with a wince-inducing flimsiness. There are other, more talented, writers who are better imposters than me. I try to find the truth in the misguided chapters my own life with the intent of not only reconciling some of those missteps, but making better connections with friends and other writers.
So how autobiographical is my work?: Quite, I’d say.
5. Where did you love of horror come from?
Reading, most likely, as a little kid. I’ve tried to do some backtrack evaluation of this same question with no accurate success. With exception of the more banal citations (Universal Monster movies, the Halloween season in the Midwest, my love of late-night, "creature feature" horror hosts), my memories continually return to the Biblical image of Samson being tortured by the Philistines—his hair hacked, his eyes gauged from their sockets. And in a last-gasp plea, he entreaties the supernatural to imbue him with a final display of power, cracking the pillars, demolishing the temple of Dagon, wiping out his enemies.
That was some heavy shit as a kid (not to mention the thematic ambiguity of requesting a supernatural entity for the power to kill ones adversaries, and having that power granted—those images and ideas were particular affecting).
Now, my love of horror is braided with a bit of tension: a sort corner-of-the-eye vigilance with not losing the things I love. Wondering how people, characters, cope with darkness—sometimes of their own making, sometimes not—preoccupies me.
6. When you’re not writing horror, what are you up to?
Owing to my background, my current vocation is culinary arts and teaching. In addition to being a chef-instructor at a nearby high school, I teach cooking classes to the public at a downtown bed-and-breakfast called The Nestle Inn.
7. What is next for you? Anything in the works?
My next short story collection, The Skeleton Melodies, is due out by Hippocampus Press some time in 2020 (the publisher is holding on cover artwork from the brilliant Dan Sauer Design). As I’m composing these responses, I’m finalizing a short story titled “Pregnant Women and People With Heart Conditions” which, as the title suggests, involves grim events around a roller coaster during the after-hours of an amusement park. Three or four more short and long stories are chambered for completion before summer. It’s pleasantly hectic here in front of the computer.
8. Where can people find you online?
9. This is your chance to say anything that wasn’t asked. Closing thoughts?
Nothing I can think of—it’s been a pleasure corresponding with you, Nico!
BUY WHEN IT’S TIME FOR DEAD THINGS TO DIE HERE
Horror Author E.V. Knight #Interview
E.V. Knight Interview
1. Congratulations on your 2020 debut novel The Forth Whore! Could you please tell us a little behind the inspiration for this book?
Horror Author E.V. Knight
When I began writing this novel in the summer of 2016, Lilith (the villainess) was not a part of the book. In fact, it was a different story entirely. But then, after the November 2016 Presidential election, I attended the Women’s March in January 2017 and met so many amazing people who’ve lived through so much. It was then that I heard Lilith’s name brought up time and again. When I studied her history, I realized that she’d been vilified and degraded all for simply asking to be equal. That’s when I knew I wanted to say something about the horrors that come with being a woman (or identifying as one). I also lived through some of my own personal traumas while writing the novel. It became experimental therapy for me. I wanted to see what would happen if I let the women in this novel act on their anger and frustration. I wanted a horror novel with well-rounded women characters who were just as bad ass, just as crazy, just as blood thirsty as their more mainstream male counterparts.
2. If The Forth Whore was made into a movie, who would play the lead?
I am so glad you asked this question! There has never been a doubt in my mind that Kenzi Brooks would be played by Natasha Lyonne. I love the characters she plays—so strong willed and sassy but with the weak, fragile core. She’s perfect for Kenzi. Plus, I modeled Kenzi’s look after Natasha’s.
3. Are you a plotter or a pansters?
I want to be a pantser so bad, but I plot. I plot an overview outline and character studies. Then as I go, I plot the next scene. I do this over and over as my characters sometimes revolt and do their own thing. But I am always planning ahead.
4. I love your creative and unique podcast Brain Squalls! Can you please tell readers a little about it?
Brain Squalls is a podcast where we (my husband and cohost) challenge each other with a writing prompt and then work together to tell a story in real time over an hour. Basically, exposing the creative story telling process and hoping our audience would play along and maybe make up their own story too. I found my writing voice and style by using prompts to write little short stories once a day for a year. So, we hope it will help spark creativity in our listeners. We changed Brain Storm to Brain Squall because it’s just a short little burst of creativity once a week.
5. If you could co-author a book with any writer, living or dead, who would it be and why?
This is the toughest question because I know so many amazing writers that I would be thrilled to co-author with. So, I’ll go with my celebrity fantasy co-author and say Neil Gaiman. First of all, I love his voice and versatility. I am enamored with the worlds and characters he creates and the way he paints a scene. But also, he seems like a genuinely nice person. A good human being. If I am co-writing with someone, I need to like and respect them too.
6. If you weren’t a writer, what job would you have?
In my other life right now, I work in medicine but in a fantasy world where I could rewind and do anything else, I think an historian specializing in either colonial American history or English Tudor history, I’m fascinated by both. Plus, I’m a nerd and I love research.
7. What book(s) are you reading right now?
I just finished Ania Ahlborn’s Brother which I enjoyed very much and am turning my attention to those on the preliminary list for the Stoker Award. I try to read as much from the list as I can before the awards. Luckily, this year, I’ve already read many of those on the list so I should be able to get through them all. It’s going to be a tough competition this year, especially in the First Novel category. A lot of great work there.
8. What is next for you? Anything in the works?
I’ve just completed the draft of my next novel which will be the first in a trilogy. This book series is about a disregarded deity, a vanished hippie commune and an ambiguously haunted house. It’s a little softer than The Fourth Whore with much less gore and more creep-factor. I’m really excited about the project and am working hard with the hopes of release sometime next year.
9. Where can people find you online?
I am on Twitter and Facebook and my website and you can hear my real voice once a week on the Brain Squalls podcast which you can find on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, Stitcher, Google, and anywhere you find podcasts. You can also find us on youtube where we sometimes share a video as well as the audio.
10. Thank you so much! This is your chance to say anything that wasn’t asked. Closing thoughts? Thank you so much for inviting me on your blog and asking fun and insightful questions. I really hope lovers of horror will give The Fourth Whore a read. I’m quite proud of it.
A little about The Fourth Whore:
Kenzi Brooks watched The Scribble Man collect her brother’s soul after a hit and run when she was seven. He gave her a present that day—a lucky rabbit’s foot. Sixteen years later, she no longer believes in The Scribble Man, she believes in survival and does what she has to in the slums of Detroit. When thugs kill her mother and beat Kenzi to near death, she accidentally releases Lilith from her prison within the time-worn keychain.
And Hell hath no fury…
Lilith is out for revenge. Revenge against God, Sariel (Angel of Death and Kenzi’s Scribble Man), and all of mankind for relegating her to nothing more than a demoness for refusing to submit to her husband. She’s put together an apocalyptic plan to destroy everyone who has forsaken her. Forget the Four Horsemen, Lilith is assembling the Four Whores.
BUY IT HERE