Author Interview Corner is now closed. It was a fun two years. I met lots of interesting authors and learned quite a bit, too. But I simply don’t have the time to do interviews any more. Thank you to everyone who supported AIC and all the authors involved.
It’s time to cast a vote for your favorite Wicked Woman Writer!
Horror Addicts Episode# 102
Intro Music by: Cancer Killing Gemini
Co-Hosted by Rhonda Carpenter & Killion Slade
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123 days till Halloween!
wicked women writers challenge
tonia brown, mary go when, d.m. slate, photo finish, lindsey goddard, what happens in vegas, stephanie lenz, the grey girl, chantal boudreau, an appetite for trouble
To vote, send an email to horroraddicts@gmail.com
Subject line: WWW
Tell us who you think wrote the best story and why.
One lucky winner will win the HorrorAddicts.net PRIZE PACK!
http://traffic.libsyn.com/horroraddicts/HorrorAddicts102.mp3
Find all articles and interviews at: http://www.horroraddicts.net
Write in re: ideas, questions, opinions, horror cartoons, favorite movies, etc…
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h o s t e s s
Emerian Rich
s t a f f
David Watson, Dan Shaurette, Marc Vale, KBatz, Mimielle, Dawn Wood
Want to be a part of the HA staff? Email horroraddicts@gmail.com
Hey, guys. Just a little self-promotion from your beloved interviewer. I’ll be competing in the Wicked Women Writers Challenge, and the episode airs tomorrow (Jun 28th), so be sure to tune in and vote for your favorite story!
2014 Wicked Women Writer Challenge –
Welcome to the 6th annual Wicked Women Writers Challenge
Hosted by HorrorAddicts.net
The audio for these stories will post by Saturday June 28th. The text versions will run June 29th-July 3rd. Subscribe to this blog so we can alert you with they post.
Beauty and
the Beast
Premise: There is something both fearsome and attractive in a wild thing, be it man or beast. From creature legends told around ancient campfires, to modern tales of King Kong and cryptozoology, critters have always captured our darkest imagination. Five finalists have created stories based on this premise and with challenges that were randomly selected. Each challenger received: 1. Location 2. Blessing – Helpful Item 3. Curse – An untimely disability 4. Beast
Your task as a listener is to listen to each story (or read it on the blog) and then vote for who you…
View original post 523 more words
How long have you been writing?
I started seriously writing the first time around 1992. The loss of a hard drive nine years later made me walk away until 2008 when I returned to writing with the intent to accomplish what I had originally planned. I’ve been reading much longer than that.
What genre are your books?
While most of my work would fall under the heading of Contemporary Dark fiction, I do have moments when I step outside the boundaries established by the horror genre. I recently had a literary short story published by The Backbone Mountain Review. An annual literary zine put out in association with the Allegany Arts Council and the University of Maryland Center for Creative writing in Frostburg, MD. It’s a free PDF download for anyone interested.
Click below to access the 2014 issue of The Backbone Mountain Review:
What draws you to this genre?
They say write what you know. I’ve been a fan of the macabre since I was a child sitting on my grandmother’s porch listening to her ghost stories. I started reading Weird Tales and Tales from the Crypt comics before I was ten. I was reading Lovecraft when I was eleven. Didn’t understand much of what he was writing about but I enjoyed his style.
How many books have you written/ published?
Seven. Six of them were lost when a hard drive crashed in ’01. To date, I’ve published 1 novel, two novellas, and a collection of shorts.
Wow, Richard, I have lost my own work in a computer crash before, but never six books! I’m so sorry to hear that and very happy that you’re pulling through and keeping at it! How long on average does it take you to write a book?
Depends really. Shadows of the Past took three years to complete while The Gathering, which was lost on that hard drive, took me a little more than a year. White walker at 42k words took me four months.
It looks like your latest novel, Shadows Of The Past, is the first book in a soon-to-be series. What is the series about?
The alien takeover of the earth in an x-files sort of way. The truth is out there but it’s not readily apparent. An ancient ceremonial dagger with alien origins is discovered in Antarctica and serves as the catalyst that sets everything into motion. This is not an overt invasion with the aliens possessing superior technology capable of wiping man from the face of the earth. They will in time but in the beginning their numbers are small so they are forced to operate on the fringes as they build their numbers by converting humans via DNA manipulation.
Shadows of the Past II: Parasite, will be available by the end of 2014.
How do you feel you’ve evolved and grown as an author since first deciding to become one?
My writing has matured and become tighter. I feel I’ve developed a better grasp of characterization. Though I am still a bit weak in pacing, I know with practice it will all come together.
What is your greatest achievement?
Now you’ve got me stumped. When it comes to writing I don’t believe I’ve had a greatest achievement yet.
You’re too humble! If you had to pick a favorite book (written by yourself) which one would it be?
Whichever one I’m currently working on. It has to be my favorite for me to put my butt in the chair each morning and beat my forehead against my keyboard. It’s like a love/hate relationship. One day I love it, the next day I hate it. But I’m never gonna leave it.
How have your personal experiences affected your writing?
Being older I’ve had time to acquire a wealth of personal experiences to draw from. I served with the U.S Army for five years. I’ve been a truck driver, carpenter, tile setter, delivery guy, and now a retail salesperson. I’ve interacted with the public for years and have accumulated a vast array of characters for my work.
What authors have inspired your work?
Lovecrfaft, Poe, King, Koontz, Straub, McCammon, Lumley, Gifune, Malfi, Saunders, and far too many more to count. Every writer’s work inspires me in it’s own unique way.
What are you working on at the moment?
My short novel White Walker is in final edits and will be released soon.
Trapped in a call center by a blizzard, ten people struggle to survive as an ancient legend stalks them. An old god, long forgotten by civilized man, the White Walker has come to collect on a promise made by a child grieving the loss of a family pet, and to settle a score with an old adversary. The first seven chapters are available for free at my blog. The entire novella will be released June 13, 2014.
I will also be kicking off a year long promotion with monthly giveaways in preparation for the release of A Father’s Love, a contemporary ghost story, due to be released on Father’s Day 2015.
Where can we find you on the web?
I blog regularly at http://rschiver.blogspot.com
I have a personal page on facebook at : https://www.facebook.com/RickSchiver
My writers page: https://www.facebook.com/RichardSchiver
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5425428.Richard_Schiver
Hey there, and welcome back. The month of May marks TWO YEARS here at Author Interview Corner. Yup, you heard right. AIC is entering its TERRIBLE TWOS! Watch out, because you never know what might happen next! 🙂 This entry marks the 55th author interview I’ve conducted for this blog, along with some just-for-fun posts/ guest blogs, and let’s not forget the giveaways! Sure, there are other blogs with bigger numbers, but it’s not about the size of the boat; it’s the motion in the ocean… or so they say. 😀 In any event, we’re still going strong, so thank you, thank you, THANK you dear readers!
How long have you been writing?
I started taking my writing seriously about 10 years ago, and I owe getting bit by the writing bug to author Clive Cussler. My wife had bought me his Dirk Pitt novel Treasure of Khan for Christmas. I like action-adventure, but I wasn’t one to read strictly military themed novels or police novels… The Dirk Pitt series happened to combine action-adventure with something I hold a fascination with–the ocean and an agency like NOAA. I was hooked and started to write fan fiction.
One of the stories turned into a short story I self-published through Lulu.com, Amazon, and Barnes & Nobles titled The Man Beneath Lake Union. It was very rough and really shouldn’t have been put out there, but I enjoyed hearing from some of the readers and found that they liked the story. I later took the same main characters and wrote a full length novel… It sits in a 3-ring binder and I doubt I’ll ever fish it out to publishers. But the experience of writing something that big and completing it was worth it.
Have you always been interested in the horror genre?
I’ve always been a horror fan, and as I wrote more, I found myself slowly writing more and more horror-themed short stories. This interest got me reading in the genre as well and I’ve been reading horror regularly ever since.
But I started out writing action-adventure type of stuff. I also enjoy entertaining younger audiences and began writing children’s picture books (as author CL Vaughn) and was published by Meegenius with my first picture book The Hiccup Mummy.
What I find interesting is that you’re not the first author I’ve met who writes both adult horror and children’s picture books. Perhaps writing juvenile fiction helps balance out a horror author’s dark side. How many children’s books have you written?
Writing for kids is great. They’re a great audience because they are brutally honest and they also have such a vivid imagination that you can easily share your imagination with them.
At the moment I have 6 children’s book published with Meegenius, The Hiccup Mummy and a 5 book series, Owen the Pirate. I also have my 7th picture book in the contract phase with them at this time, If We Served Traffic Jam on Toast.
My goal with my children’s literature is to not only have several picture books out there, but I’d like to get published in the middle grader horror market as well. I have a collection of short horror stories similar to Goosebumps and David Lubar’s Winnie series titled Mom’s Mean French Toast and Other Terrifying Tales that I’m currently pushing for a publisher.
You have a novella awaiting publication with Blood Bound Books. So many amazing authors have worked with BBB. I’m a huge fan of what they do, so I’ll be eager to check out your novella. Can I get a short synopsis?
Would be my pleasure. The few people who’ve read advanced files of the story said that it was very Stephen King-ish with the feel of his Night Flier story.
Jonathan Pierce is a detective who is hellbent on following the leads and pursuing his gut instinct, even if that means risking it all. He’s spent years piecing together the disappearances of loss prevention officers across Washington State and has come to the conclusion that an elusive serial killer is stalking the isles of department stores.
The case takes on a supernatural twist as Jonathan gets closer to his suspect, and he soon learns that the man in the fedora is not just a murderer but a monster. A monster who wants just one thing… Jonathan Pierce.
Wow, that sounds like a fun book to read! Now I’m wondering about your influences. If you could invite any five authors from any time period to dinner, who would they be?
Man, this is a tough one. The obvious choice would be Stephen King. But I’d also invite Clive Barker, Clive Cussler, R.L. Stine and last but not least I think I’d invite Stephenie Meyer… but only so the guys and I could leave her the bill for creating sparkling vampires in her Twilight Saga and damaging the image of one of histories greatest monsters.
Your fiction just appeared on Season 3 of the NoSleep Podcast. How does it feel to hear your work read aloud?
I love it. Hearing your work come to life like that puts a whole new spin on your story and in the case of horror, it can take a frightening story and make it truly terrifying! My favorite out of the two that aired on the podcast is The Cecil Hotel. They did an amazing job with it; it spooked me and I wrote the thing.
What is your writing process like? Do you need silence and seclusion, or do you prefer the bustle of a busy coffee shop?
I can write just about anywhere and carry a notebook in each vehicle. But I do best with a quiet spot to do my writing. I don’t outline. It works for some writers and many will swear by the outline, but it just feels too constrictive for me. I enjoy seeing where the story takes me and I never know what will spark a story.
As for story ideas, sometimes it’s a character name I really like, sometimes it’s as simple as a title I like. But often times I use news stories as writing prompts.
You have two screenplays currently in production with Seraph Films, an independent film company with a ton of very impressive short films under their belt. You must be so excited! Can you tell us a little about each story? When can we expect to see them up on Youtube?
Yes, I’m ecstatic about having two of my scripts selected for their next season. I believe their season starts in the fall but don’t quote me on that. I’m a huge fan of their Youtube channel and watch their stuff regularly, so when they announced that they were holding a script writing contest for their Horror Haiku series, I jumped on it… I think I sent in 30+ scripts in one month!
The first script, Camp Coverup, follows the cellphone video of two campers who are killed by a Sasquatch. It ends with the park rangers investigating the campsite and deciding to look the other way to avoid wide-spread panic.
The other script, Bald Barber, is about a man who stops by to get his hair cut at his usual barber shop. Only the regular guy isn’t there, a strange man who hums the “I’m a little teapot” song is there. Our character learns too late that the man isn’t a barber, he’s a violent mental patient who has escaped.
Cliched as it might be, I love to ask this question of horror authors: What scares you?
Hmmm, I haven’t really found one specific thing that scares me. There’s the obvious fear of something happening to your kids or wife… but as for a Boogie Man fear, the closest I can share is an experience I had while on my honeymoon. My wife and I visited Maui and I did a little snorkeling. I’ve been diving more times than I can count, never have had an issue. But for some reason on this one snorkeling trip I kept getting this fear of a shark attack. It was enough to compel me to head back to shore and find something else to do.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’ve been adapting a feature-length screenplay into a novel for a while now. It’s titled Vengeful Leads and is about a detective whose daughter was kidnapped and killed. Several years later, sex offenders begin to be brutally murdered and he’s put on the case. As the story progresses he learns that the murderer is actually an evil entity brought on by the murdered girls of a mysterious man who acts as the photographer while the girls are molested. The case forces him to choose: avenge his daughter or uphold the law.
I’m also in the process of building a whiteboard video business, Blurbeo.com, and I’ve been spending a lot of time marketing that.
Where can we find you on the web?
You can find me on a few places. MateoHellion.com for my horror writing, CLVaughn.blogspot.com for my children’s writing, and Blurbeo.com for whiteboard videos.
How long have you been writing?
The actual impetus for me to begin writing came while I was reading Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas Sparks. When I got to the part where he received a million-dollar advance, I thought, “Holy cow! He’s a good writer, but I know I can do this, too.” I’ve been writing since that day in 2004.
Do you remember the first thing you ever wrote?
I started a short story and read it to my girlfriend one night over the phone in 1996 or 1997. She pointed out that my characters didn’t tell the story, and she didn’t like the all-narration format. In 2004, when said girlfriend had now been my wife for several years, I tried again after reading the Nicholas Sparks book. She was much happier with the end product of Valerie’s Retreat.
Valerie’s Retreat is a romantic thriller and also your newest release. Can you tell us a little about it?
Valerie’s Retreat follows the life of a forty-one-year-old woman who happens to fall in love with a man sixteen years younger. My wife is sixteen years older than I am, so that might have helped foster this idea for a book. The jokes Valerie must endure, such as, “Do you have to cut his meat for him?” are actual barbs my wife received during our dating process. Like Valerie, I also worked in a bank. Unlike Valerie, I never considered robbing the bank where I worked.
Valerie doesn’t consider herself a “cougar”. Franco, her boyfriend, happened to attend the same church singles dance on the same night. They talked, talked some more, went on a date, and presto- they’re boyfriend/girlfriend. That’s how it happened with my wife and me. “Cougar” makes the women dating younger men seem somewhat predatory. That isn’t the case at all with Valerie or my wife. For the record, my wife never considered robbing a bank either. Well, maybe considered, but never planned it out.
Your bibliography strikes me as very interesting because you don’t focus on a specific genre so much as exploring the different walks of human life and telling their unique stories. How do you come up with your ideas?
Usually, the main characters’ inner turmoil provides the foundation for the rest of the book. Once the underlying internal conflict/motivation is established, the book flows pretty easily. Here’s a condensed version of where my ideas start: Valerie’s Retreat – she’s abused as a child without the emotional tools to handle unfair situation, meets a man getting his Ph.D who’s 16 years younger and they fall in love; A Spy At Home – a CIA spy promoting rebellion in African countries to install pro-American governments sees his life’s work as a wasted career, so instead of transferring ten million dollars to the rebels, he launders the money to himself; Hazardous Choices – Darnell, a Chicago gang member, leaves home to play football in a small Kentucky town where he struggles to fit in with the other students who grew up in safe towns where they never worried about street violence, and the end of the story is the rest of this idea so I can’t put it here; you’ll have to read the book; A Mormon Massacre – a young man’s strong sense of justice compels him to go undercover in the Mormon church to rescue women from abusive plural marriages. See how simple the stories are to write once you understand the driving inner force of the main character?
On the topic of genre: What is your favorite genre to read?
I don’t choose books by genre. I like to pull books at random off the shelf or pick one my wife downloaded on the Kindle and start reading. I rarely read more than the first sentence of a book jacket, and if the title or cover is sufficiently interesting, I won’t read that much of the book jacket. I like to be surprised when I start reading. The only two genres I infrequently search for are biographies (I love studying people; please refer to the above answer as to why) and sports books (baseball has the best books, although I don’t watch a whole game unless the St. Louis Cardinals are in the World Series).
To write?
I cannot image the hell it must be to write in a genre. The extreme example is a Romance novel. The format is so completely defined that the author has little to no movement for plot twists. The story must have a happy tidy ending. Throw out suspense! I challenge you to guess the endings of any of my books. Valerie’s Retreat is a Romantic Thriller, which means it has the physical desires of a Romance and the action/suspense/mystery of a Thriller. Test it out – use the Look-In feature on Amazon. This gives you a free sample of the book, and if it grabs you, you won’t regret getting it.
Do you try to put messages and morals into your fiction, or do you write simply to entertain the reader?
I’m not arrogant enough to believe I have a message that the reader needs to learn. That said, Valerie’s Retreat has kind of a side message. Valerie’s best friend, Janet, develops heart issues. I hope women take note of that and have their hearts regularly checked. Heart disease is the number one killer of women, and women need to be aware of that.
As for the main character, Valerie presents herself to the readers for them to judge her behavior. Her childhood of abuse gives her leeway on the sliding scale of morality, her relate-ability (especially for women) makes you want to take her side, but like all people, Valerie is flawed. How much forgiveness she deserves is up to the reader.
Do events from your past play a role in your fiction?
They do. I don’t take scenes from my life and insert them in my books, because, well… frankly, my life hasn’t been that interesting. Things people have said or done in my presence might make it into a book. However, I never try to put a specific joke or event in a novel. To use an event that happened, say, at a bar would require setting up the scene and giving the reader enough background to believe this character would say this and that one that. By the time it is all set up, the scene becomes the reason for the chapter or the book. That’s wrong; obviously the scenes should enhance the book, not be the objective.
The synopsis for A Mormon Massacre has left me feeling intrigued, and I must admit, I’m curious about something that has nothing to do with the plot itself. I’ve witnessed fellow authors get ripped to shreds by the public at the mere mention of religion. It goes without saying, one must have a thick skin to take on the task of challenging a mainstream religion, whether in fiction or non-fiction writing. Has there been any negative backlash? What has been the overall response to this novel?
YES, lots of backlash from a group that I thought would love the book! The group that hates A Mormon Massacre the most are former Mormons. That was not a typo – former Mormons. If you do not know much about Mormonism or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, let me give a brief synopsis. Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, claims he found stones that enabled him to translate a book from god (or God depending on your beliefs). No one was allowed to watch him translate this book, and no one was ever allowed to see the book. He then proclaimed that this book defined the one true religion and deemed him its leader. His followers were required to give him all their money. If someone standing outside the grocery made this claim, you’d probably tell them that’s about the dumbest thing you ever heard. Mormons on the other hand give the LDS their life savings, refrain from caffeine, never curse, men never grow beards, women never wear pants, never drink alcohol… I’m not saying Mormons are gullible (you read the part about the stones a few sentences ago, right?). So, when a member leaves that church I think they see a book like A Mormon Massacre as an attempt to make them look foolish and easily manipulated.
A Mormon Massacre does have likeable, intelligent, hardworking Mormon characters because most Mormons are exactly that. Personally, I love the show Sister Wives; while their religion is an off-shoot of the LDS, the Browns are wonderful people who represent alternative religion at its best.
As for the backlash, I expected it, but I thought it would come from present day Mormons, not the former members.
If you could invite any five authors from any time period to dinner, who would they be?
Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl and Sharp Objects had me from the first word to last. Johnny Unitas, quarterback of the Baltimore Colts in the 1960s, who was listed as the author of his biography, so I am taking the liberty of including him here. However, when a reporter who knew Mr. Unitas pretty well asked him if he wrote the book, Johnny replied, “Hell, I haven’t even read it.” Anne Rice, Interview With a Vampire – her books are so out of the norm that you know she’d bring an imaginative slant to the dinner conversation. Brad Meltzer, The Inner Circle; his books are always so well thought out that he’d undoubtedly make a terrific guest. John Feinstein, A Season on the Brink; this great sports writer has numerous books to his credit, and he’s a great interview on the radio. I’d love to know his research techniques, and if Mr. Unitas gets tired of the other guests, he and Mr. Feinstein could have their own side conversation.
What do you hope to accomplish in the coming years as an author?
Of course, I’d like this book to help remind women to have their heart health checked regularly. Selling books would be great. But the biggest accomplishment is when someone enjoys a book I wrote. I hope A Spy At Home touches people; Valerie’s Retreat is a fun read that you think about after you put it down – what would I do if my boss sexually harassed me? Hazardous Choices might encourage you to see gang members as people, and A Mormon Massacre shows you how power corrupts and how hard a person must work to correct injustice.
As for setting goals, I don’t do that when it comes to writing because I really have very little control over writing. For instance, I can’t say I want to write a book next year… What if the Muse is cruel and refuses to allow me another creative thought?
What are you working on at the moment?
I have three books rolling around in my head (ha ha, yes, there is a lot of empty space up there). Between working full-time, attending Special Olympics events for my daughter, and promoting Valerie’s Retreat, I’m not sure when they’ll be written.
Where can we find you on the web?
If any of the books I’ve mentioned interest you, please go to the free “Click to Look Inside” and sample the first chapter on the Amazon webpage for my books. If a book grabs you that quick, you’ll probably be glad you got it. Also, if you are in a book club that reads one of my books. I’d be honored to join your discussion. Feel free to contact me through Facebook or my website, www.josephmrinaldo.com.
Amazon link – Valerie’s Retreat, ebook: http://www.amazon.com/Valeries-Retreat-Joseph-Rinaldo-ebook/dp/B00GCWNOQM/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1390826759
Amazon link – Valerie’s Retreat, paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Valeries-Retreat-Joseph-M-Rinaldo/dp/1492762628/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1390826759&sr=8-1
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/JosephRinaldoBooks
Twitter handle: @jmrinaldo
How long have you been writing?
I started Chaos toward the end of summer, 2010, and published it in April of 2011. So, I guess I’ve been writing for about 3 ½ years now.
Do you remember the first thing you ever wrote?
Other than a few poems early on in my life, Chaos was my first endeavor into the writing world.
There are 9 books in your post-apocalyptic series, A New World. What made you decide to write a series?
I’ve always had survival scenarios that I would play in my head. I’d throw a few random factors in and work my way through them. That way, I’d be ready for things that may come along. One evening, I was reading and a light bulb went off telling me that I had a story to tell. I wanted to tell a story set in a post-apocalyptic world and how I would actually go about handling it in as realistic scenario as I could. Once I started on the story, it blossomed far past any expectations I could have ever held.
What is the series about?
Over two billion people dead within a matter of days. Thirty percent of the world’s population lying lifeless, strewn across parking lots, slumped in cars, fallen in their homes, and streets littered with corpses. The Cape Town Flu was deadly but not as much as was the vaccine that was rushed through the approval process.
The vaccine didn’t stem the tide of the pandemic; it was the very reason that civilization came to a standstill, and then fell. Almost a third of humankind dead. That was just the beginning. The vaccine distribution was halted but it was too late. The remaining populace underwent genetic mutations from which emerged a new species – the night runners.
Ferocious, cunning, and unrelenting, the night runners control the night. They become more agile, develop canine-like hearing and smell, and can see in the dark. Sweeping through the nighttime streets, they hunt for the one percent of humankind which proved to be immune to the effects of the vaccine. Only one aspect allows any survivors a meager chance at survival, the night runners cannot operate in the daylight. They spend the daytime hours holed up in lairs they create deep within darkened buildings. When the sun sets, they emerge and, with a pack-like mentality, hunt the streets seeking prey.
The downfall of humanity was lightning fast and didn’t allow for any intervention. The infrastructure of humankind fell within hours. The scant survivors had to quickly band together in order to withstand the onslaught of the night runners.
Jack Walker, an ex-special operations soldier and pilot, is thrust into this new world. Saving his teenage son and daughter, he struggles to survive in this new environment – to provide safety for his children.
Will there be a book 10?
There definitely will be a book 10 and I’ll be writing on it soon. I’m currently writing on a companion novel to the series which is a set of short stories with others at the onset of the crisis.
Do you have a favorite A New World book?
I don’t know that I have an overall favorite as I’ve enjoyed writing each and every one. Within each book is a scene or two which I really enjoyed creating. So, for me, it’s the scenes of the series that I hold in mind rather than a particular book.
Have you always been a fan of the zombie genre?
Honestly, I grew up on fantasy books, immersing myself in those other worlds. Zombies or some other kind of feral creature adds to the dangers inherent in a post-apocalyptic survival tale. They up the ante per se. It becomes the ultimate test of survival if you will, but one that is winnable if you keep your head on straight.
If you could invite any five authors from any time period to dinner, who would they be?
Stephen King – just because, well, you have to.
Robert Jordan
J.R.R. Tolkien – I mean, how do you not?
Tom Clancy
The fifth I will hold in reserve because there are so many great authors.
I see you enjoy spending time outdoors. Do you think this love of nature and exploration has had an impact on your writing?
I’m not sure that has much to do with the books themselves. Now, having said that, I’m sure that experiences that I’ve garnered throughout the years play into the storyline from time to time. It’s mostly to lend realism into the story.
Do events from your past play a role in your fiction?
There may be a flashback or two in the books that I’ve drawn from real life.
Do you try to put messages and morals into your fiction, or do you write simply to entertain the reader?
I really try and stay away from a set of morals, politics, or any particular messages. Each person has their own set and I don’t want the books to be a means of conveyance. I write them purely for my and the reader’s entertainment.
What are you working on at the moment?
I am writing on a companion novel of short stories set within the New World series. They are mostly experiences of people during the onset of the downfall of humankind as we know it.
Where can we find you on the web?
Web Site:
http://anewworldseries.com
Facebook Profile:
http://www.facebook.com/JohnWBOBrien
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/A_NewWorld
Amazon author page:
http://www.amazon.com/John-OBrien/e/B005IDEPP0
How long have you been writing?
Actually, I started writing all the way back in elementary school! My class was given weekly creative writing assignments. You know–write a two or three page story about something you like, draw your own cover, stuff like that. So I started doing one of these assignments, with no enormous intentions in mind… and then, out of nowhere, I suddenly ended up with a fifty-something page story.
From that point on, I knew that writing was always going to be the focus of my life.
What was the first thing you had published?
Oh, wow. That takes me back! The first thing I had published was a short horror story named “Final Irony,” which appeared on a now-defunct ezine called Gravediggings. I believe I was only 18 years old at the time—and still in high school—so having my first acceptance was thrilling.
The first print publication I had was either “The Skunk Ape,” a horror story which was featured in the first issue of Dark Moon Digest, or “Echoes of Leaving,” which appeared in the coffee-themed anthology The Coffee Shop Chronicles. Both of these publications came out at pretty much the exact same time, back in late 2010.
Your debut novel, The Cage Legacy, was released by Post Mortem Press in late 2012. It has received some great reviews. Can you tell us a little about it?
At its core, The Cage Legacy is a story about a father and son. It’s a story about a kid named Ethan Cage, a kid who has the best dad in the world… until one night, his world is ripped apart by the revelation that his loving patriarch is actually a psychotic serial killer.
Now, years later, Ethan is a teenager. He’s moved away from his hometown, he’s in high school, and he’s in the midst of his first real relationship. But lurking beneath Ethan’s guarded surface, there’s this constant underlying fear about his identity. Who is he? What is he? And most importantly, does the son of a serial killer really have any hope at ever having an everyday life—or is he destined to become his father’s son?
I’ve heard authors who write in both mature and young-adult genres say that they enjoy writing YA because the readers in that age group are more responsive and enthusiastic. Have you found this to be true?
Hmm, I think that readers from different age groups show their enthusiasm in different ways. I definitely know that The Cage Legacy strikes a chord with YA readers due to its vehement, no-holds-barred take on young adult issues, but I’ve received similarly enthusiastic responses from many older readers as well.
Will you write another YA book?
Possibly! Or, well, I’m certainly not opposed to the idea. The YA genre is ripe with dramatic tension and compelling scenarios, because adolescence is one of the most stressful, scary, confusing times that a person goes through. So if a new YA story comes to me one of these days, I’ll definitely write it.
If you could invite any five authors from any time period to dinner, who would they be?
I suppose that one wants to get an interesting mix of personalities together, right? So I’ll go ahead and invite Edgar Allen Poe, Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain, Mary Shelley and Alan Moore. The debates would be interesting, I’ll say that much…
What is your favorite genre?
I have a preference for works that blur the lines of genre. A little horror, a little fantasy, some “literary” elements, all mixed together into a unique broth… you know, those odd, eccentric little stories that can’t quite fit into any particular box.
If I have to pick a genre, though, I’ll pick horror. Mainly because horror is such a versatile label, one that can mean so many different things to so many different people. Yes, House of Leaves is horror, The Hellbound Heart is obviously horror… but to me, Notes from the Underground is also horror, although most wouldn’t think of it that way.
You’ve had several short stories published in magazines and anthologies over the years, and I’m wondering: If you had to pick a favorite story, which one would it be and why?
Heh, you’re making me choose between children!
Okay, let’s see. There are a number of short stories that I haven’t had published yet. But out of my published short stories, my favorite is probably “Square-Shaped Mind,” which appeared in Cover of Darkness: 2012 Special Winter Edition. It’s a dark, dark psychological tale about a man who undergoes an experimental sleep study for one hundred-thousand bucks, only to find out that the test isn’t quite what he signed up for.
The runner-up would be “Dirt Under the Grass,” which was in the first issue of Writes For All. It’s a simple story, an emotional study of a communication breakdown between two people in a relationship. It’s about what happens when two people see the world in different colors, so to speak. I poured a lot of my heart into that one, so it’s always stuck with me.
Do events from your past play a role in your fiction?
Oh, absolutely. Real life tragedies, heartaches and joyous events serve as fuel and motivation for my writing. Though I don’t usually write directly about things that actually happened to me, I do aim to capture the feelings of those events, and transfer that undercurrent to whichever fictional story that event inspired.
Do you try to put messages and morals into your fiction, or do you write simply to entertain the reader?
When one of my stories starts to come together, it often starts with the development of a main character, followed by a dramatic situation for that character to go through. Once that situation grabs me by the throat, I write it out—and then, I start asking questions. Why? Who? Where? What is happening, and why do I care? If the story survives this horrifically brutal interrogation, I then ask the most important question of all:
What does it all MEAN?
While I do want my stories to be entertaining, it’s extremely important to me that my work, as an expression of my deepest self, is true to my intrinsic values. Fiction is one of the most powerful ways to get a message out there, so yes, my moral values are always tightly sewn into the story’s fabric. I always write with a purpose in mind.
What are you working on at the moment?
Well, I currently have three novels in different states of development. All three are certainly “genre” works, though I’d be hard-pressed to say what genre, exactly! Like I said earlier, a little bit of everything. When there’s more news on that front, I’ll definitely be sure to post about it.
Where can we find you on the web?
My official website has the endlessly complicated, confusing, convoluted address of www.nicholasconley.com. Difficult, I know. You can also read my blog, which I update regularly.
Hello, Mr. Wynn. Thanks for stopping by Author Interview Corner.
Thank you, Lindsey! It’s an honor to be featured here.
My first impression upon visiting your website was as follows: “Wow! This guy has a TON of books!” How long have you been writing, and how many projects do you put out in the average year?
I’ve been writing for almost my entire life. As soon as I learned how to wield a word, I was writing little stories, and by first grade I was writing short books. Everything I was writing then was very derivative of the cartoons or sci-fi shows I was hooked on at the time, so it wasn’t sale-able by any stretch of the imagination, but it was good practice and I loved doing it. I think I gravitated toward writing initially because I had a lot of images trapped in my imagination that I needed to get out on paper, and since I couldn’t draw (or at least, didn’t have the patience to learn how to do it) and didn’t have my own movie crew or studio to make movies with, I settled for the art form that gave me the leverage to do the most that I could with the least. I learned the power of words very early on, and have always delighted in using simple constructions of letters and sound to cause explosions of color and imagery within the minds of my readers.
Most of the books I’ve written which are currently in print were put together and published after 2007, so it is only in the past seven years that I’ve really hit the writing hard and pushed to make it into a career. Before that, I bounced around from job to job and school to school trying to find something I could do (outside of writing) that didn’t make me want to off myself. I’ve trained to be a teacher, a pilot, spent time cleaning out and checking fluids on rental trucks, sold swords out of a booth at Scottish Games faires and was even a math tutor for a while. During that time, I spent a lot of weekends and weeknights refereeing for D&D games and building video games in RPG maker, which, I like to think, helped me hone my creativity. Being the “DM” of a big group for a long time means you’ve got to be able to craft (and tell) killer stories on the fly or you’re shuffled aside in favor of someone else who is more talented.
2010 was the year I really amped up my editing and production. It was the year I went back and started pulling together all of the half-finished projects I’d been working on over the preceding years and in the space of that twelve months, I put out thirteen books. In 2011, my total was fifteen, in 2012, it dropped to seven, (it was a difficult year) and in 2013 I bounced back with twelve. This year, I’m going to release at least five, but I’m already slowing down and planning on rolling things back in favor of other projects, namely short stories and other smaller, easier side-projects. It’s been a wild ride getting fifty books under my belt before turning thirty and I am ready for a break.
Do you write every single day or when inspiration hits?
Inspiration hits me hard almost every single day, so– both! My creative faucet runs full blast almost all the time, so I spend more time trying to get a break from the flow than I do trying to overcome writer’s block. That being said, I was once as haunted by writer’s block as anyone else– for most of my life (prior to 2010,) I struggled with it, but by writing only what interests me, when it has interested me, I have maintained a pretty constant flow in the years since.
Are there any authors who have influenced your work?
I would say that every author (and writer) I’ve ever read has influenced my work. Everything I read (and as the chief editor of seven online journals, I read a lot) I study and dissect in my mind, laying it out so I can understand the patterns, the math and music behind every line that moves me. My favorite authors to read and absorb are Cormac McCarthy, Storm Constantine, Peter Grandbois and Robert A. Heinlein, but I also have a lot of fun seeking out and reading obscure and/or little known independent sci-fi writers from the late seventies, eighties and early nineties. That, to me, is the most perfect era of science fiction– the point where intellectual sci-fi was beginning to become more action-oriented, darker and more real, but before it yielded entirely to modern pulp “syfy”.
Your sci-fi thriller series, Pink Carbide, is currently 5 books long, with books 6 and 7 scheduled for 2014 release dates. Please tell us a little about this series.
Pink Carbide is the story of one woman alone in a world where every government agent and two-bit gun runner is burning to get her in their sights. It’s the story of a world where everything is synthesized, where nanotechnology runs rampant and cybernetics have become a part of everyday life. It’s the story of a secret so profound it could change the face of the world forever, it’s the story of a mad man’s experiment and the revenge of a captured soul with only false memories to guide her into the great unknown– and beyond. There’s a lot going on in this series, but at the center of it all is a journey of self-discovery, of one person’s transformation from helpless waif to an unstoppable, spear-wielding goddess of justice carving her way back through the familiar hells of a cybernetic cityscape that was once her home.
What is it like writing a series, as opposed to a stand-alone novel? Do you find yourself planning ahead into the next book while writing the current one? Will the series end at book 7, or keep going?
Writing a series is a completely different animal from writing a single, stand-alone novel. With a single novel, you can create atmosphere by pulling details out of thin air and sticking them wherever they grease the machinery of the story. Generally, you don’t have to keep track of too many things at once, reserving more of your “head-space” for the rest of the story (and for important, life-related things.) When you’re writing a series, however, the little details you can’t forget (at least, not without creating plot holes) start to add up, and after a while, you’re running around with so many important ideas stuck in your head that the act of continuing to write in that universe becomes half a trudge through mental mud and half a race against burn-out. When I’m working on a series, it consumes my life for months at a time– I become obsessive, quiet, locked in my own head. I forget to shave and spend days fighting with words until at last I can rise from my self-imposed shackles and carry my manuscripts into the light again. For me, writing a short story is as satisfying as flying. Writing a novel is like a satisfying walk or a long, rugged hike through nature. Writing a series, especially one as long as the Pink Carbide series, is equal parts hiking, flying and lying face-down in the mud crying until the pain goes away.
When I’m writing a series, I’ve found that I work best when I have only a loose framework of future events laid out ahead of me. If the outline I’ve put together is too detailed and too dense, I get bored too quickly and end up setting the project aside, so I try to keep the details as sparse as possible. On the other hand, if I forgo an outline entirely, I tend to get lost and frustrated and eventually bored, which kills the project just as quickly. I like the flexibility that a basic skeleton of events affords, especially since I can have an idea, delete the entire skeleton and rewrite it from scratch without losing too much work. I do that pretty often while writing books, and when I’m writing a series, little changes in the outline can effect the entire universe in wide, sweeping ways. It’s almost like you’re trying to assemble the perfect timeline piece by piece, and every little tweak in the flow of events has the potential to erase entire characters from existence– or create the need for new characters to fill a vacuum that wasn’t there previously.
As for Pink Carbide, the series is definitely going to come to an end with book seven. For me, finishing the Pink Carbide series was (and is) kind of a homecoming for me. It brings me full circle. The first three books in the Pink Carbide series were my first three books in print, and the fourth book was my fiftieth. The main reason for the huge gap of time and writing between the third and fourth books in the series can be contributed more or less to a simple lack of inertia. With a series like this, a series which has so many little side stories, facts, details, etc. tying the universe together, there is a certain amount of mental momentum you have to maintain in order to keep the words coming. When I was working on Lithium Liederkreis (book four) initially, I actually pushed the manuscript up to about 90,000 words before document corruption literally wiped the entire book. It was crippling. My back-ups were a few months old, so I lost all but about the first 10,000 words. The last time I lost a book like that, I stopped writing altogether for at least a year, but the mental momentum I had built up writing books one through three kept me going through the loss, kept me writing book four. It was hard work trying to reconstruct so many words that I had already written, but I got the book up to about 70,000 words again before I lost it all a second time. After that second loss, I shelved the series entirely, deciding it just wasn’t meant to be.
Last year, however, I decided that, for my fiftieth book, I would pick up the series again and put what journal scraps remained of Lithium Liederkreis back on the page. I’d learned a lot about backing up my writing (I’m also using more reliable word processing programs now) and enough time had passed to make the material interesting to me again, so finishing book four came relatively easily. Ultimately, I think it was a good thing that there was such a long hiatus (four years) between book three and the rest of the series because it gave me a chance to really grow as a writer, to learn my craft and take the Pink Carbide books in a whole new (ultimately better) direction than what I had originally planned for them.
Have you ever gotten well and truly stuck while trying to translate an idea from your brain to written word? If so, did you manage to overcome the problem?
Every day. The words come pretty fluidly, but I get stuck on specific word choices pretty regularly. Not for long, usually, but long enough sometimes that I fall asleep at the keyboard if I’m really tired. For the best flow, I’ve found that it’s important to look after your body– you have to take care of everything, exercise, eat right, drink coffee or tea, sleep well, put on good music, etc. The fewer distractions you have from your own physical self, the easier the writing will come. It’s not easy– the body needs a lot of attention, but if you treat it right, it will treat you right, and your mind will be able to muse freely without being constantly dragged back to reality with thoughts of hunger, exhaustion, lust, anxiety, etc.
Here’s a fun question. If you had to pick a favorite character you’ve created, who would it be?
That’s a tough question! They’re all my favorites!
No, in all seriousness, each of the books I write is like a torrid love affair between me (as a writer) and the characters I am writing. I love them all passionately while I’m writing them, and then when the fire fades, I set the book aside and strike up a romance with a new protagonist. That being said, one character I do keep coming back to over and over again is Tessa Eisenherz of The Cygnus War series. I just can’t get enough of her. She’s interesting, so human, driven, strong yet sensitive and empathic. She has a rough, rugged, iron exterior that gets her through everything, yet she’s so soft on the inside that she feels every barb, every mile of broken glass that she powers though. Plus, she’s a hell of a pilot and loves the sky almost as much as I do. Can’t go wrong with a woman like that.
You’re one of those versatile authors who likes to dabble in a dozen different genres. Although the majority of your work appears to be science fiction, it certainly runs the gamut from there, right on through horror, romance, poetry, non-fiction, and even choose-your-own-adventure books! Was this a conscious decision you made when setting out to become an author, or did it just sort of happen that way?
I would say that it just sort of happened that way. Restrictions are the antithesis of progress in writing, so I’ve always followed my interests instead of trying to limit myself to a single genre. Over and over again, I find myself coming back to sci-fi, especially darker sci-fi, because that’s always been my primary passion, but I definitely enjoy all of my forays into other genres. I also like to create challenges for myself, and many of my books are, in a way, milestones that reflect that. Pink Carbide was a challenge– can I write a book? Yes. Pink Carbide: Aluminum Opus was a challenge– can I do it again? Yes. How about a third time? Yes, Pink Carbide: Carbon Aria, and so on. The Mars Manuscripts, Last Five Years, The Hyperborean Texts, Letters From A Dead Earth, even my upcoming Rise of the Forgotten God all started as challenges I set for myself, challenges I can look back on and say “yep, I did that.” The most ridiculous challenge I think I’ve ever set for myself was having over fifty books in print before turning thirty, but even that was no match for my tenacity. I turn thirty in May, and by then I should have fifty-five books in print. I’m still debating about whether or not I should go for one hundred books in print before I turn forty. Only five books per year? Doesn’t seem like much of a challenge compared to the last crazy goal. Yes, I am nuts.
I’m a die-hard horror fan, so I have to ask: Which one of your horror novels would you consider to be your best?
Another challenging question. Honestly, all of my forays into horror so far have been short stories or short story collections, but my favorite shade of sci-fi is dark, horrific sci-fi. Of all of the sci-fi novels that I’ve written which tread into the realm of horror, Like Oceans of Liquid Skin is the highest rated among fans I’ve spoken with, though it’s an interactive book, which may (or may not) be a mark against it for some. In terms of supernatural horror, The Hyperborean Texts is also highly rated, being a meta-fictional account of translated figures found during an anthropological expedition to the arctic circle. It’s very Lovecraftian in style.
In terms of more mainstream horror, the best piece I could recommend from my own stable of works would be the e-short I’ve written titled 8:05 (Horoscope).
Then, there’s Rise of the Forgotten God which comes out in early March of this year. It’s fantasy genre, but very dark and gritty. (It contains things like demonic dragons made of liquid blood, killer shadows that possess people, an unkillable evil from the distant northern wastes, etc.)
In addition to writing, you do some very interesting things with your voice. Can you tell us about some of those projects?
Thank you. Years ago, a friend of mine from the D&D group I used to referee told me that my voice was one of the reasons why I was such a successful DM and suggested I read some of my own work aloud. Being terrified of people, I quickly found that going out into the world and reading my material aloud at events, competitions, etc. pushed me entirely too far out of my comfort zone, so I decided to try my hand at audio work online. My first big project was an audiobook version of Pink Carbide, and I’ve done short bits of audio work here and there for a while now, though the bulk of the material I’ve done has been for Mark Slade’s Dark Dreams Podcast and the Blackout City Podcasts. You can find both of those over at http://www.spreaker.com/user/deadrecords0.
In addition to that, I maintain quite a bit of audio material on Youtube, soundcloud and my own Spreaker page, but at this point, it’s pretty much all just stuff I do for fun.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Never give up. Honestly, that’s the most important piece of advice one writer can ever give another. Don’t write for the success. Write what you love because you love it. There is no magic bullet or magic way or one true means of “making it as a writer,” so toss aside your ideas of writing something you hate because you think you might be able to ride Stephenie Meyer’s or E.L James’s fanbases to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The act of writing itself must be the reward, or you’ll never make it as a writer. The path is long and full of heartbreak, but it’s worth it in the end, no matter how many people you reach. I think the most satisfying thing about being a writer myself is not the checks that come in the mail, but rather the letters. My favorites, the ones that make the journey most worthwhile, are those that come from people who say that my books literally saved their lives by giving them something to live for in their darkest hours.
Write every day. Keep a small notebook on your person at all times, and use those little ten minute waiting periods when you’re standing in line or sitting in traffic to get ideas down on paper. Always have ideas brewing in your mind, and when you finally sit down at the keyboard to write, the blank page won’t seem so intimidating because you’ll have already done all the hard work of coming up with concepts, first lines, etc.
What are you working on at the moment?
A ton of things! I’m always juggling a million projects at once. Currently, the project that is taking the most of my time and energy is the sequel to Rise of the Forgotten God, tentatively titled Sisters in Slaughter. I’m also in the process of finishing up edits for Pink Carbide: Fullerene Symphony and starting edits for a project for Horrified Press entitled Plague. Other than that, a friend and I are currently formulating a joint project that might come into being sometime this year, and I’m preparing material for the formal announcement of Stormcloud Poets #2, which I’ll be posting more information about sometime later this month. I also love pyrography (wood-burning art) and in my free time, I’ve been preparing my next canvas with plans to start working on it (hopefully) as early as April.
Is there any news for 2014, other than books 6 and 7 of Pink Carbide, that you’d like to discuss before we wrap up this interview?
A chance to plug my own upcoming books? Heck yes! As mentioned previously, I have at least five new books coming out in 2014. Other than the last few books in the Pink Carbide series, 2014 will also see the release of Rise of the Forgotten God in early March and a book titled Black Magic: Shotgun Spacebabe which is tentatively scheduled for release in early May. In terms of short stories, most of this year’s work so far has been picked up by Nightmare Illustrated, including my story Mellified Man, which is slated for an upcoming issue and is, essentially, a story about a guy who is being slowly mummified into a grisly bee hive. Gnarly stuff.
Where can we find you on the web?
The best place to start would probably be my main author blog at www.eswynn.com. From there, you can find links to pretty much everything I do on the left-hand side of the main page. I’m also on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Deviant Art, and pretty much every other social site out there.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. The first story I remember writing was when I was five years old. It was a horror story that included basically every monster ever included in a popular movie or book. There were werewolves rising out of the mud and vampires running from the forest… all for no discernible reason.
Your dark fantasy novella “Beyond the Tempest Gate” was released in 2013 by Vabella Publishing. Can you tell us a little about this book?
With “Beyond the Tempest Gate,” I wanted to take a standard fantasy trope and turn it on its head. Specifically, I wanted to address the standard “knight going out to slay the dragon” storyline, and I wanted to go deeper with the idea and the characters, and ask a simple question. What if the knight’s not supposed to slay the monster? What then? From that simple idea, a character emerged that really fascinated me and I felt compelled to follow and record his journey all the way to the end.
Have you always been a fan of the fantasy genre?
Yes. I actually stopped reading fantasy for a few years for some reason. I read exclusively mainstream literature, mostly classics, for years. It wasn’t a conscious choice. It just sort of happened. And in the same natural way of things, I eventually picked up fantasy again and started reading with gusto.
If you could invite any five authors from any time period to dinner, who would they be?
Ooh, good question. Well, there’d be Kurt Vonnegut for laughs. I’d love to meet a young Walt Whitman for his exuberance. Jack London would be there to tell his adventure stories. Jack Kerouac would be there, and lastly, Herman Melville. I’d like to talk all about the multiple layers of meaning in Moby Dick with Melville.
It’s funny, as I answer this question, my absolute favorite authors don’t come to mind. I like all those authors I mentioned, but my greatest literary heroes are Cormac McCarthy, Clive Barker, Richard Price… yet, for as much as I love their writing, they’re not people I have any driving desire to converse with. That’s odd. I’ve never realized that about myself before.
Looking at your bio, it’s obvious you have a healthy interest in the outdoors. Does this side of your life influence your work / affect the things you choose to write about?
Probably. I love the outdoors and when I write about the outdoors I think I tend to be more descriptive than when I write about cities and whatnot. But, there are few things in this life that I love more than sitting in the sunshine beside a river or stream with a book and a notebook, reading, thinking, and writing amidst the sounds of nature.
We’re coming to the end of another gray, wet Pacific Northwest winter, and talking about sitting out in the woods in the sunshine is making my soul yearn. Oh, I can’t wait for spring…
In addition to your novella, you’ve written quite a few short stories. Has there been any story that was particularly challenging to write? If so, how did you get through it?
There are some that have been in drafts for years and I just can’t pin them down and finish them. They’re elusive.
Where do you see yourself ten years from now?
Hopefully I will be sitting at the riverside somewhere beautiful and sunny, contemplating the mysteries of life and feeling that I’ve spent the last ten years creatively, passionately, and in a way that has made people other than myself a bit happier or better off.
Do events from your past play a role in your fiction?
Absolutely.
Do you try to put messages and morals into your fiction, or do you write simply to entertain the reader?
I don’t try, but it seems to happen pretty often. I’ve actually forced myself to write stories without deeper meaning. It doesn’t come natural to me. The deeper meaning isn’t always necessarily a moral or ethical one, but there has to be some kind of philosophical subtext for something to interest me.
What are you working on at the moment?
Tons of short stories that I’m sending out, but mostly trying to buckle down as I work on my epic fantasy series. It’s going to be a full trilogy, rather than a stand-alone book as “Beyond the Tempest Gate” is.
Where can we find you on the web?
I have a website at www.jeffsuwak.com
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