Author Interview with

A R Meyering

Author of The Resurrectionist, and the short stories, FATHOM and Appeal

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

I’m planning on writing a few sci-fi/horror shorts for an anthology that will be published by BHC Press in 2021 to go with my dark sci-fi stories FATHOM and Appeal. They’re all philosophical and disturbing looks at how we relate to machines, and to each other. All the stories are meant to take place in the same timeline, going in a sequence that reveals what has happened to the Earth from near future to the distant.

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

I got the idea for the anthology’s main novella FATHOM while I was living in Japan. It takes place in the prefecture where I used to live. It’s about a man whose job is preserving the physical experience of the real world in digital format, as everyone is living in a full-immersion digital simulation in response to the climate crisis.

Do you write in more than one genre?

Yes! All my stories tend to have an aspect of horror to them, but I like to blend that with fantasy and sci-fi, too.

Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.

I try to strike an interesting balance between whimsical and frightening. I also put work into making strong emotional develop arcs for my characters, which I hope proves satisfying for the reader.

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

I’m a very anxious person, so I end up worrying about everything all the time. I think the fear I feel through my personal experience shapes the way I approach horror. It’s interesting and cathartic to write about frightening situations when you’re so familiar with the emotion.

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

I love history and philosophy, and I try to have those elements as strong and engaging parts of my stories.

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

Slade House by David Mitchell was such a cool little gem. So creepy and atmospheric, and a great example of how to weave a lot of different stories together into a powerful, unified ending.

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

The Resurrectionist, which will be available on Halloween of 2020! I think it will appeal to those who like dark fantasy, horror, historical fiction, and a dash of romance. It centers around the real-life Burke and Hare murders in the 19^th century, and the mysteries that they left behind.

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

I was really lucky to have a strong mentorship from an editor I worked with, Angela Brown. She really took me under her wing and wouldn’t let me give up, even when I was at my mopeyest. I think that I probably wouldn’t have gotten published if it hadn’t been for her support and brilliant editing work!

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

I am one of those unfortunate people who is always hoping I can trick someone into talking about philosophy with me. I think any question about the way philosophy plays into my work is satisfying to engage with.

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?

I like Anne Lamott’s motivational phrase, “bird by bird.” She talks about it in her book on writing, which is of the same name. The idea is that her little brother had put off this huge project on birds until the night before it was due, and he had no idea how to approach this enormous task. Her father told him to just take it one step at a time and go ‘bird by bird.’ She relates this to how you should approach this nearly impossible project of writing, and I use that as motivation a lot. Just one little bit at a time, that’s all you have to do.

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Thanks to A R for participating in the interview. She did get the interview returned to me in October, but I didn't get to until now. Hopefully the release of The Resurrectionist went well.

Promise of Carnage and Flame (Yes. I have decided that is the title, rather than In The Course, which I had originally planned to call it.) has hit the home stretch. I outlined the final five chapters to make sure I was pulling in the elements I wanted included from earlier in the story. "Outlined" is rather an overstatement. My rough notes resemble an outline in the same way a package of cheese and crackers with the little red plastic spreader resembles a gourmet meal. I finished chapter 29 yesterday, so there are only four more to go. I'm looking at 120K words for completion. Additionally, I've made another change in that this book will be book 4 in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series, rather than the first book of a sequel trilogy. I've taken the advice another author gave in one of his videos and decided to chose to do the saga as one series rather than 2 or 3 trilogies. Either way, the awesome factor of the story continues to push the needle to the peg.

Rather than do the movie reviews I had wanted, I'll do something less.

Over the past several weeks, I've been able to see a few Danny Boon movies. It began with Supercondriaque. In this movie, Boon plays a hypochondriac who becomes unwittingly involved in love and international intrigue. It is super fun and very entertaining. I recommend it.

Boon's character's obsession with germs, disease, and his own health makes for a great representation of what our society has become during the "pandemic."

Family is Family--and I use the English title because I can't make sense of the French one--introduces us to an interior designer and his wife who are at the top of their game and living the high life in Paris. Boon's character claims to be an orphan, but that is a big lie to hide his trailer trash roots. His family from northern France (who speak a peculiar patois) makes a surprise trip to Paris at his big exhibition on the pretense of celebrating the mother's eightieth birthday. A head injury erases the last 25 years of his memory, and Boon and his wife make a number of discoveries about themselves and who they have become. It's another fun film.

 Author Interview with 

Cedar Sanderson

Author of The East Witch, Tanager's Fledglings, and the Pixie for Hire series

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

The current works in progress are a space opera, with star-traveling pirates, a trader’s ship full of an odd family, and a plot to use them for espionage. It’s the sequel to my earlier work, Tanager’s Fledglings. The other one I’m working on when I get stuck there is a military fantasy my husband and I are cowriting, an imagining of how Ragnarok gets supported… you can’t have combat troops without support troops!

 

The book that was just published is contemporary fantasy in some aspects, but not urban fantasy. In fact, it’s set in the howling wilderness of Siberia. The title, The East Witch, refers to the old witch of Russia: Baba Yaga.

 

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

The East Witch is set in the same world as my Pixie for Hire series, but the idea behind the book is only loosely related to those books, it’s intended to stand alone. I’ve wanted to do a Russian fairy tale book, and especially one with Baba Yaga in it, for a long time. Using the premise of the fey underworld, and politics, allowed me to weave in the Wild Hunt and set them in opposition to the old crone who seeks power for herself. Throwing an innocent human into the mix gives me a way to tell the story through fresh eyes.

 

Do you write in more than one genre?

I do. I primarily write, as you may have guessed from the first answers, fantasy and science fiction. I also write mystery, contemporary Westerns, and occasionally dabble in horror.

 

Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.

I have the honor of having a sub-genre named due to one of my books. Tom Knighton dubbed it ‘banjo fantasy’ after a conversation about my work, compared to the broader category of urban fantasy. There is no urb in my books, or very little indeed. I write rural fantasy, which sparked Tom (himself an author) to come up with Banjo Fantasy. He’d been reading my book Possum Creek Massacre, which is set in rural Appalachia, in an area I know well through my in-laws.

 

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

I tell stories about the places I have lived and loved. Alaska, where I spent a part of my childhood, and have many family ties to. Kentucky, where my husband’s family lives, and I fell in love with the countryside at first sight. Between my settings, and my background in science, I give my books a lot of me, I think.

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

I’m also an artist. To list it all out, I’m an author, an artist, a scientist, a photographer, a mother, a wife, and that’s probably enough for the moment. I’m an autodidact, because I was homeschooled, so I am constantly looking for new things to learn. The artist is directly applicable here – I also write and illustrate children’s books. The Cute Moose is the first of these, it came out in late 2020.  

 

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

Dorothy Grant’s work is not well known and should be. She writes science fiction, with great characters. I love her stuff and am always happy when she comes to me for another cover, because that means I get to read the book. She writes tactical romance, which is difficult to define but it’s basically sensible people falling in love during a running firefight with perfectly correct tactics – she doesn’t have a military background, but she has a research group that does, and she manages to convey it terrifically well in her work. Really, these books need to be read by more people.

 

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

A great starting point is Pixie Noir, it remains one of my best selling titles, and people love it. I love it – I started writing it to make someone laugh, after reading Mickey Spillane. It turned into a trilogy and it was so much fun to write. I really think that comes through to the readers.

 

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

I came into writing seriously right around 2011. Just as the Indie revolution was kicking up. I was able to start my own publishing imprint (Stonycroft Publishing, since folded into Sanderley Studios) and maintain complete control over my own books. I hire work I can’t or won’t do myself, like editing, and I have been able to keep my rights in-house. I had some fantastic mentors who really encouraged me to do this, like Sarah Hoyt, Larry Correia and Dave Freer. That gave me the guts to do it and I’ve never regretted it.

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

"Are the philosophies of your characters your own?”

The answer to that is no, even when they do align with mine. I’m a pantser – I don’t plot and build characters. They pop into my head fully formed, right down to their views and beliefs. It’s odd, but it seems to work.

 

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?

I don’t think I have a catch phrase. With nine novels in print, there’s not a lot of overlap! I know I tend to write rural country folks, but they aren’t all the same person, if you follow me.

There’s a line in Pixie Noir where Lom, the titular pixie, makes a crack about coffee: black nectar of the gods! And there you have in one line my deep love of coffee that does come up in several of my books.

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Thanks to Cedar for participating. I have to admit I'm a little ambivalent about the term "Banjo Fantasy."

In my own writing, Promise of Carnage and Flame (which I have decided to make book four in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series, rather than making a sequel trilogy) has arrived at the completion of Iago's side adventure. I'm ready for the last quarter of the book, it Alex can get his stones in a row, so to speak.

If you haven't signed up for my monthly newsletter yet, click here to receive my best content not available anywhere else.

Here are is my account of some recent turmoil. Check out the my new website while you're there.

As you can see, I'm really flying now.

 Author Interview with

William David Ellis

Author of The Harry Ferguson Chronicles, and a Sherlock Holmes series

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress. I have two WIPs. One is the second of My Sherlock Holmes series Angels ,Saints and Sinners, and the other is the 5^th in my Texas Fantasy series.  

Where did you get the idea for this book or series? The Texas fantasy series, called the Harry Ferguson Chronicles was inspired by the customers of a little café in Edom Texas. They gather together every morning to tell tall tales and generally see who can out lie the other. I couldn’t help but be inspired.

 

Do you write in more than one genre? Yes, my fantasy series crosses over into scifi romance fantasy and time travel, and my Sherlock Holmes series is mystery and detective

 

Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention. An answer to that  might be I want my books to be  light in a world of dark. So much of current literature is dark in so many ways. It leaves people shaking their heads. they devour it for a season, then they get their stomach full and start looking for something else. By dark I mean Hannibal Lecter  tv-series , the Hunters that sort of stuff, Cuties by Netflix, My baby daddy was an alpha wolf, and stuff like that… My books are not squeaky saccharine clean. Lots of blood, and violence, but not for its own sake. I really believe the tide is turning away from the dark people are getting sick of it, now don’t get me wrong my villains are vile but they are not the heroes,  and they are not presented in such a way as some poor soul wants to copy them, some of my minor ones have a journey story and a few even turn back to the light. My heroes are flawed but they are still examples of people who will not give up and will not give in to their own flawed nature.

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing? Ha what doesn’t manifest about my personal history? It is so much easier to copy a personality than to invent one. I have serious doubts about any author who claims to have totally from the ground up invented a personality. We are all a collection of our experiences and our mentors for better or for worse. I just admit my characters are copies of myself and people I know.

 

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?. As far as writing and marketing, I learn as I go, the only way to learn how to swim or write is jump in and start. At first you make a ton of mistakes then you adapt, you learn, you study, you observe what is working and you move in that direction.

 

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why? Underrated? Hmmm I like Richard Houston he has a cozy dog series that has lit up the world and even placed him on some bestseller lists. If a guy writing about a dog, with no sex, or violence no dark scenes of mayhem can make a bestseller list, then hey so can I.

 

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why? Depends on what kind of mood I am in and what the audience is asking for. I love the Harry Ferguson Series, but I also see that my Sherlock Holmes series has a lot of potential for reaching people. So I am conflicted.

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most? There have been several fortuitous circumstances,( I call it favor) that seem to be lining up and channeling me toward eventual success in my writing. Everything from friends who are remarkable story characters, to a wife, a father and a daughter who are or were English teachers. I just happened to meet a book promoter who is also starting his own publishing house, I just happened to win a couple of book contest awards, some great reviews by people I have never met, being a part of two very encouraging FB writers’ groups.  Being #1 in a genre I never expected to rate very high in…I could go on…

 

What question do you wish you would get asked more often? Can I buy your books in bulk?

 

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?  When your heart is right your head will get there eventually. I said that off the cuff years ago, and was struck how profound and accurate a statement it is. I couldn’t believe I made that up. But it is true.

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I guess WD Ellis didn't get the memo on an author picture and a couple book covers to include in the interview -- but if he sends them, I will add them. I hope what he had to say about the end of the celebration of evil on the page and screen is true, but I have my doubts.

As for me, here's my interview on the James Davis' Books and Authors podcast:-- Here's the interview -- I really am that inarticulate, the right words continued to elude my mental grasp.

My writing, however, has been fabulous this week. I resumed the Iago thread and the extremely exciting conclusion to that unique story is imminent...and a beloved character is helpless against impending doom. As soon as this chapter wraps up, the story will revert to resolving this segment of the Alex and Lucette thread--if Alex can get his act together.

If you haven't signed up for my monthly newsletter, you missed my account of the knife fight over the body of the deceased. You won't want to miss another one. SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER HERE.

 A couple Saturday's ago I prepared a Combat! recap. Here it is.

Combat!

Season 1 Episode 15:”Just for the Record”

The episode opens with a farm in Normandy, and a cat inside an abandoned house (I'm wondering if it’s Altman who seems to have an affinity for cats—but it's not). The muzzle of a familiar Thompson pushes through the doorway. The familiar carrier follows. Saunders voice narrates the scene. They’re searching: 8 men and 20 farms to search—in the quiet, hidden danger. Saunders wanders about the house, rolling the search dice. At last there’s something. It’s the cat giving a troubled yowl. Saunders finds a record player. He starts to listen to the recording his mom made for him. The cat meows, and Saunders agrees, “It’s a little too risky.” He’s right. The DM has rolled for wandering monsters. German soldiers burst through the door.

And the opening credits roll. Combat! Starring Vic Morrow and Rick Jason. Guest starring Micheline Presle—and the name Micheline and the location given at the opening of the episode convince me that there will be some French spoken. Written by William Bast. Directed by Lazlo Benedek.

We’ve got a couple trucks passing beneath the opening credits. It looks like Saunders is loaded in with other POWs. They’re a hundred kilometers within occupied France. The POWs—or NPCs, as I like to call them—include, among others, a wounded soldier and a French civilian.

There’s an explosion and Saunders’ truck (or large van) noses into a shell hole. They hear gunfire. When the guard inside opens the door, Saunders pushes him out. A French partisan relieves the young German soldier of his hit points. The French NPC from inside the van shows his handcuffs and tells them where to find the key on the dead soldier.

French NPC enters a small establishment which reminds me of a place in a previous episode where Hanley met a British woman at a table. In this case, it’s a French woman named Annette. She’s wearing a beret. (Notice how I avoided the whole “A French woman in a beret named Annette” phrasing that would have required an explanation about whether it was the woman or the beret named Annette). French NPC needs gas but has no ration coupons. Annette has overheard and enters the conversation. She also wants to return to Paris, and her father used to work for French NPC. The bridge is out, yet he is driving to Paris. Annette has coupons.

In his big van full of produce and POWs, French NPC drives Ms. Beret in the rain. Her coupons and her cigarettes come from a suspicious source. They come to a checkpoint. Their papers appear to pass inspection, but the guards must also check the back.

They pass, but Ms. Beret is now alerted to the fact that someone is in the back of the van. French NPC tells her there are 3 men: an American and 2 Canadians. Beret is not happy and wants no part of this smuggling of illegal aliens to Paris. She will not be a coyote.

They stop at a town about 5 kilometers from Paris. NPC leaves the van to get another man. Beret is left there alone, and a German officer arrives in a car.

In the side mirror, Beret sees the German bring French NPC with another out and place them into the car. Oops, I assumed. NPC does not go peacefully into the car. He breaks away and discovers that his sprinting speed is indeed much slower than that of the bullets from a German submachine gun. AND then they load him into the car. Beret decides to take a walk, but reconsiders. She slides open the little door between the cab and the rear of the van to let the POWs know that French NPC has been taken. Saunders convinces her to take them to the tobacco shop where NPC had intended. She didn’t want to do it, but Saunders kissed the dice for luck and rolled a moderate success on the charm attempt.

At the tobacco shop, the proprietor was expecting only one NPC, not three—and they have four men waiting already. He scores a high persuasion roll and convinces Beret, against her will and better judgment, to take two one of them with her. (We can bet who one of them it will be, no?)

Saunders and Beret walk the street and go to her rather spacious apartment. She puts him in what was the maid’s room. He appreciates what she’s doing, and she hates what she’s doing. Behind the knock at the door is a German officer whom Beret was not expecting until later. He has champagne, silk stockings, and lips to present to her. They’re all warm. They are lovers.

After the officer has gone, Beret and Saunders have dinner. She is not from Paris. He is from Cleveland. Beret plays his record from home. It’s his mother. She calls him Chip.

His sister Louise talks on the other side of the record and plays a popular song from home. The music provides an opportunity for Saunders and Beret to dance. She says this isn’t her war. Saunders tells her that it’s everybody’s war. I’m expecting the German officer to show up and discover the record on the player. And he does – show up, that is. Saunders takes away his plates and wine glass to his room, but the record is still on the player, and the player is open. I can’t stop imagining that he’s going to discover the record.

Officer tells Beret that he knows the Germans are losing, that Berlin lies to them, and his fourteen year-old brother has been taken into the army. He will soon have to evacuate Paris and leave her. He sees the record. Beret tells him she got it on her trip. It was taken from a captured American and she thought it would amuse the officer—and rolls a natural 20. He believes her. All that worry for nothing.

The next morning Beret brings Saunders breakfast, letting him know that she won’t be back until the night. Cut to night. The phone is ringing and Saunders tells it to shut up. Cowed by the sergeant’s voice of command, the ringing ceases. He hears Beret and her officer drive up below the window, and he hurries to remove any traces of his presence. While Officer goes to shave (who shaves at night?), Beret takes a call. Saunders has to leave immediately. He has to board a barge on the canal—but Saunders, who can lay a sneak on absolutely anyone it seems, fumbles the dice and fails his sneak roll. The Officer catches him before can get out of the apartment.

Officer is calling for backup. Beret tries to persuade him against that course, but she rolls snake-eyes. When Officer shoves her away, Saunders sees his chance. They struggle. The gun goes off, and officer fails the saving throw. Before his final hit points goosestep into the sunset, he admonishes Beret to go with Saunders so the Gestapo won’t take her. As Saunders and Beret leave, the Gestapo arrives.

At the canal, they meet the NPC with the wounded arm. We’re up against the final plot twist now. The complication here is three intoxicated Germans on the bridge. Neither Beret nor wounded NPC can swim. The DM has two of the soldiers depart, leaving their comrade passed out on the bridge. Wounded NPC goes to cross first, and German soldier makes his saving throw, rising up to accost NPC. They struggle. Billy Guard Gruff throws NPC over the side of the bridge before Saunders can get to him. NPC screams for help in the water while Saunders rolls a tragic failure on his dice and manages to let the intoxicated guard get him at a disadvantage. Beret offers a solution to Saunders' problem. She rolls for a sneak attack and successfully plunges Billy Guard Gruff’s own bayonet into his back. NPC has already dropped below the surface of the water for the last time—what with having an injured arm AND not being able to swim. Saunders and Beret cross the bridge. On the barge, Beret collapses in tears.

The barge drops them at the next point where they meet two British officers, Hat and No Hat, disguised as civilians. They have to divide the group with half going with each Brit. Beret goes with No Hat. Saunders goes with Hat.

Cut to Saunders with his men. They’re questioning him about his escape. He sends them off so he can write a letter to his mother and sister, thanking them for the record.

Conclusion:

I didn’t get to hear any French. I saw little of the squad other than Saunders. There wasn’t any classic combat, and only a single instance of machine gun fire—Germans spraying an unarmed civilian. I did predict the complication with the officer finding the record—but I was manipulated into worrying about it, so no points for that. I would say the struggle with the officer for the pistol, and the officer’s demise constituted the third act climax, with the struggle on the bridge ending the fourth act. The brief fifth act simply wrapped it up. Over all, it wasn’t a terrible episode. I give it three out of five bayonets.

Interestingly, as I review this now over a week later, before adding the pictures, I cannot get an image of Beret in my mind—I keep envisioning Inger Stevens, who would have been perfect in the role. Of course, you’re seeing this with the pictures I’ve added and saying, “She’s nothing like Inger Stevens.” I know.

Is life/memory like that? We replay things that happened in the texture or color with which we are familiar. The more aged the memory, the more default texture fills in the blanks. Eventually, I may think that Inger Stevens was actually in this episode when I remember it.

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 Interview with

Cas E. Crowe

Author of The Wayward Haunt

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

I’m currently working on book two in my dark fantasy saga called The Wayward Series. The first book is titled The Wayward Haunt, which was published in June 2020. The story is set in a war-torn, dystopian world, where teenage prisoner Zaya Wayward is conscripted into the Haxsan Guard. When malevolent forces haunt her, she suspects her ability to see the dead is the key in a sinister plot to annihilate human existence. The sequel, which picks up directly where the first book ends, is titled The Four Revenants. I’m having a blast writing the second instalment. The entire plot from beginning, middle, to end has been plotted and structured, so it’s really just a matter of writing now. The Four Revenants focuses on the same themes as the first novel, centering on ghosts, hauntings, war, tragic pasts, and star-crossed lovers. When I look back at my writing, it’s interesting to see how the characters have grown and matured throughout the two instalments. Maybe that’s because I have matured throughout the writing process. The first draft should be completed by April 2021, and the book published early 2022.

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

I have always been fascinated in ghost stories and folklore. They tell us so much about a culture’s history and beliefs. I guess all the ideas for my novel sprang up from these. I’m a creative person. I love to write and draw, so creating my own tales became a huge part of my creative process. Small scenes started playing in my head, which grew into bigger scenes, and somehow, I managed to connect them into a story. Of course, the structure for my story changed drastically during the writing process. Every time I researched a new folktale or ghost story, my brain would be greeted with a new idea. So yes, reading and research is what inspired my idea for The Wayward Series.

Do you write in more than one genre?

The Wayward Haunt and The Four Revenants are my first serious novels. When I was younger, I would write short ghost stories that were honestly terrible, but that was how I learnt to improve. So, at this stage, no. I only write in the dark fantasy, horror, and suspense genres. One day, I am going to try and write a cozy murder mystery, something like Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, but that will be years away. Knowing me, an element of horror will leak into my writing, so it probably won’t be a cozy mystery by the time I’m through with it.

Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.

The Wayward Series is set in a dystopian fantasy world, but it is based on very real subjects—racial cleansing, labour camps, and totalitarian regimes. My goal is to take readers away from their own world for a while and let them experience something that is different but closer to home than they think. I bring fear and suspense into The Wayward Series because the themes and subject is truly horrifying and shocking. It is something that has happened in our own world, and continues to occur in some countries. Why are there ghosts, monsters, and horrible creatures in the story? Honestly… because I love a good ghost story. In The Wayward Series, they are a reflection of the levels of cruelty people will go to in order to assert total control.

I think people read horror because deep down, even though we try to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe, we enjoy making ourselves frightened and scared. In most novels, the horror isn’t real. The reader has control over it. They can explore their fears in a safe environment. The characters might not meet a happy ending, but for the reader, a happy and safe ending is assured. There is a level of satisfaction completing a horror novel and coming out at the other end. The Wayward Series offers something a little different. Ghosts aren’t real. The creatures and monsters in the story aren’t real. But the underlying horror and themes are.

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

I am highly creative, an introvert, a perfectionist, and overly self-critical. I am working to tame those last two personality traits, and I’m succeeding—or maybe I’m just getting wiser with age. When I first started writing The Wayward Haunt, my main character Zaya was everything I wasn’t. Strongheaded, confident, assertive. She was everything I wished I could be. But as the story progressed and her character started to mature and take shape, I suppose it was inevitable that my own personality would mesh with Zaya’s. Zaya has my good qualities, my bad qualities, and the qualities I wish I had.

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

I might write dark fantasy and horror, but I’m not a scary person. I get frightened watching horror movies with lots of blood, gore, torture, and psycho killers. I stay clear of them most of the time. I do like to read and watch ominous, chilling stories that explore characters and themes that are real. I suppose I am similar to audiences out there who read and watch horror because they like to be unsettled and afraid, but know deep inside that they are safe. I write about subjects that frighten me, because it’s an opportunity for me to explore and understand that fear, and is something I can achieve in a safe environment.

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

There are so many authors out there who deserve recognition. I am going to suggest one horror novel that I really enjoyed. If you love the supernatural, ghosts, and dark psychological thrillers with a hint of romance, then I suggest reading Robert Ross’s Where Darkness Lives. I was engrossed by this novel. Ross has cleverly crafted the plot so that characters are not what they seem. It’s only till you get to the end of the novel that you truly understand. The plot is intriguing and mysteries, always leaving you guessing where the story is heading. Some readers might not like the ending, but that is the risk we take when we read horror. Sometimes there are no happy endings—for some characters, at least.

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

I’m a new author and I have one self-published book, so I recommend The Wayward Haunt.

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

I think joining a writing group was the best decision I could have made to improve my writing skills. Reading the works of other authors helps. You certainly learn about pace, settings and scenes, narration, description, points of view, dialogue, and character development by reading, but I found my own writing improved significantly when other creative minded and talented people read and critiqued my work. They provided so much valuable advice. They picked up on things I’d never noticed in my writing. They offered support and guidance. Eventually, all writers have to get their work out there. I think the best way to start is through a writing group.

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

Someone once asked me how I stayed motivated long enough to complete a novel. They wanted to know what my process was. Honestly, at the time I couldn’t answer. I suppose it was just sheer determination and stubbornness to achieve what I’d set out to do—to prove that I could write a novel and publish it. I thought about that question for a long time afterward and realised it wasn’t just that. You have to love your story and want to write it. You have to believe that people will enjoy reading it. I decided to come up with a few different ways new authors can stay motivated to complete their first novel. I’m ready for people to ask me now.

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?

My favourite little saying is “I see, said the blind man to his deaf girl as he picked up his hammer and saw.” I’ve also heard it as “I see, I see, said the blind man to his deaf son.” This idiom always makes me laugh because the idea of it sounds so ridiculous, but I actually think it means to understand something, or see beyond it and be enlightened after a period of confusion.

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Thanks to Cassie for participating in the interview. May she have many good ghost stories in her future.

As for my own writing, I've completed the almost final draft of a short story, made a critical decision about the novel in progress -- which is still set for release in March -- and resumed Iago's story in the novel. 

You'll learn more about the short story later. As for the critical decision on the novel: I've removed nearly 10K words. Those words and more will go into a side novella to accompany this second trilogy. I was getting too far a sea and not developing that particular story line sufficiently. I should do it right, if I'm going to do it at all. As this side adventure is fun and continues to develop a couple of the characters, as well as a new character who joined earlier in the book, I have to do it. If you're going to write it, write it right. You can quote me on that.

Oh, I've also been looking into a book cover for the novel in progress. I believe I've found something quite nice. I'll eventually do a cover reveal, but not until the book is complete.

I've got a recap and review of another Combat! episode that I need to post, and I should also discourse on the dismemberment of a body in which I participated--I'll have to dress it up (the story of the deed, not the actual body) like The Great Christmas Chicken Chase before I present it.

Finally, I'll be doing a monthly newsletter to begin in the next couple months--I'll have a link so you can sign up for it. Here's something that may be included:

I know I had something else to add, but it eludes me at the moment. Oh. I've got a couple movie reviews to write as well. Lots of stuff to keep me entertained.