[Interview_2] Lori Titus

In an earlier interview, Lori Titus talked, among other things, about her collection of short stories, Green Water Lullaby (Sonar4 Publications, 2010) and about the factors that drew her to paranormal/horror literature.

Her latest offering, Lazarus is a novella set in the Old West which combines steam punk, magic, zombies and ghosts.

She had this to say about the novella:

How would you describe the new book?

Lazarus is a story set in the Old West, in a town in California.

A young widow named Luella Pemby comes to town, armed with a device that can detect the presence of zombies. Lazarus is known as a site of “natural reanimation”, where infrequent Risings of the dead occur.

Luella seeks out the local sheriff, Benjamin Drake and the mayor of the town, Jasper Cole. She offers her help, and both men are wary of her at first.

Luella comes to find that not only are the Risings occurring more frequently, but that there is more going on in the town of Lazarus than she thought. There are ghosts, family rivalries between warlocks, and a mystery surrounding the death of a young woman.

How long did it take you to write the book?

This book is fairly short (it’s a novella, actually). The first draft took about six weeks.

I found myself writing every day, usually writing at night or early morning and then doing revisions in the afternoon.

Lazarus will be published on October 31, 2010, and will be available in both print and e-book through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

How did you chose a publisher for the book?

I actually intended Lazarus to be a short story. I was planning to submit it to Sonar4 Publications as part of an upcoming steam punk anthology. Once I started getting into this story, it became clear that I was going to far exceed the word count.

A friend of mine recommended the Library of the Living Dead. I contacted the publisher, and sent him a synopsis of the plot. He expressed interest, and I sent him the manuscript.

Since this particular publisher specializes in zombie fiction, I felt that they were a good choice to start with. But because this story incorporates unusual elements, I wasn’t sure if it would be something that they would like .

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into the book?

The most difficult part of writing this book was the lack of sleep that came with it! I couldn’t seem to get the words down fast enough. I sat up writing, re-writing, and reading it for several entire nights in a row. When I did fall asleep I had dreams about the story, and soon found myself awake again and back in front of my monitor. I slipped into the odd habit of sleeping in the day and then writing at night.

I really loved this story. I loved the characters and breathing life into them.

Luella was the driving force, and her words flew across the page.

I enjoyed the male voices in the story, Jasper and Benjamin. The town came to life easily, including an engaging cast of supporting characters that popped up all by themselves.

What sets the book apart from other things you've written?

Lazarus is a Western, and my stories are usually set in the present.

The combination of elements is very different. There is a hint of steam punk, magic, zombies, and even some ghosts.

This story is similar to my first book, Green Water Lullaby, in the way it combines the paranormal with an element of romance.

Related articles:

• Lori Titus [Interview_1], Conversations with Writers, December 13, 2009
• Can 'The Walking Dead' Revive the Zombie Genre?, By Jared Keller, The Atlantic, August 30, 2010
• Interview with Bob Fingerman, Reading with Tequila, September 9, 2010

[Interview] Eric S. Brown

North Carolina resident, Eric S. Brown writes horror short stories and novels.

His work has been featured in a number of anthologies, among them, Dead Worlds I, II, III, and V; The Blackest Death I and II; The Undead I and II; Dead History (Permuted Press, 2007) as well as Zombology I and II.

His books include Space Stations and Graveyards (Double Dragon, 2003); Madmen’s Dreams (Permuted Press, 2005); Zombies: Inhuman (Naked Snake Books, 2007) and Tandem of Terror (Library of Horror, 2010).

Brown is also part of the collaborative zombie novel effort from Pill Hill Press, Undead, Kansas and contributes an ongoing column on the world of comic books for Abandoned Towers magazine.

In this interview, Eric S. Brown talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I started writing when I was just a little kid. Even when I was tiny, I loved horror. The first thing I remember doing is a rewrite of Halloween 3 because I couldn't live with the fact that it had no Mike Myers.

I decided I want to be a writer in second grade but didn't start trying to get published until I was 26. I started out like most folks I would think. I bought a copy of the Novel and Short Story Writer's Market guide and went about sending out tales.

How would you describe your writing?

My writing is pretty much the love of a fan of horror, science fiction and comic books trying to give back to those genres and write the stuff folks want to see.

I am known for zombies and have written a lot in that genre from Season of Rot (Permuted Press, nominated for a Dead Letter Award) to War of the Worlds Plus Blood Guts and Zombies (picked up by Simon and Schuster and set for a new release later this year).

But I write a lot of other stuff too ... from things like Bigfoot War (which plays off my own childhood fears of Bigfoot) to How the West Went to Hell (which is a demon-plague end-of-the-world story set in the Old West).

My target audience is anyone who loves horror, zombies and such and is looking for a fun and good read.

Like I said, I think of myself as a fan more than a writer and am just trying to write the things I think fans want to see that I know I do.

Which authors influenced you most?

Jon Maberry (Doomwar from Marvel Comics) is a hero of mine and has helped me a lot. David Dunwoody (Empire) is a dear friend as well.

I would say my influences though are H. P. Lovecraft, George Romero, and David Drake.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concern is that my work is entertaining and fun to read.

I don't try to be all literary and highbrow. I just want my readers to enjoy a good story and hopefully be scared by it.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I did a book called World War of the Dead (Coscom Entertainment) that is a Christian zombie novel because I myself am a Christian and Bigfoot War is literally the Bigfoot movie I also wanted to see as a fan.

As a writer, what are the biggest challenges that you face?

I tend to take on too many projects.

I had eight books published last year, will have nine this year, and already have a new one (The Brethren of the Dead) from Sonar 4 Publications due out in 2011.

In addition to this, I do numerous tales for anthologies and such as well as juggle columns, a four-year-old son, and real world life.

I am still learning to juggle everything as I go.

How many books have you written so far?

I will not be listing anything written by my pen names but Eric S. Brown has written the books that include:

• Space Stations and Graveyards (Double Dragon, 2003)
• Dying Days (Silver Lake, 2003)
• Portals of Terror (Publish America, 2004)
• Madmen's Dreams (Permuted Press, 2005)
• Cobble (Mundania, 2005)
• The Queen (Naked Snake Books, 2005)
• The Wave (Naked Snake Books, 2006)
• Waking Nightmares (Silver Lake, 2006)
• Zombies: Inhuman (Naked Snake Books, 2007)
• Zombies: Inhuman - the expanded edition (Black River, 2009)
• Unabridged, Unabashed, and Undead: The Best of Eric S. Brown (Library of the Living Dead, 2009)
• War of the Worlds Plus Blood Guts and Zombies (Coscom Entertainment, 2009)
• Season of Rot (Permuted Press, 2009)
• Barren Earth (Library of the Living Dead, 2009)
• World War of the Dead (Coscom, 2009)
• Tandem of Terror (Library of Horror, 2010)
• How the West Went to Hell (Pill Hill Press, 2010)
• Bigfoot War (Coscom, 2010), and

I also edited the anthology The Wolves of War for Library of Horror Press in 2009.

My pending titles include:

• Kinberra Down (Pill Hill Press),
• Undead Down Under (Pill Hill Press),
• Anti-Heroes (Library of the Living Dead Press's SF imprint),
• War of the Worlds Plus Blood Guts and Zombies- the mass market edition (Simon and Schuster),
• The Weaponer (Coscom),
• The Human Experiment (Sonar 4 Publications), and
• Brethren of the Dead (Sonar 4 Publications).

And in the very beginning of my career I had eight small press chapbooks published including titles Zombies: The War Stories, Flashes of Death, Blood Rain, Still Dead, etc.

Do you write everyday?

I do write everyday. I have so many deadlines I have to. It's all pretty much random. I always do at least 1,000 words a day.

How long did you choose a publisher for Bigfoot War?

My last book to be released was Bigfoot War. I already had a multi-book deal in place with Coscom and they agreed to let me bring my vision of Sasquatch terror to print.

The book I am currently working on is The Brethren of the Dead for Sonar 4 Publications and is a direct sequel to my tale, "The Queen" which was reprinted in Season of Rot.

Which aspects of this work do you enjoy most?

I love being a writer because it's been a lifelong dream of mine. It's awesome to make up tales of the end of the world and get paid for it.

What will your next book be about?

My next book that I am writing, The Brethren of the Dead, is a mix of pirates and zombies on the waves of the ocean dueling it out in a post apocalyptic world.

This world was established in my novella "The Queen" from Season of Rot and is a fan favorite among my work. I am excited about revisiting this world and playing up the pirate element that fits so naturally into it.

Sonar 4 Publications is also releasing my superhero novel, The Human Experiment which is the origin story of my character Agent Death who is also featured in the book Anti-Heroes both due out later this year.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Just being a writer.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related articles:

• Author gives fangs to a rich vein of prose, By Michelle Griffin, Sydney Morning Herald, June 26, 2010
• Interview with Eric S. Brown on Bigfoot War, By M. S. Gardner, Living Dead Corner, June 9, 2010
• M. A. Walters [Interview], Conversations with Writers, June 10, 2010

[Interview: 2 of 2] M. A. Walters

In an earlier interview, science fiction, horror novelist and short story writer, M. A. Walters talked about his collection of short stories, A Flourish of Damage and other Tales (Sonar4 Publications, 2010).

M. A. Walters now talks about the influences he draws on as a writer:

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

I would say it’s a mix. I think I jump across genre lines pretty freely. I think most of my current work is a combination of science fiction, horror, and speculative fiction.

I kind of have to think the writer Nina M. Osier for that. She writes in the sci-fi genre and seemed to think it might be a good fit for me. She is a good teacher. Also, she was subtle. I felt it was OK to try on the genre and it was a great fit.

Who is your target audience?

I try and be inclusive on purpose. For example, I try and write strong, interesting and flawed characters that will appeal to many personalities.

I try and hook the reader and keep them moving. I want them both entertained and challenged.

People have told me that I write strong and interesting women. Which is funny to me because women are still a mystery to me. I thought it a stupid notion to cut out half the world’s population by only writing for men. For example, women are quickly discovering science fiction today. They are joining the sciences and I think they offer some intuitive wisdom even there in the hard sciences. They have been solidly in the horror realm for a good while, since what, Mary Shelley, which is horror but also an early sci-fi theme.

I hope my work appeals across genres and across gender. For example, Jian, the lead character in the first book of the Minders series is a very strong, powerful and complex women. She really ended up being the lead. I did not plan it that way at all. She took over but made the book better for doing so.

Of course, the same applies for the male characters. I mention women because I’ve gone out of my way to include them in the sf genre by looking at them as potential readers.

If you just want a good adventure story, I think you will want to give my work a look. If you are a horror, sf, or speculative reader, the same also.

I attempt to be inclusive. I think, even a mystery or thriller reader would enjoy some of my work. At least I’d like to think so.

Which authors influenced you most?

The truth is ... and this is what I think makes my work a bit unique ... a lot of my influences come from outside my genre.

I see the influence of some surrealistic poets, for one, in the way I string sentences together and sometimes unusual word combinations and the way I piece environment together.

For me, environment is the biggest character in a story. I learned that from F. Herbert.

As for the others, these are people I’ve not read for a long time but the poetry and internal world is still there. Writers like Paul Bowels, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Pablo Neruda. They all wrote the interior world very well. At the same time, their eyes were piercing, in the awake sense. You could see through their eyes, in new ways, the ordinary world.

It’s strange, but there is poetry in every thing if seen very clearly. There are violent explosive episodes in my work, but there is an odd poetry and beauty there also. Perhaps because so much is at stake in those moments. I want the reader to feel that. I want them to be tense and uncomfortable.

There is a fight scene in the "Rocks Beneath" and there is so much at stake in that moment, the whole book has been driving you there as the tension mounts. You are so invested in the character by that time and more than just the life of those two individuals is at stake. After a friend read that passage, he said he was exhausted and that he hated one of the characters. Actually hated them.

That meant I had succeeded in my venture.

It was the biggest compliment I’ve received thus far.

The point is, I really did not discover my genre until about 10 years ago. Friends tried to get me to read the Ring Series, Tolkien’s work. I said, "Isn’t that for kids, like teen stories?"

One day, I picked it up and was completely pulled in, completely sucked in and I never looked back. That’s a good point on horror writing, I think.

Throughout Tolkien’s work you see the influences that haunted him from World War I: the trench warfare is there; the deep friendships and the harshness; the senseless death ... I’ve heard others say this also. I think it is true and a very strong feature of his work.

From there I discovered Frank Herbert’s Dune, and later the work that continued through Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

Lovecraft is also there in some work. Like in "After the Fall, the Remnant". Which is outlined to continue and become a full novel, perhaps my next.

I think I need a break from the Minders.

Bradbury, he was a man so far ahead of his time. And he could be so nostalgic and sensitive, and yet far out front ahead of his era. And he still is!

I see some Bradbury in "Scraps of Time and Place".

Bradbury is like childhood, terrifying and wonderful at the same time. I’d like to think I capture a little of that from time to time. Stephen King is like this. He knows and understands childhood and the wild things in the closet and the shadows under the bed. He writes remarkable friendships, the ones we carry with us always, from those years.

S. M. Stirling is a contemporary writer I really enjoy. I can’t pen point a particular influence although I aspire towards his battle scenes. He can put those together better than anyone I’m aware of now.

When did you start writing?

When I was between 10 and 12 years old.

People, kids begin to look at the world around that age. Before that we are pretty focused on the self. Well, I began to look around and realized the world did not operate the way I was taught it was suppose to. That view then turns on the self and I realized that I made even less sense. So I began to order things on paper. Back then it was pen and paper and when pen hit paper it was somehow transforming and natural.

Getting published ... that has been a twisted path for me with many pitfalls and detours.

First, I put pen to paper then, sometime later, the thought of sharing arrived slowly.

Writing is a damned scary venture, isn’t it? Sharing what you have written, that’s not for the faint-hearted but, face it, we writers are basically faint-hearted. You can’t have that kind of nature and not be a bit thinned-skinned. It’s like a romantic venture, that moment you put it all on the line.

You eventually learn to tuck your ego away or so I hear -- but it’s raw and takes some courage always.

I started by letting a few people I trusted look at my work, but that was much later. I was in the process then of deciding this is what I want to do. I always keep returning to that.

I started as a poet, believe it or not. And I did publish in that genre in this anthology or that one right away. The poetry came much later when I was in college, as did the short stories ... I took those genres up seriously in my early 20’s. Before that is was snippets, patches of stories, a half poem, it was mostly journal type entries. But it began there.

Strangely and odd enough I was not heavy reader until college.

It was like a dormant part of me woke up and woke up at a full gallop. I’ve been catching up ever since.

It was an English teacher and I was terrified of him, anyone with sense was! First day of class there was like 37 people, mostly unknowing freshmen packed into his little class that had about 12 chairs.

We were spilled all over the floor and standing in corners.

He was a tall lean Scotsman with a big white beard and wore a little red beret and the same old brown wrinkled corduroy sport coat everyday. I think that coat was much older than I was.

We were all squirming and quietly asking each other, "What’s up?"

We knew this was not the norm.

He looked up and his eyes seemed to impale each of us. You knew there was no corner deep enough to hide in! In fact, we quickly learned not to sit in those corners anyway.

He quietly said, "If you are worried about having a seat don’t be. There will be plenty of seats soon enough. By the end of week there will be 12 to 15 of you left. Fewer of those will survive before to the end of semester."

Then he roared with the loudest belly laugh I’ve heard before or since. I once, many years later, heard that laugh in the back of a darkened theater and instantly said, "That is Mr. Moore." He was always Mr. to me even after we became friends. He was my first teacher in every sense of the word.

Well, Mr. Moore pointed to the door with his chin and said, "If you want to leave, now is a good time to do so because the door will soon be locked, as it will be every day the moment class begins. There are no latecomers here."

Those with good sense bolted for the door and he politely told them all goodbye and said thanks for coming.

Truth is, I think, I was too scared to leave.

Afterwards, I told my girlfriend of the time, "I can’t do this class. This is not for me."

She looked at me and said simply, "I think you have to if you want to write."

Well, long story made short, I survived the first week, and I survived the entire semester.

I took every class he offered, in fact.

I never walked in that room at ease, though. It was like a confrontation with a Zen master. There was the feeling that anything could happen in that room. Yet through all this, he was the most respectful person I have ever met.

He was not mean, ever. He was stern, and he was caring. But it was the kind of kindness that strips away falseness.

If you ever, and I did, say something glib or false you were ablaze in your seat instantly.

But it was always Mr. Walters, Ms. So-and-so. It was the first time most of us were treated as adults.

OK, so I did the bravest thing I think I had ever done up to that point. At mid-term, I quietly slipped a large envelope of probably 200 poems on his desk.

I was so frightened I could not talk. I just slipped it there on my rush to the door.

He never said a word about it.

I’m laughing here.

But the very last day of class, he said, "Mr. Walters, I believe this is yours."

I picked up the same envelope and neither of us said anything.

I thought, "Oh, crap, he did not even bother to look at them."

Lol.

I was mistaken.

I got home and realized every single poem was littered with red and blue ink. He had thoughtfully commented on each poem.

That was the beginning ... somehow.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related articles:

• M. A. Walters [Interview: 1 of 2], Conversations with Writers, June 8, 2010
• Yann Martel: in search of understanding, by Mick Brown, The Telegraph, June 1, 2010
• Ray Bradbury made me want to write, by Neil Gaiman, Times Online, May 21, 2010

[Interview: 1 of 2] M. A. Walters

Maine, New England resident, M. A. Walters is a science fiction, horror novelist and short story writer.

His work includes the collection of short stories, A Flourish of Damage and other Tales, which is available as an e-book from Sonar4 Publications.

In this interview, M. A. Walters talks about his writing:

How long did it take you to come up with A Flourish of Damage?

It took a year to knock the shorts out while working on two novels. Sonar4 is the publisher. They are small but vigorous with solid heads and work ethics behind them. They are smart. I’ve had a chance at a bigger house, but I trust these people and know they will promote me, and I think I have something to offer them also.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into the book?

Dealing with domestic violence and some of the darker sub-currents of our culture.

In a lot of the shorts in this collection I’m pocking around some uncomfortable patches and corners of my self. I got a little too close to the edge a couple times and pulled back. It’s hard not to become the thing we hate at least for moments, the darkness in the world.

When we rally against injustice, I discovered it’s far too easy to become that which we hate. Yet that quick recoil itself is what tells us we are different. The lead character in "Flourish" is all about that very fine line, and it was a challenge to me. How does she take back her life and maintain that humanity?

I’m something of a near pacifist by nature but there is something in me that respond vigorously to blatant abuse and injustice. It’s a deep part of my nature; it’s part of the furniture of my self. It’s not going anywhere, so I accommodate it. I just work with it.

Well, the part of me that is pacifistic and tolerant and who is really a live-and-let-live kind of personality can encounter wrath and rage in myself when the large attack the weak and those that can’t defend themselves.

I used to practice aikido and aikido is a positive paradigm in relating to this inner and outer conflict. But people there take that to one extreme or another also. It’s all peace and light or it’s brutal, either of those points of view is BS in my mind. What there is are circumstances and the response that is proper for that given time. Lock your self into either of those corners and you are in a dangerous place.

People don’t want to think, they want right and wrong answers. There are solid lines that should never be crossed, when crossed you have lost what makes you human and there’s nothing left worth fighting for at that point. Forget that and your culture or person is over, you just don’t realize that yet. I’m very serious on this point. Perhaps I’m just a moralist at heart; oh-well all good horror is moralistic in nature.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you enjoy most?

The writing itself, when it’s pouring through you and you don’t really feel like you are at the wheel, you are something of a watcher and there is something magical there, about that, for lack of a better word ... It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever encountered. It’s addictive.

What sets the book apart from other things you've written?

A couple of those stories are a bit too personal for my taste.

Maybe there is a little more of me in a couple stories in that collection than would normally be.

I was pushing the edge a few times there.

A Flourish of Damage and other Tales is similar to other things I have written because I returned to short story format, which was how I essentially saw myself in the past.

I went back to my roots.

Those stories were all written over the last year while I worked on the novels, they were like a breathing break for me.

The novel is an over-whelming experience for me. I like to do it but, frankly, it hurts.

What will your next book be about?

It’s either going to be finishing book two of the Minder series, tentatively titled The Culling, or I’m going to expand After the Fall the Remnant into a novel. I know where that’s going and I think its’ an interesting place. I’m excited to jump in those waters. It’s a very Lovecraft kind of tale, where something ancient and so very different from us suddenly jumps into the present.

We will also have the deal with our own dark-side there because the beings that show up look on us as simple resources, nothing more. It’s a coldness so deep it’s not coldness. That is much more frightening. It’s indifference. This is what we confront in the novel and I’m letting the human race off easily in this one. They will never be the same again, simple as that. The human race is done but evolution still proceeds from that point. Dormant things in the human also wake up; survival and chaos are also a different word for creation, right? I’m excited about this work.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Persistence ...

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Mine and those around me also. I always had a strong sense of empathy and saw a good deal of suffering and, yes, that shaped me and it’s there in the work.

I also grew up on the wrong side of the track so to speak. Which is an education in and of itself.

One of my characters from the story, A Flourish of Damage, is a writer and says something like she bleeds all over the pages she writes, because she is hidden there, but hidden well, hopefully. The writer has to step out of the way for things to work and yet still be there.

Remember, at the beginning, I said I began writing at around 10.

I think a lot of us can’t always solve our problems with the world but we become god-like with the pen, don’t we? Some of the injustice and sand traps of the world get solved or at least framed in a different light on paper. It’s a way to deal, to more than deal, to transform something in our selves. At the same time, remember, it’s hopefully just a good story. You have to entertain, never forget that, or, you are doomed. You also can’t make everyone happy, so don’t try. That’s related to what I said above. Be inclusive but don’t try and please all. That’s a foolish venture. I’m young in the business of writing but that seems pretty apparent.

Do you write everyday?

I try to write something, maybe just a blog, even correspondence.

Health does not always allow this. There are many days I simply can’t, but it’s always there, the mind is constantly spinning stories even if I’m sick in bed. In fact, that’s when I tend to crash through difficult parts of a story or character, in that quiet dreamy realm when sick or exhausted. I’ve had crummy health my entire life, in the last few years it’s been much worse. I don’t venture far these days. Which is odd for me as I used to love to travel, to throw myself into strange places and sink or swim.

I ‘think’ it was Proust who also was like this. I read where he said if he had been born healthy he would never have been a writer. I think that might be true for me, I would probably be out hiking and expending energy physically. So, again, there is a positive even to this. I came back to writing from illness. So, I accept this.

I try and make up for it during a good spell. Some days I can’t work. Some I will be here for 12 hours straight. When I can I’m here and I work hard and long. When I can’t, I can’t. As soon as I sit here, it happens, the world recedes around me.

There is something shamanistic about writing. I don’t know what it is, but it’s there. I’m not a TV watcher. This is what I do when I can. I take a nap in the middle of the day then find myself here again if health permits. Ends with some reading and sleep. Yes, reading, my eyes take a beating.

I’ve been away from publishing for many years and am only now seriously thrusting myself into that arena in the last couple years.

Early on, I had a bad agent and bad publishing house miss-adventure. I got very busy afterward and I just walked away from the business until just recently.

I had three books optioned by a medium-sized west coast publishing house. About the time my work was suppose to be coming out the house split and not remotely nicely. Many writers were caught in the middle of all this.

Aside from that, small bits here and there back then. Point is, I’m here now, and I’m seriously here looking at this as a profession. I take the work seriously. Myself as a writer, I hope, less seriously than back in those days.

I’m not often one for quoting my ex-wife, but she said most writers can’t really enter this profession until they hit 40. I think that is pretty accurate. Experience shaped my work and I think at 40 you can look back and see that and throw all that into your work. You have to go through the agony of those early years to do that. You can’t spare people from that, I don’t think.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Easy, I’m dyslexic, and not mildly so. This is why I was not a good reader until college, not that I’m good now. I was un-diagnosed before this. I read, and edit profoundly slowly but I write quickly, thankfully! It is a painful process for me, editing.

My early experience marked me throughout my school days. After I got my diagnosis after near 12 hours of testing with a wonderful college psychologist, I flourished as a student. I discovered, in fact, I had a very high IQ, I was not slow (I knew there was something very wrong), my brain was just wired differently and did not see words and such as most did. Most people don’t realize those glitches are not just for words. The thoughts twist and turn and I lose those also. I’m horrible with names, I never remember dates, and my sense of time is horrible. I’m not good in certain venues and formats due to this.

Reading is painfully slow still, editing. There are days I can’t get my words pointed in the right direction, days I simply cannot spell. It’s funny, however, when some people read my work they say it sounds effortless. They don’t hear the huge roar of laughter inside. Effortless, no, painful yes! Thanks to the literature gods for technology.

Some days are okay. I have a prism in my glasses that helps me see the words better. Before that I had horrid migraines. Still do at times. But the problem is in the brain ultimately. I’ve learned to compensate for it. I choose to look at it in a positive light now. Maybe the gift of writing might not be there save for this disability? Who knows?

But it impacts edits, and as a writer and I don’t do public readings of my work. Signings I will happily do. Reading out loud is a painful childhood memory for me. I’m an adult now and can just say no. I will write for you, I do my job and yours is to read.

My generation did not know these things and I would get tossed up front and feel like a sideshow freak. Yet everyone knew I was quite intelligent, which was a strangeness to live with. Often times our weak points become our strongest points however. There is a certain irony in my becoming or being a writer you see. This irony is certainly not missed on me.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related articles:

• M. A. Walters [Interview: 2 of 2], Conversations with Writers, June 10, 2010
• An Interview with M. A. Walters, by Chris Bartholomew, Static Movement
• Robin Becker: Zombies and Brains [Interview], by Alan Sanders, The Fountain, March 4, 2010

[Interview] Shells Walter

Author, editor and publisher, Shells Walter has been published in places that include Micro Horror, Static Movement, The Shine Journal and Demon Minds.

She is also actively involved with Sonar4 Publications, a science fiction and horror publishing house she started in 2008.

In this interview, Shells Walter talks about her writing:

When did you start writing?

I started writing when I was 11 years old reading my first horror story by Edgar Allan Poe.

Poetry is where I started first, then short stories and eventually longer works. I chose to start wanting to get published in 2006. Up until then I wrote for the pleasure of it.

How would you describe the writing you are doing now?

Different and twisty.

I end up writing a lot of what I'm feeling at the time into my writing, of course what I find interesting or researched I put into it as well.

I don't have a target audience per se. Several people who like different genres have enjoyed some of my work. I think I tend to just write and hope people will enjoy my work.

Which authors would you say influenced you most?

Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King and Philip K Dick have influenced me the most.

I think they had this influence because they went past the barriers that so-called genres allowed them to go. They allowed the readers to be able to feel their work instead of just reading it.

I want readers to be able to have their own sense of emotions when reading my stories.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concerns as a writer is having something I thought was good turn out that it wasn't as good as I originally had hoped. My ways of dealing with this is having a good editor check over my work and possibly see the things I may have missed.

The biggest challenges at times is putting my stories into a specific category. Since my writing tends to fall in several different areas, people sometimes gets confused on where my stories may fit. I try explaining to them what the story is about and in hopes they understand it.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I was shy when I was younger and picked on in grade school. Writing had allowed me to focus my emotions and get them out.

Personal experiences to this day pull the direction of my writing, allow my emotions to run full force into the stories.

Do you write everyday?

I write when I can. I really don't have a set schedule as it depends on time that I have.

However, I often take writing breaks and that allows me to write on a daily basis and that can vary from an hour to three hours.

How many books have you written so far?

I have a horror novella called Bite This published in 2009 by Sonar4 Publications which deals with a Priest that gets bit by a vampire. He then questions his faith on why this happened to him.

Demon Alley, 10 short stories based on your favorite urban legends; a short story collection published by Sonar4 Publications in 2009.

And currently Justice Served, a horror novel published by Sonar4 Publications released in Nov 2009, which deals with a lawyer and the devil. He defends a case for the Devil and he loses it. He then becomes the Devil's personal attorney. His first case is defending the most notorious serial killer known. It is available in ebook and print from sonar4publications.com

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into Justice Served

At times, it was making sure details were accurate and changing some. Since parts of the novel is based on actual events, I twisted some because it was a fictional piece.

I allowed myself not to worry too much and to just write the story. Any real issues were fixed later if I felt they caused a problem.

Also, having a great editor does wonders.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

Without giving too much away, writing on certain parts of the history in the novel on one of the characters. I have always been interested in learning about this specific person and it was fun including them in the story.

What sets Justice Served apart from other things you've written?

It has more twists and I believe it deals with more history, where others dealt more with just aspect of good vs evil.

In what way is it similar?

It has twists, something I enjoy putting into stories if they fit.

What will your next book be about?

There are a few projects coming out that I'm working on. One is called Dead Practices based on a Zombie Lawyer coming from Sonar4 Publications; a group collaboration of a zombie story published by Pill Hill Press; a group collaboration called The Gentlemen's Club, based on "The Secret Life of Hank Wilson", a short story of mine coming out in 2010 from Sonar4 Publications; and, Devil's Own, the sequel to Justice Served coming out from Sonar4 Publications in the future.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

To have someone say that my work has influenced in some way. Whether it be good or bad.

Possibly related books:

,,


Related articles:

• [Interview: Part 1 of 5] John Miller, Conversations with Writers, August 31, 2009
• Shells Walter Interview, House of Horror, Accessed on March 18, 2010

[Interview] Jason Bicko

Speculative fiction author, Jason Bicko has worked as a barman, garden labourer, care home kitchen hand, slot machine engineer and bingo caller.

His work includes Alien Inc. which is available as an e-book from Sonar 4 Publications.

In this interview, Jason Bicko talks about his concerns as a writer:

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

Unobtrusive, I would like to say. I don’t go in for literary impact because I don’t like that in the books I read. I want the story to go straight into the reader’s head -- I don’t want them to fight through the prose, constantly reminded that they’re reading a book. One author I find excellent at the subtle prose is Stephen Leather.

I have no target audience other than those who pick stories for what they might want to read at that moment. That’s how I read. I don’t go to the crime section in the library because I fancy a crime novel that day. I pick up various books, read the blurb, and choose the one that I like the sound of. It might be a crime novel or a western -- I never know.

My writing style changes constantly and this is because of the novels I read. For instance, after reading Clive Barker’s Weaveworld, I wanted to structure my stories the way that one was put together, broken down into Books, Parts, Chapters with titles, and sub-chapters marked numerically. After reading Stephen Leather, I began to compose my stories in such a way that chapters didn’t really exist, only one-line breaks. I prefer this format now because it keeps a reader reading. I don’t like chapters because it’s too easy to stop reading at the end of one.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

My emotions and personal experiences don’t figure into my writing much.

For me, writing, or reading, is about escapism. It’s like a little mental holiday when I pick up a book or sit before my keyboard.

If I were to have a car crash, for instance, I wouldn’t let that intrude into my mind enough to filter into my writing. But it might give me an idea for a story about road rage turned deadly. In fact, just talking about it makes me want to write just such a tale.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concern is spinning a decent yarn.

Way back, I used to try to come up with an exciting storyline and then make my version of that story. But I was always concerned that the same idea would be out there.

Take a story like Groundhog Day, in which a guy wakes up in the same day every day and must use his knowledge of what’s going to happen to change things a bit. That story has been done a few times, and since Groundhog Day was kind of the template, all the others are judged by it, I think. To me, that means a story might not live to its expectations, and I find that just wrong. So I gave up going for original storylines and concentrated on (trying to) tell good stories.

If I write a story about a guy trying to rescue his kidnapped wife, I know it isn’t the first of its kind. I just hope mine is better than some of the others out there. I just hope it’s a good tale.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Finding time to write is my main hurdle.

Thankfully, I don’t need to sit down in order to plot stories. Once I have an idea for one, I can let it brew like a good cup of tea. Ideas, scenes, twists, they all grow in my head as I live and work. If I hear a good joke, it’s stored in there and will take part in the story one day. When it’s time to sit down and put a synopsis on paper that I will stretch into a longer story, it comes easily. All the ideas I had over the last couple of months, they just come together as if magnetized, then I write.

Do you write everyday?

I don’t write every day, but I always create in my mind. A bit like a musician humming on the bus. I call it plotting. It’s probably more like daydreaming.

How many books have you written so far?

Seven novel-length stories, but these are unpublished. Eight or so short stories that are out there on the Internet. These are all works that came about after I moved cities in 2000.

Before that, I wrote about ten novels, but none of these has survived. My ego hopes they’re preserved somewhere in a bag or box, to be discovered in 50,000 years.

The latest one, Alien Inc. is set for ebook publication by Sonar 4. I fancied doing a gung-ho horror based on that old idea of a bunch of people trapped in one place and hunted by an enemy. I wanted to set the scene, then let it run. There were a few directions I knew it had to take, but I set these as markers and sort of said to my wild imagination, “Do what you want, just hit these checkpoints on the way.” I wrote it in about six months.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into Alien Inc.?

The hardest part was characters. There were eleven in it, each as strong as the next. That meant keeping track of the emotional make-up of eleven people as they went through the story. Much easier when there are one or two main characters and everyone else is built of a little less substance. It also made the choice of killing them off a bit harder. But that had to be done. Couldn’t have eleven people all survive in this sort of story.

Keeping track of all these people was made easier after the group split into five smaller groups. It became more like writing five short stories at the same time. I would concentrate on one at a time until the group was reunited.

What did you enjoy most?

If you read a Dan Brown book, you see important information on every page. That’s constant attention to telling the tale.

In this story, I mostly got to play. There’s a part where two people are trapped in a carriage on a monorail, hunted by an alien enemy. I just let it go with the flow and didn’t have to think about it or refer to notes. It was fun to write.

What sets Alien Inc. apart from other things you've written?

The horror aspect. I wrote horror as a teenager, because somehow that seemed easier. Setting a story on an alien planet filled with vampires means no wasting time on research. Garlic doesn’t bother my vampires. That’s another story you’re thinking of! I wrote horror because I had no experience of the world, so probably couldn’t have written a courtroom scene or a birth scene realistically. But chopping the heads off virgins came easily.

As I got older, I cast aside horror and wrote thrillers involving real people and realistic events. But maybe I missed the carefree ways of the horror novel.

For me, maybe Alien Inc. was the adult returning to the playground he’d so loved as a kid.

What will your next book be about?

Guy hunting down his lost sister. A good old action thriller set in the murky London underworld. Another chance for me to let the imagination run wild. I don’t often put guns in my stories. I’ll fill this one with them. Can’t wait.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Having Sonar 4 Publications decide to put the story on their website.

When did you start writing?

I started writing at age 12. My dad had started a creative writing course and I wrote a story to see what he thought. That was the beginning. I had the bug from that day.

I wanted to be published because I wanted my work out there, for all to read. I was young and foolish and didn’t understand how hard and competitive the writing world could be. Pocket money went on photocopying my work and postage costs to send it to the big publishers.

Back then there was no email submissions. I would wait months, get back a rejection letter, and start again. Usually, a rejection letter wasn’t seen as a fail, it was seen as proof that my story wasn’t the one I was destined to be famous for. So rather than tweak that story, I would sit down and do another. I would often send out the first thirty pages as soon as they were completed, knowing that by the time the publisher wrote back to ask for the full manuscript, the story would be finished.

Possibly related books:

, ,

Related article:

[Interview] Allen Ashley, Author of 'Urban Fantastic', Conversations with Writers, September 5, 2007

[Interview_1] Lori Titus

In this interview, Lori Titus, author of the short story collection, Green Water Lullaby (Sonar 4 Publications, 2010) talks about stories and the effect they have on people:

When did you start writing?

I started writing when I was about ten years old.

I originally started by writing down nightmares I had, which always seemed to go away once they were on paper. At some point, I wasn’t having bad dreams anymore, but decided to start creating stories just for fun.

I used to take my stories and poetry to school, and would turn them in to my teacher for extra credit. Early on, my teachers encouraged me, that this was something I should pursue. So it’s always been a plan of mine [to get published], but figuring out exactly how I was going to do it was more difficult.

How did you eventually manange to do it?

I was surfing the internet one day and happened to notice that there were a lot of short story websites around which accepted work from unknown authors. I sent a couple of stories around, and finally got published on MicroHorror.

Once I got that first story accepted, I got busy writing more stories, and started submitting widely.

How would you describe your writing?

I’d describe it as paranormal/horror with a dramatic bent.

There are always paranormal elements, but the stories are all about people and how they relate (or fail to relate) with each other.

I believe that everyone is fascinated with the unexplained, with things that scare us, and things that we can’t see. My stories take the ordinary world and bend it a little.

I try to spark something in the reader’s mind, that question of “what if…?” So rather than appealing to any one group, I try to appeal to a human sense of curiosity.

Which authors influenced you most?

As a child I read a lot of classic authors, and [Edgar Allan] Poe will always be my favorite.

That said, I find that I am influenced by many authors, both known and up and coming. Some of my favorites include John Sanford, Dean Koontz, Tananrive Due, Stephanie Meyer, and Alice Hoffman.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I have always been enthralled with people's stories, how they tell them, and which things they emphasize.

Every story you hear from a friend, a co-worker, or relative, has a theme behind it, a certain meaning they want to convey. I’m always interested by what people have to say, how no two people tell the exact same story in the same way. In this way, your life is often reflected in writing. There are defiant themes within the stories that are relevant to my life experiences.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concern is writing a story that is entertaining, that holds the reader’s attention.

I want people to be able to relate to the characters, and I want to surprise them with what comes next.

I try to make the characters as relatable as possible. They may be in extraordinary circumstances, but they all have the capacity to love, hate, and make mistakes the way any ordinary person would.

My biggest challenge, like most writers, is finding the time to write.

I am very disciplined about what I write, but I do not write every day. I have been known to go on a “writing jag” where I will write a chapter a day for a few weeks, and then nothing at all for a month. Being an editor for Flashes in the Dark and Sonar4 helps keep my creative juices going when I am not writing my own stories. It also keeps me encouraged to plunge ahead with my own work.

When you write how does each session start? How do you proceed, generally?

I don’t write every day, but I usually have in mind how much I want to write before I stop. I may want to finish a particular scene or a group of scenes over a period of time.

I have a little office in my apartment, and I spend a lot of time there! Sometimes I write something by hand, but other times I go to the computer and start typing. I usually don’t stop until I have reached the end of whatever scene I’m working on.

How much writing have you done so far?

I have had stories published in three anthologies so far: A Demonminds Halloween 2008 (CreateSpace, 2008), Mausoleum Memoirs (House of Horror, ____) and Toe Tags (Lulu.com, 2009).

I also have another book of short stories which will be out next year. All of these are horror collections.

I also write an online novel for Flashes in the Dark called The Marradith Ryder Series. The first half of the series (or the first book, which is about 84 episodes) is already complete, and I am starting to work on the second half.

Marradith Ryder is a young girl who is not what she seems. She is abducted by a man who claims he was sent to protect her. At first, she doesn’t trust him, but soon finds herself the object of a hunt. Meanwhile, all the secrets her family has kept from her start to unravel.

How would you describe the stories in Green Water Lullaby?

Green Water Lullaby is an anthology of stories about the make-believe town of Chrysalis, South Carolina.

All the stories have a paranormal aspect, but there are equal portions of romance and action. There are stories about brothers at odds with each other, vengeful lovers, and a pregnant housewife awaiting the return of her husband, a soldier stationed overseas. There are ghosts, werewolves, and other things not as easily labeled.

These stories were written over a period of six months, between my work on Marradith Ryder and other projects.

The book will be published through Sonar 4 Publications [and] will be available from Sonar 4 Publications in April, 2010.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into Green Water Lullaby?

The editing phase is always the most difficult, because I tend to pick my stories apart a lot before I settle on a final version. I think that I’m picky! But in the end, I feel my work has always benefited from it, so I just work at it until I’m comfortable with the product.

I like to change around the point of view, and I read the stories back to myself to see if it sounds like what I have in my imagination. I like that moment when I know I’ve almost got it where I want it.

I enjoyed writing all of these stories, getting into the psyche of characters that were very different from myself and each other.

What sets this collection of short stories apart from other things you've written?

The tone and the level of intimacy the reader will have with the characters in these stories is different. Each of these stories is like a photo with a shadow, lurking somewhere in the corner. Just within sight… but not easily recognized until you observe for a moment.

What will your next book be about?

There are two “next” books, because I am writing them at the same time. One will be about Marradith Ryder and another will be a sort of spin-off. There are also multiple, smaller projects in the works.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

I am very happy with the success I have seen so far, but I can see things going further.

The Marradith Ryder Series and the response to it has been great. I’ve enjoyed writing all the stories I’ve had over this past year and a half, including the ones that made it into anthologies.

I always like to keep going forward, to the next project. That said, I also think that being an editor for two online ezines has been a big achievement. It’s made me grow as a writer, and I now feel that I am included within a community of artists that I am very proud to work with. But my most significant achievement, I like to think, is somewhere down the road. I always like to think about the exciting things that come next.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related articles:

• Raven Starr [Interview], Conversations with Writers, August 8, 2007
• Lori Titus [Interview_2], Conversations with Writers, September 12, 2010

[Interview] Dylan J. Morgan

Dylan J. Morgan was born in New Zealand and raised in the United Kingdom. Currently, he lives and works in Norway.

His books include the novel, Hosts (Wild Child Publishing, 2009; DJM Entertainment, 2009) and the novella, October Rain (Sonar 4 Publications, 2010). His short stories have been featured in anthologies that include Gentlemen of Horror (Sonar 4 Publications, 2009) and Wolves of War (Living Dead Press, 2009) as well as the January 2010 in Issue 9 of Necrotic Tissue.

In this interview, Dylan J. Morgan talks about the importance of growing as a writer:

When did you start writing?

I remember writing some books when I was still in school, but on those occasions they were just pieces of paper folded in half, stapled together and the stories were written in pen and they weren’t very good. Storytelling has always fascinated me and I started reading full length novels at an early age.

I’ve been writing seriously now for 6 years. Reading books and discovering I had a talent with the written word gave me the encouragement to consider getting myself published. That was probably a little more than 6 years ago, while I was still writing clueless stories just to satisfy my own desire to write.

I thought getting published would be easy; just write the story and send it in but that’s not the case. It’s hard, crafting a story that the editor will like (because first and foremost if you can’t write a story good enough for an editor to like you’ll never get anybody to read it).

I started at the bottom and worked my way up; writing stories I thought were good enough that ultimately were not. Being afraid to send that story in is not going to get you published. Just write it, polish it, edit it, and get others to critique it, edit it again, polish it once more, and then send it in. That’s exactly what I did to achieve my current status as a published author.

How would you describe your writing?

My writing is dark. Predominantly horror.

I’ve written a published novel about prehistoric killer parasites and unpublished novels about the Wendigo and another about vampires and werewolves.

I’ve written a novella called October Rain which will be released early next year which has science fiction elements in it, but which is also a very dark, tragic story.

My stories are gruesome yet entertaining but do tend to steer clear of Hollywood endings.

Who is your target audience?

I guess it would be quite broad, my target audience, if indeed I have a target audience at all. I hope most people are like me and read all sorts of material. That said, I prefer horror -- but I will read crime and thriller novels, erotic, even romance if there was nothing else to read.

With any luck, people who are interested in reading new horror authors will stumble across my name if they haven’t already done so, like what they read and want to read more from me. As long as anyone who reads my work enjoys it and finds it entertaining -- then, that’s all I’m after.

Which authors influenced you most?

Certainly a lot of Stephen King’s early stuff was a huge influence to me, and virtually anything by Dean Koontz.

James Herbert has provided some influence but not as much as the other two.

At the start King wrote stories that entertained me, made me enjoy the story and get deeply involved with the plot and the characters. I think he influenced me the most in my decision to become a writer. Koontz on the other hand has inspired me a lot more since I’ve started writing seriously. The way he crafts a story, builds the plot and the suspense; it’s like a master class with each book written. Koontz definitely inspires me to improve my craft.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I try not to let any personal experiences of mine come through in my writing or indeed to influence which direction I’m going. Saying that, a couple of my stories have been written from life experiences: a business trip to Poland; a boat trip in Oslo Fjord, but these are simply scene-setting occurrences.

I never consciously inject anything of myself, or my life experiences, or those of anyone close to me, in any of the stories I’ve written so far. Fiction is fiction, even within my world and it has to be like that.

I’m a family man and as such I have to separate what I write with how I live my home life.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concerns would be, first and foremost, writing stories that weren’t entertaining. Regardless of the venue the work appears in, and regardless of how big a name I do or don’t become, my main aim when I submit stories is to have them accepted and to have readers be entertained by the stories. If I fail that then I’ve failed in my duty as a writer.

The best way that I deal with such issues is to have trustworthy proofreaders. I never send out any stories if they haven’t had a few good edits done by myself and then been read (and sometimes re-read) by my proofreaders. They often catch things that I miss. It’s a practice I recommend to any up-and-coming writer. Don’t think your story is good enough if you haven’t let others read it first.

The biggest challenge I face as a writer is bettering the work I’ve just completed. I don’t want to write x-amount of books that are the same. I don’t want my next project to be inferior to the one I’ve just wrapped up. It’s important to me to grow as a writer, to continuously improve my craft, and it’s not easy to do. Writing what I want, what excites me. If the story enthralls me then hopefully it’ll enthrall others too.

Do you write everyday?

Yes, I write everyday -- at least I try to! Sometimes life gets in the way but for the most part I write daily and I try to accomplish one thousand words in a session.

Basically each session starts with me reviewing and editing what I wrote the night before and this usually drags me back into the story enabling me to pick up where I left off and continue writing. Sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes I envisage scenes from later in the book and I write those instead. I can have multiple scenes being written from different chapters. It’s all a bit jumbled but it works for me.

As stated, my aim is to write 1,000 words a day but as long as I write constructive prose then that’s all I ask for. I write until the flow has gone: either by family disturbances that require my attention or because I’m just burned out. There’s no point forcing the words. Once they stop flowing, I stop writing.

How many books have you written so far?

So far I have written three full-length novels and two novellas, although not all are available.

Only one of my novels has seen publication, Hosts, a biological horror novel set in a Canadian ski resort called Snow Peak during the worst snowstorm in living memory.

In the novel, a family of frozen First Nation people has been discovered on a mountainside near town and the archeologists examining the body allow it to thaw out too much. Something resides in the corpse; a prehistoric parasite that comes back to life and infects the town with disastrous results.

Hosts has had very positive reviews so far. It is available as an e-book through the publisher, Wild Child Publishing. And, complete with new cover art, the novel has been re-issued in print format by myself which is something I’m very excited about. More details can be found on my website.

My second published work is a novella entitled October Rain. It will be available in both print and e-book format in January 2010 through Sonar 4 Publications.

October Rain is a tragic story about Steele, a bounty hunter for the Martian government during a time in the distant future when the sun is a red dying giant and Earth is scalded rock. Steele has been promised one more assignment before he can leave Mars to start a new life with his beloved family. But he discovers a horrific truth behind the government’s intentions, and a torturous twist of fate leaves him fighting not only for his own life but for the people he cares most about. It’s an exciting read.

Of my other written works, the two novels are in various slushpiles and the other novella resides with proofreaders.

How long did it take you to write October Rain?

The first draft probably took me about six weeks to write, but this book was written four years ago so it’s had multiple drafts, countless edits, and at least four different proofreaders go over it. If it isn’t tight now it never will be!

Sonar 4 Publications will be publishing the book. I selected this publisher because of one main reason: they publish a blend of horror and sci-fi. I’m not a sci-fi writer, but with the book being set on Mars in the future there are obvious science fiction elements.

Sonar4 publish straight-up horror, or straight-up Sci-Fi or a mixture of both. There are horrific elements in October Rain, although none blatant, but this publisher seemed the best fit for my work. So far this has presented me with nothing but advantages. I’ve been very pleased with how my relationship is going with this publisher and I’d thoroughly recommend anyone else checking their guidelines.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into October Rain?

This is a hard question to answer. At times I struggle with my muse but generally I find writing an easy task, nothing is difficult when it comes to transferring the plot from my mind and onto the page. What is difficult for me is spending time away from my girlfriend and my kids while I’m writing.

I try to write at night, when the children are in bed and the house is quiet, but my ideas don’t always follow that pattern. Weekend mornings I use to sit down and edit and sometimes write, but always when I’m done I feel a tad guilty for spending time at the keyboard and not with those I care about the most. But then I try to make the most of the time I do spend with them.

What did you enjoy most?

The editing -- like I do with all my work.

I might be in the minority here but I seldom really enjoy the process of writing a novel/novella even though I find it relatively easy. For me, writing that last word is always a great occasion and is generally greeted with a sigh of relief and perhaps a celebratory beer.

Editing the story, watching it truly unfold into the final product is by far the part of the writing process that I enjoy the most.

What sets October Rain apart from other things you've written?

The one main difference with this book to any of the others I’ve written is that it is set in the future, in space, which is a destination I’ve never been before in my writing. I tend to keep things in the present (or the past, in some instances) and I’ve never gone outside the Earth’s atmosphere before. It’ll be interesting to see how this book is received.

In what way is it similar to the others?

It’s certainly my style of writing. I haven’t changed the formula from what I usually do when I write stories, so hopefully -- even though this is not strictly a horror story -- people will still be able to recognize it as being the work of Dylan J. Morgan.

What will your next book be about?

As of this moment, October Rain is my latest book and no others have been accepted. Of course, I hope this will change.

I have two novels at various publishing houses just waiting to be picked off the slushpile, so hopefully it won’t be too long before I have something else available for people to read. One of those is called Flesh and is about a Wendigo spirit terrorizing a Northern Wisconsin town.

The other novel, Bloodlines, is an epic novel which could easily be separated into a trilogy of novellas -- it tells the story of a centuries-old blood feud between vampires and werewolves who have crossed the bloodlines and created a monster race of hybrids. All three species are fighting for control of the supernatural world.

The novel I’m working on now is a bit secretive but I will say it involves angels, demons, and the end of the world.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Getting published is always a significant achievement for a writer and while this is right up there as one of my most significant, I feel that’s bettered by the simple fact that people have liked my work. Not everyone will, I know that, but to have feedback from readers saying they enjoyed the story makes all the hard work, effort, and time spent away from my family just that little bit easier to bear.

Possibly related books:

,,

Related article:

[Interview: Part 2 of 2] Tonia Brown, Conversations with Writers, November 29, 2009

[Interview: Part 2 of 2] Tonia Brown

Earlier, Tonia Brown talked about the books she's written and published.

In the final part of this interview, she talks about her concerns as a writer:

When did you start writing?

I have always written creatively in one from or another, for as long as I can remember.

I used to write a fair amount of poetry, and still turn to the task from time to time. I toyed for a number of years with the idea of writing longer works, a story or perhaps even a book, but always abandoned it after reading something from one of my favorite authors and realizing that I could never produce work that good.

Then, about four years ago, I was at my third shift job reading some new book by some new author, whose name I shall leave to the imagination. Even at four in the morning I could tell the book lacked substance, style and character. Yet I had paid full price for the thing and was reading it from cover to cover. It was at that point I decided that I had a story to tell and maybe it was time to get it out there.

So I penned a full-length novel in the next year and set about to find an agent.

The reality of how terribly hard it is to get published hit me hard, like so many other new authors to the craft, and I nearly gave up. A friend of mine stepped in and suggested e-publishers, and I gave it a shot.

I have had a moderate amount of success in the e-book field, with two full-length novels and several novellas accepted for publication so far. I also turned my hand to short stories, which have also been a great experience for me.

How would you describe your writing ?

Funny, sharp, horrifying, erotic.

I like to leave the reader with a sense of wonder or terror, depending on what the tale involves.

Who is your target audience?

Depends on which personality you address.

As Tonia Brown, I write for the speculative fiction audience. I lean toward horror, but have been known to turn out a sci-fi and fantasy piece every so often. I write for this audience because I am a part of it.

As Regina Riley, I write all forms of romance, from sweet to erotic. I began to write for this genre on a dare, and I enjoyed it so much I stuck with it!

Which authors influenced you most?

Neil Gaiman is the largest influence on me as a writer. I love his classic style and ability to cross genres as though the lines aren’t even there. I have said many a time, if there was one person I would love to have my work mistaken for, it would be Gaiman.

Along with Gaiman I am a huge [Edgar Allan] Poe fan. You have to love a man that can blame a murder on a monkey!

I’m also a fan of H. P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, and Isaac Asimov.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I grew up as a military B.R.A.T. and an identical twin, both of which really affected the way I view the world.

As a military family, we moved a lot. I never got the chance to make lifelong bonds with folks, but I learned that you had to make new friends quickly or get left out of the loop so to speak. I think this comes out in my writing a bit, especially the easy way new people meet and immediately open up without much prompting. It may seem unrealistic to some, but that’s how we grew up.

As a twin, I have always been slightly co-dependent. When I married, I shifted this burden onto my husband, and he bares the weight like an old pro. I feel this comes across in my work because I tend to favor characters that feel incomplete, until they meet their true love, of course!

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Making sure the reader can identify with a character. There is nothing worse than reading a book where you don’t care what happens to the characters. I try to give mine some personality, and history. Hopefully you come away feeling like you’ve read a detailed description of something that happened to a friend, as apposed to a tale about a complete stranger.

As an independent writer, I think the largest challenge I face is lack of self-confidence. I have trouble selling myself. I know my work is good. I can see it on the paper. I can feel it in my bones. But when asked if it’s any good I will more than likely say, “It's okay.”

Who wants to read okay?

I should scream how great it is, but my self-doubt kicks in and shuts me up. I’ve been trying to work on this, but I don’t know if I’ll ever overcome it.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

A reader once told me she had to take a smoke break between chapters because the scenes were so hot for her.

One reader let me know how much she cried at one of my books. She said this happened in front of a break room full of other employees who were very curious as to why she was weeping.

Another told me that her husband received some much needed affection after she finished reading The Blooming. She even passed along his thanks!

Any time someone reads and enjoys what I have written, I’ve achieved more than I ever thought possible. Anything else is really just icing. Although I must admit, I am an icing fan!

Possibly related books:

,,

Related article:

[Interview: Part 1 of 2] Tonia Brown, Conversations with Writers, November 28, 2009