Welcome back! This week, I turn a spotlight on author Rebecca J. Allred. Rebecca and I became acquainted when we were both featured in Flame Tree Publishing’s Chilling Horror Short Stories anthology last year. But that beautiful tome was hardly Rebecca’s only publication. Her fiction has been featured in numerous outlets, including Borderlands 6, Vignettes from the End of the World, and the upcoming volume of Nightscript. In addition to her work as a writer of the macabre, she is also a full-time doctor, dealing with horrors of an entirely different kind.

In the midst of her busy schedule, Rebecca and I recently discussed her favorite authors, her writing inspiration, as well as the intersection of her two careers.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you first decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

I’ve dabbled in writing for as long as I can remember (I recently found a short story of mine written at some point in grade school – complete with construction paper cover and crayon illustrations) but I didn’t start to take my writing seriously until about three years ago. I’m one of Stephen King’s constant readers, but other authors I’ve recently enjoyed include Jonathan Carroll, Gemma Files, Joseph S. Pulver, Sr, and Brian James Freeman.

So far, your fiction has been primarily horror. What first attracted you to the genre? Were you always a fan from childhood, or was it something you learned to love as you got older?

My mom read everything Stephen King put out in the ’80s and ’90s. She read The Stand while she was pregnant with me and has always said I was cooked in horror. As a kid, I preferred the bad guys in Disney movies and gravitated more toward the darker animated films (Secret of NIMH, The Last Unicorn, and The Black Cauldron) than the glittery princess pieces. Consequently, my art has also always tended toward the dark side. The aforementioned grade school short story is called “The Case of the Strange Noises,” and once, I convinced my younger sister and cousins to let me pose them as murder victims, then took a series of crime scene photos that my mother holds hostage to this very day. There’s a story in there, I just haven’t excavated it yet.

By day, you work as a pathologist. Do you find that elements of the medical industry often creep their way into your writing, or do you tend to keep your day job and your fiction mostly separate?

I find medicine creeps into a lot of my writing. There are so many strange and wonderful and occasionally downright horrifying things that I encounter on a daily basis, it would be impossible (and a waste) not to incorporate those experiences into my fiction.

You and I first met through our shared table of contents in Flame Tree Publishing’s Chilling Horror Short Stories anthology. What was the process for your story, “Ecdysis,” that appeared in the anthology? Also, have you visited the book in the wilds of a bookstore yet?  

“Ecydsis” was originally written back in my third year of medical school. I was on my psych rotation and watched the Ashley Judd film Bug. I wrote the first draft in about 30 minutes, and then it sat on my computer for about three years until I decided to revisit and revise it. The first draft had none of the backstory, just a boring session between the unnamed narrator and his therapist. I still liked the idea though, and it occurred to me that giving the narrator a family history that allowed for multiple interpretations of his current condition (and thus lending some ambiguity to the narrative) might make for interesting reading.

Sadly, I’ve not yet seen Chilling Horror Short Stories (or any of the anthologies in which my work appears) in the wild yet, but if I ever do, I’ll flood social media with photos like that friend we all have who just had a baby.

Your story, “From the Fertile Dark,” is slated to appear this October in Nightscript, Volume 2. What fun tidbits can you reveal about this tale?

When I decided that I was going to get back into writing, I did a search for writing contests. I stumbled across a weekly writing challenge called Flash! Friday. It was a weekly flash fiction challenge that gave writers a photo prompt and 24 hours to write and submit a story. The max word count varied, but it was never more than 500. I wrote for Flash! Friday weekly for several months, trying to get myself into the habit and kickstart my idea generator. I created a lot of what I call “seedling stories” for Flash! Friday, and since then I’ve expanded a number of them into longer, more complete works. “From the Fertile Dark” grew from a seedling inspired by a picture of an empty swing with a child riding the shadow.

What upcoming projects are you working on?

I have a six week break coming up between when I finish my last year of training and when I start my first “real” doctor job this fall. During that time, I’m going to attempt a novella with hopes of pitching it to some small presses by the end of the year. I’ve also got about half a dozen short stories in various stages of completion I’m working to finish up and ship off to the slush mines.

Any links you’d like to share?

I have a story appearing in the anthology Borderlands 6, edited by Tom Monteleone. The list of contributors is so amazing that even if I weren’t in this one, I’d encourage people to check it out. Pre-orders for the signed, limited edition can be placed at  http://borderlandspress.com, and I’ll be posting links to paperback editions on FB and Twitter as soon as they become available.

Big thanks to Rebecca J. Allred for being part of this week’s author interview series! Keep up with her work at her author site!

Happy reading!

Welcome to this week’s author interview! Today, I’m thrilled to feature the amazing Eden Royce. Eden is an incredible author who has produced short stories, a novella, and a short fiction collection, and also worked as both an editor and interviewer at numerous venues. Her work is consistently captivating, so if you aren’t already reading her fiction, then remedy that promptly!

Recently, Eden and I discussed her genesis as a writer, her inspiration in Gothic horror, and her tips on time management for writers.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you first decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

I had a micro short story published in the local newspaper when I was about five. It was something along the lines of “Finish this story” and began with “You go into the attic of your house. What do you find?” I think my Mom still has a copy somewhere.

I got away from writing for several years, too long, but I eventually came back to writing and I think I always will.

Some of my favorite authors are J. California Cooper (a reviewer once compared my work to hers and I was beyond flattered), Daphne DuMaurier, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Tabitha King, Isabel Allende, Laura Joh Rowland, and Edgar Allan Poe.

You have been working with Kathryn Kulpa on the Spider’s Web Flash Fiction contest, which focuses on female protagonists. How did you get involved with the project, and what in particular are you looking for in the stories you read?

Spider Road was looking for judges for their flash fiction contest and I sent in my writer’s resume. I was actually surprised when they asked me to be a judge, as I’m sure they had many talented and knowledgeable authors to choose from. I didn’t question it, though; I was happy to be involved with an indie publisher that makes such efforts to invest in the local community and give back to those in need.

What am I looking for in a story for the flash fiction contest? First, a strong female protagonist with complexity to her character—she shouldn’t be one note or stereotypical—so I can root for her to succeed in whatever she’s doing. Next, I’d like a well-crafted story: a great opening line that makes me want to read more, a creative and original premise, and a clever ending that I didn’t expect. After I read it, I want to say, “Wow, that was good.” Not much, right?

Over the last few years, you’ve been a prolific fiction writer, releasing numerous short stories, a short story collection, and a novella. Do you have any specific writing habits (such as writing at the same time every day)? Also, do you have any tips for other writers on time management?

I still occasionally struggle with time management. I have to change my writing location from time to time, even if it’s a different room in the house. I’ll even go to the library. I can get easily distracted by the Internet or by what housework I think needs doing. If that’s your issue, try setting a timer for one hour—thirty minutes at first if you have to—and ignore everything else and write.

Other things that have worked for me:

Find an online writer buddy and schedule a writing sprint. For twenty or thirty minutes, write all you can, as if it’s a race to the finish. Don’t edit, don’t even think too hard about what you’re putting on the page. See what your word count is after that time. I can almost guarantee it will surprise you.

Have TV as a treat. I don’t watch much television, as it can be a huge time suck, but I have my favorite shows. (Yes, I’m looking at you, MasterChef.) Instead of watching your shows all evening, write first, then choose a show or two that you love and watch it afterward. Or go one evening without the TV on, you’ll get so much done.

Stop overthinking it. Just write, even if you think what you’re writing is insane or ridiculous, or you’re making more spelling mistakes than a drunk lemur with a laptop. None of that matters right now. That’s for when you edit later on. Get the ideas, the story, out first. This may be the hardest one, especially if you’re type A like me, but it is so freeing. And that’s what you want to be as an author.

Your stories often touch upon horror or other Gothic elements. What was it that first drew you to the genre?

I used to watch old black and white horror movies with my mother and grandmother: the mist-covered castle on the hill sort of films, with Bela Lugosi as Dracula. They weren’t bloody, but they were dark and sinister and creepy. Loved those! Even the day after watching those movies, I would hear a noise or a creak and I’d remember the look of panic on the heroine’s face. I knew I wanted to bring my experiences and culture to that type of story.

In addition to your writing and editing, you are also an interviewer! I loved your recent article with Miracle Austin! What inspired you to become an interviewer, and what has been the most surprising or interesting part of the process?

I was at a book event once, it may have been an anthology launch, where I mentioned that I was featured in the book, 60 Black Women in Horror Writing. Someone said they didn’t know there were sixty Black women who wrote horror. After that, I made it a point to find more women like me, so I reached out to the website Graveyard Shift Sisters and asked if they’d be interested in a series of reviews and interviews. They agreed and I started reaching out to other women horror authors. I also do the occasional interview on my blog and for Dirge Magazine.

The most interesting part of it is meeting the authors themselves. They are talented, driven artists, most of them indie authors who do it all: writing, book cover concepts, and marketing their work. It’s inspirational to see and to read.

Out of your published stories, do you have a personal favorite?

“The Choking Kind,” which is the final story in my short story collection, Spook Lights: Southern Gothic Horror. I loved it from concept to completion, and there was never a time that I thought it might not work. It’s based on a story my grandmother used to tell me, and it always makes me think of her. As it has stuck with me so long, I thought it might stick with readers as well.

What upcoming projects are you currently working on?

I’ve just released part two of my dark fantasy/sci-fi series, “Containment”. I’ve been invited to submit stories to two different anthologies, both coming out this year. One is featuring Feast, the protagonist from the “Containment” series, so that will be fun to write. The other is small-town horror, so I hope the publisher will like what I’ve dreamed up. I’m planning to release another collection of my short stories in January 2017, titled Spook Lights 2.

Big thanks to Eden Royce for being part of this week’s author interview! Find her online at her author site and her blog as well as on Facebook and Twitter. Eden will also be appearing at Nine Worlds Con next month where she will be on a panel discussing race and class in horror, so be sure to meet her there if you can!

Happy reading!

Welcome back! This week, I’m thrilled to present author Morgan Crooks. Morgan’s work has appeared widely in publications including Daily Science Fiction and Cyclopean Press along with anthologies such as Mystery and Horror LLC’s History and Horror, Oh My! He also runs the awesome review and pop culture site, Ancient Logic.

Recently, Morgan and I discussed his genesis as a writer as well as his inspirations and upcoming publishing plans.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you first decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

Writing chose me. I’ve always written, always told stories. One of my earliest memories is narrating a trip to Mars into my brown Fisher-Price tape recorder and I think I’ve been trying to retell that story ever since. I suppose there are plenty of ways to experience life, to make sense of the universe, but I’ve always relied on stories – mine or other people’s – to get through the rough spots.

As far as getting published, of being a writer, that happened a few years ago. I got sick of revising the same half dozen stories again and again, and decided to push a few of them out into the world. My wife Lauren had the patience to encourage me to keep trying and over time I’ve been able to find a few markets willing to publish my work. Writing is a lonely job made possible by the support of lots and lots of people.

Favorite authors? Early on Stephen King and Isaac Asimov. Nowadays I read everything published by Kim Stanley Robinson, Peter Watts, and Laird Barron. I could name plenty of other authors and works I find meaningful, but these five sketch out my interests pretty well. I respect the power of horror to make the familiar nightmarish, and science fiction’s ability to make the unimaginable inevitable. I haven’t quite figured out how to get my writing do both of these things but that’s my target.

The first story of yours I read was “What the Prodigy Learns,” from Mystery and Horror, LLC’s History and Horror, Oh My! How much research went into writing this Roman horror tale, and what else can you reveal about your process behind this story?

That story formed quickly. At the beginning of summer I jot down ideas for stories I’d like to bring to first draft. It occurred to me that although my day job is a history teacher, I hadn’t written anything actually set in the past. Roman history fascinates me and seemed a good starting place. At the outset, all I had was “Roman investigates town with bizarre rituals.” Not too promising. By the time I got to writing the story I had stumbled on to this book about the Roman Road and Inn system. I started thinking about a Patrician Fox Mulder, aware of himself living in a world already ancient, filled with age-old conspiracies. A few drafts later I understood what was threatening him and where it came from.

As a speculative fiction author, was there a certain story or film that you saw when you were younger that inspired you to want to write science fiction and horror?

Oh yeah. The first movie I remember seeing was Ghostbusters. Oh okay, more accurately I remember seeing parts of the movie. The library scene nearly sent me fleeing the theater and I spent the rest of it with hands clamped firmly over eyes. The only ghost I remember seeing was Slimer so consequently that little spud played a starring role in my nightmares for the rest of my childhood. I still like how the movie, in addition to being hysterically funny, summoned into being an entire alternate reality; spectral eradication as a viable business plan and some moldy Babylonian threatening NYC. The mix of comedy, science fiction, and horror, all elements rubbing shoulders without stepping on each others’ toes, is probably one of my ideals as a writer.

For the record, I’m looking forward to the reboot. I like the cast and the feel is basically there. Maybe it will totally suck but I feel like the past couple of decades have been cruelly deprived of Ghostbusters.

Your site, Ancient Logic, is a wonderful mix of fiction and film reviews along with your insightful musings on all things publishing and pop culture. What initially drew you to blogging, and do you have a long-term plan for where you want to take the site?

Thank you very much! For better or worse, Ancient Logic is a pretty good reflection of my interests/obsessions. I read a lot, watch far too much TV, and work up considerable passion about movies and music. When my friends’ eyes glaze over, I know it’s time to write another post.

I started blogging as a way to make sense of what I was reading and seeing. I blog in a different voice than I tell stories but I think the two work hand in hand. What I blog is kind of the footnotes for what I’m writing.

I do have a longer term project planned for Ancient Logic over the summer. A while ago I wrote a novel called Agent Shield and Spaceman, a goofy riff on espionage thrillers, superhero teams, and nihilism. The idea was to serialize it as a podcast but I ran out of time. Since June I’ve been finally releasing it , three or so chapters a week.

Out of your published works, do you have a personal favorite? 

My current favorite is “The Mystagogue,” which is available through Cyclopean Press, a longer work about subterranean elder races and outsider art. I’m shopping around a few recent stories that fall more on the science fiction side of things, hopefully they’ll be available soon.

What upcoming projects are you working on?

In addition to Agent Shield and Spaceman, I’m tinkering with a few more stories. I’ve been working through some nostalgia, and my recent work seems to revolve around the experience of growing up near the lakes and woods of Upstate New York. The Finger Lakes were gouged out by glaciers, bathed in blood and holy spirits, and left to rust. Sort of like rural Pennsylvania, it’s a fine setting for some quality terror.

Any links you’d like to share to other recommended sites?

You mean other than Reddit? I follow a few authors’ blogs: Peter Watts, and N.A. Ratnayake. For those interested in finding new awesome fiction and poetry, I’d recommend Gillian Daniels’ short fiction review column in Fantastic Stories of the Imagination and of course Charles Payseur for his Quick Sip Reviews. For all things nerdy and awesome, I follow my friend Dan Toland’s podcast (available on Earth-2) and Twitter.

Big thanks to Morgan Crooks for being part of this week’s author interview series! Find him at his website, Ancient Logic!

Happy reading!

Welcome back! This week, I’m pleased to present author Michael Wehunt. Michael’s work has appeared in such venues as Cemetery Dance, The Dark, Unlikely Story, and Nightscript. His debut short fiction collection, Greener Pastures, was released earlier this year from Shock Totem Publications and has been receiving rave reviews ever since.

Michael and I recently discussed Greener Pastures as well as how he became an ardent fan of horror.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you first decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

I think the larger part of me had always dreamed about it, felt it in me, but I let a very simple fear push me back for far, far longer than I care to admit. I didn’t take a deep breath and decide to try this until late 2011.

I have gained a lot of favorite authors since I began writing, but Flannery O’Connor and Stephen King were my first true loves. Flannery has continued to burn in me ever since, though I still obediently read every King book. I discovered Robert Aickman a few years ago and have joined his ambiguous cult. Laird Barron is still the only writer I’ve ever read who can genuinely write creepiness in a visceral way, and for that I’ll always swear fealty to him. Proulx, Nabokov, Welty, Faulkner, Oates, McCarthy, Agatha Christie (I’m a sucker for Marple and Poirot), Stephen Graham Jones, Reggie Oliver…and so many more. And poets! Mary Oliver, James Dickey, Louise Glück, Rilke, Plath…

Congratulations on the recent release of your debut short fiction collection, Greener Pastures! What was the process for curating this group of stories? Were certain ones left on the proverbial cutting room floor, or did you have an exact vision going in?

Thank you! So far it’s been wonderful and surreal.

I wanted a group of stories that really fit together, with direct and indirect threads binding them here and there. I very much wanted to resist the urge to have a collection just for the sake of having one. I don’t have a tremendous body of work to draw from yet, but I did feel as though I could collect a thematically unified, tone-specific book in which I believed every single story deserved to be in there. I wanted the collection to have a weird slant (which wasn’t difficult, considering I usually lose my balance and fall off the fence into the weird pasture anyway) so long as the great majority were still decidedly dark and in the horror camp. So that was my guiding hand.

Once those stories were together, I realized how prominently trees figure into my work, something I’d never truly noticed before. They’re everywhere, either in the foreground or background, but this was accidental. Less accidental was the theme of loss. There are a lot of stories here that deal with various shades and types of loss, and how people cope with it. Write what you fear, and that’s exactly what I fear. But I knew I had to provide a variety of moods and voices to bear these losses and keep things interesting for the reader. And, of course, a variety of darknesses, including some good old terror.

There were many stories I knew right away didn’t belong in the book, and there was only one story that was cut after the book took shape, a nasty little flash piece called “A Coat That Fell.” One of my editors fought for it, but ultimately we all decided that it wasn’t quite as strong as the others. I had one other story that was written for an anthology that’s coming out this fall. I was sorely tempted to take that story away from them and put it in the book as a last-minute original—it would have fit so well—but I decided to be nice.

You often write about creepy and darkly fantastical themes. Was there a certain story or film that made you know you wanted to write in the horror genre in particular, or was your love for the strange and terrifying more slow-growing over the years?

Both, kind of. I mentioned that King was a childhood obsession for me. But curiously, I never really read horror outside of him. I did love scary movies, though, which for some reason my mother would let me watch from around the age of seven. I remember reading Koontz as a kid and not being impressed, so I suppose stupid young me assumed King was the only good one…I’m not sure what snuffed out my curiosity. It’s one of my biggest regrets, not fully exploring horror until much later, just a few years ago, in fact. But part of me is glad, because I read a great deal of other stuff instead. There’s a lot of bleak wonder outside the dark fiction world, and much of it is incredible. I’m very grateful for all the Eudora Welty and Julian Barnes and David Mitchell I absorbed in those intervening years. Later, I would circle back around to Annie Proulx’s short story “The Half-Skinned Steer” and realize that it’s one of the greatest weird fiction tales ever written, in its way.

When I had my little micro-epiphany and decided to try writing a story for real, I searched on Amazon and found Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year Volume Three. It had the word “best” in it so I bought it. I didn’t know a single name in the table of contents. I was loving it, feeling like I’d found my family, and then I came to Laird Barron’s “–30–” and a hole opened up. I crawled into it. It was warm and wet and I was home. I knew this was something like I wanted to write, but hopefully refracted through my own lens. That story was my true introduction to weird fiction as well as cosmic horror. I’d read “Crouch End” and “N” by King and loved them, but they were still just King stories to me. I was woefully, shamefully under-read in this world—I’m not sure if I should admit this publicly. But “—30—” opened the door, and I traveled backward, reading Lovecraft, Machen, Blackwood, Michael Shea, Ramsey Campbell, and the lot. I’ve been playing catchup ever since. Who knows—perhaps doing it in this roundabout way helped make me the writer I am.

The last few years have been prolific ones for your short fiction career, with publications in The Dark, Cemetery Dance, and Shadows & Tall Trees. What does your writing process typically look like? How many hours per week do you tend to write, and do you have any particular writing habits, such as writing at the same time of day or writing to certain music?

This is all a work in progress, as I don’t get much time to write and am striving to be better at time management. But typically I write for one hour in the evening, and sometimes I’m able to eke out 30-40 minutes during my lunch hour, chaotic as that can be. It’s not much but the routine is vitally important. With it I can sink into a groove and be consistent. Without it I’m unmoored and have to reacquaint myself with a story every time I should be adding to it.

I used to write in complete silence, but somewhere along the way I started listening to music while I work. Mostly a lot of drone and field recordings. I have an LP of a thunderstorm on a farm that I’ve listened to maybe 200 times while writing. One story will get ambient techno like The Field looped for days. Another will get the ugly drone of Indignant Senility. Occasionally classical or jazz, but those often require too much engagement with the music.

All writers have to deal with rejection. What advice do you have for other writers out there who are just starting out and might take the rejection of the publishing industry a little too much to heart?

If you acknowledge that rejection is part of the process, it helps tremendously. Because that’s truly what it is. Part of the process. Especially when you’re starting out. You’re learning not just how to write at a certain level of skill and structure but also how the world of publishing and audiences works, so there will be a lot of rejection. If you get rejected 95% of the time, you’re doing extremely well compared to most. And you have to level up more than once. There is a lot of frustration and a lot of joy. Many people say to read the anthologies and magazines you’re trying to get into, and while that is absolutely helpful, if you start trying to mold your writing for those places, just make sure you keep yourself in it. Make it something you would want to read. Make sure it carries your unique voice. It’s the only way, in my opinion.

What other upcoming projects have you got up your sleeve? A novel perhaps? More short fiction?

I’m finishing up a longer story called “The Tired Sounds/The Waking,” which will be published by Dim Shores late this year as a standalone chapbook with cover and interior art by the amazing Justine Jones. Dim Shores is a treasure. I’ve turned in a few more stories for upcoming anthologies. And I’m pretty sure I’ve decided to try out this whole novel thing in the fall. That will be another big learning experience in a couple of years that have been full of them. They’ve all been lovely and enriching.

Big thanks to Michael Wehunt for being part of this week’s interview series! Find him at his author site as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

Happy reading!

Welcome back! Today I am super excited to feature author and reviewer Charles Payseur. If you’ve been paying attention at all over the last year, you’ve come across Charles and his work. In the span of mere months, he has firmly established himself as an up-and-coming voice in speculative fiction with stories in Lightspeed, Nightmare, and Unlikely Story, among other venues, while he’s been working simultaneously (and tirelessly) at his site, Quick Sip Reviews, to survey more speculative short fiction than pretty much anyone else in the industry.

Recently, while he was between reviews, writing, and convention appearances, Charles and I discussed his inspiration for Quick Sip Reviews as well as how he balances his own writing career with the demands of being short fiction’s premier reviewer.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you first decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

Oh plops, I think I actively started wanting to be a writer in sixth grade. There was a visiting writer to my middle school and I was a bit enchanted by the idea of it, by writing stories. I had done things with stories before then, but that’s when I guess I wanted to “be a writer.” And it didn’t really let up. I wrote poetry since then (really, really bad poetry), and then in high school found short fiction and it’s been going ever since. As for favorite authors…I think Guy Gavriel Kay was an early favorite/influence who I still very much enjoy. I’ve loved basically everything I’ve read of Alaya Dawn Johnson’s and glob I love Emily Carroll’s graphic stories and there’s so many short fiction writers who are doing amazing, amazing work (yourself included) that I don’t think I could list them all.

You are the founder of the consistently awesome Quick Sip Reviews. What inspired you to create a review site, and what has been the most surprising or challenging part so far?

So I started QSR pretty much because of my experience at Tangent and because of The Monthly Round, which I run through Nerds of a Feather. Not that I dislike Tangent, really, but it became impossible to divorce myself from the harm that Tangent did without, well, divorcing myself from the site. I still like what I did there, and still think it can be a home for excellent reviews. But I guess I wanted a place that I could own and where I could talk about stories without having to worry about editorial oversight and where I could look at poetry as well and nonfiction and everything. I will say that I learned a lot at Tangent and I wouldn’t be the reviewer I am without that experience, but I’m very glad I started QSR. Plus I was trying to read a lot so I could make informed decisions for The Monthly Round and felt rather bad that I wasn’t reviewing everything that I read (because The Round only highlights 9 stories a month). As for what has been the most surprising or challenging…probably just finding the time to read everything. I read fast but I also have to read a lot and finding the time can be hard. Early morning and lunch breaks and, well, a lot of my time is reading and reacting to short SFF.

In addition to how insightful and fun your reviews are, what also impresses me about Quick Sip Reviews is how much you engage with the material. I myself can be a skeptical reader, and your reviews have helped me to open up a bit more and really go back to stories and reexamine them. Have you always been such an open and non-skeptical reader?

I…think so? I think part of my reviewing philosophy is that I want to be the kind of reviewer I would want reviewing my writing. And again, part of my frustration with Tangent and some reviews I have received was that they didn’t engage. There was a sentence about genre and a sentence about it being good or not good and that was it. And I wondered at what good those reviews were doing. So when I write a review I guess I’m trying to react genuinely and then examine that reaction. So in some ways my reviews are at least as much about me as about the story. I try to use a lot of “I think” and “to me” language because I don’t feel comfortable pretending that reviewing is some sort of objective weighing of merit. That way even if no one else takes anything from my review I still do. I’m still examining me and thinking about what I read and finding why I like something or why I’m uncomfortable or why I had trouble with some aspect. And readers hopefully can take something from that, can gauge how they might respond or like a piece, and writers hopefully can take something from that, from seeing how a reader has connected with their work. It’s always been how I like to talk about books, in part because I always felt elbowed out of conversations that focused on plot and genre. I was (and still am) accused of “over-analyzing” things when I read or watch or play something, but I feel that without approaching a work openly I have no place reviewing it. It’s not helping me and it’s probably not helping anyone else looking either to really make up their mind on what to spend their time reading or trying to crystallize their own thoughts on what they have read. Not that I think other people are wrong in choosing how they want to review or what works for them, but for me, personally, I want to strive to be open when approaching what I review.

You have such a wonderfully eclectic career. Not only are you a prolific reviewer, you’re also a prolific fiction author, with stories ranging from fantasy and science fiction to horror and erotica. How do you balance such diverse interests? Likewise, do you have any tips to maximize the writing hours in a day?  

Well I’m not sure I’d call my fiction writing prolific, though recently I’ve had some better luck in placing what I write. I really suck at what people call “branding,” though, perhaps because I’m still relatively new to publishing. I do tend to range all over, as long as it’s speculative. I’d wish to say that it’s all out of passion but some of it is just trying to find what will work. It’s easy to get frustrated when rejections start piling up and I think part of why I bounce around is because I have no idea what publishers want. I like writing basically everything SFF (which is probably why I love to read everything SFF), so I feel a bit rudderless at times. That said, erotica sells. Not as much per story as non-erotic SFF, but it’s therapeutic in many ways because it’s just really fun to write (for me, because where else can I get paid to write Thor/Loki erotica?) and because it feels really good to get acceptances. And there’s constantly calls for erotic short SFF, so when I’m feeling wrecked as a SFF writer I do have a tendency to retreat to erotica to recover. I assume this is why some writers still do fanfiction or similar things, too, because the reality of trying to make a splash in short SFF can be utterly crushing. As for maximize writing hours? I typically need large chunks of time to write fiction, so most of my days are spent sneaking in reading and reviewing time. Reviewing tends to keep my skills sharp (nonfiction writing is still writing, after all) so that when I can get some hours to stitch together for fiction I’m not completely cold. So I write reviews over lunch breaks and early in the morning so that I can have more time on the weekends to fiction. That said, I probably am lucky to get 10-15K words of fiction done a month.

Is there a particular part of the writing process that is your favorite?

The beer and cheese floofs! :p

I actually don’t know what I would call my favorite part. Probably when it’s working, when I’m firing at all cylinders, when the words feel powerful as I type them. Before I have to see them again, before editing, before rejections, before any of that. It feels gone a lot of the time since I’ve started writing to sell, but occasionally I still feel that spark that first drew me to writing, that rush from creating that makes me smile, that makes me feel like I know what I’m doing. Also the first five seconds after an acceptance, when I’m super happy and excited and before the fear sets in that I’ve made a huge mistake and everyone will hate my story.

What upcoming projects of yours should we be looking for?

There’s been a lot of good news for me recently, so for now at least there’s a bunch to look forward to. Perhaps the most exciting is that I have stories coming out in the first Book Smugglers Quarterly Almanac (with cover art based on my story!) and in the upcoming Journal of Unlikely Observances from Unlikely Story. I also have a cute urban fantasy M/M romance novelette coming out at Dreamspinner in June and plenty of smut coming out at Torquere Press and even an M/M/M erotic fairy tale that will be in Fairytales Slashed vol. 8 from Less Than Three Press later this year. And I’ll be at WisCon at the end of [May] doing my first ever convention panels (so excited and terrified!). So it’s a bit busy, but in the best of ways.

Any links you’d like to share?

Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together
The Postcard Chronicles (a fun project with fellow Wisconsin writer Jes Rausch)
Dreamspinner Author Page (actually compiles Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, and more)

Big thanks to Charles Payseur for being part of this week’s author interview! Be sure to check in regularly with his latest reviews and publishing news at Quick Sip Reviews!

Happy reading!

Welcome back! This week, I’m pleased to spotlight author David Ishaya Osu. David is a fiction writer and a poet as well as an editor. His work has appeared in numerous journals, including Watershed Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, and Taos Journal of International Poetry and Art.

Recently, David and I discussed his favorite authors, his tenure at The James Franco Review, as well as his future writing plans.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you first decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

I started reading and writing poetry in 2010. I do not remember making any deliberate statement about becoming a writer, except for the unexplainable fascination with words, metaphors, meta-worlds and beauty that consumed me and still consumes me each day of this life. Stating a favourite author is like choosing one out of all the blinks my eyes have had so far. The more I read, the more I encounter favourite authors. I enjoy Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Uche Nduka, Kim Hyesoon, Tomas Transtromer, Lidia Yuknavitch, Xandria Phillips, Rainer Maria Rilke, Michael Ondaatje, Michael Echeruo, Kathleen Jamie, Brenda Shaughnessy, Cynthia Cruz, Emily Dickinson, Doreen Baigana, francine j. harris, Solmaz Sharif, Ana Castillo, Walt Whitman, Safia Elhillo, Gloria E. Anzaldua, Luce Irigaray, Anais Nin. ASA’s songs are a fave. Also, I study Francesca Woodman’s photography with the same intensity I do poems.

Do you write every day? Also, do you have any specific rituals as a writer (e.g. listening to music as you work, or only writing during a certain time of day)?

Because my mind works every day, I write everyday; even when I do not spell something or put words on paper, the nonstop spillage of thoughts is another form of writing. When I was bedridden, I wrote in my head; and when I could use my hand, I pulled out everything saved in my memory and relocated them to a manuscript. I agree with Uche Nduka who said: “The poem has to be written whether by word or by silence.”  Also, my specific ritual is breathing, which, in all truism, is peculiar to every living thing and non-living thing. I am a list of milk, moon, and mirror and ghosts. I listen to both music and silence—ASA goddesses my spirit; maybe you should listen to ‘The place to be’ or just any of her songs, you will fall in love with meteors, I promise you.

You were the poetry editor for The James Franco Review in February and March. How did you become involved with the publication, and what were your goals as editor during your two-month tenure?

Editorship at The James Franco Review rotates around editions. So I was invited to serve as poetry editor for the February/March edition. It was particularly a wonderful experience, reading through hundreds of poems submitted. I was interested in seeing the ninth colour of the rainbow. Remarkably, the entire reading process opened me to new worlds. Because [we] need new worlds to stream in.

As both a poet and an editor, is it a challenge to toggle between the two? Do you prefer one over the other, or do you enjoy the way writing and editing complement one another?

It’s no challenge for me. I enjoy both. I’m simply kept alive by poetry; whether reading, writing or sharing it. The candlelight has its life.

Out of your published pieces, do you have a personal favorite?

Interesting. One poem I do not hesitate to return to when asked is: “When I’m eighteen.”

Where would you like to see your writing career in five years?

More poetry, more rejoicing. Books, books. Globetrotting and writing and sharing newer magics.

Big thanks to David Ishaya Osu for being part of this week’s author interview series! Find him online at Facebook and Twitter.

Happy reading!

Welcome back to this week’s author interview! Today, I’m excited to spotlight Sean Thompson. Sean is the co-host of Miskatonic Musings as well as an up-and-coming horror author in his own right.

Recently, Sean and I discussed the genesis of his writing career, his life as a podcaster, and his  upcoming collection, Too Late, scheduled for release this summer from Mcmanbeast Books.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you first decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

I wasn’t one of those kids who knew as soon as he hit speaking age that he wanted to be a novelist. I loved watching cartoons, and television shows, and watched too many films to name, but initially, I just had this nebulous desire to be creative. And poetry always came easy to me, but I guess I rather blithely assumed it came easy to everyone. I was actually really shocked when I discovered that these poems for my middle school class I’d crank out in five minutes the other kids would struggle to produce.

In the years from high school to college, I’d fluctuate from wanting to be a skateboard videographer (I’ve skateboarded since the age of twelve) or a just plain regular filmmaker, to wanting to be a lead singer or a rapper, as I’d write lyrics in my notebooks during class (depending on the year, either hip hop lyrics, or rock lyrics).

In college I took a few screenwriting courses, so initially the first long form things I wrote were screenplays. I went to the University of Massachusetts, and studied English, but my minor was in film. I did write a few short stories in college, egged on by a story I read [that] my ex-girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend wrote for her. I read this thing, and told her “I can do better than that piece of shit.”

It wasn’t until I started dating my current life partner Emily (what do you say if you’re not married, and have a cat child together?) that I started writing again. There was a gap from about 2002 when I graduated from college, until roughly 2007 when I didn’t really write anything. Anyway, somehow Emily got a hold of one of my old stories, and read one of my screenplays, and she encouraged me to keep writing. So, all credit where credit is due, I didn’t decide to become a prose writer until my current girlfriend Emily told me I should.

As for favorite authors: Stephen King, Clive Barker, Chuck Palahniuk, Jack Ketchum, Joyce Carol Oates, Thomas Ligotti, Laird Barron, Michael Crichton, Richard Matheson, Bentley Little, Shirley Jackson, Irvine Welsh.

Along with Charles Meyer, you host Miskatonic Musings, a podcast that focuses broadly on horror entertainment. What was the inspiration behind the show, and what do you and Charles have on tap for listeners in the upcoming weeks and months?

Since my last answer was so goddamn long, I’ll keep this one svelte. I joined a book group run by one Mallory O’ Meara known as the “Arkham Horror Book Club.” Mallory asked if anyone wanted to cohost a horror podcast with her and her friend Charles. Being a secret attention whore (not so secret) I agreed, and the rest was merely a series of trials and tribulations.

The inspiration behind the show was always to cover horror, but to slant towards the weird. To summarize Miskatonic Musings, it’s a horror podcast which has a penchant for the weird, but we also have a sense of humor, and don’t take ourselves, or the show, all that serious.

And if you want to know what we have lined up, you’ll just have to listen.

You’ve got an awesome forthcoming collection of short fiction! I’ve already had a sneak peek, and I can say it’s a lot of ghoulish fun! What was your process when compiling the collection, and what can readers expect from the stories?

Ah, here it is. Wondered when this one was getting lobbed my way.

I’m quite neurotic, and I take a while debating over my fiction; where I want to send it, or if I want to try to shop it at all. I started in 2014 compiling stories from a stockpile of roughly 5 years. There were roughly thirty stories I’d written and shopped, and either had published in small presses or web magazines, or just wrote and forgot about. I paid one editor who will remain nameless to look at the stories, and wasn’t very thrilled with his work. And as projects do, this one got put aside while I focused on other stories that were wandering around in my head.

After a year of shopping stories with very little sales, I got frustrated a few months back and decided “what the hell, why don’t I just self publish some of these dirty little bastards?” Any story I was iffy on I took out of Too Late, so it’s a very short collection now, and went from ten stories to five. I split the fucker in half!

Here’s the thing about my horror fiction… I don’t sugar coat it. This isn’t “dark fantasy.” These stories are violent, morbid, and do not care about you. They represent a universe of chaos, where bad things happen to good people, and evil creatures giggle with glee in the moonlight, be they human or otherwise. That said, these babies are kinetic, seizuring across the pages. So, strangely enough, I’ve often heard these little devils I set to paper in an attempt to scare the piss out of people are often “fun.”

Your work often delves boldly into themes involving mental illness and drug use. Do you ever find it challenging to explore such difficult topics, and in your experience, is it harder to find markets for these stories?

Well, as stated, I’ve had a lot of trouble selling stories in the past year, which was part of the kick in the pants to finally just self publish Too Late. Absolutely it’s harder to find markets for the stories I write.

In all honesty, I’m a firm believer in writing what scares you the most. And you want to know what scares me the most? Relapsing, and losing my fucking mind. Sure, demons, ghosts, aliens, squamous elder things, these are all entertaining. But these things, if I use them, are only for their aesthetic properties. At the heart of all my stories, I’m dealing with pain, addiction, and death.

Where would you like to see your writing career in five years?

I’d like to fucking have one, haha!

No, I have simple aspirations. To sell a few collections, and a few novellas, maybe a novel. I don’t expect to get all that done in five years though. As for an audience, I’ll be happy with what I can get.

Any other projects of yours we should be looking for?

You’ll be the first to know.

Big thanks to Sean Thompson for being part of this week’s author interview series. Find him at his Spooky Sean author website as well as at Facebook and Twitter.

Happy reading!

For this week’s author interview, I’m pleased to present Cynthia Lowman. Cynthia and I have been working on the podcast, The Lift, together, and I was so honored in January when she chose my story, “Girl, Alone at Play,” to make her voice acting debut. And what a debut it was! Cynthia is definitely a major voice talent to reckon with, and her fiction is equally amazing.

Recently, she and I discussed her work on The Lift as well as her many upcoming projects.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you first decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

I’m the typical writer who has been doing it since grade school. I took writing very seriously through high school, but when it came time to choose a career I fell into that trap of thinking I couldn’t make a living as a writer. I canceled my plans to go to the fabled University of Iowa and did “sensible” jobs, which included such moneymakers as waiting tables and telemarketing. It is only within the past few years that I decided the other path didn’t turn out so well, so why not do something I’ve always been good at and loved (most of the time)? About three years ago, I quit my office job to write full time and proceeded to allow everything to get in my way since then.

As for favorite authors, I am not so easy to pin down. I have lots of favorites. I blame it on being a Gemini, which is the only thing that sign is good for. But if you want some names, I do love Jasper Fforde, J.R.R. Tolkien, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Mary Roach, Donna Tartt, Neil Gaiman, and Hannah Kent, even though she only has one book. I know there are some I’m forgetting, but that would fill up the whole interview.

You are currently working with Dan Foytik on his major shared world project, The Lift. How did you become involved in the podcast series?

Dan had been doing 9th Story podcast for a while, and Victoria was a part of that from the beginning. She was not to be ignored. We talked about her a lot, and one day while at a workshop, Dan asks me and another writer friend of ours if we thought this Victoria spinoff with the lift and the building of 9th Story in a Twilight Zone-type structure would be a good idea. Of course, we thought that was great! Since then, Dan and I talked about the details of the building, the world, and, of course, Victoria. She invaded both of our lives quite thoroughly, and we share with one another what she reveals.

I originally thought I would only be a writer for The Lift, because I had a lot going on in my life. I kept referring to myself as the fifth Beatle. Since Dan and I are close friends, and we talked about the project so much, eventually, I knew I couldn’t let this opportunity get away. Now I’m editing and narrating and writing and social media-ing too. So Pete Best, I am not.

Speaking of The Lift, you recently made your narration debut with my story, “Girl, Alone at Play,” and though I might be biased, I think you knocked it completely out of the park! You followed it up with the narration on your own story, “No Such Thing.” Was it easier or more difficult to narrate your own story as opposed to another writer’s story? What were the biggest surprises when doing narration for the first time?

I cannot tell you how glad and relieved I was to hear you liked my narration of your story! Reading someone else’s work and wanting to tell the story appropriately made it the more difficult one to do. I never want to let listeners down, but letting the author down would be dreadful.

I actually recorded my story first. From the time I had the idea for it, I asked Dan if he would be okay if I narrated it, and he was gracious enough to say yes. There were several things in my story that, as I wrote it, I knew I wanted to convey in the telling. So that one was easy. Well… except when I immerse myself in the character, it can be emotional.

The same went with reading your story. It was even more emotional. I read through it multiple times and marked it up, so I would read it just right. Every read-through was tough, because I was feeling what the character felt. That was the surprise in narrating. It was much more than reading books to kids when I was preschool teacher.

On your website, you blog about your writing and also spotlight details about your in-progress novels. Do you feel that sharing your writing process with others helps to keep you accountable as you continue to develop a story?

I wish! Accountability is my nemesis. I can’t seem to wrangle it into submission. My blog isn’t even kept up to date regularly. The most accountable I am is when someone expects something of me, even if it’s a daily word count or a progress report. I haven’t grown up in that regard. I still need a parent.

What other upcoming projects can we expect from you?

I’m currently working on another Lift story, which I am super excited about! I don’t want to reveal too much, but it is a core story about Victoria, and there is a surprise for the listeners on this one. I will be writing a few more stories for The Lift too.

I started another novel after attempting to revise my first novel and seeing how malodorous it really was. It is now stinking up a drawer where I dream it will transform into a bestseller.

Everyone will get to hear my voice a few more times on The Lift! Narrating is a love I never knew I had. I was recently added to narrate the female characters in the book, Carrot Field, by Vincent Asaro, which I am thrilled about!

Where would you like to see your writing career in five years?

By that time, I better have a novel published, even if I do it on my own! (Who wants to be my parent on that one?) I have no doubt The Lift is going to grow into something great, so I expect that to keep me busy with production and writing. And even though it’s not my own writing, I look forward to expanding my narration opportunities.

Big thanks to Cynthia Lowman for being part of this week’s author interview! Find her at her author site as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

Happy reading!

For today’s author interview, I’m thrilled to spotlight writer and editor E. Catherine Tobler. She is not only an incredibly accomplished author with novels, novellas, and scores of short stories to her name, but she is also the fantastic senior editor at Shimmer. So much greatness, so little blog space!

Recently, she and I discussed her upcoming novella, The Kraken Sea, out next month from Apex Publications, along with her future plans for her awesome Traveling Circus universe as well as her Folley and Mallory steampunk series.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you first decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

I don’t know that I ever really decided to be a writer. Growing up, I wanted to be a teacher or an astronaut, but the more school I explored, the worse teaching seemed to be, and I could never fully wrap my head around math. In high school, I took an extra credit assignment which was to write a short story about anything we wanted. I wrote a horror story and earned an A+, and never really stopped writing.

As to authors, I start with Ray Bradbury, because he took me to Mars for the first time. Kage Baker taught me how to love time travel and androids. Lewis Carroll taught me about portal fantasies. Laura Kinsale taught me about humor and romance. Agatha Christie and Elizabeth Peters introduced me to Egypt, and Elizabeth Hand keeps taking me to Highly Unexpected Places I Love. Nick Mamatas taught me about pacing and how to fly without scene breaks. Molly Tanzer showed me it was okay to flirt with ghosts.

Your novella, The Kraken Sea, is slated for release in June from Apex Publications, and it’s already garnered positive reviews from sites including Publisher’s Weekly. The story, which is part of your Traveling Circus universe, features monsters, trains, and time travel. In your work, you have an impressive track record of combining seemingly disparate elements into cohesive stories. You seem completely unafraid to make bold, genre-blending choices. When you’re writing, do you ever worry that certain elements won’t work together, or that those choices might be difficult sells since they don’t fall along established genre lines?

Absolutely. I have a circus story in submission right now that is from the steam train’s point of view (because naturally the train is possessed by the spirit of–oh, that’s a spoiler, ssshh), and I have no idea if it works. I wrote about school shootings in “Silencer, Head Like a Hole Remix” (Interzone #259), and never thought the story would sell given its real-life horror content.

No matter what one writes, there is always the worry that it won’t work. But the other side is, what if it does? Throw the element in, see what happens. Writing is fluid and never has to be linear. If the element doesn’t work, take it out. Put the element somewhere else, what does it do there? Maybe the element works upside down.

Mostly, jump off the cliff. You’ll figure out a safe way down or you’ll hit the ground–but what if you break on through and keep going? One doesn’t have to die at the bottom.

Your Traveling Circus universe is a wonderfully ambitious project. The stories, which have been published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, The Dark, Giganotosaurus, and other venues, are standalone pieces, but they create an engaging series if read together. After The Kraken Sea, can you reveal any of your future plans for this world and these characters?

I haven’t been writing the stories with an actual plan, she said with a nervous grin.

The first story, “Vanishing Act,” really came out of nowhere, the character and voice a tribute to a good friend. I had no plans to write a series, but then I wrote a second circus story, and realized that if I was very quiet, other voices began to make themselves known.

That said, there are a few aspects of the circus I haven’t explored yet—and The Kraken Sea was a big one, Jackson’s genesis!—but as I finish more stories, I see the ends of more threads peeping up from each, hints of what’s to come if one reads closely enough.

Congratulations are also in order for the recent release of The Honey Mummy! This is the third book in your Folley & Mallory steampunk series, and the second to be released from Apokrupha. What was your inspiration in creating this series, and how has the transition been to a new publisher? (I love those beautiful covers by the way!)

Aren’t those covers amazing? We were very lucky to find Ravven and her wonderful work because she’s a perfect fit for the atmosphere of the series.

Jacob Haddon and Apokrupha have been wonderful to work with. I wasn’t entirely sure what would become of the series when Masque/Prime said they weren’t interested in continuing the journey—I had so many more stories to tell—but then there was Jacob saying “hey, I dig what you’re doing, how can I help?” And here we are!

I have always loved Egypt, and my first thought for setting a book there was actually something in the distant future, where my archaeologist heroine would try to preserve the past as technology and the world took over. But I realized it might be better to tackle that issue in another time (see, put the element somewhere else, see what it does!). Eleanor Folley is anchored in a very modern future-is-rushing-toward-us world, but feels the pull of an even more ancient world. How does one preserve that ancient world, even as the modern age rushes in? How does one protect artifacts so they aren’t lost and so the people these artifacts belong to are still noted, honored, respected? Given that Folley has a deeply personal stake in those questions, it’s been great fun.

Many readers also know you as the senior editor of Shimmer. What inspired you to expand into the editing field, and what advice do you have for other editors out there? Likewise, do you have any tips you can share for writers submitting to Shimmer?

As with so many things, I never planned on getting into editing. I applied to read slush at Shimmer because I was told it would be good for my writing. It was absolutely great for my writing (and if writers ever have a chance to read slush, jump on that opportunity). The longer I stayed at Shimmer, the more I took on, until eventually I edited my first issue (#15!), and I just kind of stayed…

I am not sure I have advice for other editors–I am still a small fish in a very big genre ocean. But tips for writers when submitting include reading the guidelines, following the guidelines, and not to expect a critique in any editorial response. Critiques are for writing groups; editors don’t generally send them, unless we are asking for a rewrite.

2016 has already been an incredible year for your writing career: a novel, a novella, and your 100th story sale (and beyond). In terms of upcoming releases, is there anything else we should be looking for?

The next Folley & Mallory adventure arrives in October. The Clockwork Tomb will finally see this pair exploring a tomb, though it’s not at all what they expect. I also have more short fiction coming from Clarkesworld and Beneath Ceaseless Skies (another circus story!). This summer, my short story “The Indigo Mantis” will kick off The Book Smugglers’ Year of the Superhero.

Where can we find you and your work online?

For all things me, my website is http://www.ecatherine.com. This includes bibliographies, story and book lists, and my occasional blog, where I talk about writing, inspiration, and cake. I’m also on Twitter @ecthetwit, where I am generally full of nonsense.

Thanks, Gwendolyn!

Big thanks to E. Catherine Tobler for being part of this week’s author interview series. Check her out at her aforementioned website, and be sure to keep up with the latest issue of Shimmer!

Happy reading!

Welcome back! As a nice change of pace here on my blog, today’s featured interview is between editor Sarah E. Glenn and author Paul Wartenberg. Way back in early 2015, I first launched this author interview series with several of Sarah’s interviews with her authors from Mystery and Horror, LLC. So this is truly a return to form, and a particularly welcome one: Sarah and Paul recently worked together on Strangely Funny III, the sequel to Strangely Funny II which was the first book to feature my fiction. In a way, this blog is very much like coming home!

Now enough about me, and on to the main event! Author Paul Wartenberg has been published in various anthologies, including Strangely Funny, Mardi Gras Murder, and History and Mystery, Oh My! He published his own anthology, Last of the Grapefruit Wars, and has self-published shorts and novellas such as The Hero Cleanup Protocol and Body Armor Blues as ebooks. He’s also a devoted cat owner, which always wins you points on my blog.

Below Sarah and Paul discuss the inspiration for his Strangely Funny III story, “Minette Dances with the Golem of Albany,” as well his upcoming plans as an author.

Sarah Glenn: How did you get the idea for your story in Strangely Funny III?

Paul Wartenberg: I’ve been fascinated with the legend of the Golem of Prague, and had been wondering how I would write a story about it wandering about a modern-age urban city. Would it still be something of a protector of its community? Has its long age given it any insight into the human condition that it otherwise did not know before? Could it have gained a soul?

I then considered what it could be like for Golems to be made elsewhere… and then I remembered my birth-state of Georgia is well-known for its red clay. The idea of a red-skinned (“redneck”) Golem from my hometown became too tempting to ignore. I wanted to have a Golem, and I wanted to use the background from my earlier vampire story to try and expand my “playground” so to speak with other vampire characters.

SG: Who are your current favorite authors? What do you enjoy about them?

PW: I’ve been reading Lee Child for some reason. The Jack Reacher stuff. I’m usually not much of a thriller reader, but there’d been a lot of checkouts of his work at my library so I took a look. It’s sort of like reading Die Hard as written by Hemingway. Otherwise I’ve been keeping up with my regular readership of Tim Dorsey for the bizarre Florida-esque humor and various graphic novels.

SG: What is your favorite writing snack food/drink?

PW: I drink iced tea, lots of. Have to cut back on the sodas. As for food, I snack between writings, I loathe getting crumbs and grease on the keyboards.

SG: What are you working on next?

PW: Struggling with the NaNo novel project from last November, and getting short stories finished for the Florida Writers Association’s annual anthology projects.

Big thanks to Sarah E. Glenn and Paul Wartenberg for stopping by my blog today! Read Paul’s latest ebook, A Serious Tank on a Clockwork World, and be sure to pick up a copy of Strangely Funny III, from Mystery and Horror, LLC!

Happy reading!