John Quick's Blog, page 6

"Why Horror?" - The Question Answered

One of the questions I’m often asked when people find out what I do is one I’m sure everyone working in this genre has had posed to them at some time or another: why horror? Invariably, the question comes with one or two facial expressions as well, and there’s very little wiggle room between them. Either we get a look of genuine and excited curiosity, or one of abject disgust and judgment. I’m going to attempt to answer that question here, if for no other reason so that when I get asked again...

Summer of Consequences: Review at Horror Maiden's Book Reviews

Thanks to Angela over at Horror Maiden's for this awesome review of Consequences as a part of the #SummerOfConsequences publicity tour!

Keep checking back for more stops as the tour rolls on throughout the summer, and if you haven't already, make sure to grab your copy of Consequences using the links at the side of the page!

From the Strangest Place Comes... Strangeness

Most people who know or meet a writer ask the same question at some time or another. Most writers have heard the question, and either welcome it or shake their head at it. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground to it, so we do our best to come up with an answer that sounds suitably literary or humorous, or sometimes actually have an answer because it was asked so specifically that it's a slam dunk.

"Where did you get the idea for [insert story here]?"

Generally speaking, the answer is...

Rise of the B-Novels? - A Review of The Sludge by David Bernstein

The second I saw the cover for this one, I knew I wanted to read it, so without further ado, here's my review of David Bernstein's The Sludge.

Note: I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review, but that in no way affected my thoughts on it.


When I first saw the cover to David Bernstein’s newest, The Sludge , I was immediately transported back to the late eighties, browsing the shelves at the local video store, smiling at the covers for all those B-movies that were my main source o...

Serving Up The Hard Questions: A Review of Vicki Beautiful

In case you haven't noticed, I've been trying to catch up on my "To Read" pile in the last few weeks, and there's just been so much good stuff in there I've felt compelled to share it with anyone who cares to listen (or read, as the case may be). To that end, here's my review of Somer Canon's debut novella, Vicki Beautiful.


We’ve all had friends we claimed we’d help hide a body before. It’s one of those clichés that never seems to go away, no matter what else changes from generation to generat...

Officially Underway!

I'm sure you noticed the wonderful graphic provided by my publicist, Erin Al-Mehairi from Hook of a Book, on the previous post. Well, now there's an official tour page posted as well. You can check it out over at the Hook of a Book website. Also, feel free to check out the Publicity page above for the confirmed dates as well.

If you want to follow along on Facebook and Twitter, just watch for and use the hashtags #Consequences or #SummerofConsequences. If you'd like to be a part of the tour, o...

Summer of Consequences: Review at The Haunted Reading Room / Mallory Heart Reviews

The Summer of Consequences publicity tour continues! Thanks to Mallory Heart Reviews / The Haunted Reading Room for this awesome 5 star review for Consequences !

"A well-written, well-executed, well-played novel, a horror-thriller, coming-of-age, first-love-blossoming, rural redneck insanity, CONSEQUENCES is a biting, gory, thrill-a-minute roller coaster ride in which the suspense never lets up."

Check out the full review here, and be sure to keep checking back for more dates on the Summer of Co...

A Horror / Western Masterpiece

I seem to be doing a lot of book reviews lately instead of making actual blog posts, but that's because there's not a lot to report and I've been doing a lot of reading in my spare time. Today's a treat, though!

Here is my review of Kristopher Rufty's latest, Seven Buried Hill.


Kristopher Rufty has managed to find a distinctive voice when he writes. In the same way I can listen to a song and recognize Eric Clapton or Slash or Keith Richards as the guitarist, I can read an excerpt of writing and...

How To Defy Classification: A Review of Jeff Strand's Novel: Blister

Since I started reading this sometime this morning and couldn't put the thing down until I was finished, I figured I'd do a quick review of Jeff Strand's latest novel, Blister.

Jeff Strand has a tendency to be a strange sort of author. Trying to put his books into one category is an exercise in futility, since he has a knack for blurring the lines between the genres he writes in. Blister is no exception. At parts horror, crime thriller, sarcastic humor, and sweet love story, it's hard to tell...

One Year Later: My Life in Writing So Far...

On July 5 of last year, I sat down and wrote the opening lines to what would eventually become Consequences. This wasn't the first time I'd tried to write something, nor was it the first time I did so with an eye toward publishing. It was the first time I'd done so with the mindset that if I wanted to make a go of this, I had to treat it seriously, not as some idle pastime to give outlet to the creative juices roiling in my mind. It would be my second job, and that meant I had to dedicat...