Louise Zedda-Sampson's Blog, page 5

Author Spotlight - Kali Napier

Kali, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I live in Meanjin Brisbane, but my soul resides in Western Australia. Before writing and mothering and settling down, I was an anthropologist, initially in Bangladesh and then in Native Title in the Mid-West on the lands of Yamatji Peoples. I have an MPhil in creative writing and an MA in writing, editing, and publishing from UQ. I started writing fiction in 2014 following a public service redundancy. My first manuscript was selected for the Queensland Writers Centre/Hachette Australia Manuscript Development Program. Both this manuscript and my second were longlisted in the Bath Novel Award in 2016. The second was eventually published in 2018 as The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge by Hachette Australia and Little, Brown Book Group. At this point, I mainly read and wrote historical fiction. After a string of unpublished full-length historical manuscripts, I decided to try something new. I’d never written short fiction before, so took a workshop with Dr Angela Slatter to ‘write a short story in one day’. And that I did. I then applied successfully for a grant from the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland’s Individuals Fund for a short story writing mentorship to continue developing my craft with Angela. With such a gifted and generous mentor, I felt encouraged to explore more speculative, dark, and witchy themes in my fiction. 

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
The highlight of my writing and publication career is having my short story “Needles” published in The Dark, in July 2020. It was the first place I’d submitted that story. I still pinch myself that I landed it in such a prestigious publication. Then I was fortunate to have “The Little Helper” accepted by Louise and Geneve for Trickster’s Treats #4. Incredibly, in 2020 I will have a third story published. “Let Shadows Slip Through” will appear in the second issue of New Gothic Review on 23rd October. While I have ideas for historical novels, I really enjoy writing speculative and Gothic short stories, so I reckon I’ll continue with these into the foreseeable. 

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
​I have been very fortunate in 2020, with a job that transitioned to working from home. The period when Brisbane was in lockdown and the children were home from school was probably the most well-balanced my life has been in fifteen years. I live in a semi-rural area, mostly off-grid, with a veggie garden and chooks. Getting back to my permaculture principles has been the highlight of 2020. I did a Permaculture Design Certificate in 2013, but the demands of work, kids, and writing (if I’m honest) meant that I had largely let this go.

You can find out more about Kali here:
I am on social media far too much, so you can find me on Twitter @KaliNapier, on Instagram @kali.napier, and on Facebook @KaliNapierAuthor. I have a website that needs a drastic overhaul: https://kalinapier.wordpress.com/. My novel The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge can be purchased at the usual online book retailers. “Needles” can be read and listened to here: https://www.thedarkmagazine.com/needles/. 

Thanks, Kali, for talking with us. Fabulous. We can thank that redundancy for seeing your stories in the world. Looking forward to what we see next.

Kali's story "The Little Helper" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. ​

Author Spotlight Lucy Ann Fiorini

Hi Lucy Ann thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I have a B.A in English, a B.A. in Communication/Journalism, and an M.A. in Humanities/Literature and previously worked as a university English professor. I live just outside of Washington, D.C. and I love all things related to writing and I tend to be very eclectic in my story telling. I write across a large gamut from mysteries, historical and paranormal fiction to Westerns and poetry. Whether I intend to or not, many of my stories have a supernatural bent, thanks to both my previous studies in gothic literature and my long-standing love of ghost stories. I’m a big fan of reality-based ghost-hunting shows and paranormal encounter-type programming and, matched with the thought of “what if…” many of my paranormal-flavored poems and short stories are born.

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
In addition to having my poem, “There Is No Such Thing As Dead” included in Trickster’s Treats, Volume 4, my other publications in 2020 include my ghostly love story, "Actions Louder Than Words", in the Bodies in the Library anthology from Flame Tree Publishing and two poems, “Night Bombing” and “Unanswered” in Door Is A Jar literary magazine, Issue 16, both of which came out this Fall.

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
I was lucky enough to work from home for six months in 2020 and not commuting allowed me a chance to spend more time with my family and also gave me more time to write. Some 2020 highlights for me included completing 11 short
stories and 17 poems over the summer, albeit some better than others so there is a bit of editing in my future. I also completed five 5K runs from the comfort of my own home, which is just the way I like it – doing something fun without having to interact in-person with strangers. I enrolled in online Italian studies and recently graduated to Intermediate level. When not writing, I was usually thinking of writing or watching movies, knocking 37 films off of my to-watch list.

I can be found online at www.lucyannfiorini.com, my home page for past and present publications. I also run a writing, travel, and food blog at https://thewriteone.home.blog, where I bounce between thoughts on writing, travel stories, and restaurant reviews although all of the latter two are based on pre-COVID travel adventures.

Thanks, Lucy, for spending time with us. It sounds like you've been very productive. Looking forward to seeing what you produce next - and well done on the Italian!

Lucy Ann's poem "There is No Such Thing as Dead" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. 

Author Spotlight Laura E Goodin

Laura, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I’ve been writing stories since I was seven years old, and the vast majority of the jobs I’ve held over the decades have either involved or been focused entirely on writing and editing. But I only started pursuing creative writing in my 40s.  Why did I wait so long?  Some of it was due to the need to focus on earning money, raising a child, volunteering in ways that were very important to me. But eventually I just couldn’t hold it off any longer.  I predominantly write fantasy and science fiction as both prose and drama, because that’s what I love to read and/or see the most, and if you were going to stick me into a subgenre, it would have to be hopepunk:  stories of courage, cooperation, love, and desperation, stories of the struggle against evil and the glorious power and beauty of the human spirit (happy endings not guaranteed, unfortunately). When I’m not writing or earning a living, I’m fencing, taking care of my geriatric racehorse, or ringing tower bells and handbells.  I live in Melbourne, although I’m still homesick for America, despite all its many flaws.

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you ?
My first writerly highlight was attending the 2007 Clarion South workshop, where I arrived a tentative wannabee, and from which I emerged a Real Writer. There was also my first published story (in Antipodean SF); my first paid sale (in the Canterbury 2100 anthology); the publication of my first novel (After the Bloodwood Staff, available from Odyssey Books), which was accompanied by a three-city massive book-launch tour); working with composer Houston Dunleavy to adapt my short story “The Dancing Mice and the Giants of Flanders” into an opera and hearing it workshopped; spending six months as the poet-in-residence at a café in Wollongong (where I used to live); and receiving my PhD in creative writing from the University of Western Australia. I’m also thrilled whenever anyone performs one of my scripts, and whenever I get to teach writing.  I’m currently working on the next book in my Purple Bay University series, as well as a radio script (or maybe a series; I haven’t decided yet) involving bellringing, infernal troublemakers, and mayhem.

Thanks, Laura, for chatting. What a fabulous writing journey. Thanks for sharing it with us. Looking forward to seeing what you pen next. 

You can find out more about Laura here:
Website:  http://www.lauraegoodin.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Laura.E.Goodin.Writer
Publisher: https://www.odysseybooks.com.au/
Twitter: @lauraegoodin

Laura's story "Jimmy's Boys" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. 

Author Spotlight - Robert Kibble

Robert, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I'm based west of London with a depressing stack of mostly finished manuscripts, all in different genres.  Just as I've never in my career worked for the same type of industry twice, I seem never to stick to the same genre.  I work in IT, which leaves plenty of creative inspiration left over to write.

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
I've been published in Writers' Forum in the UK (twice), and a few anthologies.  2020, possibly for obvious reasons, has formed a bit of a lull in sending things off (or indeed writing), so if 2021 can stop being quite so apocalyptic, that would be great.  I do have a collection of short stories which presages the end of the world, so maybe that one is topical and should fly away and find a place in the world.

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights? In better news, our writers group has survived via Zoom, I have finally produced a hard copy of a comical short book which is based on a children's book but definitely intended for adults struggling with childcare at home, and I'm changing jobs, which feels like changing horses in a stampede, but should at least not be boring.

You can find more out about me here, including a comedy podcast and other novels: I always welcome feedback via Twitter, where I'm @r_kibble - genuinely, getting contact from readers is the crack cocaine of the writing world (so moreish and almost certainly bad for me).

Thanks for stopping by, Robert. And hooray indeed to a different 2021!

Robert's story "The House Whisperer" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. 

Author Spotlight - Sheri Vandermolen

Sheri, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
My plunge into the well of horror writing was spurred this spring, when I received an invitation to contribute to the anthology Poets Speaking to Poets: Echoes and Tributes (an upcoming volume curated by Dr. Robert Hamblin and Dr. Nick Fargnoli). I was intrigued by the idea of composing in reflective response to another author — particularly Poe — and my piece “The Raving” took dark flight.
 
Having recently served as senior writer for UC San Diego’s Annual Giving department, on a team committed to philanthropic outreach to young learners, I was drawn to participating in this year’s Trickster’s Treats charity volume, for its support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. I also hold a degree in secondary education, and I actively volunteered among underserved students during the six years I lived in Bangalore, India, so promoting opportunities for educational development, language support, and literacy is a profound passion.
 
I returned to the US in 2014, settling in California, and retired from my position as editor in chief of Time Being Books in 2016. Currently, I pursue a wide range of freelancing, with a strong bent toward helping individuals’ shape emerging creative works — short fictions, poems, songs, memoirs, and more… anything of odd interest.

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
After decades as a poetry/fiction editor and scholarly essayist, I began my own writing career in 2013, while still living in Bangalore. Exploring fresh depths, I sensed a book in the making, so I set about submitting my individual pieces to literary journals, to gauge response. Ultimately, all forty-five of my India-based poems were published across eight countries, and I moved forward with developing a full manuscript, opting to pair the pieces with photos that would bring the narratives to dramatic life for any reader (I’m also an amateur photographer, with gallery display in both the UK and the Azores).
 
My volume Jasmine Fractals: Poems of Urban India was published by Shanti Arts in 2017, and I’ve also been involved with various anthologies, including Veils, Halos and Shackles: International Poetry on the Oppression and Empowerment of Women (edited by Dr. Charles Fishman and Smita Sahay) and the Poets Speaking to Poets volume (expected to hit print in 2021).

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
As a huge Halloween enthusiast, I’m extremely excited to see Coming, Buried or Not! open trick-or-treat doors that might otherwise remain closed this year. While we’ve all been tucked away at home for extended periods, writers are at curious advantage for digging inward and taking raw inspiration from the quiet privacy. I hope to keep that productivity rolling in the year ahead — although I certainly look forward to fewer hours spent striking away at my keyboard and more, instead, devoted to volunteering and community service.

Thanks for chatting, Sheri. It's fabulous that you can combine your love of words and images, and that you do get time to do your community work as well as your writing.

You can find out more about Sheri and see her work through the following links:  
https://www.amazon.com/Sheri-Vandermolen/e/B07145RCGM?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000
https://www.amazon.com/Jasmine-Fractals-Poems-Urban-India/dp/1941830684/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=jasmine+fractals&qid=1578598650&sr=8-1
https://www.facebook.com/JasmineFractals/

Sheri's poem "The Raving" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

Author Spotlight - Alyson Faye

Alyson, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I live in Yorkshire in the UK with my husband and teen son, and four rescue animals, (three stroppy cats and one soppy dog). I trained as a teacher years ago and I still tutor as well as edit for an indie publisher. I enjoy swimming, singing and I'm a massive movie buff: everything from silents, through Marilyn Monroe to horror films.
I do occasionally write film articles - https://kendallreviews.com/feature-the-forceful-women-in-val-lewtons-1940s-rko-horror-films-by-alyson-faye/
I write poetry and prose, but lately in the last couple of years I have been writing more horror and supernatural stories. I do enjoy reading/watching Gothic horror and am very drawn to the Victorian period where I often set my stories.

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
There have been a few writerly highlights over the last few years: from my début flash fiction collection in 2018 (Badlands), to Demain publishing my stand alone Gothic story Night of the Rider in 2019, and my noir novella, Maggie, to getting poems and stories in charity anthologies like  Diabolica Britannica this year, and those from Things in the Well - Burning Love and Bleeding Hearts and now TT4.
Stephanie Ellis are I in the process of setting up our horror indie press, Black Angel Press, where our aim is to publish more female writers.
https://kendallreviews.com/graveyard-shift-to-announce-a-brand-new-indie-horror-press-to-publish-and-promote-women-alyson-faye-is-this-weeks-warden/
Our début publication is Shadow Bound : A Gothic Quartet and our next one, will be a collaboration with writers Ruschelle Dillon and Theresa Derwin, due out in ‘Women in Horror month’, February 2021.
2021 will see more news and projects coming from Black Angel – we have plans!

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
Highlights for 2020 – one of those I’ve mentioned already: my long held dream of setting up an indie press with Steph.
I’ve lately been co-editing a horror anthology, Inferno, with Steph, for release in December 2020, published by The Infernal Clock. I’ve hugely enjoyed this process and enjoyed reading the stories.
I’ve enjoyed the varied editing projects I do for Bridge House Publishers. They have ranged from a children’s picture book, originally written in Spanish, to collections of short stories.
I was fortunate enough to receive two invites during the first lock down to write stories for anthologies, one of which was Diabolica, the other being, Feral, and that really helped my confidence and kept me focussed.
We have a rescue dog, a cross black Labrador, originally from Ireland, whose happy nature and need for walks has helped keen me sane and got me out of the house. She is a joy and reminds me that every day is a new adventure - 'cos that’s how she treats it.

Thanks for chatting, Alyson. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes from Black Angel. What a great initiative! Looking forward to seeing what's coming.

You can find out more about Alyson here:  https://alysonfayewordpress.wordpress.com/blog/  

Alyson's poem "The Witch Tree" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

Author Spotlight - Aline Boucher Kaplan

Aline, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
Aline Boucher Kaplan is the author of two science fiction novels (Khyren and World Spirits) published by Baen Books and short stories that have appeared in anthologies published in the U.S. and Ireland (and now Australia). Her articles have also appeared on the Atlas Obscura website. She has been an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America since 1988 and is a long-term member of the Spacecrafts science/fantasy writers’ group.
As a tour guide in Boston, Aline leads architectural and historical walking tours, ghost tours, and historical bus tours. She lectures on Boston history and has been mentioned in the Boston Globe and interviewed on WBUR radio. Aline has also appeared on Chronicle TV, an award-winning television show featuring stories of New England. She writes and edits The Next Phase Blog, a social commentary blog that appears multiple times a week at aknextphase.com.
Aline’s other interests include travel, movies, reading, gardening, riding fast rollercoasters and cooking. She is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, MA, and lives in Hudson, MA, USA with her husband.

Publications
I have been a fan of science fiction since I was a teenager, and I’m an Aquarius, so writing about the future came naturally to me. While I have always wanted to be a writer, I had to pay the bills, which meant a career in marketing for high tech companies in America. Now I’m retired and can put more attention into writing.
I wrote “Frostfire" after asking myself what a planetary ecosystem would be like if the dead had to rise in order to continue the cycle of life. (See? There’s the science fiction.) The rising of the dead is very orderly and very necessary, even if some of the bereaved have a big problem with it. “Frostfire” has no corpses trying to eat brains. They’re just looking to get warm.
I wrote my first novel after reading a series by a male author and thinking that I could do better than that. So, I did, writing by hand after my kids went to bed because I didn’t have a computer of my own. Laptops had not yet been invented.

Thanks Aline for sharing a bit about yourself. With all that time now to write, we'll be looking forward to seeing what you come up with next.

You can find more of Aline's work here:
Khyren – a novel published by Baen Books
World Spirits – a novel published by Baen Books
These, plus published short stories, are listed on:
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Aline-Boucher-Kaplan/e/B07GL16HCG
And, The Next Phase Blog: aknextphase.com

​Aline's story "Frostfire" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

Author Spotlight - Kurt Newton

urt Newton (P) 
Hi Kurt, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I'm a lifelong resident of Connecticut. I grew up on a country road. As a kid, I rode my bike and played in the woods. I had three older siblings but remember spending a lot of time alone exploring, daydreaming. Life was a mystery and I felt it was my mission to try and figure it all out. At an early age I was fascinated by the inner workings of things. I used to take old radios apart and never be able to get them back together again. My dad was a machinist, so I think I picked up a little of his DNA in that respect. My mom was a stay-at-home artist—which means when she got married she put aside her artistic dreams to raise a family. But she channeled her creativity into the way she decorated the house or planted the garden or even in the clothes and jewelry she wore. She was a dreamer, so I think I picked up a little of her DNA in that respect.
Of course, this all leads to how and why I became a writer, and why most of my writing tends to focus on the darker side of things. Homelife wasn't the ideal it might appear. My dad was a functioning alcoholic with a cruel streak. My mom was prone to depression. As a constant observer, I was more aware of the silences and the things unsaid. There was a whole world that existed behind my mother's eyes and in the unexplained nightmares my father had that woke him out of a sound sleep and threw him onto the floor gasping for breath. Like I said, it became my mission to try and understand it all. I guess you could say I'm still trying to do that to this day.
 
Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
Over the past twenty-five years I've had two novels, two short story collections and nine collections of poetry published by various small press publishers. All are currently out of print and can only be found on secondary markets. I recently sold a collection of short stories called BRUISES to Lycan Valley Press. It's scheduled to appear in 2021. A short story in which I'm particularly proud of called "The Hole that Swallowed the World" appeared in a recent issue of Space & Time Magazine. I have a story in this year's Nightscript called "The Death Bodies of Kanggye." And the biggie is a nightmarish tale called "The Spring Burn" which will appear in an upcoming issue of Vastarien. I have a couple more story collections and a novel looking for publishers. And this year alone, I wrote five collections of poetry on topics and themes ranging from literary mainstream to science fiction to Lovecraftian horror to a surreal take on the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
Thankfully, my work wasn't affected by the pandemic. I work for a small radiation safety company and we were considered essential. So, not much changed in my day-to-day life. I still went to work every day, except now two days of the week I have my son, who is five, with me. (Our school system is still teaching remotely.) We had an empty office, and my boss was kind enough to give the okay, so I set him up in there. He's got a desk and a couch and his all-important tablet. For lunch, we get McDonald's french fries and slushie one day, pizza the other day. It's created a pretty close bond between the two of us—something I never really had with my own father. So that's a plus.
 
You can find more about Kurt here: 
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Kurt-Newton/e/B006VYUMUM
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kurt.newton.56
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kurtdnewton
 
Thank you, Louise! And thanks again for letting this non-Aussie take part in Trickster's Treats.

Thank you, Kurt! It's been a pleasure to have you. Also thanks for chatting with me and sharing a bit about your personal journey. That's a challenging start to life. It  has no doubt added the level of depth of your work. It's great to hear something so lovely is coming out of this current time and you are building such a warm relationship with your son. And five collections in 2020! That's a pretty massive effort!

Kurt's poems "The Garden," "The Crowes of Las Cruces" and "The Toddling" appear in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

Author Spotlight - Kev Harrison

Kev, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
My name’s Kev Harrison and I write dark fiction. Much of it tends not to be visceral enough to be called horror, but I deal as much in emotional suffering as in physical. I’m from Britain, and grew  up and lived in various towns and cities during the first thirty years of my life, but I’ve since lived in Turkey, Poland and now Portugal, where I plan to stay. My life abroad, and travel more generally, often provides backdrops or folklore bases for my stories. When I’m not reading or writing fiction I can be found trying to find balance between my opposing loves of food and beer, and running.

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
Only a week before Trickster’s Treats 4 was exhumed, I was fortunate enough to have my second story from Demain Publishing’s excellent Short Sharp Shocks range come out. Curfew is a tale set on the English south coast, at a B&B where hospitality is in seriously short supply. That followed last year’s Cinders of a Blind Man Who Could See, which was a folk horror novelette and April 2020’s The Balance, my folklore-laden eco-horror debut novella, which reimagines the Slavic folktale of Baba Yaga. I’m delighted with how that one has been received, and proud of the story. As for the future, I’m doing my damnedest to sell my second novella, have a story coming in the third instalment of The Infernal Clock anthology series towards the end of the year, and am about halfway through the draft of my first novel, a story set around the eastern Mediterranean and based on some of the folklore of the region.
 
This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
As mentioned above, the release of the novella has been a big highlight, especially as it was released simultaneously in a really well-produced audiobook format, alongside the usual paperback/eBook media. I’ve also been invited to two anthologies, which is a first for me, and gives me the idea that I’m on the right course with my work.

Thanks for chatting with me, Kev. Lots of titles to choose from in here, if people would like to see more of your work.  Congrats on all the recent publications.
​
You can find out more about Kev here:
My website is www.kevharrisonfiction.com and I really recommend people sign up to my newsletter there as there is a big giveaway coming up in October. As for social media, my main presence as a writer is on twitter: www.twitter.com/lisboetaingles

Author Spotlight - Matthew R Davis

Matthew, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I’m an author and musician who lives in Adelaide, South Australia, and am basically terrible at anything other than creating fiction and music. I read widely but end up writing horror for the most part – my work is often sui generis but I’ve always been interested in the morbid, obscure, and ineffable. My writing goal is to be as authentic as possible, even when I’m making up wildly implausible shit. Some of the books I’ve been reading lately: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, A Cathedral of Myth and Bone by Kat Howard, A Convenient Death: The Mysterious Demise of Jeffrey Epstein by Alana Goodman and Daniel Halper, Malorie by Josh Malerman, and Doctor Who – The Evil of the Daleks by John Peel. I’ve also recently discovered the pleasures of Harlan Coben, or at least his books.

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
The big thing is If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, my first collection of horror stories, illustrated with B&W delights from Red Wallflower Photography and released by Things in the Well in January 2020. I have nearly sixty stories published in anthologies – a notable standalone novelette is the award-winning Supermassive Black Mass, published as part of the Short Sharp Shocks! series by Demain Publishing. My first novel, Midnight in the Chapel of Love, is slated for release by JournalStone Publishing in 2021, though that may be pushed back due to our old mate COVID-19. I’ve got a few more publications coming up: “Hole to Feed” in Flashes of Hope and “Our Tragic Heroine” in Tales of the Lost Vol. 2, which should be out by the end of 2020, and next year there’s Nightmares in Yellow, a two-volume Carcosa-themed tribute to Joseph Pulver which has a Kickstarter running until October 18 and features my story “Il re giallo”, about a legendary lost 1971 giallo film and its sinister connection to the works of Joseph W Chambers.

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
The big one for writing/work would have to be my double 2019 Shadows Awards win: Best Short Story (“Steadfast Shadowsong”), and the Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction (“Supermassive Black Mass”). I also had two stories shortlisted in the Aurealis Awards, a step up from one the previous year and none before that. I’m stoked to have my first book out and I enjoyed playing a set of acoustic songs with friends at the launch; the reviews I’ve picked up for the collection so far have been very gratifying, and it was especially sweet to see it get a rave in Aurealis Magazine. I’m working on a batch of promising new songs at the moment and that feels good because I’d drifted away from the practice these past few years. Emotionally speaking, I’m much better off than I was last year, despite the pressures of unemployment, self-doubt, pandemics, and the increasingly apparent shittiness of people and politics the world over.

Thanks for chatting with me, Matthew, and congrats on all this success in such a relatively short time.

You can find more about Matthew here:
My blog: matthewrdavisfiction.wordpress.com 
Outback Horrors: An Anthology of Antipodean Terrors  www.amazon.com.au/Outback-Horrors-Down-Under-Antipodean-ebook/dp/B08FD74XPK
A.M. Ink Publishing’s Shadowy Natures https://aminkpublishing.com/shop/ols/products/shadowy-natures-pre-order – enter code DAVIS10 to get 10% off

​Matthew's story "Tender Age in Bloom" appears in Trickster's Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.