Steve Stred's Blog, page 35
December 26, 2022
3Q’s – Ben Eads shares his Hollow Heart!
Here’s a new one – when I contacted today’s guest to do a 3Q’s, it was initially delayed as he was preparing to deal with whatever Hurricane Ian was bringing to the table! Ben replied a few days after that all was well and sent the answers along! Few!
I’m so glad to have Ben today! He is one of the nicest guys out there, passionate, and continues to deliver some dark slabs of fiction for his fans!
Please, do welcome Ben!
Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
BE: My mojo is strongest in the afternoon or evening. The mornings are when I apply any edits. I don’t shoot for a word count. But I do shoot for the completion of one or two scenes in a day. I try not to burn myself out. Ha! I sometimes I’ll take a day or two off if I’m lost or blocked. But that rarely happens.
Steve: You decide to host a writer’s retreat. One weekend in a luxury house on an island. What three other authors do you invite to come along?
BE: Wow! That one is so hard to answer but I’ll try. I can’t just pick three. Ha! Living and deceased: Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Poe, Joe Hill, Neil Gaiman, Mary Shelley, Ray Bradbury, Jack Ketchum, and Mercedes M. Yardley.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
BE: My latest release is a horror novella, out from the good folks at Crystal Lake Publishing. Here’s the 411: An aberration known as The Architect has finished his masterpiece: A god which slumbers beneath the hollow, determined to change the world into its own image. With the neighborhood on lockdown, and the residents turned into shambling horrors, Harold and his former lover, Mary, begin their harrowing journey into the world within the hollow.
I think fans of horror would love it because It’s a heart-stopping horror thriller about tragedy, fellowship, forgiveness, and redemption. The reader is forced to look at themselves in the mirror, and the fantastical elements will stretch their imaginations. I always want to take readers to a place they’ve never been before.
Steve: Bonus Question! You receive an invitation in the mail from one of these two people. The invitation invites you to have dinner and spend the night in their home. Do you accept the invitation from Victor Frankenstein or Dracula and why?
BE: That’s a tough one. I would have to go with Victor. Why? Well, here’s my strategy: Act like I’m asleep, so when he and Igor come in to kill me and use my organs, I’ve got the drop on them. Boom! They’re both dead, and now I have an awesome castle to live in! Ha!
Always an excellent choice!
Thank you so much Ben!
To find more of his work, check the links!
December 23, 2022
Book Review: The Turtle Boy by Kealan Patrick Burke
Title: The Turtle Boy (Timmy Quinn #1)
Author: Kealan Patrick Burke
Release date: January 1st, 2004
Full disclosure here for this one – I’m reading the collected omnibus called ‘Stage Whispers’ which has all of the Timmy Quinn stories packaged together. I decided to do a review of each of the novellas within, as well, I’ll do an overall review of ‘Stage Whispers’ based on how it works collected together.
I knew I had this collection, but for some reason it completely stumped me about what it was called to start it. So, on a recent Tik Tok video Kealan had posted, I asked him what it was called, he kindly replied and I dove in later that day! I’ve read a BUNCH of Kealan’s work, and I always know I’m in for a few things each and every time – the first is an emotional journey. The second is a darkness that doesn’t necessarily define itself immediately. And the third is phenomenal prose by a master of the written word.
You’ll find all three aspects entrenched in ‘The Turtle Boy.’
What I liked: The story (which won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction when it was released) follows young Timmy, who is trying to make the most of his free time with his friends. When him and another friend go out to the local pond, one having a lore passed from older kids to younger kids, they spot something and a chain of events begins.
When it comes to coming-of-age novellas, this one is pristine and filled with that magical sense of youth pushing the imagination in several directions. Did they actually see what they saw? Was the boy they met a real boy or something more malevolent?
Ultimately, Kealan forces the reader into a corner where we have to decide what we believe, which he then follows up with a really dark, bleak ending that fits the story – and – in the context of ‘Stage Whispers,’ sets up for further discovery in the sequel.
What I didn’t like: Now, this may be premature, because this was novella one, but I personally wished we would’ve learned a little bit more about the lore. Kealan does give us a ton of information and revelation with the ending, but there was still this aspect that I wanted to know more about.
Why you should buy this: If you’ve not read anything from Kealan before, this is a fantastic place to begin. A quick, emotional story that introduces us to both a great character but also a very intriguing ‘folklore’ tale that will lead you down a rabbit hole. As an individual novella, I highly recommend it – and as an opening chapter in this omnibus – a very interesting starting point.
5/5
The Turtle Boy;
Stage Whispers;
3Q’s Special – R.L. Boyle needs to prepare with garlic!
What a great one we have today! R.L. Boyle burst out of the starting blocks with her phenomenal debut, ‘The Book of the Baku.’ This one had me racing through it. I simply had to pester R.L. and ask her how she creates her dark fiction!
So, I am so happy to welcome R.L. as today’s 3Q’s Special Guest!
Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
RB: I don’t have a word count, as many days I delete more than I write, or I’m researching something and so the word count doesn’t go up at all. But I do try and make sure I put about 20 hours of writing in a week, or around 3-4 hours a day and I try and take Sundays off, if I can.
It doesn’t always work out, and it’s much easier to hit those hours when I’m editing rather than drafting – I find drafting much more of a slog. I love editing, because I’m so full of self-doubt when I draft, and it’s such a relief when everything starts to come together.
Steve: You decide to host a writer’s retreat. One weekend in a luxury house on an island. What three other authors do you invite to come along?
RB: I’d invite Stephen King (of course), Elena Ferrante (because I want to be in on the secret and I adore her writing) and Guillermo del Toro, so we can talk about monsters and all the weird stuff.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
RB: My debut, The Book of the Baku, came out last year with Titan Books. It’s a YA/horror crossover. I wanted to write a horror story that was terrifying as well as heartbreaking. Some people have said it scared them, others that it made them cry, and so that makes me happy. Hopefully, for some it managed both! It was shortlisted for a Bram Stoker, too, which was very cool.
Steve: Bonus Question! You receive an invitation in the mail from one of these two people. The invitation invites you to have dinner and spend the night in their home. Do you accept the invitation from Victor Frankenstein or Dracula and why?
RB: DRACULA! In a heartbeat. He has the gravity, charisma, wisdom, magnetism! And he’s been around so long, imagine the stories he would tell. Also, who wouldn’t want to visit Dracula’s castle?!
So yeah, Dracula. As long as I can drape myself in garlic beforehand, I’m good to go.
Great choice! And I can’t wait to see what you have coming next! Thank you for doing this!
To keep up to date with R.L.’s work, check the links!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/R-L-Boyle/e/B08V9JDH7N/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rlboyley
Website: https://rlboyle.co.uk/
3Q’s – Eric J. Guignard is a potential time-traveler!
Really awesome one today with amazing editor and writer Eric J. Guignard! Eric has always been super supportive and kind and continues to put out new and exciting stories and books!
Please welcome Eric!
Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
Eric: I try to write every day, even if it’s only a dozen words. My personal goal is 1,000 words a day (though most writers I know strive for more, between 1,500 – 2,000). Sometimes I just can’t get to it. I don’t beat myself up about it, as such is life. I try to write in the morning after I wake up, the earlier the better. I also, oddly, have a time of greatest focus/ productivity in late afternoon. Our bodies cycle to rhythmic clocks and mine is set to pound out work at about 4:00 p.m. Of course, all that also depends on other life obligations; I have to balance family and young children, and day jobs, volunteer work, and I coach and referee AYSO Soccer, and I’m Assistant Scoutmaster of my son’s Boy Scouts troop. It’s a lot. I’m tired all the time!
Steve: You end up at an estate sale and discover an unpublished manuscript from an author you love. Do you keep it just for yourself or do you share it with the world?
Eric: I’d read it first, and then absolutely share it with the world!
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Eric: Through my press, Dark Moon Books, I’m publishing the a series of author primers created to champion modern masters of the dark and macabre, titled: Exploring Dark Short Fiction (Vol. 1: Steve Rasnic Tem; Vol. II: Kaaron Warren; Vol. III: Nisi Shawl; Vol. IV: Jeffrey Ford; Vol. V: Han Song; Vol. VI: Ramsey Campbell, etc.).
Ramsey Campbell is my latest volume, and people should read any of the titles as an opportunity to learn more about the dark fiction genre, and those authors who successfully push its boundaries.
And I’m continuing editing and publishing the afore-mentioned series, +HORROR LIBRARY+, which promotes un-themed horror short stories. Readers should dive into those volumes to explore some of the sharpest and progressive new horror fiction short stories.
For my own writing, I’m hoping to have my second collection in publication next year. I’m in process of writing three novels, of which I’m jumping back and forth between! One is a paranormal detective series, one a literary historical horror, and one a cosmic slipstream time-travel. Of course those can’t be read yet, since they’re not yet in publication, but be on the lookout! My latest published stories this year that can be read are in Not One of Us magazine, 34 Orchard, and anthologies, Voices in the Dark; Negative Space 2; and What Remains. Read any of them to support indie venues!
Steve: Bonus Question! You wake up in a comic book. What is your comic book character and what is your super power?
Eric: My kids love super hero cartoons and movies, and we fantasize about super powers together all the time. The funny thing is that we never have consistent answers. One day I might want to have the power of the universe, and another day it’s just that I could summon coffee at any time. My daughter wants the power to turn into other people, and my son wants to be able to speak with animals. Me, I’d want either illimitable wisdom or else the power to go back in time (while still knowing what I know now)… or else I’d settle for that coffee-summoning ability. That’d be cool, too.
That is awesome! It’s so funny how many people have these convos with their kids!
Thank you again, Eric!
To find more of his work, check the links!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Eric-J-Guignard/e/B004QJ1YTC
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericjguignard
Website: http://www.ericjguignard.com/
December 22, 2022
3Q’s Special – Patrick Freivald enjoys his Barenaked Ladies!
Apologies to Patrick, but that headline writes itself!
Excited to welcome today’s guest to the 3Q realm. For many, Patrick is known for his dark fiction. For others, he’s known for keeping the peace over on the HWA Facebook page! Either way, Patrick has his hands deep in the horror world and I was excited that he agreed to do a 3Q’s!
Please welcome Patrick!
Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
PF: Neither. I write if/when I feel like it. A lot of my writing goes like this: “Think about a story for days or months, without really writing it down, just letting it tumble around in your idea space. Run to laptop and write the whole thing in an afternoon (if a short story) or a month (if a novel).”
I go weeks and sometimes months without actually putting anything on paper. As the coach of a FIRST Robotics team, during build season I don’t get anything writing-related done (and barely see my wife or pets, either). When “in the zone”, I might write from when I get home from work until ten or midnight several weeks in a row.
Steve: You’re riding an elevator and BAM! It gets stuck. What two authors (one living and one dead) would you happen to find yourself stuck with?
PF: I’d probably end up stuck with Nicholas Sparks and the rotting corpse of Leo Tolstoy because that’s my luck, but I’d rather get stuck with Stephen Graham Jones and the rotting-but-talkative corpse of Elmore Leonard. You’ll never find two authors so different and yet so incredibly gifted at making incredible stories and characters that populate them.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
PF: My newest novel is actually a mid-grade story (billed as YA) that I wrote on spec to kick off the re-boot of David Brin’s OUT OF TIME series. THE ARCHIMEDES GAMBIT is about a trio of teenagers who have been ripped from the history books into the 24th century to deal with an artificial intelligence that has gone murderously rogue. Any kid and no few adults will fall in love with these kids and how they tackle a problem that only they can handle.
Steve: Bonus Question! If you were transported back in time, which Pop Band/Hit Band would you hope to find yourself a member of?
PF: I would prefer to stay in this time and be a member of Taylor Swift’s band, because she’s incredible, but if there must be time travel, there must be time travel, so in that case I’m going to have to go with The Barenaked Ladies, for fun music and funny, often darkly ironic lyrics. I’m not Canadian, but they’re not ladies and perform with their clothes on, so we’ll call it even; let’s do some gigs.
Great choice, classic Canadian band.
Thank you so much for doing this, Patrick!
To find more of his work, check the links!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Patrick-Freivald/e/B006N2B4YK
Website: https://patrick.freivald.com/
3Q’s – John C. Foster is THE WOLF!
Super fun one today and our guest offers a great insight into how they construct their stories!
John C. Foster continues to churn out riveting and tension-filled tomes. Add that to the fantastic photos he shares of his pup and I’m always excited to see what he has on the go! I was actually considering messaging him back to see if he could send a photo of him and his dog, but alas, I didn’t want to bother him again!
Please, do welcome John!
Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
John: My writing style includes getting up and down frequently, pacing and roaming the kitchen for snacks, taking a shower and walking the dog. During a first draft when I’m on a hot streak, I wander a lot, start doing other things while my subconscious is churning and then stop mid task to run back to my office and hammer the key board. I write like I exercise, in explosive bursts. It’s a ridiculous way to do things. Sometimes it takes me over an hour to finish a shower because as soon as I step into the spray an idea-bomb goes off. If it’s small, a firecracker, I can write it down on the waterproof pad I keep in the shower, but if it’s an entire dialogue exchange I jump out, grab a towel and dash to my desk.
Like I said, it’s a ridiculous process at times.
I never set a word count goal because it feels restrictive. I try to finish whatever scene I’m working on in a single day so as to maintain the kinetic flow. As for schedule, I loosely break up my day into three sessions. The first starts around nine or ten, although when I’m REALLY hot I’m at my desk before seven after walking my dog Coraline. The sessions last anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours, pulling the trigger until the hammer hits empty chambers. Then I take a break to let my brain catch up with the story. The first is typically the most intensely raw and creative. The second blends that with tightening and revision and fleshing out, making sure I’m telling the story through more than just the visual sense, etc. The third is often about going back and cleaning up the mess I’ve made. I work with great intensity but I’m a shite typist and routinely commit horrible crimes against the language.
An exception to the above is as I’m hitting the last chapter or so. If memory serves I finished one book with an all day single session of around 20,000 words. It was insane and my brain felt like it had been squeezed dry, but I felt as giddy as I did tired. (The clean up effort in following days was enormous – shite typist and all that)
During draft revisions the process is a bit less frenetic, more workmanlike, though I still follow the two or three session a day plan. If the creativity just isn’t happening, there’s still work to be done. Pitching. Querying. Researching story calls and reading books I feel I need to read as a writer…though this last bleeds straight over into fun.
Steve: You end up at an estate sale and discover an unpublished manuscript from an author you love. Do you keep it just for yourself or do you share it with the world?
John: I’d definitely bring it home, but I think the first thing I’d try to do is determine what the author wanted to happen with the work.
Did they think it was worthy of publishing or had they buried it in a trunk? I think back to Harper Lee’s unpublished follow-up to To Kill a Mockingbird and how it was published to benefit a seemingly duplicitous person after Lee’s death – I wanted no part of it, so I have not read it even though I think To Kill a Mockingbird may be the finest novel ever written by an American.
So there’s a good chance I would not share the manuscript widely in an abundance of caution to respect the wishes of an artist not present to represent themselves. That being said, I may be exposing some hypocrisy here, because I’d sure as hell read it myself.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
John: My latest novel LEECH, published by Ghoulish Books, debuted at the first annual Ghoulish Book Festival in San Antonio and has generated more personal/direct messages to me from readers than anything I’ve written to date. A mosaic novel, it tells the story of psychologically unbalanced secret agent, a southern gent who is part 007, part Fox Mulder, who can “see through the veil.” Told in a series of stand alone stories that tell a larger narrative when read in order, LEECH takes readers on a tour of crumbling realities, dark scientific experiments, prehistoric super beings and demonic forces locked in arctic installations. The binding current running through each story is his reliance on his wife Karen, also psychologically unbalanced…but as unstable as these two may be, they are each other’s rock and take turns pulling each other back from the brink. At the end of the book, Leech is quite willing to destroy the world for her.
The book came about because I wrote a couple stories about Archibald Leech in his white linen suit and my crit group wished there were more. Who knows, there may even be more stories about Archibald Leech down the road? (Hint, there are more Leech stories in the works).
Steve: Bonus Question! You wake up in a comic book. What is your comic book character and what is your superpower?
John: The Wolf. Strong, endless endurance, inescapable. Hovering in between hero and criminal. Definitely a killer. I’d much rather be a sorcerer or be able to throw lighting and fire—no flying though because I’m a afraid of heights—but if my inner self affected the mutation, I’d come out as some kind of canine predator for sure. Also wolves like to eat a lot and so do I, so I’m halfway there.
Excellent choice! Thank you so much, John!
To find more of his work, check the links!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnfosterfic
Website: https://www.johnfosterfiction.com/
December 21, 2022
3Q’s Special – John Horner Jacobs – sharing is caring!
What an honor it is to have today’s guest stop by! I’m a huge fan of John Hornor Jacobs’ writing and, as I’ve said before, sometimes I reach out and ask, not expecting an acceptance, but when John said yes, I was over the moon! Not only because I got to interview him, but because I know how many of his fans will be excited to check out his answers!
Please, welcome John!
Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
John: I’m all over the place honestly when it comes to writing time. I’ve recently transitioned from being a partner at an ad agency with a 60 hour a week job to going freelance, giving me a lot more freedom with my time, but my life has been upended in a variety of ways. And that’s gotten in the way of me having any constancy in my life. Multiple deaths of family, mother, aunts, uncles. I don’t really have a good schedule yet. I wrote a novel last summer and during that time I focused on writing around 1500 words a day. Any more than that and I feel like my prose suffers from lack of consideration which, in the end, leads to a blandness.
I tend to write in the morning when I first sit down at my desk (but not always) and do design work and linocuts in the afternoon and evening after my wife has gone to bed (but not always).
Steve: You end up at an estate sale and discover an unpublished manuscript from an author you love. Do you keep it just for yourself or do you share it with the world?
John: The story writer in me finds some problems with the setup. Would I get the rights? Who’d have the rights to the book? Would I just turn it over to the author’s literary estate? Is the book any good? Could I just slap my name on it and make a million dollars?
I guess the question for me really is, which deceased writer would I like another book from? And in that case, I’d probably say Hilary Mantel. I’d love another brutally wonderful historical novel from her like the Cromwell series. It was a shock when she died this year.
Maybe an unpublished Gene Wolfe novel? Something by Charles Beaumont?
But writers I’m always wanting new novels from include China Miéville, Christopher Buehlman, Sarah Hall, Richard Kadrey, Caitlin Kiernan, Brian Evenson.
In other news, I’d really love to read John Steinbeck’s unearthed werewolf novel that they’ve said they’re not going to release.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
John: My newest release was a little while back, in 2020. It came out during the height of the pandemic and was a bit overlooked – granted, there was a lot going on, tbh. It’s a collection of short stories and a novella which is a sequel to my Bram Stoker Award nominated first novel, Southern Gods. It’s called Murder Ballads and Other Horrific Tales.
Steve: Bonus Question! You wake up in a comic book. What is your comic book character and what is your superpower?
John: I read some comics – Barbaric (written by Michael Moreci) and anything by Cullen Bunn or Mike Mignola – but not a lot of DC and Marvel stuff and I definitely don’t have a lexiconic understanding of all the superheroes and the history of comics. I tend toward more horror comics. So, what I’m about to say might already exist and the name might be taken as well but I don’t care.
If I was a superhero, my name would be Godmaker and my superpower would be the ability to bestow upon others superpowers. That way I could deem who was worthy and hopefully make the world a better place without having to wear tights and a cape. Outsourcing and delegation!
Ha! That’s great and a truly great superpower!
Thank you so much, John!
To find more of his work, check the links!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Hornor-Jacobs/author/B004UAC44G
Website: https://www.johnhornor.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnhornor
3Q’s – Johann Thorsson is here to convince you!
Awesome one today friends!
You may know him from his fantastic short fiction, or from his debut novel ‘Whitesands.’ Or – you may know him from his really cool photos around his home over in Iceland! Either way, Johann is a fantastic guy and a big supporter of so many!
Please, welcome Johann!
Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do
you have a word count you attempt to hit?
Johann: When I am actually productive my writing time is from 5:30 to about 7:20 in the morning. Then the world wakes up and my private writing sanctum is penetrated by my kids getting up and me realizing that I should get ready for work.
Even better is when I manage to put in a stretch, about three weeks or more. I have gone through a heap of productivity-maximizing attempts and the ideal scenario is as follows:
100-word goal pre day. Anything above that is a welcome bonus.
Reward when I sit down. In my case it is a cup of bulletproof coffee.
An accountability buddy or group.
Track daily progress.
This system eventually got Whitesands written, though a week’s residency in Exeter in the U.K. was the clincher.
Steve: You end up at an estate sale and discover an unpublished manuscript from an author you
love. Do you keep it just for yourself or do you share it with the world?
Johann: This is a ghost novel by Michael Ondaatje. I immediately share it with the world. I think every good book is an advertisement for every other book that exists. So a ghost/horror novel by Michael Ondaatje would be a worldwide bestseller and the world would be thirsty for more.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should
read it!
Johann: I have a story in PROFESSOR CHARLATAN BARDOT’S TRAVEL ANTHOLOGY TO THE MOST (FICTIONAL) HAUNTED BUILDINGS IN THE WEIRD, WILD WORLD.
It’s now a Shirley Jackson Award nominee, in addition to being a World Fantasy Award nominee. You should read it because it is full of great little stories by authors far more talented than me.
Seriously, it’s a fun book.
Steve: Bonus Question! You wake up in a comic book. What is your comic book character and what is your superpower?
Johann: Convincer-man! I am like the most likeable and immediately trustworthy politician ever. Anyone who listens to me speak is moved to agree with me permanently. Like, Obama with superpowers.
(I don’t know why this popped into my head, it’s early and I haven’t had coffee). Anyway, I would travel the world holding rallies and TV appearances and not just tell people about global warming and nuclear disarmament but actually convince those who hear me speak to change their ways with the goal of making the world a better place for all.
Of course, my arch-nemesis would be Donald Trump, the most self-serving of all hemorrhoidal polyps, and he is also traveling and convincing crowds of the opposite viewpoint. We eventually meet in a televised debate that the whole world watches.
Hahaha! Oh, that’s great and might actually make for a really fun comic!
Thank you again, Johann!
To find more of his work, check the links!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/johannthors
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Johann-Thorsson/e/B0946221DC
Website: https://jthorsson.wordpress.com/
December 20, 2022
3Q’s Special – K.P. Kulski transforms into Bloodroot!
Can you believe it, that after almost 200 3Q’s/Specials, today marks a first! A FIRST! Today’s guest is the phenomenally talented and super supportive K.P. Kulski. And while I’m super happy to have K.P. stop by – I never expected that her daughter would actually draw her fictional character for the Bonus Question!!??!! How friggin’ cool is that!
Please, do welcome K.P.!
Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
KP: I’ve been homeschooling my son for over a year and my daughter more recently, it’s wonderful to have them at home and to go on educational adventures together, but it’s been difficult to get writing time in. With that said, I’ve managed to implement a schedule that works for us all. The wonderful Donyae Coles gave me some good advice on balancing homeschooling and writing that’s helping me restructure my time. I’m only a couple weeks in and already it’s made a huge difference. (Thank you, Donyae!)
She told me to first identify what time was my optimal writing time, then structure our homeschool day around that time. I work best afternoon until evening, so 3-4 times a week, we start with interactive homeschool lessons around 9am, have lunch and a break, then I go to my office to start writing by 1pm. The kids work on independent projects then. If I’m having one of those coveted “on a roll” days where the words are flowing and the muses are singing, my husband takes the helm in the evening so I can continue to work. I’ve also been using Saturday as a full writing day lately.
I don’t usually try to hit word counts, instead I focus on goals… like get a scene written, or fix a plot inconsistency, etc. I’m also a pantser and find mood is an important part of my writing. If I’m having an off day I focus on brainstorming and indulging in things that inspire me… music, art, books, etc. I believe it’s an important part of writing, letting our minds marinate in things that fill our well.
Steve: You end up at an estate sale and discover an unpublished manuscript from an author you love. Do you keep it just for yourself or do you share it with the world?
KP: Can I do both? Hahaha. I think I’d read it first, just to have that feeling of amazingness, covet it a little and then share it with the world. But I would also see if I could get in contact with the family involved with the estate sale to be sure they didn’t accidently or unknowingly sell such a gem.
Sharing stories is so important. I mean, that’s what we’re doing, sharing our stories when we publish. It’s the ultimate mind-meld. I’d be horribly sad if a manuscript of a cherished author didn’t sink into the brains of others as well as my own.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
KP: House of Pungsu, released in September from Bizarro Pulp Press. I’m very proud of this little novella, it came from a lot of reflection on my own sense of identity as a woman, the changes in my life… from maiden, to mother, I often think about what cronehood will mean for me and what I want to make it. It’s a look at things that have trapped women in the past as well as today. How these things convince us there are walls.
As I wrote it, I realized how present my own mother was in my thoughts and reflected in the story. My hope is for readers to find the questions to ask about their own identities, to dare to open those doors we’ve been told are locked to us. Ultimately, I hope the journey will give readers perspective and maybe even learn more about themselves.
Steve: Bonus Question! You wake up in a comic book. What is your comic book character and what is your superpower?
KP: I’m a bit of a comic geek. Anyone who knows me knows I love Kelly Sue Deconnick’s Captain Marvel, so if I’m to be an already existing character it would be Carol Danvers.
A character that doesn’t exist though… well, I decided to consult my very creative daughter on this one and for the first time ever, I am unveiling her superhero design made with me in mind.
Meet, Bloodroot. I have the ability to control plants and darkness, move objects through shadows, and can harness the power of the moon. She further states that Bloodroot is both witchy and super cool. I of course, love her design and I’m totally going to have to make myself a Bloodroot costume for next Halloween.
That is seriously awesome and big kudos to your daughter for bringing this vision to life!
Thank you so much, K.P.!
To find more of her work, check the links!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/K-P-Kulski/e/B077ZPZGQH
Twitter: https://twitter.com/garnetonwinter
Website: https://www.garnetonwinter.com/
3Q’s – Todd Love unveils his suffering!
Another fun one today and I think this one will be unique in that it’ll get some eyeballs on a very prolific author, but one that has released the majority of his work over on Godless. Godless seems to be a hit or miss for many out there. Either you know it or you don’t. For those who don’t – consider it an outlet for authors as an alternative to releasing through Amazon. It has become a haven for extreme authors, as they don’t have to worry about Amazon’s strict censorship models, but it can also give a fantastic platform for many authors. Case in point, Todd Love!
Please, do welcome Todd!
Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
Todd: For my short stories, I try to sit down and write the entire story. Then I go back and edit and design a cover.
For my longer stories, I try to write 2k in one sitting, and edit, ending at the end of a chapter. The next day I will do the same and carry on until the story finds its ending.
I write on varied days. I have a full-time job and a family. My life is very busy. I write in my spare time as often as I can. Procrastination does take over from time to time. Bad habits are hard to break.
Steve: You decide to host a writer’s retreat. One weekend in a luxury house on an island. What three other authors do you invite to come along?
Todd: Indie Authors – Ronald Kelly, Carver Pike, Rowland Bercy Jr. Mainstream Authors – Stephen King, Clive Barker, Robert Kirkman.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Todd: Very proud to be included in two new anthologies this year. Planet Bizarro Press – Extremely Bizarre Anthology. With this short story I really tried to push myself beyond anything Bizarre I had ever written before. Pussy Cock was that story. It’s dark and very odd. The story is about bullying and self mutilation, with a twist.
The second anthology is D & T Publishing’s ABC’s of Terror Volume 4. This collection of 26 short stories focusing on neighbours. My take is own two neighbours who turn out to be cut from the same evil clothe as the devil and join forces to take over the neighbourhood.
I have a short story with D.A. Latham coming out on September 29th. It is a continuation of our LOVE series. A Grandfather’s Love will be only available on Godless.
For Godless.com and the 31 Days of October 2 – I have a new short, The Nights Last Cigarette. It is a short story about a killers end of season ritual.
My first novella is almost ready for release. Thresholds of Suffering is a ghost story that spans from a world war to a small town. A solider is haunted by a promise he made 50 years ago to a young girl form a world far away from his own. This promise molds choices that takes a young man on a journey of self discovery, and as an old man that has to face his biggest fear, fulfilling that promise.
https://books2read.com/extremelybizarre
Steve: Bonus Question! You receive an invitation in the mail from one of these two people. The invitation invites you to have dinner and spend the night in their home. Do you accept the invitation from Victor Frankenstein or Dracula and why?
Todd: I would accept the invitation from Dracula in the hope I would be transformed into a vampire. The Lost Boys is one of my all-time favourite movies and I would love to have the chance the be a bad ass vampire like Kiefer Sutherland.
Great choice! Thank you so much Todd!
To find more of his work – check the links!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/author_toddlove
