Steve Stred's Blog, page 40

3Q’s – EV Knight wants to slip her hands beneath your flesh!

Does my guest need an introduction? Sure, why not? Otherwise it would be kind of weird if it just started and you were all like “who the heck is this today?” Although I doubt it.

Award winning author. Awesome person. Super supportive. Always encouraging. And conjurer of severe brutality!

Please do welcome EV!

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?
EV: Oh, how I wish I had a great answer for this. My writing time looks like I am some sort of broke addict searching my couch for enough coins to get a little fix for the day. I dream about a time in the future where I have a set schedule, a place where I always go to write, or even a word count goal. But my writing life is currently supported by my day job: Obstetrics physician. And if you’ve ever met a baby, you know they don’t care about anyone’s schedule or to-do list. They are very greedy and narcissistic like that! (I love babies by the way, this is a terrible joke and I hope I did not offend any of you babies out there) So, for now, I grab every day off, every moment between patients, and time when I probably should be doing things like dishes, laundry, sleep, brushing my hair, etc and I write. I may single-handedly be keeping the Post-It Note stocks high as I carry them around in my scrubs and jacket for anytime an idea strikes.
Bottom line for budding writers: Do not emulate this style unless you like spending money on a therapist to deal with your massive guilt complexes and insomnia.

Steve: You end up at an estate sale and discover an unpublished manuscript from an author you love.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?
EV: I am the worst secret keeper when it comes to gift giving so if I have something I know someone else would love, it’s super hard for me not to give it to them immediately. I would share that sucker in a heartbeat. Plus, in these times, art of every kind is the one thing we can all cling to for joy, I’d never hoard joy like that.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
EV: My newest work Three Days in The Pink Tower is a novella very near and dear to me. It’s a piece of auto-fiction based on a kidnapping and sexual assault I endured at the age of seventeen. I’ve thought about telling the story for a long time but didn’t know how I wanted to present it. Plus, in a world full of #metoo, it seemed almost grandiose of me to assume my story was somehow more important than anyone else’s. I wanted to tell it because it had been eating away at me for thirty years but at the same time, I was so tired of it too.
But I realized that as a fiction writer, I could tell the story any way I wanted. And as I wrote, as I wove in the Tarot mythology, I started to feel this sort of power. I was not the frightened girl in the story, I was the High Priestess guiding her through it. It was, after all, MY story. A story forced upon me but still mine and I could do whatever I wanted to my characters; I could end it however I wanted. That was when I realized the importance of sharing my trauma in this way. I wanted to present it as both a piece of art created from trauma but also as a sort of manual on how to take your story back, how to take the pain someone else gave you and wield it as a superpower. I wanted to inspire others to do that. It’s a tough read, I know. And it’s probably not for everyone, but I do hope those who do read it, find not just darkness but the light of inspiration as well.
Also, I have a short story in the soon-to-be-released anthology Into The Forest: Tales of The Baba Yaga by Black Spot Books. My story is called “Stork Bites” and it explores a horrifying option for women in a world where safe, medical abortions are illegal.

Steve: Bonus Question! You wake up in a comic book. What is your comic book character and what is your super power?
EV: Okay, I’m going for super weird because flying and mind reading would probably get old quickly. I’ve had this character in mind for awhile, and coming from a medical background I think this is what I would choose. Born without fingernails or fingerprints, our heroine discovers the ability to slide her hands into the flesh (basically between the cells so when she takes it back out, no wound, no blood loss) of other living creatures—think the creepy priest from Temple of Doom—and remove whatever—organs, tumors, bullets, etc. You could go evil and become the highest-ranking person in the black-market organ trade or you could save lives everyday by removing all sorts of foreign objects, masses, infections.
I don’t know, this sounds crazy as I write it. But I’m sticking with it. I’m a horror writer after all.

Oh wow! That’s intense! Sounds like a Barker Cenobite waiting to come to screen!

Thank you so much, EV!
To find more of her work, check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/EV-Knight/e/B083WPHXSD

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EVKnightAuthor

3Q’s: Jason Parent is willing to give up daylight!

Fun one today friends! Jason Parent is a horror vet, having seen the highs and lows that come with writing dark fiction. Throughout it all, he’s continued to churn out some really great reads, while also being super supportive to so many of his colleagues.

Please, do welcome Jason!

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?
Jason: I suppose I suffer from writer’s bulimia… I binge and purge. I’m sure some of my tougher critics would say I vomit out work, lol. But I have no set schedule. I generally work long hours at another job… and also work another job on top of that… and have a not-so-healthy video game addiction… so when I get breaks, I tend to lock myself away until I can finish a first draft. This works well with shorter works: I tell the whole story at once, so continuity is never an issue. Lately, I am having difficulty finding time for novels, so it may be a bit before I release another. I also have to “feel” it – I know some writers suggest writing day in and day out even if uninspired, but if my heart’s not in it, what comes out is vomitus, or at least vomitous.

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?
Jason: I’ve actually thought about doing this, either open invitation or invite only, though I doubt anyone would take me up on it that isn’t already a friend. I am moving into a house that I would love to share with others – perfect amenities for a relaxing getaway (and necessary for a wound tight person like me). The problem is that I am so introverted and socially awkward, I’d probably just come off as creepy if I tried, so I don’t bother.
Assuming this question is asking for the writer’s dream team you, first up would be Robert McCammon. I was hoping to meet him at a Borderlands Bootcamp during Covid, but… Covid. While others praise Swan Song and Boy’s Life (the latter being my preference of the two), my favorite series of all time is his Matthew Corbett series, in which he raises a middle finger to genre boundaries, much in the way I try to (with much less success).
Next would be Jack Ketchum. I started attending writerly things just a bit too late to meet the man, as he regularly attended events I now go to. So much raw talent and honed skill – Ketchum could make you bleed with the stroke of his pen. Red still leaves me wounded.
Finally, and I will cheat a bit here, but the old Bad Apples anthology crew. These folks saw something in my writing at a time I might have otherwise given it up. So whatever my writing career is in all its successes and failures, I owe its existence in part to them. And I gained a few real friends along the way.
But hell, I genuinely want to support other writers and writing in general. All non-Ds are welcome, including you, Steve! And Bruce Campbell! He’s welcome too (he’s got at least one book…).

(FINALLY SOMEONE CHOOSES ME!!!! )

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Jason: On October 7th, Crystal Lake released its third volume in its Dark Tide anthology series. For those not familiar with Dark Tide, Crystal Lake has collected novellas from three authors for each volume that are linked both in subject matter and also – to varying degrees – in actual content. The theme of our volume (written with the fabulous Kevin Lucia and Jeremy Bates) is Halloween, and all stories take place in Kevin’s already existing Clifton Heights universe. I had a lot of fun cameoing characters, cross-referencing events, and planting Easter eggs for the most attentive readers. But my story itself, about two college students who pledge a fraternity, is one of the most brutal and personally difficult stories I’ve ever written. It contains material (with warning) that some readers may find triggering, but at the same time, it is also one of the most powerful stories I’ve written to date.

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?
Jason: I’d take my chances with Dracula. I’d give up daylight (and survive off animal blood) for the superpowers of a vampire. Most likely, he’s just turn me into Renfield, but hey… no risk, no reward. And the reward is great – I’d have an excuse to wear puffy shirts and tight leather pants across centuries. Yeah, I’d be that kind of vampire.

Great decision!

Thanks again Jason for doing this!
To find all of his work, please do check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jason-Parent/e/B008XMAMBY

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorJasParent

Book Review: The Branding Ax by Justin Fulkerson

Title: The Branding Ax

Author: Justin Fulkerson

Release date: August 13th, 2022

One thing I’ve always worked hard to do, is try and give some support to those who are looking to get some reviews and get some eyes on their work. Now, I’m not saying I’m anybody to anyone, I’m admitted a small fish in a massive, massive, massive pond – BUT – if I read and review one book and somebody sees that and buys that book – that’s a win and I’ve accomplished my goal.

Since officially re-opening to review requests for novels and novellas, I’ve had a few come through, but when Justin Fulkerson reached out and asked if I’d like to review any of his books, I read their synopsis and of all of them, the one that I was really intrigued by was  ‘The Branding Ax.’ It ticked those three boxes I need ticked – an evil, forests and survival. I mean, come on, how could you not be intrigued by a book that includes all of those things!

What I liked: The story follows a grandpa and grandson as they go into the woods to camp. The grandpa, Earl, is in the early-ish stages of dementia, which is used well when things hit the fan. Seeking vengeance on a company logging the forest, Earl sets off some explosives to destroy their operation.

It’s from here the we see the grandson, Dominic, encounter two of the overnight loggers as he flees from an evil that has infected his grandpa. Survival becomes their only option as they try and remain one step ahead of their attacker, but also remain hidden from the evil itself in the forest.

I enjoyed how we get some of the back story and how things came to be and how Earl ultimately became the Earl at the start of the story. The flashbacks were well done and didn’t interrupt the flow of the story telling at all.

The ending was well done and gave us a fitting and logical conclusion. I like when stories like this end in this way because it makes it a solid ending and one that gives the readers what they want.

What I didn’t like: I wasn’t overly keen on the two secondary characters from the logging site. Their backstory didn’t add much other than an odd tension that I personally didn’t think flowed with the story. As well, after they see the transformed Earl chasing them, they still appeared to not completely believe Dominic’s story and treated him oddly.

Why you should buy this: If those three box ticks also tick your boxes for a book, then definitely get on this. This one hums along and gives us another fun entry with mythological elements in the ‘survive-in-the-woods’ story list!

4/5

3Q’s: Ai Jiang embraces the chaotic!

I love, love, love seeing people share their good news, and lately on Twitter, it seems that every time I pop onto Twitter, I see today’s guest announcing another story acceptance and it makes me so happy!

Ai is not only a super talented author, super supportive person, but she’s also a fellow Canuck, which bumps her cool factor up by about 197%. Apologies to my non-Canuck friends. But it’s true.

Please, welcome Ai today!

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?

Ai: My writing time is absolutely chaotic I must say. It ranges anywhere from 0 hours to 12 hours a day. Usually, I’m doing a lot of planning in my head for my stories/long form, so the actual writing doesn’t take nearly as long in comparison! I think I’m the type of person who doesn’t thrive well on routine, so I don’t end up writing at the same time each day—sometimes I try to, but it doesn’t always work out. Recently, I’ve been trying for 2-5k every other day to give myself time to reflect on what I’ve written and where I need to go next with a piece of work. I’m doing a lot of research for my first novel lately, so my word count has been relatively low!

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?

Ai: Share it with the world! I think all fans of an author would love to see it as much as I would. Though if it was a trunk story, I’m not sure if the author would want me to share it. I don’t think I’d want the trunk stories I have now to float about. But then again, I think those remind of how far I’ve come, and how far I still need to go.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

Ai: My most recent release is actually a story I wrote when I first started submitting to journals and magazines and began taking craft more seriously. Since then, it has seen 85+ rejections and 7+ drafts. I’d say if anything, people should read it because it’s a reminder of the subjectivity and difficulties of publishing, but also how every story, no matter how many times they have rejected, have a home—we just need to find it.

Steve: Bonus Question! You wake up in a comic book. What is your comic book character and what is your superpower?

Ai: To pause time so I can catch up on my TBR list, my emails, and my writing!

Ohhhhh, damn. That’s a great one!

Thank you so much, Ai for doing this!

To discover more of her work, follow the links!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AiJiang_

Website: https://aijiangauthor.wordpress.com/

3Q’s Special – Crystal O’Leary-Davidson reveals her secret mess!

I can’t even describe how honored I am to have today’s guest here. Since I started my writing journey/career, very few people have been as amazingly supportive as Crystal O’Leary-Davidson! She’s always congratulating everyone on their successes, even as she continues crushing it and when I reached out to ask if she’d be on, I was elated when she agreed!

Please, do welcome Crystal!

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?
Crystal: I’m always writing, but when I write and how much varies every day depending on the time I have. By day (and many nights) I’m an English professor. So often an academic project—a conference paper or article has an external deadline. For my creative work, unless there’s an external submission deadline, I have to create those deadlines for myself.
I wish I were more of a detailed outliner. I’m working on that. Naturally I’m a slow recursive writer, revising as I go, figuring out my writing as I revise, whether it’s short stories, an academic essay, or a novel chapter.
The only place I’m fast is flash fiction, and at the moment, it’s my favorite form, trying to tell a story as quickly and tightly as possible.

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?
Crystal: One the best things about being a writer is getting to know other writers, being inspired by them, and becoming close friends. The second most challenging thing for me is balancing my creative writing life with my academic and scholarly writing. With that in mind, as hard as this is to do, of all the great writers I know (or want to know) I’d pick two wonderful writers who I only get to see once a year at StokerCon: Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson. Lisa and Melanie are the authors of the Stoker- and Locus-award winning Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction (2019, Quirk Books) and the forthcoming, Toil and Trouble: A Women’s History of the Occult (Oct. 25, 2022, Quirk). Both are fantastic academic scholars and nonfiction writers, and they both host two podcasts (Monster She Wrote and The Know Fear Cast). Lisa is also a talented fiction and screenwriter. So basically, they do everything! Most of the time when we do get together, we talk about balancing the writing life, so that’s what we’d do on the island—talk about writing over mixed tropical drinks. Since I met Lisa and Mel through my husband, the novelist Andy Davidson, and he is part of that StokerCon hang, obviously he’s invited too.

Now I totally want to do this IRL!

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Crystal: My latest release is a flash fiction piece, “A Good Mother,” that will be published in the Halloween issue of tiny frights. The story peels back the surface of a life lived on social media, so nothing against socials, but it is a cautionary tale to not accept everything we see presented online as truth. We are all messy. Some are just scarier than others in their secret mess.

Issues

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?
Crystal: Definitely Victor Frankenstein. We can trade research tips and talk about balancing that academic and creative life!

Excellent choice! Thank you so much for doing this Crystal!

Check the links to stay up to date with her writing!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/colearydavidson

3Q’s – Isaac Thorne unleashes all Hell!

Today’s guest is a writer who is always supportive and encouraging to a wide range of authors. He’s written some really bleak, dark work and continues to put pen to paper on his writing journey!

Please, do welcome Isaac today!

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?

Isaac: Once upon a time, I tried to follow the Stephen King routine: read and write for eight hours a day and strive for up to 2,500 words. Because I have a full-time job and other responsibilities, that quickly became an impossible goal. I generally reserve 8 p.m. through midnight for my writing time these days. I’ll do all my reading, research, and writing at that time. On a good night, I’ll produce somewhere around 1,500 words.

That said, I don’t write creatively every single day. That’s another impossible goal for me, given my lifestyle and circumstances. I think the “you have to write every day even if it’s shit” advice is a bridge too far. It’s too easy to punish myself for not meeting a goal like that, regardless of what life throws in my way. Instead of adapting Stephen King’s goals for myself, I decided to set reasonable ones for who I am and what I do. That way, I can celebrate small wins and still hold myself accountable.

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?

Isaac: Alive or dead? I’ll assume alive. It would be difficult to invite anyone because I’m an incredibly solitary soul. I’d ensure we all have our separate writing rooms and only meet for meals, to stream a movie, or to talk shop. I’d go with somebody like Danger Slater because I figure he’d be a great icebreaker. Gemma Amor would be a good addition for some mystery and depth, especially after we’ve all been drinking and our conversations inevitably turn inward. The third would need to be someone with a long career who could occasionally remind us why we’re all there. Maybe a Stephen King or a Joe Lansdale, or a John Bloom.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

Isaac: Hell Spring is my new novel. I released it on Sept. 21, 2022. It’s a horror story, but at its core, it leans literary and historical. It’s set in rural Tennessee in 1955. Eight everyday small-town folks are trapped by flood waters in their local general store with a shame-hungry demon who takes the shape of Marilyn Monroe. They must battle their guilt and shame as well as the monster and the rising waters to survive the night.

Why should someone read it? It’s possible that they shouldn’t! I won’t pretend that my stuff is for everyone. It’s not even for every horror fan. That said, I think Hell Spring shares important messages about toxic shame in a time and culture that, in some ways, thrives on sameness and judgment. Aside from that, there’s also the frank terror of extreme weather. We’ve seen a lot of that lately in the news.

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?

Isaac: Dracula because there’s a greater chance I will survive the evening in some form, even if it’s not strictly human. Or strictly alive. I think Dr. Frankenstein would be more likely to slaughter me for parts.

Excellent thought-process behind that one! Thank you so much, Isaac!

To find more of his work, check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Isaac-Thorne/e/B00CF4B3UU/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/isaacrthorne

Website: https://isaacthorne.contactin.bio/

Book Review: Helicopter Parenting in the Age of Drone Warfare by Patrick Barb

Title: Helicopter Parenting in the Age of Drone Warfare

Author: Patrick Barb

Release date: November 29th, 2022

Firstly, huge thanks to Rob and Spooky House Press for sending me a digital ARC of this upcoming novelette!

Honestly, this is a tough one to review, and the only reason I say that is because of the subject matter. I think some of this may ultimately come down to what country you are from when you read this. In the US, there’s a significant belief that guns are a fundamental right and something every single person should own. Over the last number of years – and I’m old enough to remember all the way back to Columbine – there have been thousands of violent slaughters in the US and very little done about it. I actually remember when I first watched the movie American History X. Sorry, minor spoiler here – but I was beyond shocked at the end when the African American student guns down the Caucasian character in the school washroom. I couldn’t fathom it. I was 17 when it came out the thought that this was something that happened just completely shocked me. How could these things keep happening?

Which brings us to Patrick Barb’s novelette – ‘Helicopter Parenting in the Age of Drone Warfare.’ I went in knowing a few things. First – it would be a quick read at only around 90 pages. Second – it involved a parent grappling with what his son attempts to do at school. And third – that it involved divorce and a workaholic father.

I was intrigued with the set up and from the other reviews I skimmed over – not wanting to completely have everything spoiled – I was excited to dive in.

What I liked: The story is told from the father, Abe’s, POV. Set in the near future where everyone has some sort of drone hovering around them for visual ‘connection and visiting,’ Abe is relaying what happened to a detective and her helper drone. We learn about how Abe works a significant amount of time, how he and his ex-wife, Cathy, are divorced and how Abe has lost touch with his son Zack.

It’s an all-too common aspect that works well for me. The ‘that’s not how my kid is’ subplot that I fear all parents will deal with at one time or another. This is used as the main driving narrative. Abe can’t believe his son isn’t super popular anymore of that other kids find him creepy and disturbing. How, his son no longer excels at school and how he has lied and deceived in such a way as to ultimately give himself the ability to put his plans in place.

Barb does a great job of ramping up the tension and keeping it going until the very end. The final act that Abe has to deliver is a tough one, but one that works well within the story. It is something that I think will be hit or miss for many (and normally I might put this in the next section but it worked for me) but I felt it was a solid way to effectively cap off Abe’s story arc as well as Zack’s.

What I didn’t like: As I mentioned – school violence is something that should never happen. Either between students or from others entering the building illegally and with horrible intentions. This novelette is a tough one to stomach and I think we’ll see some folks either decide to not read it because of the subject matter or rate it lower because of the emotions it will stir up. I personally think Barb handled it with tact and sensitivity and it doesn’t come off as an aspect done simply for shock and awe, but for true growth and discussion on the subject.

Why you should buy this: ‘Helicopter Parenting in the Age of Drone Warfare’ will most likely make a number of year-end ‘Best Of’ lists and rightfully so. It’s a really well done, difficult read that will have you questioning the parents actions, the schools actions, the scope of technology in our lives and ultimately the gun control question. The fact this is wrapped into a novelette shows how phenomenal Barb is at controlling the story. This is a top notch read and one I think will be talked about for some time.

5/5

3Q’s: D.W. Gillespie is The Human USB!

I’m always super excited when my favorite authors to agree to do the 3Q’s because then I feel like I’m able to get a small, sneak peek into what they’re working on or how they craft their tales.

Today’s guest is a personal fav of mine. D.W. Gillespie has put out some of the best and most frightening books over the last few years and having had the privilege of reading an unpublished piece of his (hopefully released soon!) which is phenomenal, I’m so happy he was able to stop by!

Please, welcome D.W.!

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?
DW: I’ve written the majority of my books in my car during my lunch break! That was always my go to time to write when I worked in the office. I used to hate the fact that I didn’t have a nice writer’s nook with a mahogany desk and a door I could shut, but the truth is, if you want to do it, you make it work.
Since the pandemic, I’m able to get my words in on the couch instead. I still like to write around lunch though. If I go for it too early or too late in the day, I don’t feel like I’m firing on all cylinders.
I’m also living proof that you don’t have to write every single day. I almost always write in sprints with long breaks in between. When I’m officially working on a new draft, I consistently hit about 10k per week. That’s a nice pace for me, and it lets me knock out a draft in a few months.

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?
DW: I could imagine my mood changing on this depending on how my writing is going. I’ve got a lot of unpublished books myself, but the early ones will stay that way on purpose. There’s something a bit ghoulish about rifling through someone’s things and holding them up for all to see, so I think my initial answer would be no.
BUT…I’m also in the middle of a dry spell, and all I want is for these books that keep piling up to grow wings and fly away. It’s a little heartbreaking to watch them just languish on a laptop. I’ll make a deal with you Steve. If I drop dead tomorrow, you have permission to drop my unpublished books out of an airplane over the city of your choice. (Steve – DEAL!)

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
DW: It’s a couple years old now, but One by One is a haunted house novel about (tell me if you’ve heard this one) a family moving into a fixer upper. They end up finding a hand drawn picture on the wall that looks suspiciously like them, and soon enough, people start vanishing.
I always love stories that bounce between something paranormal and real world, leaving the reader not quite sure what’s really going on. Hopefully, it’ll keep you guessing till the end!

Steve: Bonus Question! You wake up in a comic book. What is your comic book character and what is your super power?
DW: I’m The Human USB…I don’t fight crime or anything, but I have a thumb drive port in my head. All I have to do is plug in, and all the books I want to write are just automatically downloaded. Not the most exciting comic book, but pretty handy for a writer.

Ha! That’s hilarious!

Thank you again, D.W.! I really appreciate!

To find more of his work, come check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/D-W-Gillespie/e/B00GS2WU20/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dw_gillespie

Website: http://www.dwgillespie.com/

Book Review: The Insatiable Hunger of Trees by Samantha Eaton

Title: The Insatiable Hunger of Trees

Author: Samantha Eaton

Release date: February 21st, 2023

Huge thanks to Samantha for sending me a digital ARC of this one!

I gotta tell you – I was super pumped to check this one out when the cover and title were announced. I’d not read anything from Samantha previously, but you tack together woods, monsters and a bloody cover and I’m pretty much your target audience.

I’ve also been a responsible reviewer lately and doing my best to try and get well ahead of release dates. So, I was keen to dive in as the snow began to hit Edmonton and the temperatures dropped.

What I liked: I mean, you read what I said up top there yeah? Woods, monsters, blood? Ok, in all seriousness – the story follows a teenage girl, Cara, struggling to adjust to life after her older sister, Shelby, disappears. Her sister has been gone for almost a year. Some say she ran away while others say a monster took her into the woods.

One morning, the older sister simply walks back into their home and from there things ratchet up and chaos ensues.

Eaton does a great job when creeping us out. We get unflinchingly scary moments where things creep in the trees and eyes are spotted. We also get to see some really dark moments with the older sister. She keeps saying things that are horribly brutal and frightening to hear. Things like she shouldn’t have come home because she’s going to die anyways etc.

The story really takes off after a car accident occurs and something attacks the driver. It works well to set up the chain of events that take place after that and leads us to a horrifying conclusion.

What I didn’t like: Ok, mild spoilers in this section so stay clear if you wanna stay completely free of story plot points.

Firstly, the constant reactions that occur throughout towards Shelby, when she returns drove me batty. Over and over we hear her younger sister say a variation of ‘why are you acting like this?’ as though she expected her sister, who has been missing in the woods for a year, to just waltz back in and return to normal.

Secondly, there’s a frequent ‘convenience’ effect that occurs. The loner, odd boy just happens to be a monster hunter and there’s a contract to sign. Cara just happens to come across the car accident. She just happens to find things in the woods. Even when others are searching, she’s the one that finds it. It took away a lot of the potential of fear.

Lastly, I found the way the story unfolded to feel more like a short story that was expanded upon with an almost ‘and then’ effect, where just as it should naturally end something else is thrown our way. I really diminished some of the flow.

Why you should buy this: This one ultimately feel in the middle of the road for me. Frequent moments that pulled me along, only to be undone by odd interactions and frustration repetition. Eaton does do creepy really well and I think the flow that annoyed me at times is more a personal thing and many readers will absolutely love how it occurs. The closest I can relate it too, is I went in expecting a movie and it turned out to be a mini-series, if that makes sense.

Eaton has created an intriguing folklore type story here, one I think many folks will really dig.

3/5

3Q’s Special – Matt Wesolowski tells his stories!

Today’s guest is an author whose ‘Six Stories’ series I’ve torn through. I’ve also had the pleasure of doing a deeper dive with friend and reviewer Tony Jones into Matt’s work.

Matt is an author whose work you need to read and experience to understand the layers and nuances that take place within them. It is dark, depressive and utterly compelling to read.

Please, do welcome Matt!

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?
Matt: I’m very strict with writing time and being a father as well as jobs in the house, it always feels like there’s so much to do. However, I’m also incredibly driven; writing has been my dream since I was a child so I push myself very hard. My routine is quite set – I make everyone’s breakfast, clean the kitchen, make coffee and begin work at 9am. Work through until the afternoon when I spend my time reading or listening to an audio book or podcast and doing housework.
Two thousand words a day is my minimum – even if it’s two thousand words of rubbish (which happens frequently!)

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?
Matt: I’m privileged in that I’ve met a great deal of authors at various festivals and there are some who have become solid friends – we’re all weird little introverts at heart so when you make a connection with another author it’s wonderful. I think I’d invite people whom I admire as well as get along with and hope I can absorb some of their skills through osmosis.
First would be my Finnish friend Antti Tuomainen author of The Rabbit Factor, The Man Who Died and other words of genius- one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. Second would be Catriona Ward (The Last House on Needless Street, Sundial) as we’re always on spooky themed panels together and have consequently become friends; we share a very similar sort of humour too. Last but by no means least would be SJ Watson (Before I Go to Sleep) who is one of the most gentle, funny and kind authors I’ve ever met. I think the three of us would spend a lot of time laughing.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

Matt: My latest book, the sixth in the Six Stories series is ‘Demon’ published by Orenda Books, it’s written in the style of a true crime podcast; each chapter being an interview with someone connected to the crime and stands alone, as do all in the series. Demon deals with the subject of kids who kill other kids and the way out society is so quick to brand people as ‘evil’. Two twelve year old boys kill a disabled classmate on the austere Yorkshire Moors. But why?
I really like to look at blurry places in morality with my books and hint that there’s something supernatural going on. Were these two boys possessed by a demon or is that just an easy way for our society to look away from deep seated problems within ourselves?

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?

Matt: Dracula for sure. I’ve not really ever grown out of my teenage goth phase and going to hang out with the man himself would be a life goal!

Excellent choice!

Thank you so much Matt for doing this!

To find more of his work, check the links!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConcreteKraken

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Matt-Wesolowski/e/B007C1EW90