Steve Stred's Blog, page 40

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Steve: You end up at an estate sale and discover an unpublished manuscript from an author you love.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

3Q’s: Red Lagoe is a master Word-Spewer!

Today’s guest is a fantastic author and is diving into the world of small press publisher as well! Red has been a super supportive and encouraging friend since we first connected and I think there will be a lot of folks out there who have a similar sentiment!

Super excited to have Red stop by today!

Welcome Red!

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?

Red: I have this condition where if I stick to the same routine for more than a couple of weeks, my creative soul slowly begins to disintegrate. So I switch it up. Sometimes I do really well from 5-7am, and other times of the year I’m sitting in bed in my PJs, knocking out some words. I try not to focus so much on word count as I do hours. Sometimes 2 hours might yield a thousand words, or if it’s flowing easily, four thousand. Back in 2016, I developed some good writing habits by doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). It challenged me to hit about 1600 words a day or more, every day, for the entire month of November. And I did it. At the end, I had a 52,000 word manuscript. It was a hot mess, but it really taught me about dedicating time. If I can dedicate the time, fairly distraction-free, then the words will come.

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?

Red: I think it would depend on the nature of the contents. Is this something that the author obviously never wanted to share? If so, I’d respect that. Or is this something I could give back to the family, if there is one? I’m probably putting way too much thought into this.

Ultimately, as long as it wasn’t some breech of privacy, I think I’d keep it all for myself for a week so I can read it first. And once my selfish heart feels satisfied, I’d then share it with the world.

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

Red: Nightmare Sky: Stories of Astronomical Horror, releases November 4, 2022. I’m a life-long lover of astronomy. A person who, whenever I step out my front door, my eyes are drawn up. I’m the friend who always spots the shooting stars, because I’m always looking up. The sky has always been a tether for me. When the world is spinning out of my control, the sky is my constant. It’s a comfort. But it’s also a great source of fear for so many. I’d been wanting to do an astronomy-horror collection, and I have plenty of my own night-sky themed stories that I could probably put one together. But I also had been wanting to dip my toes into editing an anthology. So, I combined my two desires, and now I have Nightmare Sky. There are 28 stories and poems, ranging from psychological to apocalyptic, from sci-fi to bizarre, from quiet to gruesome, and they all explore our awe-inspiring—and terrifying—human connection to the stars. There are a lot of new talented voices in horror in this anthology—people I think we as a community might want to keep an eye on.

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

Red: I am Word-Spewer. Any story I imagine doesn’t require sitting at a laptop for months in order to tell it. When the story feels completely imagined in my mind, I retch rhythmically like a cat about to puke and eject the entire story into a document. A polished, well-written hairball of a story, all ready to submit. This superpower is entirely self-serving—I don’t think I can be anyone’s hero with this power, other than my own.

That, or flying would be cool.

Awesome! Thank you so much, Red!

To find more of her work, check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B072K5XH4B

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RedLagoe

Website: https://redlagoe.com/

3Q’S: Mark MJ Green delivers his debut!

You know what I love? Seeing people get their debuts out into the world. Today’s guest, Mark MJ Green, was someone I connected with through his reviews and support.

Mark has always been super kind and continues to showcase all the exciting books he’s read and enjoyed. I’ve also loved connecting with Mark and exchanging some Christmas Cards between our kids. It shows you just how small social media has made the world.

Anyways, when I reached out to Mark, I was so excited he agreed to do a 3Q’s!

Please welcome Mark!

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?

Mark: My writing time has been a sporadic mess as I try to juggle time with my family, writing reviews and recording and editing podcasts with my friend and fellow writer, Lee Richmond. Lately, though, I’ve been trying to get myself settled into a more set routine. On days when I manage to stick to it, I try and write for a few hours in the morning, break for a couple of hours to do some chores, walk the dog, or work on a few other things, and then; get back to writing for a few more hours in the afternoon, until it is time for me to pick my kids up from school.

On average, I get two thousand words down each session, but I don’t currently have an office or private writing space, so most of my work will be done sitting at the dinner table.

So far, I haven’t planned out any stories too much in advance. I have the title and a small paragraph outline of what it will be about, and then I write and see where it takes me.

For the story I am currently working on, I decided to set out with more of a plan in mind and made notes for the requirements I wanted to hit in each chapter. It seems to be working for me, so I am trying to stick with it.

I do find it difficult to keep to a strict schedule due to some brain-related issues, as I suffer from headaches and brain fog, so sometimes, I struggle to get into the necessary mindset, but once I get going, I love every part of it. Especially those unplanned moments. The ones where an idea filters from my brain and onto the keyboard almost effortlessly. I enjoy that feeling when something unplanned pops into my brain, and the story in my head truly evolves and takes shape.

I am new to all of this, so there is still experimentation with what works best for me, but I enjoy a relaxed approach to working. Writing should be a fun, enjoyable experience. Especially if I can throw in a subtle reference to another of my stories or kill off a character that I hope readers will have taken a liking to. On average, I think characters have a seventy per cent mortality rate in my work, and I like the unpredictability that makes anyone at risk. Due to my slightly haphazard way of approaching my work, even I don’t always know I am going to kill off a character until I have decided it mid-process.

Someone foolishly asked if they could be a character in my next book, and I am finding immense enjoyment in putting little things into it that will hopefully make them laugh and call me names at the same time.

Most people won’t even know it is there, but a few will, and I love that.

As long as I get enjoyment from writing, and someone somewhere enjoys reading it, then I have achieved what I set out to do.

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?

Mark: Stories are supposed to be shared. That’s why we write. We have an idea, and a desire to tell it. We hope someone else might want to hear it, and we put it down onto the page.

Obviously, I would do the sensible thing of trying to contact the author’s family, getting the work to them, and letting them have the final word on the issue.

If that wasn’t an option, and there were no family members or even publishers that the author had worked with available, and the decision fell solely upon me, yeah, I would get it published. I wouldn’t want to make money from someone else’s work, so that would go to charity. But I would love to keep the original manuscript. Although my wife would probably say, ‘Not more books, don’t you have enough?’

If I die with incomplete or unpublished work, I would like to think someone would pick it up and finish/publish it.

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

Mark: My latest, and first solo release is titled Abortus. It was initially a short story I wrote as part of Medley of the Macabre, which is a collection of ten short stories. Five of them are by me, and five by Lee Richmond. It was the first time I had written or published anything.

I revisited and rewrote parts of Abortus after the awesome Nancy Sienna Sundquist added me to a reading challenge on one of Duncan Ralston’s Facebook pages.

Abortus is about Mel, a drug addict who sells her body for money and has found herself pregnant again. Rather than have another child born addicted to drugs and placed into care where she will never see it again, she decides to terminate the pregnancy herself. A drug dealer/client makes her a large cash offer to let him film her undertaking the procedure.

Why should someone read it? They probably shouldn’t. It’s nasty.

It’s only around forty pages, and I’ve had reviews stating how readers had to stop to take a breather or that it almost made them cry, so it’s not going to be for everyone.

I wanted to create an extreme tale that was more than just gore for gore’s sake, and I tried writing something that would impact the reader. It’s not just the fucked-up nature of the situation Mel has placed herself into but also the psychological damage to her mind driving the story.

Being a new writer and knowing readers have enjoyed something I created – well, it blows my tiny, little mind.

I’m currently writing a short story called Birdsong. It won’t be an extreme tale, although the psychological aspect will still be there as it deals with an elderly widow with dementia. That, admittedly, doesn’t give much away, nor does it sound particularly creepy, but the horror elements will certainly be present.

After that – who knows? I have multiple ideas written down; I just need to decide on which one will be next. Most likely, I’m going to write something with a more comedic aspect, if only to give myself a break from characters with psychological trauma.

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

Mark: There is no way I am responsible enough to have superpowers of any kind. I’ll inevitably do something idiotic through laziness or boredom. My favourite comics have tended to lean more towards anti-heroes, so things like The Punisher, Lobo and Dredd have been my favourites.

The other day we were on a family trip to visit Sheffield Comicon, and my youngest (who’s eight) tends to become bored and grumpy on more than an hour’s drive. He began complaining about how he wished he had teleportation powers. So, I would pick teleportation to make that aspect of my life easier. Also, I would never have to use the postal service ever again. I could teleport to wherever I need my parcel to go and deliver it myself.

However, I’d probably waste it on inane tasks like transporting myself from the sofa to the fridge; or the toilet. Basically, I’d be like an overweight version of Nightcrawler from the X-men.

Thanks, Steve. I really appreciate you getting in touch with me to be part of 3Q’s.

Hey, awesome! Thanks so much, Mark! I appreciate you doing this!

To find all of his work, check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Green/e/B086MK7WYS/

3Q’s Special – Tessa Wegert is Kind to Kill!!

Say what you will about my fandom of Andrew Pyper, but my joy and love of his work is directly responsible for my connecting with today’s 3Q’s guest. A few years back, I was either raving about one of his books or doing a giveaway, and it led to me and Tessa chatting a bit back and forth. We shared a mutual love of his work, an admiration for just how kind he was and through that, we’ve been supportive of each other! The book world and community is a wonderful place and I’m so glad to have connected. As well, I’ve super happy that she agreed to do a 3Q’s!

Please, do welcome Tessa!

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?
Tessa: I would describe my writing process as frenetic. I work best under pressure, so I tend to overcommit and overschedule myself, which means fitting the writing in wherever and however I can. I try to carve out a few solid hours a day to make sure I hit my word count, which at the moment is 1-2k because I’m currently drafting, but I usually end up writing while waiting outside my daughter’s school, at my son’s hockey practice, after midnight, and every free second in between.

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?
Tessa: I would bring fellow mystery author Sarah Stewart Taylor because our series – both of which feature female investigators – have lined up book for book, and she’d make an excellent critique partner. I would love to invite Louise Penny in the hope that she’d reveal what’s next for Inspector Gamache. Tana French, whom I would ply with drinks and encourage to tell me dark stories, would definitely make the cut.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Tessa: My next book is called THE KIND TO KILL, and it’s part small-town mystery, part serial killer thriller set (like all of the Shana Merchant novels) in the Thousand Islands. This is a book that I had meticulously mapped out, only to introduce a big twist at the eleventh hour, just two days before my deadline. It surprised the heck out of me, so I think it will surprise readers, too. It’s about a tourist who goes missing during a pirate-themed street festival, and the impact of true crime stories not only on a victim’s relatives but her killer’s own family.

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?
Tessa: I happen to own a first-edition copy of Dracula given to me by my librarian mother, so I’d be eager to chat with the monster himself and find out what’s fact versus fiction.

Wowsa! That is amazing!

Thank you so much for doing this Tessa and best of luck with the book release!

To find more of her work, check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tessa-Wegert/e/B084KHG6VM

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tessawegert

Website: https://www.tessawegert.com/