Steve Stred's Blog, page 43
November 3, 2022
3Q’s – Mark Matthews creates a new award!
Today’s 3Q’s is a special one for me. When I first really branched out into the dark fiction community, Mark Matthews was one of the first people to ever give me support or encouragement. It went even to the point of sometimes him being the only one to comment on a Facebook post or tweet on Twitter. It’s the little things like this that really stay with you and I’ll always be grateful Mark took the time to do that.
A fantastic author, a phenomenal editor/anthologist and one of the nicest guys out there, please do 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: I am an early riser, early as 5 am, so typically I write in the morning before work and after I’ve wasted an adequate amount of time scrolling social media. (I’ve also got one child to get off to school, the other is in college) The morning is when my brain seems most fresh and the world seems quiet and the coffee tastes so damn good.
In general, I write in manic outbursts. Every bit of fiction I’ve written has consumed me at one point, where I have a desire to write nearly every free moment, and when I’m not at the keyboard, it still dominates my thoughts. Of course, if we only write when we want, not much will get done, so I do push myself to get words down, but when I do, I have never ever had a word count I aim for. I sometimes aim for a specific scene or a specific paragraph to finish, since I think some are more crucial than others, but it’s more important for me to get the words down and in the right order than it is for me to write a certain quantity.
Steve: Which other author would you most like to see win a prestigious writing award?
Mark: John FD Taff deserves a lifetime achievement award for both his works and how much he’s helped other writers.
Samantha Kolesnik deserves a Jack Ketchum award for True Crime (wait, there’s no such thing as a Ketchum award? Well, let’s start that, and give her the first one)
In general, awards are fun and I partake (I cherish my Shirley Jackson award finalist ‘rock’) but if you write with an award in mind, or if you read based on awards, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. I liked that award nominations and winners get us talking more about fiction, and they are as note wothy for what’s not nominated as what is nominated. It leads to some great discussion.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Mark: My latest novel is The Hobgoblin of Little Minds, a story that rewrites the Werewolf legend, (though never uses the word Werewolf) in the context of mental illness. It takes place largely in an abandoned psychiatric hospital, a true setting not far from my house. Read it because, well, Werewolves and psych asylums, and it will steal your face right off of your head.
Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror, is the latest anthology that I edited and contributed to. Read it for the talent and diversity in both the table of contents and the pertinent subject matter. It’s a topic which is very personal to my own life.
Steve: Bonus Question! You wake up in a comic book. What is your comic book character and what is your super power?
Mark: Neat question! How about the power of ‘advanced accurate empathy’. With this super power, I can describe with precision and accuracy not just how you feel at that moment, but how you are going to feel when ‘such and such’ happens. With this power, I help you feel more understood and not so alone. This is what I have done in my career as a counselor, and in a sense, what I also hope to do in my fiction. As Kafka said: “A book must be the ax for the frozen sea inside us” —and I think I’d add, for the frozen seas between us.
Thank you Steve!
Most welcome! Fantastic super hero answer!
To find more of Mark’s work, as always, check the links!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Matthews/e/B0058HDKC0
Twitter: https://twitter.com/matthews_mark
Website: https://www.wickedrunpress.com/
November 2, 2022
Book Review: The Root Witch by Debra Castaneda
Title: The Root Witch
Author: Debra Castaneda
Release date: August 26th, 2022
If you’ve not figured it out yet – I’m a huge fan of reading, watching and writing folklore themed stuff set in the woods. Could be creature features, could be supernatural occurrences, or it could be legends passed down come back to get vengeance. No matter the who, what, why or how – sign me up. Even if things have been covered before or are ‘similar’ to other releases (and I’m not saying that about this book or any book in particular), I don’t care – each author offers their own unique experience. Heck, I could read three novels back-to-back-back about witches and each would be completely different while still treading some familiar ground.
Which brings us to ‘The Root Witch.’ I connected with Debra Castaneda over on Twitter a little bit ago and it’s been fantastic seeing what she’s been getting up to and what she’s working on. When I saw this book – I had to snag it – I knew it was right up my alley, and I even bumped it way up my TBR to read it sooner, as I felt it really fit into the October spookiness.
I went in making sure I knew the bare minimum – a terrifying legend set in a forest, in the late 80’s. I love when stories are set before the advent of modern technology as it creates a chaotic energy knowing that help isn’t simply a text message or phone call away.
What I liked: The story is told through two different main characters. First up is new Forest Ranger Knox. He gets the job and moves with his frustrated and reluctant wife. She doesn’t want to live outside of a city and definitely doesn’t want to live as remotely as they’re about to be. The second is Sandy, local TV producer, working her behind off to keep things operating, while dealing with a jerk of a newcomer.
When Halloween arrives and strange occurrences begin in the forest, Knox and Sandy’s stories collide.
Castaneda does a phenomenal job of teasing out what is happening and creating a book that is paced really well, but is always slowly turning up the tension and dread with each chapter. When we get to the point where two reporters go missing, things really escalate and Castaneda pounces, driving the horror home and battering us over the heads with it.
No surprise here, I loved the setting and the way she uses the forest as a character itself, not just a set piece. The trees and leaves and branches play just as much of an important role as do the shadows and palpable air. It works really well to keep the readers on the edge of their seats.
The ending is spot on and while it does close the chapter on this book, it does leave a sliver of potential for a further story down the road.
What I didn’t like: This might be considered a tiny bit on the spoiler-ish side, so maybe skip if you want – but I was honestly expecting some sort of tucked away figure who lived in the woods and ‘resembled’ a witch in some capacity. What happens here is great and really spot on for the story, but I was still perplexed about how it became called ‘The Root Witch’ in the local lore, when it was a bit away from that.
Why you should buy this: If any of what I said in my intro resonated – then you’ll love this one. Crisp pacing, great characters and plenty of action-packed moments, Castaneda has done a solid job of creating a story that resonates with Folklore fans while also etching her own space in that genre. This was great and had me racing through to see what happens!
5/5
3Q’s – J.A. Sullivan lures you to the wilderness!
Today’s 3Q’s guest is an anomaly. I’ve only had the pleasure of meeting a few of the dark fiction community in person and they are one of them! I connected with J.A. a number of years back. Then they joined the Kendall Reviews team and I was fortunate to be able to have breakfast with J.A., their husband (Hey, Jeff!) and my friend Walter when we all happened to be in Canmore a few years ago! J.A. even gifted me with an Andrew Pyper gift which I still proudly display!
Beyond that – J.A. is an immensely talented writer and supportive of so many.
Please, do welcome my friend, J.A.!
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?
J.A.: Although I write dark things, I’m a morning person and find my creativity is at its best before noon. Typically, I’m in my home office around 8 AM with lots of coffee and a stick of incense burning in the background, then I transport myself into my fiction for 2 to 3 hours. If a story is really burning in my imagination, I’ll work on the weekends too, but usually I only write Monday through Friday. My “writing time” includes things like reading specific works for research, staring into space while thinking of character names, and doodling timelines on a whiteboard, so I tend to set my writing goals in terms of time spent in the story rather than a specific word count. I’m also quite a slow writer and can spend an hour on a single paragraph, so setting a word count could be discouraging for me.
BUT, when November hits, something magical comes over me. Every year since 2012 I’ve attempted National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), where the goal is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. Surprisingly, I’ve managed to smash that goal 3 times, and even in the years where I didn’t reach the finish line, I’ve made far more progress on a story than I would have otherwise. To meet my NaNoWriMo goal I aim to hit between 1,500 to 2,000 words a day, every day for the entire month. I love the way it challenges me to push myself, and I’ve already started planning my project for this year.
Steve: You decide to host a writer’s retreat. One weekend in a luxury house on an island. What other author do you invite to come along so you can co-write something with?
J.A.: Without a doubt, I would choose Lisel Jones. Last year we cowrote a serialised story in 9 parts called “The House that Death Built” and it was an amazing experience! (All 9 parts of “The House that Death Built” are available to read for free on my blog.) Our styles are very complimentary, so I know she’d be able to pick up anything where I left off and carry it forward without any visible seams. Plus, Lisel is an amazing writer and would make the story far better than I would have on my own. Several of her stories have appeared on The NoSleep Podcast, and if you enjoy having ambient sounds/music on in the background while you read or create, please check out Lisel’s YouTube channel (4059) Lisel’s Cozy Corner – YouTube.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
J.A.: Since there have been snails that write faster than I do, my last published work was a short story included in the anthology A Silent Dystopia, released in November 2021 by Demain Publishing. It’s an amazing collection and I still can’t believe I’m sharing a table of contents with fabulous writers such as Stephanie Ellis, Kev Harrison, and the phenomenal Steve Stred! The collection is set within the world created by Dave Jeffery in his A Quiet Apocalypse series, which I also highly recommend.
My story “Wolf Pit” follows Yvette through one night of disturbing memories and actions she’s taken to survive in the Canadian wilderness after society crumbles. Most post-apocalyptic fiction centres on characters much younger than Yvette, so I wanted to explore what extra challenges age might present and dig into the heart of self-preservation. She’s also queer and in her memories reflects on the 2 major loves of her life, both the good times and the bad. I hope it draws readers close to the safety of her campfire, empathizes them with her plight, and makes them a little more weary of women in their seventies.
Steve: Bonus Question! They make a movie about your life – who is cast to play you?
J.A.: If I could suggest anyone to play me, I’d say Bex Taylor-Klaus. When I saw them perform as Audrey in the TV series Scream, I saw someone like me and they were awesome. Their general vibe and range of roles in drama, comedy, and horror, would represent me well. But, the only thing I’d really push for is that my role be played by a nonbinary person. I’d want someone who knows what it’s like to not strictly fit in to either a male or female gender role, as my entire life has been played out in the spaces in between.
Excellent choice!
Thank you so much for doing this!
To find more of J.A.’s work, check the links!
Blog: https://writingscaredblog.wordpress.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ScaryJASullivan
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/j.a_sullivan
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20319805-j-a-sullivan
November 1, 2022
3Q’s Special – Clay McLeod Chapman Whispers to Ghosts!
It’s not very often (ok, it’s not happened once and probably won’t happen again) that I have a 3Q’s guest on here just days after they have a Netflix movie arrive! But such is the case with today’s guest, the phenomenal Clay McLeod Chapman! On October 28th, 2022, the movie ‘Wendell and Wild’ arrived on Netflix. Directed by the legendary Henry Selick and based on the unpublished book Chapman and Selick wrote together, this one had me excited once I saw the trailer! As well, the one and only Jordan Peele co-wrote the script, provides the voice of Wild and is one of the producers! How amazing.
But, let’s not forget that Chapman himself is currently destroying readers with his recent release ‘Ghost Eaters.’ So, I was over the moon when he agreed to do this 3Q’s!
Please, do welcome Clay!
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?
Clay: Right now, it looks like I’m dragging my ass out of bed around four or five in the morning… just to get in front of my computer before anyone else in the house wakes up. I’m worried I’m going to sound like a fuddy-duddy, but I’m a dad now and there’s not enough time to get writing unless I do it in the cover of darkness while everyone else sleeps. Just me and the serial killers out there. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a mass murderer healthy, wealthy, and hard to revise…
And as far as word count goes, I guess it depends on the project… I used to aim for a particular target: Just 1000 words a day. They don’t have to be the right thousand words. I just need to get them on the page and see what settles the following morning. I tend to write in these circular cycles, always beginning at the beginning and revise my way through, cutting the crap from the previous day before pushing forward with new words. I’m less precious about hitting a mark these days, though.
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?
Clay: S.A. Cosby? He’s just so damn cool. I don’t think I’d ever be in a situation where we could sit and chat uninterrupted, you know? I’d need him to get stuck in an elevator to gab with the man. It’d be pretty funny, though, if we were trapped in an elevator with the corpse of Dashiell Hammett. Not to have a conversation with him, but for me and Shawn to just talk about the fact that we’re stuck in an elevator with his dead body.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Clay: Sooooo… my most recent book is a spooky ooooky thriller called GHOST EATERS. It’s all about a haunted drug. Pop a pill, see the dead. But… guess what? Once you open that door to the other side, there’s no closing it. I think folks should read it because I think it’s a pretty good book and if you’re looking for something scary, you could probably do a lot worse. It’s got ghosts! Lots of ghosts! Too many ghosts!
Steve: Bonus Question! If you were transported back in time, which Pop Band/Hit Band would you hope to find yourself a member of?
Clay: The Beach Boys! Do they count? I could be a really, really distant cousin to the Wilson clan. I wouldn’t need to do much. I could just play the most innocuous little instrument in the far back of the band, away from the spotlight, and harmonize with the rest on a couple songs. You wouldn’t even notice me.
Ha! Amazing! Oddly the song Kokomo has been stuck in my head recently!
Thank you again, Clay!
To find more of his work, check the links and as well – I’ve added the trailer to Wendell and Wild!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/claymcleod
Website: https://claymcleodchapman.com/
3Q’s – Jennifer Bernardini risks her eternal soul!
What’s this? What’s this? There’s a new blue 3Q’s pic!
What’s this? What’s this? It’s time for new season!
That’s right! Today – November 1st, 2022 – brings in the new season of 3Q’s! Now, it’s come to my attention that more than just myself read these. THANK YOU! Thank you to everyone who has read these, shared them and commented etc. When I started doing these, I wanted to come up with a fun, quick (emphasis on quick) interview series where we could A) learn about someone’s fav author B) have a little bit of fun and C) keep it quick and brief so as it’s possible to digest and enjoy each day.
There is an ongoing 3Q’s Archive – located on the top menu there, so if you’ve missed any, or are new to these, go take a look and see what’s there.
Alright – let’s get rolling!
Today’s guest is a fun one. Jennifer Bernardini has quickly established herself as a super fun author and fantastic supporter of so many. I’ve even been fortunate enough to appear in an anthology curated and edited by herself.
Please, do welcome Jennifer!
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?
JB: I write early in the morning, before the kids get up. So, sometimes that’s 5 am and sometimes that’s 7am. Now that it’s summer, it’s kind of a liquid thing. When school is in, it’s usually around 6am. I’m a substitute teacher so I also write on breaks. The middle school where I work has two plan periods which for me are usually free. So, then and at lunch. I don’t have a word count, I just go until the words stop coming. Sometimes that’s a few hundred words and sometimes it’s a few thousand. Some days it’s none.
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?
JB: Wayne Fenlon always. He’s one of my very best friends. We’d also have to include JB Taylor because, again, he’s a good friend. The third person is a bit harder. I’d have to say I’d like to keep that open to a mystery person, to someone I don’t know yet. Of course that would leave room for disaster, but I think it also makes it more exciting. Sometimes the unknown is just what you need.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
JB: My newest release is the Something Bad Happened: An Anthology of Horror. I created a journal of writing prompts as a way to get people started on their writing journey. Beginnings are hard and I wanted to ease the pain a bit. The anthology is a collection of stories born from those prompts. I wanted it to be accessible to everyone, seasoned and new writers alike. There are some pretty amazing stories in there.
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?
JB: Easy. Dracula. If you’ve read Frankenstein, Victor is a whiny baby that never takes responsibility for what he’s done. I think I’d rather risk my eternal soul to a vampire rather than suffer through the agony of dinner with Victor.
Thanks for inviting me to answer these questions. They were super fun!
Most welcome! And great choice!
Thanks again, Jennifer!
To find more of her reads and discover her work;
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Bernardini/e/B0966NXLVC
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jen_Bernardini
October 31, 2022
Book Review: A Strange Little Place by Brennan Storr
Title: A Strange Little Place: The Paranormal Secrets of Revelstoke, British Columbia
Author: Brennan Storr
Release date: Originally released August 6th, 2016, re-released October 21st, 2022
If you’ve followed along with my writing journey, reviews or just my social media stuff in general, you’ll know that I was born in Nakusp, BC, but grew up thirty minutes South West-ish in the small town of Burton, BC. From Nakusp, if you were to travel almost two hours North-West-ish (and within that travel is the Galena Bay Ferry trip, which is approximately a thirty minute crossing) you’ll arrive in Revelstoke. I didn’t spend much time in Revelstoke over the years. It was usually a pass-through town onto other places. Somewhere we stopped to get gas or food and growing up, we occasionally played soccer there. My biggest memory of Revelstoke was actually the time we stopped on our way home from Lac La Biche, Alberta and everyone ate at the A & W expect my mom. Everyone who ate there had extreme food poisoning and kept me from eating at A & W for about a decade!
Now, when you grow up in small BC towns (and this may often be the case about small towns all over the world) you end up having these random encounters years later. Heck, my wife and I just had one Friday night, when we went to an event at our Telus World of Science here in Edmonton. We started talking to two people at an Ocean’s Research booth and it turned out the man was actually from Edgewood (another thirty minutes South-West of Burton and yup – across another ferry!) and he even dated my younger sister for almost two years! These random encounters is how I met Brennan Storr. We connected on Twitter two years ago? Last year? after he found my work and invited me on his Podcast, Largely the Truth. We started messaging back and forth – he thinking I was from Edmonton, me thinking he was from Victoria, when we finally started asking specific questions and lo and behold – he was from Revelstoke and he couldn’t believe I was from Burton. In fact – Brennan couldn’t believe that I knew his relative – who he himself was a local folklore hermit out near Lemon Creek/Winlaw. Amazing how small the world truly is.
So, yes – that was a long rambling way to get to this review – but, while I was on his podcast (with the amazing Andrew Pyper!) he mentioned this book and that it might be coming out in a new edition. I snagged it once it was and dove in, expecting an amazing read, but finding and discovering so much more.
What I liked: Non-fiction books work best for me when I don’t know the ‘story.’ For instance, a few years back, a guy landed an airplane in the river near New York. I saw the news stories and the footage etc. I have no desire to read about it or watch any movies about it. I don’t need it dramatized for me – I know exactly what will happen. It’s like being told the big twist, big ending of a book – why would I still want to read it.
Books like this one, ‘A Strange Little Place,’ grab me, because not only is Storr a gifted storyteller, but I got to learn a lot about the history of a town I didn’t know much about, as well as hear some amazing events, occurrences and strangeness from a place with a remarkable back story.
Storr has done his due diligence here, collecting a lot of really engaging instances and experiences and organizing it in a way that even when certain topics shouldn’t flow very well together, they do and it creates a cohesive reading experience.
I will say, my favorite chapters were about Sasquatch and The Hermit and wished we’d had more about The Hermit. I’ve heard instances of a similar thing near Whatshan Lake, close to Edgewood, of people coming across a strange little man hiking high up in areas where it didn’t seem like they should be and then just vanishing around a tree or rock and completely disappearing.
What I didn’t like: I would imagine this was completely a cost thing or an efficiency thing, but I really wished some of the chapters and topics had photos accompanying it. It would be great to see the architecture of some of these old houses, or how Revelstoke has changed over the years, with different areas growing or becoming completely different industry sectors.
Why you should buy this: Much like Indigenous people pass on their stories over the years, Storr has done a masterful job of cataloging these stories that define and make up a lot of the heartbeat of Revelstoke. Part historical document, part examination of what makes a town tick, ‘A Strange Little Place’ does a really good job of walking the line between paranormal document/town history piece, without ever trying to jam anything down the readers throat and tell you that there is no other explanations. This was great and I hope we see more from Storr in this realm, especially knowing places like Trout Lake, Nakusp, Kaslo, Sandon, New Denver, Winlaw, Slocan, Fauquier, Edgewood and even over to Nelson have so many stories just waiting to be gathered.
5/5
Book Review: Birdsong by Mark MJ Green
Title: Birdsong
Author: Mark MJ Green
Release date: October 27th, 2022
It’s been a number of years since I connected with Mark, through book reviews and a shared love of horror and family. I’m always excited to see when people take the dive into writing fiction and starting to find their way on their writing journey, and Mark has been putting in the time and due diligence to find his voice and start to put out longer pieces. Now, when his previous piece, ‘Abortus,’ was released, it wasn’t something that caught my attention. The synopsis is intriguing, but the perceived subject matter just wasn’t something that I thought would connect with me, so I passed on it. But when this, ‘Birdsong,’ was announced, I was super excited for it and really wanted to see what Mark had created.
What I liked: The story is heartbreaking, but also quite riveting. We follow an elderly woman, gripped by the sad claws of dementia, trying to determine what is real and what isn’t. When she befriends a blackbird, she seems to have made a connection, but this connection comes with a hallucinatory effect that steers her story for the rest of the way.
Green has does a remarkable job of creating a character that the reader instantly loves, but also instantly feels for. She’s lost her husband. At times she remembers this, at other times she’s searching for him, wondering where he’s gone. Is he gone to the store? A walk? each time it happens, the readers heart breaks just a little bit more.
The ending – while telegraphed far earlier in this novella, is still hauntingly poetic and just soul crushing. That we get to experience through our main characters eyes, as well as from the POV of a random passing stranger offers it another level of sadness. I was holding onto hope that somehow we’d get a different ending, but was still ‘happy’ Green went where the story needed to go, no matter how awful it made me feel.
What I didn’t like: There’s a care aide/home worker featured within that visits our main character that really had no reason to be in the story, other than to call for help near the ending. I would’ve maybe liked more of the two of them connecting so that we see some of their relationship building and making what happens – both to the worker and at the end – even more powerful.
Why you should buy this: This novella is an easy one sitting read, but it’ll stay with you long after you’re done. Emotional, impactful and based on something many of us have had some experience with the elderly people in our lives, ‘Birdsong’ raced along, while keeping me on the brink of crying. Really enjoyed this one.
4/5
3Q’s Special – Christopher Golden is here on All Hallow’s Eve!
It’s insane now when I think back to my first introduction to today’s guest and his work. I didn’t even really know it was his work. I was making my way through the Hellboy and BPRD works, which also included Baltimore. Christopher Golden has had his hand in so much of those worlds, but I just never put it together. After reading ‘Ararat,’ I was hooked and only then did I connect the dots!
Christopher has done so much to help and support so many authors, so I for one, am super excited to welcome him today as a 3Q’s Special Guest!
Welcome, Christopher!
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?
CG: This changes so much over time, depending on what kind of project I’m working on. I’m currently writing several things at once, but when I’m working on a novel, my goal is a minimum 2000 words a day. I tend to get that done mostly between 1pm and 6pm, and the mornings are usually my email and phone call and other business time. Although this year has been absolutely chaotic, so all of those rules are out the window.
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?
CG: That’s cruel. I know so many wonderful writers and actually have hosted writers’ retreats. But I suspect the nature of the question is more like those “you can have dinner with anyone” questions, so in the spirit of that I will purposely leave out anyone I’ve ever met in person. I’ll say S.A. Cosby, Tana French, and Attica Locke, all of whom I’ve started reading in the past five years, each of whose work I adore, and from each of whom I think I could learn something about storytelling.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release and why someone should read it!
CG: My new novel, ALL HALLOWS, will be out at the end of January. It’s a 1980’s nostalgic Halloween night suburban horror story, a change of pace for me, and a kind of homage to my childhood. As for why you should read it…creepy kids, suburban drama, and a creature called The Cunning Man roaming your neighborhood after dark!
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?
CG: From Victor Frankenstein, of course! Why? So I can befriend his so-called monster!
Excellent choice! Thank you so much, Christopher!
To find more of his work, check the links!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Christopher-Golden/e/B000APAU2I
Website: https://www.christophergolden.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristophGolden
3Q’s – J.H. Moncrieff is the best GhostWriter out there!
Here it is, August 2nd, 2022 and I’m just now scheduling this post for October 31, 2022. And you know what makes this double special? LET ME TELL YOU!
1) This is the final 3Q’s of Season TWO!! That’s right! Going forward it will be Season Three with a snazzy BLUE 3Q’s Logo and…
B) J.H. is not only one of my favorite authors, but she’s also a good friend and one of the very few authors I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in real life. It’s hard to fathom it’s already been four months since J.H. and I visited FOREVER, but it was a phenomenal night and one I’d love to replicate again in the future. Well, other than sitting in Boston Pizza and hearing the staff sing Happy Birthday every 25 minutes!
I’m so excited and humbled to have Moncrieff here today, so, please do welcome, J.H.!!
Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try to write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
Moncrieff: At the moment, my writing time is very sporadic. I’m juggling various jobs, including performing as an on-air expert on several true crime documentary series, screenwriting a few episodes, teaching university classes, and developmental editing some client books.
I’m trying my best to write every day, but when I can’t, I can’t. There’s no point in being overly hard on myself about it, especially with big changes on the horizon.
Steve: You win the lottery and the only condition is that you need to fund another author’s book to be made into a movie. What book would you choose to be filmed?
Moncrieff: That’s a really tough question. There’s so many writers I know who deserve that kind of attention, but don’t get a shot in the constant flood of King remakes, etc. When I first read this question, the book Slash by Hunter Shea popped into my head, so that’s the one I’ll go with. But only if someone could do the depth in that story justice in a film.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Moncrieff: I’m hoping to have one or two books released beforehand, but the one release I’m sure of is Dragonfly Summer on November 15th. It’s the story of a former journalist who returns to her hometown to investigate the mysterious disappearance of her best friend when they were seventeen.
Those who love mysteries with a touch of the paranormal and strong female protagonists would enjoy it. It speaks to the nostalgia of having grown up in a simpler time, but also recognizes that everything was not as sunshiny as it seemed in the days before social media and smartphones.
Steve: Bonus Question! If you could be an extra on any TV show, which one would it have been and why?
Moncrieff: Friday the 13th, the series (not related to the movies, except for having the same producer). I loved that show. I still love that show. I’d want to get to know John D Lemay, who played Ryan, and beg him not to leave the show in the third season.
Very cool! Thank you so much, J.H. and best of luck with the launch of your newest!
For Moncrieff madness – check the links!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/J-H-Moncrieff/e/B00UB4I8Z4/
Website: https://www.jhmoncrieff.com/
October 28, 2022
Book Review: The Life Engineered by J.-F. Dubeau
Title: The Life Engineered (World Engineered)
Author: J.-F. Dubeau
Release date: November 17th, 2014
Many of you will recognize the author here.
J.-F. Dubeau delivered two truly outstanding dark fiction pieces with ‘The God in the Shed’ and its sequel ‘Song of the Sandman.’ Both are firmly and solidly in the horror genre, and because of that, his debut novella, ‘The Life Engineered,’ seems to be a book that doesn’t get as much love or shared as much as it should. This novella falls squarely in the science-fiction genre and for us fans who do like to read across a few genres, I was excited to see it make it to the top of my TBR.
What I liked: The story follows a former police officer, killed in the line of duty, who consciously wakes up a thousand years later. Her mind is now in the operating system of an android-type body, one perfectly suited for life as it now exists. From here, Dubeau sets up a phenomenal back story, a new way the world operates and a very tangible and threatening device that eradicates some of what we learn and pushes the narrative forward.
I’m a big fan of this style of sci-fi/action reads and love how they are always so cinematic. Dubeau gives us shades of Murderbot, with assistance early on from a secondary character who reminded me a little of Chappie.
The pacing is great, the story flows really nicely and throughout we get huge moments that are fantastically described in vivid detail. While in his horror novels, his writing is dark and gloomy, the writing here has a stainless steel shine to it, a case of the metal described always pushing through the explosions.
The ending was really intriguing and does set up a sequel. Saying that, the cliffhanger works really well to have the readers imagination going crazy.
What I didn’t like: There’s a specific reason for it, but I really wasn’t overly keen on the Norse naming and mythology throughout. It didn’t take me out of the story or anything, but I found it really odd until we’re told why it was used.
Also, this came out in 2014 and at the moment there’s no sequel in sight. With how heavy of a cliffhanger this one has, I hope one day we see the follow up, but until then, that may dissuade perspective readers from diving in.
Why you should buy this: If you like the Martha Wells school of storytelling, you’ll love this. As well, if you’re a previous fan of Dubeau’s work from his horror releases and like sci-fi, you’ll really enjoy this one. Engaging, emotional and always chalk full of action, ‘The Life Engineered’ is a novella that had me racing through to see what happens.
This was a ton of fun.
4/5
