Lorina Stephens's Blog, page 60

Interview: J.W. Schnarr, author of Things Falling Apart

Spent a little virtual time with J.W. Schnarr last week, querying him about his forthcoming collection of short horror, Things Falling Apart, and the writing dynamic in general.


J.W. Schnarr




Lorina: One might
say the horror you write is very aggressive. Is that a conscious choice?

J.W.: I'd say it
definitely is, to some extent. Part of it is also the stories I've read that
have influenced me the most over the years. Pushing boundaries is something
good writing should do, and I think horror writers especially have an
opportunity to really shake things up for people.

Another reason I think it's been called that is due to my
writing style. I'm a reporter, and I write tight for a living. I bring that to
my fiction. I am also constantly striving to bring reality into my work, and I
think people take it for aggression. I'm simply trying to keep your eyes open
and be brutally honest about what you're seeing.

Here's an example. If someone gets in a car accident, they
may bump their head and fade to black, but the scene doesn't end there. The
emergency workers might be trying not to puke while scraping up this poor
screaming, thrashing person's entrails off the highway. That's where the real
action is, and that's where I want to be.

I don't want to look away. I don't want you to look away. I
want you to see it for what it really is.

Lorina: And why
write horror? Why not dark fantasy or some other genre? What is it about horror
that interests you?

J.W. Well, I
actually do write a little dark fantasy and a little science fiction. It's just
that my primary influences are guys like Stephen King, Poppy Z. Brite, and
Clive Barker. I started reading Robert E. Howard's horror when I was a kid, and
I just kind of never looked back.

There have been a few times in my life when I've been
genuinely moved by the books I've read, and those books just happened to have been
horror stories. Matheson's I am Legend is one. Barker's Books of Blood and some
of King's short stories have done it too.

But reading Brite's Exquisite Corpse was like a revelation.
Everything about that book was strange and dangerous to me. The sex was
different than what I was used to. The violence is almost comical in its
depravity. The characters are all warped and damaged. It's brilliant. When I
read sometimes, I like to see how long an author is willing to keep you
conscious while the really bad stuff is going on. In the 1990s, Barker and
Brite were two writers who were liable to slice your eyelids off so you
wouldn't miss a thing. Recently it's happened again, with Chuck Palahniuk.

Lorina: Why write
the stories you do? Why choose those subjects? Your stories range from classic
subject matter, sometimes drawing on legend, sometimes delving into the human
beast.

J.W.: Like most
writers, I write whatever comes to mind. But there are a few things I strive
for in fiction, and I've kind of skirted around them in my previous answers.
Grounding my work in reality is a big one. I'm often disturbed by people's
reactions in fiction. I think Barbara in Night of the Living Dead is really how
most people would behave in a catastrophic event. The world is going to hell,
and she kind of bounces between catatonia and hysterics.

blamed television for the explanation to an
execution in the movie Boondock Saints , and I think he's right: "Television
is the explanation for this - you see this in bad television...that James Bond
shit never happens in real life!"

That being said, I think man is truly the biggest monster. I
love to write about the kinks that come from having such an intricate thing as
the human brain running the show. Often my stories are a bit of a mashup
between this belief and whatever monstrous topic I think is suited for the
characters. They really do come from everything - I read a lot, watch a lot of
interesting television, and things happen in everyday life that really get your
brain thinking.

Lorina: Tell us a
little about your writing process? Do you write daily, at a certain hour, with
any expectation or discipline?

J.W.: Well, I write everyday...at work. But fiction is one of
those things that I really try to enjoy, without putting too much pressure on
myself. Writing novels, I like to work out the scenes in advance before I write
them, and then see where it all leads. A lot of the short stories I write with
actual goals in mind - rarely do I simply sit down and write them. There might
be an anthology or magazine I want to get in to or a topic I want to
specifically cover, but I almost never just open my head to see what comes out.
Having that goal and a deadline really gives me a chance to laser in on the
subject at hand.

Often stories build up until I can feel them behind my eyes
waiting to be birthed. Then I'll sit down to work and they'll come flooding
out.

Lorina: Is there
a novel waiting to happen in J.W. Schnarr’s future?

There are a few. There's also one in my past. I wrote a novel
called Alice & Dorothy last year, kind of a Thelma and Louise meets The
Wizard of Oz meets Alice in Wonderland. It began as a castoff idea for my Shadows
of the Emerald City anthology and just grew up out of that.

I'm currently working on a novel called Big Pig, about some
people who escape the zombie apocalypse in Calgary only to run up against a
pair of disturbed pig farmers in rural southern Alberta. The research on
raising pigs alone was enough to make me want to give up bacon forever.
Once again I'll be blending raw meat with all kinds of craziness. The flavour
has a tang to it I've really come to enjoy.

Lorina: There are
some who feel writing is a job, like any other. There is another camp that says
being a writer is a sensibility, that even if you earn your living doing
something else, you’re always writing. How do you feel about that question?

J.W. I think
they're both right. I've spoken to a lot of successful writers, and they all
talk about hitting work count goals and being diligent. Fact is, 90% of
"talent" is really just the hard work you don't see, and nobody
throws down a novel without a lot of hard work. I have to tip my hat to anyone
who pulls that off, even if their book never sells more than a handful of
copies.

Writing for a newspaper has taught me a lot of inspired work
and a lot of pressured work comes out as a wash in the end. The only difference
between the two is your mood while you're writing it.

I also believe that writing is a vocation, and a certain
mindset comes with that. People are called to it. They want to reach out to
other people in some way. They want to make connections. They want to
understand profound things about life and the universe and they want other
people to see the fruits of that understanding. Myself, I'm always watching for
something interesting to write about, and I try to never intentionally close
myself off from anything that could be distasteful and disturbing, or
beautiful and life-affirming.

I'm always filing away little jokes and mannerisms and
stories people have to share, if only to put it through the meat grinder in the
back of my mind and see what kind of sausage comes out. Even if I'm the only
one who enjoys it.

[image error]
Things Falling Apart

Available August 1, 2012

ISBN 9781927400036

eISBN 9781927400043

Leslie Gadallah joins Five Rivers' authors


[image error]
Leslie Gadallah

We've been at it again. It's amazing what happens when you invite people to virtual tea. You discover they'd be happy to throw their lot in with your crazy ship and enjoy the cruise.


Such is the result of discussions between Robert Runte, Five Rivers' Editor in Chief, and well-known Canadian author, Leslie Gadallah. We're thrilled to announce that we'll be giving life back to Gadallah's novels, The Loremasters, Cat's Pawn and Cat's Gambit. All three novels were formerly published by Del Rey.


Five Rivers will release all three revised novels under new titles in 2013, in both print and eBook formats.


Leslie Gadallah grew up in
Alberta and is currently living in Quebec, Canada, with her daughter's family
and two cats, but spends the winters in Arizona. Educated as a chemist, she has
worked in analytical, agricultural, biological and clinical chemistry. She has
written popular science for newspapers and radio, has served as technical
editor, and is the author of three SF novels and a number of short stories.

Michell Plested talks about new novel, Mik Murdoch

Michell Plested has posted a wonderful, honest interview that was done with him for his forthcoming debut YA novel, Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero.



Hope you'll listen to the podcast and be as informed as delighted as we were.



Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero releases August 1, 2012, and launches at When Words Collide.



The novel is now available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Five Rivers and coming soon to Indigo.

Before We Go Amy Bright

Five Rivers Editor, Amy Bright, launched her first YA novel, Before We Go in Lethbridge, Alberta, Thursday evening (May 24). The book is published by Red Deer Press.

Amy talked about the book, her other writing projects, and her development as a writer She also read two brief excerpts from the novel.

Amy signing her book.

Set in Victoria, one feature of the novel that stands out among YA literature is that it all takes place within a 7 hour time frame one New Year's Eve. Amy wanted to see if it were possible to have a novel in which adolescents could explore who they are and undergo the necessary character development without the usual lengthy journey of discovery.



The crowd breaking up after Amy's talk. Over 60 people attended the presentation.

Interview with Jeff Minkevics, artist

[image error]
Jeff Minkevics

cover artist for Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero

not nearly as bad-ass as this photo would indicate, in fact a Really Nice Guy.




One of the books we're really excited about is Michell Plested's Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero. We commissioned Jeff Minkevics to do the cover, and netted him recently to discuss his artistic vision for the cover.

Lorina: Tell us a
bit about yourself and your background in visual arts.

Jeff: I'm a
graduate of the Drawing program at the Alberta College of Art and Design, with
a few Visual Communications courses under my belt as well as having spent a
brief stint at the University of Calgary. Currently I'm a graphics developer
for a Telecom-focused software company, where I do everything from photography
and illustration to logo development and corporate identity. I also do the
occasional bit of freelance design, illustration, and Photoshop work, so my
stuff ends up in some fairly unexpected places. In fact, I was once interviewed
by both National Geographic and Science Magazine over a photo hoax I created
that went viral a few years back.

Lorina: Was the
present cover the first concept, or were there others? If there were others,
what were they?

Jeff: It was the
first concept I imagined when presented with the idea of a boy superhero - the
classic 'Superman' opening of the shirt that reveals the super-secret and
iconic superhero identity. I'm pretty certain that every kid's imagined
something similar when growing up, and the mere gesture of opening a shirt like
that has become virtually synonymous with the notion of a superhero identity.

There were a couple of other concepts for it as well. One
featured a complete shot of a boy who had dressed himself up in a makeshift
costume that was very obviously low-budget and thrown together with what was
available around your typical house . . . rubber washing gloves, ski-goggles,
striped bed sheets tied as a cape, and other things like that. However, while a
visual gag like that might be okay for a single cover, it didn't seem like
something that could be built upon for subsequent covers featuring Mik, so I
decided against it.

Lorina: What were
the basic concepts and images you wanted to communicate?

Jeff: Well, there
was the 'Superman Reveal' pose, which I figured would get across the super-hero
element we were after. I also wanted a plain but colourful outer-shirt that a
typical boy might wear, but that wasn't specific to 2012 or any particular
year. The marker-style font for the writing on the shirt sort of suggests that
he's written it himself - an impulsive and child-like attempt at creating some
sort of super-hero identity. Aside from that, I just wanted to create a bright,
clean, summertime-based look and feel.

Lorina: The
lighting in the cover is fairly fresh, without high contrast. Was this a
conscious choice and why?

Jeff: It was a
choice based on the background elements that were decided for this one. I
wanted the cover to be set in an area where the story takes place, if not
depict an actual scene from the story. Since Mik lives on a farm and the story
takes place in the summer, Michell and I decided that the background should
probably have something to do with blue skies and the outdoors. The actual
photograph for the cover was taken in the bright sunlight in the early
afternoon, with some of the shadows softened a bit post-shoot. The background
elements were added post-shoot as well.

Lorina: You’ve
almost created the primary colour palette in the cover; was that also a
conscious choice and why?

Jeff: Half of the
reason for the colours used in this one is another indirect superman reference
- the red and blue in the shirt. The other half relates to the colours used
during the golden age of comics ... straightforward contour line drawings
blocked in with lots of blues, reds, yellows, and greens. As comic books and
printing techniques became more sophisticated, so did the palette and shading
that got used. So, within the comic genre at least, primary colors tend to be
associated with a time back when everything was young and fresh and new. This
also being the case for young Mik, who aspires to become a super-hero, it
seemed appropriate.

That style of line-drawing was also a factor when it came to
the above lighting decision, since heavy shadow and dramatic lighting were
rarely utilized back then as well.

Lorina: Why the
typeface you’ve chosen?

Jeff: Denne
Marker was picked to lend a hand-written feel to the writing on the shirt,
suggesting that Mik was the one who put it there. I wanted something that was a
little haphazard as well - not carefully considered writing, but something more
impulsive and excited, so that the words themselves seemed like the sort of
thing a young boy might consider a good idea and want finished as quickly as
possible.

Michell's name is done up in Myriad Web Pro, because I
wanted a simple, bold, block font that would be easy to read against a busy or
patterned background with very little outlining. As it is, I only needed to add
a tiny bit of drop shadow to give it enough punch to hold its own against the
pattern of the shirt.

Lorina: Where do
you plan on taking the visual concepts for the subsequent books?

Jeff: The nice
thing about this whole concept is that the pose can remain the same for any and
all future covers, while individual elements can change slightly in order to
illustrate character growth - more grown-up clothing, a different font, a
carefully drawn and colored logo, and other things that suggest the maturing of
the character. The background scene can also be changed to fit wherever the
future stories take place - a classroom, summer camp, vacationing in Hawaii,
you name it. Likewise the actual clothing Mik is wearing can be changed to fit
in with the story elements particular to that book ... a heavy parka if it
takes place during winter, a Hawaiian shirt if he and his family go on
vacation, endless variations. If the pose and the 'secret identity underneath'
elements remain virtually the same for each cover, people will easily recognize
each book as part of a single series, all about a very specific character.




[image error]
Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero

Available August 1, 2012

ISBN print 9781927400111 $23.99

eISBN 9781927400128 $4.99

Interview with Matt Hughes, author of Downshift

[image error]
Author, Matt Hughes


We recently corresponded with Matt Hughes in his southern France house-sitting gig, to interview him regarding the re-release of his sensational thriller, Downshift, available June 1.




Lorina: What was the inspiration for Downshift?




Matt: I wanted to be a crime writer and I
had a publisher interested in signing me.  That deal didn't work out in
the end, but I was lucky to make contact with the late L.R. Wright, one of
Canada's finest mystery authors and a real mensch, who connected me with her
editor at Doubleday.




Lorina: You have a background writing
for both government and corporate bodies; was Downshift in some regards
autobiographical, in the sense that writers generally write what they know?






Matt: It's very autobiographical, based on my experiences as a journalist, cabinet
minister's aide, freelance speechwriter, screenwriter, and the inventor of the
next big game after Pictionary.  The game was called Gender Bender (you
can google it), and it almost made me a millionaire -- until it didn't. 
Many of the elements of the plot -- the platinum leaching process, the plot to
unseat Bill Vander Zalm, the busted movie deal, suddenly finding myself broke
instead of on easy street -- are based on things that happened to and around
me.




Lorina: In the character of Sid
Rafferty you’ve created a somewhat desperate, almost amoral, yet enormously
likeable character. One might even go so far as to say you’ve created the
quintessentially Canadian character. Was this intentional or did Sid incarnate
himself in the way many writers say their characters suddenly take on a life of
their own?




Matt: There was a certain amount of self-incarnation.  The story was originally
outlined as a screenplay, back when I thought I was retired from speechwriting
at forty, because I was expecting to live on the royalties from my game. That was before Nintendo arrived and completely upended the games business
within a matter of months, plunging me back into the scrabble for freelance
writing work. 


As a screenplay protagonist, Sid would have been a tough, hardbitten character
perfectly capable of solving his problems with a 105mm cannon.  But,
writing him up as a novel protagonist, after the Gender Bender/retirement
disaster, I found that grim humour kept creeping into the narrative, and he
evolved into a character who talked a better game than he played.




Lorina: Geisel the Weasel has an
almost Peter Lorre feel. In fact, the entire novel could be one of any of
Humphrey Bogart’s films. Part of that feeling comes from the narrative voice
you’ve chosen for the book. Were you in some ways channeling Bogie or that
Silver Screen feeling?




Matt: I've always liked noir, always felt comfortable writing it. I had a
decidedly noir upbringing, coming from a family that could be described by
words like "fringe" and "shady." Giesel is based on
some of the people I ran into around the Vancouver Stock Exchange.




Lorina:

Why call the novel,
Downshift? I realize the term indicates a desire to disengage from the
hurly-burly of Western life and seek a simpler, calmer lifestyle. But was there
a double-entendre intended?




Matt: I liked the word. But, yes, it's also a joke. Sid thought he was
dowshifting from the hurly burly of the corporate and political worlds into a
quiet life as a Vancouver Island screenwriter. Instead, he finds himself
in desperate straits that get straiter and more desperate by the day.




Lorina: The novel flows along
effortlessly, with a very polished narrative. Is this how Matt Hughes writes?
Or is this the result of hours and hours of honing and polishing?

Matt: It's how I write. I bashed it out in a couple of months, in between
freelance gigs. I was working on the basis of outated information
though: the old rule, from the days of slim paperbacks, that the easiest
first novel to sell was a short one. After I had the deal with Doubleday,
my editor asked me to add a few thousand words.





Lorina: There is to be a sequel to Downshift.
Can you give us any insights as to what kind of pickle Sid Rafferty is
going to find himself in Old Growth?





Matt: He gets drawn into the "war in the woods" between the BC forest
industry and Greenpeace et al, compounded by the legend of  old-time union
organizer Ginger Goodwin, murdered by a police assassin, and a dark family
secret in the reclusive former coal-mining town of Cumberland, BC.  Also,
Sid's relationship with Mo hits a few bumps. I originally conceived the
series as "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl." 
Downshift is the meeting phase; Old Growth the losing.  If there's ever a
third, I'll probably give Sid and Mo a happy ending


[image error]
ISBN print 9781927400074 $23.99

ISBN eBook 9781927400081 $4.99

Available June 1, 2012

Dutch Schultz receives Goodreads 5-star review

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Among the many books crime-writer Nate Hendley has penned, Dutch Schultz: brazen beer baron of New York, is one of the most recent. Factual, gritty, written in a readable, fluid manner, Schultz is now beginning to receive a few accolades.



This is a recent 5-star review from a Goodreads reviewer:

'I received this as a Goodreads giveaway.

'This isn't really a book I would normally go for, but the description piqued my curiosity. I went into this book with very limited knowledge about Prohibition, but walked away with a huge appreciation for how it affected the lives of so many - the public, the mobsters, the cops. But this is certainly not just a history lesson. It is also the personal adventures of Dutch Schultz, and his rise to be one of the top mobsters of the Prohibition era.

'"January 17, 1920: Prohibition, the government's greatest gift to the criminal world"

'Boy, is this ever true!! I had no idea that it enabled so much crime and corruption! And this book tosses you right into the middle of it all. You learn the operations and workings of various well-known mobsters and get to see exactly how they amassed their fame and fortunes. The power and money behind these crime lords is poignantly shown when describing the funeral of one mobster - a 100+ car funeral procession (35 cars just containing flowers!), thousands of attendants, mob bosses clamoring to send the best flower arrangement. At one point, Dutch is pulling in $35,000 A DAY. I'll let that soak in for a minute. $35,000 A DAY. There are tons of people out there right now that make that much money ANNUALLY! He employed a math whiz who enjoyed a cushy paycheck of $10,000 a week. I'd love that sort of employment opportunity.

'I also learned that tax evasion is apparently the Achilles heel of mobsters. Who knew? The government may not be able to convict you of any other crimes you've committed in your crime career (due to "disappearing" witnesses or tight-lipped detainees, etc), but if you don't perform your civic duty and pay taxes - they'll GETCHA! Unless of course, you are Dutch Schultz. In that case you will just breeze through the trial and come off looking like a hero. Twice.

'This was an enjoyable read. It is one of those rare books that I honestly think would hold any reader's interest, regardless of their usual choice of genre. The story is interesting and gripping. The "poor kid rises above his past to make something of himself" story is told without coming off as cheesy, and despite Dutch's apparent lack of compassion for those around him, I still found myself rooting for him throughout the book.'

Dutch Schultz: brazen beer baron of New York is available in both print and eBook formats from online booksellers globally, or directly from Five Rivers.

Growing Up Bronx receives 5-star review

Five Rivers' autobiographical collection of short stories by H.A. Hargreaves, Growing Up Bronx, has received the following 5-star review on Goodreads.

'Deceptively simple writing weaves the reader in to stories of the author's early years in the Bronx. Characters are drawn with clean, deft stokes that bring a remarkable cast to life as richly full, complex, almost heart-breakingly real people, just as their influences mapped out the makings of the author. Hargreaves' encompassing settings and spare, clear language transport the reader to a time and place that are no more, and we are improved by the journey. A beautiful read. Highly recommend.'    

   

Growing Up Bronx is available in print and eBook formats from online booksellers globally, or directly from Five Rivers.

Four great new titles coming

So the reason we've been
fairly quiet of late is because we've been busy little bees. The result of that
labour is that Five Rivers now has advance review PDFs available of four of our
new titles, all releasing August 1, 2012.






If anyone is interested in
receiving a copy, please email us and we’ll be pleased to furnish you
with a PDF in return for a review.



Titles as follows:



Immunity to Strange Tales,
by Susan Forest. This is a collection
of 12 short stories from a rising star, with an introduction by Mark
Leslie Lefebvre. Have to admit some of the stories in this collection
remain like whispers in the background.



Kingmaker’s Sword, Book 1The Rune Blades of Celi, by Ann
Marston. We’re bringing back to life Ann’s much-beloved Rune Blade series,
newly revised, always a great read.



Mik Murdoch: BoySuperhero, by Michell Plested. We are just really stoked about this debut YA novel from Mike. It’s sort of
Spiderman meets W.O. Mitchell, but all Michell Plested, and is the first in
what is hoped to be at least a six book series.



Things Falling Apart, by J.W. Schnarr. This is a whopping huge collection of
21 short horror stories by SFCanada’s, Bill Schnarr, which range from
psychological thriller to deeply disturbing.



We are, of course, always
looking for reviews of any of our books. If you see anything on the website
that you’d like to review, let us know.

Susan Forest interviewed on Motivate to Create

Nate Hendley, author of Motivate to Create, Crystal Death, and others, interviewed Susan Forest over on his Motivate to Create blog yesterday.



It's a revealing interview following Nate's formula of digging inside a writer's motivational raison d'etre.



Susan's collection of short, speculative fiction, Immunity to Strange Tales, releases August 1, 2012, and launches at When Words Collide.