Jonathan Janz's Blog, page 6

Brian Keene on Yours Truly: “The Best of His Generation”

If you didn’t listen to Brian Keene’s THE HORROR SHOW on Thursday night, you missed a doozy of an episode. Not only did Brian and Dave discuss THE FORCE AWAKENS, BONE TOMAHAWK, and a good many other diverse subjects, but Brian also revealed his Top Ten Books of 2015. Clocking in at #9?

Joe Crawford and the Fire Cult

I’m hard-pressed to name my favorite moment of the episode, but it’s either when Brian–whom I truly believe to be the best writer of his generation–called me the best writer of my generation or when he described THE NIGHTMARE GIRL as “ROSEMARY’S BABY on meth,” which might be the catchiest tagline I’ve ever heard.

As always, the entire podcast is fantastic, so you can check it out here (THE NIGHTMARE GIRL section comes at about the 40:40 mark).

So a huge thank you to Brian for the honor, and another thank you to Dave Thomas for his kind words.

That’s all for today. Don’t forget to join me on SUNDAY night at 8:00 on Brian’s forum for a wild-and-woolly “Ask Me Anything” event.

Peace.

Cover Reveal for WITCHING HOUR THEATRE

Hey, friends. A lot to say here, and I haven’t even spoken yet about WITCHING HOUR THEATRE, the novella that goes along with this beautiful cover, but I’ll save all that other stuff for other posts and give you what you came here for–the new cover:

POW, right? The designer of the above beauty is Matthew Revert, who is making a name for himself as one of the most talented cover artists in the business. I’d say his work speaks for itself. I’ll also say that I love this cover.

On an unrelated note, I hope you join me on Sunday night at eight PM for a no-holds-barred “Ask Me Anything” event over on Brian Keene’s awesome new forum.

On another unrelated note, I was blown away by this wonderful, insightful review of WOLF LAND today from The Horror Bookshelf. Check it out here.

That’s all for now, friends. Hopefully, my wife won’t steal my blog while I’m away from the keyboard…

Excerpt from Life of an Insomniac Writer

Me (eyes shuttering open at 3:54 in the morning): What?

Voices (sitting on the edge of the bed like Kramer in one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes, the one where Kramer decides to change his sleep schedule to become more productive): Hey.

Me (with an edge): What?

Voices: I was thinking, you know that series you’re going to write?

Me (sighing): What about it?

Voices: I thought of your main character’s name.

Me: That’s great. Now let me go back to sleep.

Voices: It’s (removed for several reasons).

Me (pauses, thinks): Why is that his name?

Voices: It’s not his real name, he got it from (rambles on for approximately twenty-one minutes, provides detailed, fully-formed back story, not only for character, but for some of his family).

Me: Wait…so the big thing that happened….it was twelve years ago?

Voices: Or ten. (The non-existent but somehow expressive eyes light up with that blazing, unquenchable fever, that all-consuming need to share.) See, that’s how it all happened! It was the (removed) from (removed) who decided to…(talks uninterruptedly for another forty minutes)…and then you’re at the scene, the one you already have planned out! What do you think?

Me (chewing my lip): Hm.

Voices: Well?

Me (glances up at Voices): It’s good.

Voices: Right?

Me: Can I go back to bed now?

Voices (cocks an eyebrow, stares at me)

Me: I’m tired.

Voices: No, you’re not.

Me: Okay, I *was* tired.

Voices: You’re wide awake now.

Me: But I shouldn’t be. I need sleep, dammit. Four hours isn’t enough.

Voices: You never get more than five anyway.

Me (gritting my teeth): THAT DOESN’T MEAN I WANT TO REDUCE THE NUMBER EVEN FURTHER!

Voices (grins): See, you’re wide awake.

Me (glances around the dark bedroom, as if help will intervene from somewhere): You realize my eyes are sore.

Voices: Poor baby.

Me: And I have a bad cold. My nose is dripping like a faulty spigot.

Voices: You want a hug?

Me (rolls over, showing my back): Piss off.

Voices (patting my flank): Come on, princess. It’s time to write.

Me: Ten more minutes?

Voices: You know that won’t work.

Me: Because of YOU.

Voices (chuckles)

Me (grumbling, tosses back covers, hobbles out of bed)

Voices: There you go…one foot in front of the other…

Me: Shut up.

Voices (for the first time completely serious): Oh no. (shakes head). Oh my goodness no. Shut up is the one thing I won’t do.

Me (opens computer)

My Name Is Monica, and I’ve Hijacked My Husband’s Blog

Hello reading audience and devoted fans. I have hijacked JJ’s blog because I don’t think he is that interesting. I thought perhaps we should zhuzh things up for readers because there is only so much you can say about your own work. In addition I can provide you with helpful household hacks and crock pot recipes. He SO can’t do that. For example, maxi pads make for great floor cleaners and are SO much cheaper than Swiffer. Boom!

I am also the horrible, horrible person behind the now weekly “Hey Girl…” Facebook posts (Go to Jonathan Janz’s Sunday Facebook posts–the posts in which he’s tagged). It really was a random act of immaturity one day upon finding his high school albums in the attic after our renovation and snickering as if I had just come upon condoms in my parents’ nightstand. He tells me that his fashion was on point in his tiny town of Monticello. I have no other choice than to believe him. There is so much documentation leading me to believe that no one would possibly take so many goofy pictures if they didn’t think they were sizzling hot.

As the wife of an author, I get asked the same questions quite often, so I thought in addition to the maxi pad hack, I would take this time to answer the most frequently asked questions.

Q: Do you read his books?

A: I REALLY like those shoes you are wearing! Are they Vegan?

Q: Do you ever find descriptions of yourself or your life in the books?

A: After he wrote is first novel, I was clambering to read it and in the first chapter there was a description of a girl that was in her 30s (me) drove a gold Honda Civic (me) who had brown hair (me) with greenish blue eyes (me) that was intelligent (duh, CLEARLY me) and wore Spanx (I may have dabbled.) I asked how he knew about Spanx and he said he had just heard about them on the internet or whatever. No. Not WHATEVER. You can’t friggin’ put things in the books that give away my secrets to svelteness. I have upped my girdle game but still. He denies it to this day. He also killed her off so, there’s that.

Q: Do you help edit his books as a pre-reader?

A: Yes. Once. It was the worst decision we ever made as a married couple. I was 8 months pregnant with our second child and was sitting outside in the warm June sun, feet in the ducky wading pool, reading the first draft and came upon pages of descriptions that included white panties, supple breasts, rounded buttocks, dark long hair and I almost blew my engorged pregnant top. I could not handle reading this type of thing while I sat there with a belly so large I hadn’t seen my feet in months.

I now understand that when you write, you, in a sense, step into an alternate reality in order to create characters and story lines. I clearly had what we lady folk like to call “pregnancy brain” when I agreed to edit the book.

Also, people, puh-lease. He has been teaching English and Creative Writing classes for 20 years. Do you think it went well when I tried to suggest something grammatically? No. No it did not.

Q: How much money does an author make?

A: Enough.

Q: Where does he get these sick and twisted ideas when he is such a nice, sweet guy?

A: I’m sure if I got inside your head, you would have a lot of sick and twisted shit going on inside there that would make Savage Species look tame. He just happens to be really great at putting it down on page. He is a nice, sweet, kind, loving, man that enjoys exploring the dark side of the human psyche.

Q: Why does he write under a psuedonym? I thought you were married to two men!

A: As he says himself, his audience is rated R and he teaches tweens through teens at the local public school so it made sense to separate the two.

I have to say, it’s super duper fun to be married to someone that has an alter ego because I then have an excuse to shop at Hot Topic and bedazzle his jeans for conventions (we call him Convention Craig).

Conclusion: Those are the most frequently asked questions but I would love to hear from you in your comments below with any questions you have for the spouse of a writer. I am also quite narcissistic and would like to believe that I am the sole reason that this blog post will get at least 27 hits.

Next month stay tuned for an incredible crockpot chicken curry, household hacks and stuff.

Monica

“The Best Werewolf Novel I’ve Ever Read”

Hey, friends. Let’s get right to it. The reviews for WOLF LAND have been off-the-charts amazing, and I thought I’d share a new one tonight, this time courtesy of the Shotgun Logic review blog. One quick highlight:

“When I think of werewolves from now on, I’ll be thinking of Jonathan Janz’ werewolves. His larger than life monsters have a humanity about them that is heart-rending. The grief and pain the characters experience during the change is vivid and agonizing to behold, and the lust for sex and blood and human fear is edge of your seat, fight or flight terrifying.”

And…

“Jonathan Janz is one of my favorite authors and WOLF LAND is the best werewolf novel I’ve ever read, bar none.”

If you haven’t yet, you can pick up the novel in digital, print, or audiobook forms right here.

Oh, and a Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife!

Have a good night, friends, and stay safe.

The Maniacal Leer: Guest post by Jonathan Janz

Jonathan Janz:

I wrote an article for the awesome Shotgun Logic blog today. Here it is…

Originally posted on Shotgun Logic:

To anyone who’s followed this blog with any regularity, it will come as no surprise that I’m a Jonathan Janz fan. Some of my favorite reads of the last two or three years have born his name on the cover. The reason for this, to state the obvious, is that he’s an outstanding wordsmith. His stories are always highly polished, with rock solid characterization and attention to detail that can stand with the best authors in modern horror. I consider it an honor and a privilege to have him here today to talk about his newest novel, WOLF LAND. I’ll be reviewing the book later this month, so watch for that. In the meantime, enjoy this entertaining and insightful article by Jonathan Janz.

The Maniacal Leer:

Transformations That Transformed WOLF LAND – by Jonathan Janz

First of all, a big thank you to Shane for hosting me today. Few…

View original 929 more words

WOLF LAND Goes on Tour!

“Hello Cleveland! HELLO CLEVELAND!”

The werewolf novel that’s unlike any werewolf novel is taking it on the road, folks. Or the cybersphere. Or wherever.

But it’s coming. And it’s bloody. And it’s full of characters that are dear to me.

The full schedule is available right here, courtesy of the excellent Hook of  a Book website.

The novel is available in ebook or print form here (or anywhere else books are sold).

Unhinged

The audiobook is now available at audible.com in a ferociously well-performed version.

Audio Terror

Gotta run now. Editing a novel for a publisher with whom I’ve never worked and editing another project y’all are going to be excited about.

Talk to you soon!

Thunderstorm Edition of THE SORROWS

Hello, all. If you haven’t heard about my eleven-book deal with Thunderstorm Books yet, you can pause now and check out this link.

If you do know about Jonathan Janz’s Shadow Side, the first title is going to be my debut novel THE SORROWS, and judging from my correspondence with the awesome Paul Goblirsch (the Thunderstorm guru), this edition is going to be incredible.

Paul sent me a file of the book’s interior, and it’s ridiculously gorgeous. As well as looking slick, this version will contain a great deal of never-before-seen chapters, complete with my explanations and introductions of each deleted scene. For fans of the novel, this edition will be the only time you’ll get to read the book’s completely different original opening, a vital flashback sequence with Gabriel and Calvin Shepherd, a harrowing frame story featuring an ill-fated attempt to study the island’s mysteries, and three more rare scenes.

The Real Castle Blackwood (in Scotland)

If this sounds as awesome to you as it does to me, you can sign up right here.

That’s all for today, friends.

*Edit: After I wrote this, I got an email from Paul, who decided to do something very special with the artwork on this edition. I can’t say what it is yet, but I will say it’s gorgeous, and it’s something extremely personal to me. This series is going to be epic!

New Interview at Horror After Dark (and More)

My friends at Horror After Dark, led by the awesome Charlene, interviewed me a couple days ago. Their questions were phenomenal, and they brought out some stuff I’ve never talked about before, as well as some important information about new projects. You can check out the transcript right here.

WOLF LAND is kicking booty, friends, so if you haven’t grabbed a copy yet, you can do it at this link (or anywhere else books are sold).

Unhinged

The WOLF LAND audiobook is about to go live on Audible.com, but for now you can find it here. It is definitely worth a listen.

Audio Terror

Have a peaceful night.

WOLF LAND Audiobook and Its Gorgeous Cover

Hey, friends. Crazy times, huh? More on the craziness later…

For now, I wanted to tell you about the audiobook version of WOLF LAND, which was released two days ago. You can pick up the print and/or ebook versions right here, and the audiobook can be found at this link. Oh, and here’s the cover:

A Ferocious Cover for a Savage Story

Fred Godsmark at Audio Realms Publishing has collaborated with actor David Stifel to create what I think is a remarkable rendition of my novel. At least so far. I haven’t finished it yet, but what I’ve heard has been outstanding. Currently, you can pick it up at the Audio Realms store, and in a week or so it’ll be available at Audible.com.

That’s all for now. Take care, friends.