Jonathan Janz's Blog, page 8

Tim Waggoner Calls Yours Truly “One the best new voices in the genre”

Let’s begin with this: if you’re not reading Tim Waggoner by now, you need to be. One of the most versatile, literate, and entertaining authors in speculative fiction, Tim has been an influence on me for several years. He’s an author from whom I strive to learn and a man I deeply admire.

And today, he wrote the following about me and my work:

“Jonathan Janz is one of the rare horror novelists who can touch your heart while chilling your spine. His work offers incisive characters, sharp dialogue, and more scares than a deserted graveyard after midnight. If you haven’t read his fiction, you’re missing out on one the best new voices in the genre.”

Thank you, Tim, for your incredibly kind words. I am deeply honored.

And if you’ve not read his work yet, I suggest you check out his Amazon page now. Whether it’s a hallucinatory nightmare (PANDORA DRIVE); a fresh, ferocious take on zombies (THE WAY OF ALL FLESH); or a masterfully-done tie-in tale (SUPERNATURAL) you seek, Tim Waggoner has got the goods.

More Waggoner Terror

Talk to you soon, friends!

Early Raves for WOLF LAND

Evening! Went to HorrorHound Weekend on Saturday. Sold a boatload of books. I’m sitting next to my son right now. He’s reading a book about dumb criminals. My dog is sprawled on my feet. Life is wonderful.

Tim Potter, writing for The Horror Review, had this to say about my upcoming November release: “Jonathan Janz is a talented writer whose prose stands out among his peers in any genre and that ability is on display in Wolf Land.”

I don’t want to spoil the rest, but it’s a five-star review, as is this early review from Reclusive Reads. In it, Jon Recluse says, “Janz pulls no punches, balancing action, horror and a healthy dose of humanity like a master in this feral fiend of a tale.”

The Fury Is Coming

More to come, but for now you can preorder the book at Amazon or anywhere else books are sold.

Have a good night, friends!

WOLF LAND Debuts at HorrorHound Indy

I’ll be in Indianapolis this weekend (definitely Saturday, maybe Friday too) signing copies of my upcoming November title WOLF LAND. If you’re in the area, stop by and say hello.

Must I even threaten you about how my fellow guest Freddy Krueger will get you if you don’t come?

The Fury Is Coming

WOLF LAND, the Novel Coming in November…

Hey, friends. Blogging has been sparse lately, as has been Facebook, as has been Twitter, as have been all things not family, teaching, or writing. Because as much as I love interacting with everyone online, the three things I just listed matter far, far more to me. Particularly family.

So it occurred to me today that I haven’t said much about WOLF LAND yet, despite the fact that a great many folks have already preordered it (you can do that here or just about anywhere else), and several folks have already posted reviews (all of them five stars or four stars thus far). Given these facts, I thought I’d tell you a few things about it.

I thought the book was going to be one thing, and it turned out entirely differently. I thought it would be a fun, bloody romp that largely took place in an amusement park. Well, it turned bloody alright, and I still think much of it is fun. And sure, the last quarter of it’s in an amusement park. But “romp” doesn’t really capture the book’s vibe. “Vicious” does, as does “shocking” or “tragic.” I simply had no idea how dark the novel would become, but I follow where the story leads me, and pitch-black is where this story wanted to go. I suspect you’ll agree.

The Fury Is Coming

I didn’t realize this, but this book transformed into a means of exorcising some demons from my mind and memory. This’ll sound weird, but I killed my high school self in the book. I’ll talk more about that later, but yeah…I basically took a large part of what I was in high school and slaughtered it in spectacularly bloody fashion. That was after I projected what I would have become had my life taken a different path (one clue: on this other, thankfully imaginary trajectory, my life became something really bad).


Speaking of exorcisms…I didn’t realize until I wrote this book how much about my home town and the dysfunction that I witnessed there bothered me. Mainly, what bothered me was how I convinced myself that it didn’t bother me. No one else seemed to mind, I figured, so why the hell should I? But on some level, I was deeply bothered by several facets of small town life, and I suppose this comes back to how bothered I was by what I was starting to become before I met my wife.

One Influence.

And in WOLF LAND, I killed myself a second time when I killed a different character. Oh, don’t get me wrong—I have never and will never harbor a single suicidal thought. What I’m talking about is my tendency toward punishing myself emotionally for every mistake I make. I didn’t consciously write myself into my novel (through two different characters) any more than I murdered these versions of myself in a conscious, volitional, writer-taking-the-wheel-away-from-his-characters kind of way. If anything, WOLF LAND is proof of how I never get in my characters’ way. But without realizing it, I was working through all kinds of residual emotional angst. And killing my eighteen-year-old and twenty-five-year-old selves in the process.

How’s that for strange and maddeningly nebulous?

Another Influence

I gotta scoot now, friends. The editing of my first 2016 release is going splendidly. Like, so splendidly that I’m dying to start sending a version of this out to my pre-readers.

Night, all.

Scares That Care Is the Best Convention in the World

Was that a direct enough statement?

I’m not a veteran convention-goer, and I’m only currently doing four or so a year. Next year, I plan to add Stokercon to my list of conventions, and I’m sure it’ll rock, but folks? Scares That Care 2 was absolutely epic.

Rather than writing a novella here, I’ll give you some pictorial highlights. But before I do, let me mention a few people that aren’t pictured…

Tim Waggoner is a truly special human being (as well as an incredible writer). I’m blessed to call him a friend.

I finally got to hang out with Hunter Shea, who’s a wonderful guy and a great friend.

I am very proud of Kristopher Rufty, who conducted his first-ever reading and knocked it out of the park.

I had a blast selling books with Adam Cesare. Did I mention we sold a lot of them?

Fred Godsmark, my audiobook publisher, has become a true friend. Spending time with him was one of the high points of my weekend. The same can be said for Mark Sieber, who is just amazing and someone I wish I got to see much more than once a year. I also really dug hanging out with Jim Marshall, Tom Monteleone, Lynne Hansen, Dave Thomas, Kelli Owen, Bob Ford, Jacob Haddon, Eddie Coulter, Kyle and Justine Lybeck, Matt Blazi, Mike Lombardo, John Boden, Matt Serafini, Kevin Lucia, David Bernstein, Sandy S., Randy I-Forgot-Your-Last-Name, and, and, and—

I gotta stop. If I don’t I’ll be sleepless for the next several nights feeling bad about the people I missed. If I missed you, please forgive me. It doesn’t mean I don’t care. It just means I’m swamped (What’s new, right?).

Too many other people to mention here, so I’ll get to the pictures.

Me with Two Awesome Fans/Friends
Ron Malfi and I
Brian Keene and Edward Lee
With Jeff Strand
“The Bed of Dreams”
With Brian Keene
Corrine the Cool
Edward Lee. EDWARD. LEE.
Kyle and Justine
The Most Supportive Family in the World

I’ll leave you with a few woefully inadequate thoughts/highlights:

Joe Ripple is the heart behind Scares That Care. He and everyone involved deserve medals.
Brian Keene is an unsung hero who makes this an incredible experience for the authors. I can’t think of anyone that successful who is so willing to help other writers succeed. Just incredible.
I had the amazing opportunity to moderate a panel about book-to-movie adaptations featuring Edward Lee, F. Paul Wilson, Brian Keene, Tom Monteleone, Jeff Strand, Lynne Hansen, and Bob Ford. It was phenomenal.
I read the first chapter of THE NIGHTMARE GIRL. I think it went well.
I got to talk M.R. James and H.P. Lovecraft with Edward Lee. I still can’t believe that happened. Mr. Lee, by the way, was a prince of a man. I couldn’t have been more impressed.
F. Paul Wilson was also extremely kind and also shared some editing tips. Yep, I’ve already begun to apply them.
Tom Monteleone, Jim Marshall, Mark Sieber and I got to stare into “The Bed of Dreams” for the second year in a row. The Bed is pictured above; it contains some of the most beautiful vintage hardcover books you’ll ever see.
Kelli Owen and Bob Ford are awesome people. Dining with them was a highlight.
My son is reading a Jeff Strand book and loving it.
I must go to bed.

Night, all. Hope you’re all doing well.

Scares That Care 2 Is Coming!

Friends, you have about two-and-a-half weeks to make plans for an amazing event. In addition to tons of incredible movie stars and personalities, you’ll have a whale of a horror fiction element headlined by writers like Brian Keene, F. Paul Wilson, Edward Lee, and many, many more. I’ll be there too. I’m looking forward to meeting you, hanging out, signing books, doing a reading (Friday night with my good friend Kristopher Rufty), and moderating a panel on horror books being adapted into films that includes (*gulp*) Brian Keene, Edward Lee, F. Paul Wilson, Thomas Monteleone, Jeff Strand, Lynne Hansen, and Robert Ford. My goal, incidentally, is to survive. And learn.

F. Paul Wilson

The rest of the author programming schedule can be found here. Yet another reason to attend is “An Evening with Brian Keene,” at which you can share a night with one of my favorite authors, witness the world premiere of the new short film “Fast Zombies Suck,” and kick off the whole event in style. I truly hope you’ll make plans to come. It is going to be incredible, friends, and all for a wonderful cause.

WOLF LAND Cover Reveal!

Oh, Angela Waters, how I think thee rad. You listen to my ideas for cover art and then make them fifty-seven times better than they were in my head. I’d call it collaboration, but that’s self-aggrandizing. It’s more like cover art clairvoyance. Angela sees and improves. She understands and—aw, enough of that. Here’s the new cover:

The Fury Is Coming

I don’t know about you, but I love it.

More rad news coming soon, y’all.

Peace.

THE NIGHTMARE GIRL Is Only 99 Cents!

Hey, friends. For a brief time, one of my best books, my recent 2015 release THE NIGHTMARE GIRL, is on sale for only 99 cents. If you haven’t, I truly hope you check it out. If you need any other convincing, you could read glowing reviews from places like Pod of Horror, Rue Morgue, Horrornews, Ginger Nuts of Horror, Horror After Dark, The Minneapolis Examiner, Horrorworld, and too many others to mention.

Joe Crawford and the Fire Cult

That’s all. More really cool news on the way…

FREE Audiobook Today Only: THE DARKEST LULLABY

Howdy, folks! On vacation, so short and sweet blog post. The title says it all anyway. Head to this link at some point today and you’ll find a free audiobook of my newest Audio Realms release (THE DARKEST LULLABY).

Creepy Audio

Have a great Wednesday!

YouTube Interview, EXORCIST ROAD Review, Personal and Writing Updates…

Hey, friends. The excellent Jason Brant was kind enough to put me on his show “Drinking with Jason” the other night. Here are the gory results.

The rocking Gef Fox and the Wag the Fox book blog reviewed my novella EXORCIST ROAD and had this to say.

Below you can see some cool Adrian Shotbolt art inspired by my novel THE NIGHTMARE GIRL and the awesome cover art by Angela Waters.

Courtesy of Angela Waters and Adrian Shotbolt

We’ve been in the midst of a huge, monstrous renovation of our 1938 home for about six weeks now. We’re still alive. I’m mostly avoiding panic attacks.

I have been grappling with the busiest schedule of my life to preserve/reestablish my writing time. Hopefully, things will stabilize in three days when my teaching year ends and the summer officially begins.

My wife and kids are amazing.

I’ve begun work on a sequel to one of my most popular stories. It’ll be done sometime in June, at which time I’ll begin work on a HUGE book that excites me more than any other in my career.

Southern Gothic

More news will be forthcoming.

Sorry about the paucity of blog posts. Life has been a whirlwind.

Pick up four of my books for 99 cents each. They’re available at my Amazon page and are called DUST DEVILS, EXORCIST ROAD, OLD ORDER, and THE CLEARING OF TRAVIS COBLE.

‘Night.