M.R. Gott's Blog, page 27
April 23, 2012
M.R. Interviews...Naima Haviland
Amazon readers call Bloodroom “romantic, sexy …a Moulin Rouge type of story” and “an exciting,
intricate, and delicate foray into the seductions of the vampire …” Bloodroom is currently a paperback
and Kindle e-book, and will be available in all digital formats this June.
Enter to win a free Autographed copy of Bloodroom at goodreads.com April 24-25. The Kindle edition will be a free download from
Amazon April 27-28.
Amazon and Smashwords readers say Night at the Demontorium is ” …not unlike The King in Yellow or
even Lovecraft …” and “An exceptional collection lovingly crafted of dark, thoughtful visions …” Ranked
among Amazon Kindle’s Top 20 Bestselling Horror Anthologies, Night at the Demontorium is a twisted
journey through realms of madness and addiction.
Please Welcome Naima Haviland
Where did the ideas from Bloodroom come from?
My ideas usually arise from something visual. I dreamed I was walking in a forest at night and happened upon a pack of dying wolves. The mystery of the wolves' fate was the genesis of Bloodroom. Swisher's look was inspired by a girl in the Penguin's entourage in Batman II. Julian's antebellum mansion actually exists; it's Drayton Hall outside of Charleston, SC. And Natalie is primarily inspired by the ballerina who died at my feet when I was five -- in her role as the Swan Queen in a performance given at our school. She lay gracefully folded in on herself, trembling as Tchaikovsky's score soared above and through me. She was so beautiful, so doomed. When she stopped shaking and lay still and "dead", I think I might have stopped breathing for a moment. I didn't know what would ultimately happen to Natalie till I finished writing Bloodroom. I wondered when Julian kills her, what will that be like? Julian wonders the same thing throughout the story; he can't stop thinking about it.
What sets Julian in Bloodroom from other vampires?
Julian's hubris sets him apart. He believes his every decision is the right one, regardless of its cruelty. He's never challenged and has never suffered the consequences of any action. His sense of entitlement is as much a part of him as breathing is to humans. Julian character is similar to someone with antisocial or narcissistic personality disorder. His conscience and empathy are compartmentalized into seeming nonexistence. He puts off killing Natalie because he enjoys their affair but comes to care about her, a surprising development he's completely unequipped to handle. It's Stockholm syndrome in reverse. But it's against the law to let her live. Procrastination can get him killed.
Who do you think Bloodroom will appeal to the most?
My first instinct is to say women, but I've known a lot of guys who enjoyed it. I like to say Bloodroom lives at the crossroads where Jane Eyre and Nine Inch Nails meet. Women whose deepest romantic fantasies are edgy, dangerous, sharp, and dark will like Bloodroom. But readers who believe there should be limits to what a good romantic male lead can get away with probably won't like it.
Bloodroom combines sexual elements within a horror setting. Is it more important for you to be sexy or scary? Do you find combining the elements to be difficult?
To answer the first question, it's good to understand what you really think is sexy and what you really find scary. In real life, I must confess they have sometimes overlapped. So in writing I can exaggerate what's at stake and add a supernatural element. I don't find combining the elements to be difficult at all. It's yin and yang: life and death, joy and pain. So, what is sexy? Someone hot and new. What is scary? Hottie has a body in the basement. I want you. Can I trust you? In the next instant, scary trumps sexy. If I'm fast enough, I might make it out alive.
Do you have a particular favorite story from your short story collection, Night at the Demontorium? Why?
Probably Bedring. Night at the Demontorium is completely different from Bloodroom, but it's a recurring theme in my writing that what looks safe probably isn't. In Bedring, a man who is successful in every aspect of life arrives at his showcase home in a gated community to find an alien entity in his unmade bed. In his perfect world an unmade bed is an abnormality in itself, but in short order the bedring will destroy every fabrication the man has so carefully constructed – including that of his own personality.
How is your process for creating short fiction different from that of a novel?
Well the process is a lot shorter! LoL - seriously. Most of my short stories begin as nightmares. I spend all of the following Saturday with my laptop, transforming my nightmare into a short story.
What is the first book you remember genuinely being frightened by? Was your immediate reaction to run out and find other similar tales, or stash it in your closet and block it out?
As a pre-schooler, I pored through my father's horror comics and illustrated books. I was fascinated -- Aubrey Beardsley's Art Deco Salome holding a tray with John the Baptist's head on it and blood running over the edge -- are you kidding? As an adult, I read Stephen King's Pet Cemetery and realized that I had become literally too terrified to move. My impulse was to read more and more horror. Not much of it scares me to the degree Pet Cemetery did, but I do find the genre to be fascinating because of what it says about us. I don't think the horror genre gets enough credit for tackling the great issue of life -- namely, that it will end. Writers and readers are literally fearless to take that on again and again, and to do it in a fun format!
What fictional character had the greatest impact on you?
Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter, written by the great horror writer Nathanial Hawthorne. Forced to wear a huge red 'A' on her bodice to proclaim her sin to the world, she countered her community's injustice with independence, dignity, and defiance. In writing and reading horror, I find that the monster isn't always the point. It's the characters' reaction to the monster that is the true point of a story.
What active genre authors are you still excited to be following?
I can't put down any book by Sara Waters. Her haunted house novel, The Little Stranger, is amazing. She is the heir apparent to Shirley Jackson, who wrote novels like The Haunting of Hill House that turn and churn around the psychological makeup of her characters. I also really like a new writer, Kenya Wright, whose urban fantasy novel, Fire Baptized, is original, humorous, sensual, and engrossing.
Do you have anything new coming down the pipeline you would like to share?
The Bad Death is an antebellum vampire-slayer novel. Its heroine, Anika, is a slave on a South Carolina rice plantation in the late 1700s.(This sounds awesome) Novels and movies set in a dystopian future are really hot right now, but what we conveniently forget is that we had a dystopian past. I did a lot of historical research to create a convincing story that unfolds across lines of race, class, and power. In that region, at that time, much of the slave population was African or first generation African American. Their culture, known as Gullah, survived intact almost to the present day due to the geographical isolation of the region. Gullah folklore has a rich and diverse array of monsters that drive the plot of The Bad Death. The novel is due out this fall and is the first in a trilogy that shares some characters with Bloodroom.
intricate, and delicate foray into the seductions of the vampire …” Bloodroom is currently a paperback
and Kindle e-book, and will be available in all digital formats this June.
Enter to win a free Autographed copy of Bloodroom at goodreads.com April 24-25. The Kindle edition will be a free download from
Amazon April 27-28.
Amazon and Smashwords readers say Night at the Demontorium is ” …not unlike The King in Yellow or
even Lovecraft …” and “An exceptional collection lovingly crafted of dark, thoughtful visions …” Ranked
among Amazon Kindle’s Top 20 Bestselling Horror Anthologies, Night at the Demontorium is a twisted
journey through realms of madness and addiction.
Please Welcome Naima Haviland
Where did the ideas from Bloodroom come from?
My ideas usually arise from something visual. I dreamed I was walking in a forest at night and happened upon a pack of dying wolves. The mystery of the wolves' fate was the genesis of Bloodroom. Swisher's look was inspired by a girl in the Penguin's entourage in Batman II. Julian's antebellum mansion actually exists; it's Drayton Hall outside of Charleston, SC. And Natalie is primarily inspired by the ballerina who died at my feet when I was five -- in her role as the Swan Queen in a performance given at our school. She lay gracefully folded in on herself, trembling as Tchaikovsky's score soared above and through me. She was so beautiful, so doomed. When she stopped shaking and lay still and "dead", I think I might have stopped breathing for a moment. I didn't know what would ultimately happen to Natalie till I finished writing Bloodroom. I wondered when Julian kills her, what will that be like? Julian wonders the same thing throughout the story; he can't stop thinking about it.
What sets Julian in Bloodroom from other vampires?
Julian's hubris sets him apart. He believes his every decision is the right one, regardless of its cruelty. He's never challenged and has never suffered the consequences of any action. His sense of entitlement is as much a part of him as breathing is to humans. Julian character is similar to someone with antisocial or narcissistic personality disorder. His conscience and empathy are compartmentalized into seeming nonexistence. He puts off killing Natalie because he enjoys their affair but comes to care about her, a surprising development he's completely unequipped to handle. It's Stockholm syndrome in reverse. But it's against the law to let her live. Procrastination can get him killed.
Who do you think Bloodroom will appeal to the most?
My first instinct is to say women, but I've known a lot of guys who enjoyed it. I like to say Bloodroom lives at the crossroads where Jane Eyre and Nine Inch Nails meet. Women whose deepest romantic fantasies are edgy, dangerous, sharp, and dark will like Bloodroom. But readers who believe there should be limits to what a good romantic male lead can get away with probably won't like it.
Bloodroom combines sexual elements within a horror setting. Is it more important for you to be sexy or scary? Do you find combining the elements to be difficult?
To answer the first question, it's good to understand what you really think is sexy and what you really find scary. In real life, I must confess they have sometimes overlapped. So in writing I can exaggerate what's at stake and add a supernatural element. I don't find combining the elements to be difficult at all. It's yin and yang: life and death, joy and pain. So, what is sexy? Someone hot and new. What is scary? Hottie has a body in the basement. I want you. Can I trust you? In the next instant, scary trumps sexy. If I'm fast enough, I might make it out alive.
Do you have a particular favorite story from your short story collection, Night at the Demontorium? Why?
Probably Bedring. Night at the Demontorium is completely different from Bloodroom, but it's a recurring theme in my writing that what looks safe probably isn't. In Bedring, a man who is successful in every aspect of life arrives at his showcase home in a gated community to find an alien entity in his unmade bed. In his perfect world an unmade bed is an abnormality in itself, but in short order the bedring will destroy every fabrication the man has so carefully constructed – including that of his own personality.
How is your process for creating short fiction different from that of a novel?
Well the process is a lot shorter! LoL - seriously. Most of my short stories begin as nightmares. I spend all of the following Saturday with my laptop, transforming my nightmare into a short story.
What is the first book you remember genuinely being frightened by? Was your immediate reaction to run out and find other similar tales, or stash it in your closet and block it out?
As a pre-schooler, I pored through my father's horror comics and illustrated books. I was fascinated -- Aubrey Beardsley's Art Deco Salome holding a tray with John the Baptist's head on it and blood running over the edge -- are you kidding? As an adult, I read Stephen King's Pet Cemetery and realized that I had become literally too terrified to move. My impulse was to read more and more horror. Not much of it scares me to the degree Pet Cemetery did, but I do find the genre to be fascinating because of what it says about us. I don't think the horror genre gets enough credit for tackling the great issue of life -- namely, that it will end. Writers and readers are literally fearless to take that on again and again, and to do it in a fun format!
What fictional character had the greatest impact on you?
Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter, written by the great horror writer Nathanial Hawthorne. Forced to wear a huge red 'A' on her bodice to proclaim her sin to the world, she countered her community's injustice with independence, dignity, and defiance. In writing and reading horror, I find that the monster isn't always the point. It's the characters' reaction to the monster that is the true point of a story.
What active genre authors are you still excited to be following?
I can't put down any book by Sara Waters. Her haunted house novel, The Little Stranger, is amazing. She is the heir apparent to Shirley Jackson, who wrote novels like The Haunting of Hill House that turn and churn around the psychological makeup of her characters. I also really like a new writer, Kenya Wright, whose urban fantasy novel, Fire Baptized, is original, humorous, sensual, and engrossing.
Do you have anything new coming down the pipeline you would like to share?
The Bad Death is an antebellum vampire-slayer novel. Its heroine, Anika, is a slave on a South Carolina rice plantation in the late 1700s.(This sounds awesome) Novels and movies set in a dystopian future are really hot right now, but what we conveniently forget is that we had a dystopian past. I did a lot of historical research to create a convincing story that unfolds across lines of race, class, and power. In that region, at that time, much of the slave population was African or first generation African American. Their culture, known as Gullah, survived intact almost to the present day due to the geographical isolation of the region. Gullah folklore has a rich and diverse array of monsters that drive the plot of The Bad Death. The novel is due out this fall and is the first in a trilogy that shares some characters with Bloodroom.
April 22, 2012
Attention All Book Groups
Attention Book Groups, M.R. Gott author of Where the Dead Fear to Tread and the forthcoming Where the Damned Seek Redemption is available for your questions and comments. If your group selects Where the Dead Fear to Tread to read you can contact M.R. through Good Reads or Facebook to be featured on M.R. Gott’s Cutis Anserina. Your feature will include background information on your group as well as a group photo. M.R will also post your group’s review of Where the Dead Fear to Tread, and take and publish your questions.
Watch Candyman for Free
Directed by , who gives an intense performance as Helen Lyle, researching the events that lead to the creation of urban legends.
Click below to watch Candyman from Crackle.com.
April 21, 2012
In the Grindhouse tradition... Drive Angry
"Since the birth of time, humanity has endeavored to restrain evil men in prisons. But since Cain fled the murder of his brother, evil men have fled the walls of punishment. So, it doesn't matter if you're a bad-ass motherfucker on the run, because you think you're better than everyone else, and somehow entitled to do what you gotta do. No. Because you see bad-ass motherfuckers are never fast enough. In the end, they will all be accounted for."
The Accountant
Drive Angry written by
This is Drive Angry's strength and weakness. Farmer and Lussier jam the film with so many different ideas that none have a chance to be fully developed, yet the audience is never bored. New plot threads are introduced every 10 minutes or so with a new action set piece. I personally enjoy enigmatic qualities to a story and characters. While this can often be due to lazy writing, Drive Angry never feels lazy. It was a fast action horror hybrid with a plethora of ideas.
The film has a 70's grind house flavor, but is not a homage or rip off, it is the successor to those films. Filled with pizazz and originality. I missed it in 3-D, but the film still holds up on blu-ray.
April 15, 2012
RESIDENT EVI L RETRIBUTION & RESIDENT EVIL 6
Milla Jovovich & Director/Writer Paul W.S. Anderson were at Wonder Con recently and disclosed new information on Resident Evil Retribution and debuted a new clip. Click below for info including the franchises future.
Also a new trailer for Resident Evil 6 was released, enjoy
Bubba Ho Tep by Joe R Lansdale
Overview;
Elvis is alive but not well. In a East Texas Rest Home, he is forced to join forces with John F Kennedy to combat a mummy sucking the life from the institute’s residents.
Review;
This is a truly heartfelt piece. Lansdale imagines two of his fallen heroes having escaped their fates, only to be forced to become heroes in a new time and beyond their prime. Most people are probably more familiar with the film version of this story. The novella was very faithfully adapted by Don Coscarelli and staring Bruce Campbell. For those who have seen the film, he novel provides more of Elvis’ vulgar observations about the world around him. Every element in the story is used to maximum effect from the setting mirroring the decay Elvis feels, to the mummy haunting the rest home picking off the residents one by one. Kennedy proves a terrific foil for Elvis creating my favorite Lansdale buddy team. Sorry Hap and Leonard.
In the End;
Bubba Ho-Tep is classic Lansdale. His talent for imaging the most unique and creative situation is unparalleled. Beyond the cleaver story and abundant humor he takes two icons and shows them as deeply flawed but inspiring figures. This novella is currently available for 99 cents in its e-book format and cannot think of a better deal. I paid 20 dollars for the hardcover and don’t feel ripped off in the least. I find this story to be truly touching and inspiring.
April 7, 2012
Rotter World by Scott M. Baker
Rotter World
by Scott M. Baker
______________________________________________________________________________
With Rotter World, Scott M. Baker pulls out all the stops in a zombie thriller that is brutal, violent and terrifying. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. -- New York Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry, author of Patient Zero and Dead of Night
Eight months have passed since vampires released the Revenant Virus on mankind, nearly wiping out both species. For Mike Robson, the situation could be far worse. He has joined up with a small band of humans and the last coven of vampires who are riding out the zombie apocalypse in an old fort along the coast of southern Maine. But the uneasy alliance between humans and vampires is strained with the arrival of the creator of the Revenant Virus. He claims to have a vaccine that will make them immune and allow mankind to take civilization back from the living dead. However, the vaccine is located in a secure underground facility five hundred miles away. To retrieve it, Robson leads a raiding party of humans and vampires down the East Coast, which has been devastated by the outbreak and overrun by zombies and rape gangs. Yet none of the horrors he deals with on the road can prepare him for what he will find in the underground facility. Robson will encounter the greatest threat his group has faced to date, not only from zombies but from betrayal within his own ranks. Think there are no new or original zombie authors? Think again. Scott M. Baker provides an exciting voice and fresh outlook on the undead. Fun, compulsive reading. -- Brian Keene, author of The Rising and City of the DeadScott M. Baker writes in the tradition of J.L. Bourne and Joe McKinney. Fans of thriller writers like Brad Thor will also find powerful, welcome similarities in Rotter World. -- Scott Kenemore, author of Zen of Zombie
Scott M. Baker scottmbakerauthor.blogspot.com is a novelist from northern Virginia whose previous works include The Vampire Hunters trilogy, which have received excellent reviews by both Famous Monsters of Filmland and Fangoria, and numerous short stories, including "Cruise of the Living Dead" and the Christmas zombie epic "Deck the Malls with Bowels of Holly." Scott is available for interviews.
Permuted Press was established in 2004 with a modest goal: to produce a single, high-quality zombie anthology titled The Undead. From this simple goal grew a publishing company that has published over 60 titles targeting the apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, and survival horror fiction markets. Permuted Press has relied heavily on the power of the internet and advances in publishing technology to establish itself as one of the best known publishers in the apocalyptic niche. Permuted has utilized print on demand (POD) technology and grassroots internet marketing to catch and cater to its ever growing fan base.
Rotter World Scott M. BakerMarch 2012Mass Market Paperback $14.99 302 pages ISBN-13: 978-1-61868-028-0 ISBN-10: 1-61868-028-5
With Rotter World, Scott M. Baker pulls out all the stops in a zombie thriller that is brutal, violent and terrifying. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. -- New York Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry, author of Patient Zero and Dead of Night
Eight months have passed since vampires released the Revenant Virus on mankind, nearly wiping out both species. For Mike Robson, the situation could be far worse. He has joined up with a small band of humans and the last coven of vampires who are riding out the zombie apocalypse in an old fort along the coast of southern Maine. But the uneasy alliance between humans and vampires is strained with the arrival of the creator of the Revenant Virus. He claims to have a vaccine that will make them immune and allow mankind to take civilization back from the living dead. However, the vaccine is located in a secure underground facility five hundred miles away. To retrieve it, Robson leads a raiding party of humans and vampires down the East Coast, which has been devastated by the outbreak and overrun by zombies and rape gangs. Yet none of the horrors he deals with on the road can prepare him for what he will find in the underground facility. Robson will encounter the greatest threat his group has faced to date, not only from zombies but from betrayal within his own ranks. Think there are no new or original zombie authors? Think again. Scott M. Baker provides an exciting voice and fresh outlook on the undead. Fun, compulsive reading. -- Brian Keene, author of The Rising and City of the DeadScott M. Baker writes in the tradition of J.L. Bourne and Joe McKinney. Fans of thriller writers like Brad Thor will also find powerful, welcome similarities in Rotter World. -- Scott Kenemore, author of Zen of Zombie
Scott M. Baker scottmbakerauthor.blogspot.com is a novelist from northern Virginia whose previous works include The Vampire Hunters trilogy, which have received excellent reviews by both Famous Monsters of Filmland and Fangoria, and numerous short stories, including "Cruise of the Living Dead" and the Christmas zombie epic "Deck the Malls with Bowels of Holly." Scott is available for interviews.
Permuted Press was established in 2004 with a modest goal: to produce a single, high-quality zombie anthology titled The Undead. From this simple goal grew a publishing company that has published over 60 titles targeting the apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, and survival horror fiction markets. Permuted Press has relied heavily on the power of the internet and advances in publishing technology to establish itself as one of the best known publishers in the apocalyptic niche. Permuted has utilized print on demand (POD) technology and grassroots internet marketing to catch and cater to its ever growing fan base.
Rotter World Scott M. BakerMarch 2012Mass Market Paperback $14.99 302 pages ISBN-13: 978-1-61868-028-0 ISBN-10: 1-61868-028-5
April 4, 2012
M.R. Interviews...Troy McCombs
Please Welcome Troy McCombs
Your novel The House on Mayberry Rd centers around a haunted house, what was your mindset when approaching this classic set up?
I just wanted to try my hand at the haunted house theme and make it different than all the classic set
ups. Everyone knows haunted houses revolve around ghosts, poltergeists and demons, but what if the
haunting was something else entirely?
I had the first chapter of the book floating around inside my head for a while. Then one night I said
screw it. I'm writing this darn thing whether it kills me or not. Well, it did suck me dry of creativity for
a while. I even went through a three month period of not writing a single word. Lord knows, I tried. It
was like mental constipation.
Do you have a particular favorite story from Baker's Dozen? What sets this story apart to from the rest to you?
Hmm. This is a really tough question. I probably can't say I have a 'favorite', but I do like some better
than others. The ones that stand out to me are:
Beneath the Soil
and
Hypervision
I like these best because they are very unique ideas that have never been done before. I've never read
a horror story about a select few people who can't walk on soil without hands coming up through the
ground and trying to take them... somewhere. And I've never read a story about a mental patient who,
after looking into the sun during a solar eclipse, is miraculously able to see bacteria and unknown
things with his damaged eyes.
How does your writing approach differ when crafting short fiction as opposed to a novel?
Short fiction is way easier to write but way more difficult to sell. Novels are harder to write and
probably easier to sell. People want to read novels, not short stories. Otherwise, most bookstores would
carry mostly anthologies.
Adam McNicols' plight in Damaged feels very pertinent to the political climate right now? What prompted you to create a tale of revolving around bullying?
I grew up afflicted with a social anxiety disorder and was teased a lot because I was different. I had the
idea for Damaged floating in my head almost since I began writing. I basically wanted to flip off every
bully of the world and say this has to end. No child or teen should have to go through that crap growing
up. Everyone's different in their own way. I wrote this novel for every victimized person on planet
earth.
What is your favorite character that you created? Do you love or hate him/her?
Love them both: Stephen Stanson (The Music of 1997) and Bobby Gradison (Darkworld 'soon to be
published') I don't know why I like these characters so much. They just strike a chord with me. They
are very deep and very traumatized individuals who have suffered great losses and want all those loses
returned.
What fictional character had the greatest impact on you?
In my writing, Bobby and Stephen. Carrie White from Stephen King's 'Carrie'. The main character from
Lovecraft's 'The Outsider'.
What active authors are still excited to be following?
Eric Johnston, Brett Talley, Stephen King,
What is the first book you remember genuinely being frightened by? Was your immediate reaction to run out and find other similar tales, or stash it in your closet and block it out?
I distinctly recall reading Lovecraft's short story 'From Beyond' and being pretty creeped out about
it. He's really the only writer who's ever really struck fear in me. Aside from him, The Exorcist is
pretty damn scary too. I wouldn't say it 'scared' me, but 'The Conqueror Worms' by Brian Keene is
unsettling—something I enjoy feeling. Also, there's a short story that's hard to find that left me with
cold chills. I forget the author's name, but the story is entitled 'The Phantom Drug'.
Do you have anything new coming down the pipeline you would like to share?
A crime/sci-fi thriller that I'm being very tight-lipped about.
Your novel The House on Mayberry Rd centers around a haunted house, what was your mindset when approaching this classic set up?
I just wanted to try my hand at the haunted house theme and make it different than all the classic set
ups. Everyone knows haunted houses revolve around ghosts, poltergeists and demons, but what if the
haunting was something else entirely?
I had the first chapter of the book floating around inside my head for a while. Then one night I said
screw it. I'm writing this darn thing whether it kills me or not. Well, it did suck me dry of creativity for
a while. I even went through a three month period of not writing a single word. Lord knows, I tried. It
was like mental constipation.
Do you have a particular favorite story from Baker's Dozen? What sets this story apart to from the rest to you?
Hmm. This is a really tough question. I probably can't say I have a 'favorite', but I do like some better
than others. The ones that stand out to me are:
Beneath the Soil
and
Hypervision
I like these best because they are very unique ideas that have never been done before. I've never read
a horror story about a select few people who can't walk on soil without hands coming up through the
ground and trying to take them... somewhere. And I've never read a story about a mental patient who,
after looking into the sun during a solar eclipse, is miraculously able to see bacteria and unknown
things with his damaged eyes.
How does your writing approach differ when crafting short fiction as opposed to a novel?
Short fiction is way easier to write but way more difficult to sell. Novels are harder to write and
probably easier to sell. People want to read novels, not short stories. Otherwise, most bookstores would
carry mostly anthologies.
Adam McNicols' plight in Damaged feels very pertinent to the political climate right now? What prompted you to create a tale of revolving around bullying?
I grew up afflicted with a social anxiety disorder and was teased a lot because I was different. I had the
idea for Damaged floating in my head almost since I began writing. I basically wanted to flip off every
bully of the world and say this has to end. No child or teen should have to go through that crap growing
up. Everyone's different in their own way. I wrote this novel for every victimized person on planet
earth.
What is your favorite character that you created? Do you love or hate him/her?
Love them both: Stephen Stanson (The Music of 1997) and Bobby Gradison (Darkworld 'soon to be
published') I don't know why I like these characters so much. They just strike a chord with me. They
are very deep and very traumatized individuals who have suffered great losses and want all those loses
returned.
What fictional character had the greatest impact on you?
In my writing, Bobby and Stephen. Carrie White from Stephen King's 'Carrie'. The main character from
Lovecraft's 'The Outsider'.
What active authors are still excited to be following?
Eric Johnston, Brett Talley, Stephen King,
What is the first book you remember genuinely being frightened by? Was your immediate reaction to run out and find other similar tales, or stash it in your closet and block it out?
I distinctly recall reading Lovecraft's short story 'From Beyond' and being pretty creeped out about
it. He's really the only writer who's ever really struck fear in me. Aside from him, The Exorcist is
pretty damn scary too. I wouldn't say it 'scared' me, but 'The Conqueror Worms' by Brian Keene is
unsettling—something I enjoy feeling. Also, there's a short story that's hard to find that left me with
cold chills. I forget the author's name, but the story is entitled 'The Phantom Drug'.
Do you have anything new coming down the pipeline you would like to share?
A crime/sci-fi thriller that I'm being very tight-lipped about.
April 3, 2012
Open Book Society Reviews Where the Dead Fear to Tread
"Gott is a superb writer in these actions scenes, unafraid of delving into the blood, gore (and horror) and doing so impressively."
Click for the full review 
Click for the full review
Plague Town by Dana Fredsti
Overview;At California's Redwood Grove University a violent strain of what seems to be the flu rips through the community. Though the real problem is that once the flu becomes fatal, it does not last.
Review;Plague Town by Dana Fredsti is the first Ashley Parker novel with two more promised. Fredsti's novel balances in near perfection the familiar horror conventions people such as myself search out, while remaining fresh and never becoming clichéd and predictable. This is an incredible feet to accomplish. Ashley Parker the novel's clear main protagonist fits well into the pantheon of tough female leads in a horror fiction. The character succeeds because of a carefully crafted balance of emotional strength and vulnerability. I am often hesitant to begin series based around a clear protagonist, because it removes an element of danger, Ashley is going to survive. There was however a moment midway through the novel when I realized I was rooting for Ashley not to simply to survive by succeed against the challenges before her. The cast supporting Ashley is well conceived and Fredsti demonstrates an incredible ability to introduce characters thoroughly and efficiently. This strength allows the action to move at a brisk pace, never becoming bogged down with necessary but momentum stealing moments. The action sequences are well conceived organized and executed. The flow of movement is seamless allowing the reader to move with Ashley. Fredsti is clearly a fan of horror and cult films and references to these art items are scattered throughout the novel. (An Egg She quote starts the book solidifying Fredsti's cult film expertise) While they worked well initially, there continued use throughout took me out of the story a few times. That being said, for younger readers this novel could double as a survey course in horror culture as taught at California's Redwood Grove University.
In the End;Dan Fredsti has created a compelling spin on zombie fiction and introduced a distinctive and new heroine. Plague Town is a great novel for any horror fan wishing to read a briskly paced novel by one of their own.
Click for Dana Fredsti's Interview at Cutis Anserina
Review;Plague Town by Dana Fredsti is the first Ashley Parker novel with two more promised. Fredsti's novel balances in near perfection the familiar horror conventions people such as myself search out, while remaining fresh and never becoming clichéd and predictable. This is an incredible feet to accomplish. Ashley Parker the novel's clear main protagonist fits well into the pantheon of tough female leads in a horror fiction. The character succeeds because of a carefully crafted balance of emotional strength and vulnerability. I am often hesitant to begin series based around a clear protagonist, because it removes an element of danger, Ashley is going to survive. There was however a moment midway through the novel when I realized I was rooting for Ashley not to simply to survive by succeed against the challenges before her. The cast supporting Ashley is well conceived and Fredsti demonstrates an incredible ability to introduce characters thoroughly and efficiently. This strength allows the action to move at a brisk pace, never becoming bogged down with necessary but momentum stealing moments. The action sequences are well conceived organized and executed. The flow of movement is seamless allowing the reader to move with Ashley. Fredsti is clearly a fan of horror and cult films and references to these art items are scattered throughout the novel. (An Egg She quote starts the book solidifying Fredsti's cult film expertise) While they worked well initially, there continued use throughout took me out of the story a few times. That being said, for younger readers this novel could double as a survey course in horror culture as taught at California's Redwood Grove University.
In the End;Dan Fredsti has created a compelling spin on zombie fiction and introduced a distinctive and new heroine. Plague Town is a great novel for any horror fan wishing to read a briskly paced novel by one of their own.
Click for Dana Fredsti's Interview at Cutis Anserina
