Horror Aficionados discussion
Group Reads: Guest Author Invite
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October 2018 Group Read # 2 with Guest Author, Glenn Rolfe
Just finished this amazing book! Loved it. I adored James and his thought processes. I felt sorry for him, was proud of him, cheered for him, cried for him and in the end, felt pure love for this kid. I’m sure that by now everyone has figured out that James is my favorite character. Great book, Glenn. This is the first one of your books I have experienced and I’m definitely going to do a search for others you have penned. Thank you!
Teresa wrote: "Just finished this amazing book! Loved it. I adored James and his thought processes. I felt sorry for him, was proud of him, cheered for him, cried for him and in the end, felt pure love for this k..."Thanks, Teresa. I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed the book. It was definitely a journey for James.
I think each of my works are very different from one another. If you have any favorite types of horror let me know, I can help suggest another one of book that might be a hit with you.
Thanks again, Teresa!
Dustin wrote: "Glenn wrote: "Dustin wrote: "Hi, Glenn! Thank you for the heads-up mesage. appreciate it. The Wondow sounds great. Welcome back to the group!!😊"It's great to be back! Hope you enjoy the book, Dust..."
We'll be here waiting. Thanks, Dustin!
Dustin wrote: "Glenn wrote: "Dustin wrote: "Hi, Glenn! Thank you for the heads-up mesage. appreciate it. The Wondow sounds great. Welcome back to the group!!😊"It's great to be back! Hope you enjoy the book, Dust..."
We'll be here waiting. Thanks, Dustin!
Glenn wrote: "Thanks, Melanie and Bradford. Glad to hear it!I figured I'd share some of who I am with you guys at the start of this thing.
I was born in 1977. Elvis died, KISS was huge, and Bruce Springsteen w..."
Thank you for sharing pieces of you, Glenn. And not just a little, either.:) You being so candid is very refreshing, because a lot of celebrities/artists tend to be closed off, their defenses raised. You know? Not there isn't good reason for that, and each individual is different, but it's just nice.
Dustin wrote: "Glenn wrote: "Thanks, Melanie and Bradford. Glad to hear it!I figured I'd share some of who I am with you guys at the start of this thing.
I was born in 1977. Elvis died, KISS was huge, and Bruce..."
Thanks, Dustin. I consider it a privilege to be asked to do these author-invites. I'm always willing to make the most out them for anyone willing to join us. I'm grateful to have you guys here,
Hi Glenn. Finished The Window (review posted on GR and elsewhere). 5 star reading. Loved the original way you handled the demon theme and the pacing was spot on. I would say this is your best yet - but then, you keep on getting better, in my opinion. Great read. Congratulations!
Catherine wrote: "Hi Glenn. Finished The Window (review posted on GR and elsewhere). 5 star reading. Loved the original way you handled the demon theme and the pacing was spot on. I would say this is your best yet -..."Thanks, Cat! I definitely feel this is my next level. Still climbing, but I am very happy with how this one turned out.
There is a print and a special hardcover version coming down the road.
Glenn,
This was my first time reading one of your books and I have to say...I loved it! It caught my attention and never let up. I felt like I really got to know the characters and truly cared what happened to them. Also, (view spoiler). I really enjoyed this book and plan to read some of your other works. Thanks for joining us this month.
This was my first time reading one of your books and I have to say...I loved it! It caught my attention and never let up. I felt like I really got to know the characters and truly cared what happened to them. Also, (view spoiler). I really enjoyed this book and plan to read some of your other works. Thanks for joining us this month.
Amy wrote: "Glenn, This was my first time reading one of your books and I have to say...I loved it! It caught my attention and never let up. I felt like I really got to know the characters and truly cared wh..."
Thanks so much, Amy.
Glad you enjoyed the book.
James's religious beliefs very much reflect my own. I don't really go to church anymore, but I still have my own relationship with God that I feel very comfortable with. I felt like it fit well within James's story and I worked hard not to make it more than it was.
I really appreciate you making time for my work and for your kind words.
Glenn wrote: "Dustin wrote: "Glenn wrote: "Thanks, Melanie and Bradford. Glad to hear it!I figured I'd share some of who I am with you guys at the start of this thing.
I was born in 1977. Elvis died, KISS was ..."
It is a genuine pleasure for all involved!!
As a person of faith myself, I very much appreciate the brief discussion here, prompted by Amy. It's certainly important to explore diversive life choices in fiction, and in ways that aren't didactic. I think there's a fine line to tread there. Nicely done, Glenn. I look forward to The Window more than ever.
Monica wrote: "I'll probably start this today."Today is the greatest day of ever. Billy Corgan said that.
Thanks, Monica. Hope you enjoy the ride.
Dustin wrote: "As a person of faith myself, I very much appreciate the brief discussion here, prompted by Amy. It's certainly important to explore diversive life choices in fiction, and in ways that aren't didact..."Thanks, Dustin. It's always interesting to see how much of ourselves reflect in a story and or set of characters.
Glenn wrote: "Dustin wrote: "As a person of faith myself, I very much appreciate the brief discussion here, prompted by Amy. It's certainly important to explore diversive life choices in fiction, and in ways tha..."That is true.😊
Wow Glenn!This was your best one yet! I loved this book. It was so scary, but the characters were great. The friendship part of the book was so cool. The references to authors and modern day things really put like a personal feel to it. Even though it was so scary, there was also some humor which I really liked.
One thing I wanted to ask is about the "hot sip". I loved that term. Is that a real thing or did you make that up?
Also, your demon characters - the male and the female - Are they out there in demonic lore? Or did you invent them? Did you first come up with them and then write a book around them? Or did you want a demonic book and then flesh them out? I guess I am asking, did you do the story first or the characters first?
What was really cool was that it was much more than a demon book, and I really liked that about it.
Thanks for sharing this with us. It was excellent.
Vicki's Review
Vicki Willis wrote: "Wow Glenn!This was your best one yet! I loved this book. It was so scary, but the characters were great. The friendship part of the book was so cool. The references to authors and modern day thing..."
Hi, Vicky! Glad you loved the story. I feel it's my strongest effort thus far, as well.
As for the "hot sip" that Edna refers to....unless it's something I picked up along the years (which is possible), I believe it's an exclusive Edna-ism.
The demons are my also my own. Once I found out they were demons, I knew I didn't want to travel down an Exorcist-type of road, that's been done a million time, so I was happy and excited to create my own unique take on the possession business.
These two definitely developed as I was writing. As I've said before, the initial idea came from me scaring myself grabbing a beer from the fridge. Over the years, that one spooky moment turned into the demons in The Window.
So, to answer your question, I guess they developed together. I don't outline, so everything, including my characters, pop into the story as I'm writing. And then they get fleshed out more and more as I do revisions or edits.
Thanks again, Vicky. Hope to see you in here next month when we do the Welcome to the Show: 17 Horror Stories – One Legendary Venue anthology. Lots of crazy good authors involved in this one.
Nice review, Vicky!I love the insightful answers. Thank you for that. I definitely hope the group has you back more often, and soon. I'll be checking out the anthology now.:)
Mod
Dustin wrote: "Nice review, Vicky!I love the insightful answers. Thank you for that. I definitely hope the group has you back more often, and soon. I'll be checking out the anthology now.:)"
My pleasure, Dustin. I'll be back as often as Ken will have me.
Kimberly wrote: "Glenn, I have my copy and "intend" to have it read and reviewed before November!! I'm encouraged with all the good reviews!"Kimberly, looking forward to your thoughts, as always. Thanks for dropping in. :)
Mod
Kimberly, looking forward to your thoughts, as always. ..."
16% in, and already (view spoiler)
Glenn wrote: "Dustin wrote: "Nice review, Vicky!I love the insightful answers. Thank you for that. I definitely hope the group has you back more often, and soon. I'll be checking out the anthology now.:)"
My p..."
:)
Ken, you are awesome!
I checked out the anthology, by the way, which sounds terrific!
Mod
I love the insightful answers. Thank you for that. I definitely hope the group has you back more often, and soon. I'll be checking out the antholog..."
It really does sound good and I'm absolutely giddy that we were able to have so many top-shelf authors that not only contributed, but that also want to join us in the group read. A big, heartfelt thank you to Glenn for making this all possible!
Kimberly wrote: "Glenn wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "Glenn, I have my copy and "intend" to have it read and reviewed before November!! I'm encouraged with all the good reviews!"Kimberly, looking forward to your thought..."
Thanks, Kimberly. I did go out of my comfort zone a bit on this one with regards to going a little deeper on characters. In myprevious efforts, I was always more concerned with giving readers just enough of the characters to get them invested but made sure not to lose momentum and keep the reader hooked into the actual story. I was always worried about dicking around too much and losing the story. After pushing myself a little harder with this one, and finding a great balance of character and story (I hope), I think I'll try t carry on with that balance and try to continue to improve with each release.
Ken wrote: "Dustin wrote: "Glenn wrote: "Dustin wrote: "Nice review, Vicky!I love the insightful answers. Thank you for that. I definitely hope the group has you back more often, and soon. I'll be checking o..."
THanks, Ken. I can't wait to get WELCOME TO THE SHOW rolling in here. I read the entire anthology and really, really loved almost every story. I think it's one of the best anthos from top to bottom that people will read this year.
Thank you, thank you & thanks again for sharing so much with us & for dropping yet another awesome book for us to read just in time. Absolutely no decisions to make on my Halloween read for 2018!Will definitely be checking out the soundtrack and the interview. :)
* To everyone in the group- sorry for my long absence. Trust me, it was a bummer & I missed you guys. And now that I’m back, we have one of my fave writers as a guest for my the best month of the year. This group is awesome!
Kimberly wrote: "16% in, and already (view spoiler)"Same with me here!
I was surprised to get to know so much already about the demons at the beginning, as usually the reader is kept in the dark much longer. It feels kind of nasty, knowing more than the main characters, what fate they will encounter and not being able to stop them (like those useless comments while watching movies "no, don't go upstairs..."). But honestly: I love it!
And I always enjoy references to music/books/movies, especially when I know them. I remember I first noticed that kind of thing with King books, where he mentions what people were listening to on the radio, mostly CCR and stuff like that.
I have a question about the demons' names: did you invent them or do they have a special meaning I'm not aware of?
Sheri wrote: "Thank you, thank you & thanks again for sharing so much with us & for dropping yet another awesome book for us to read just in time. Absolutely no decisions to make on my Halloween read for 2018!..."
Great to have you here, Sheri! Enjoy the book! :)
Elke wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "16% in, and already (view spoiler)"Same with me here!
I was surprised to get to know so much already about the demons at the beginning, as usually the reader is kept in the dark..."
Hi, Elke!
Glad you're enjoy the story. As for the names. There's no special meaning. They come from listening to too much Danzig! When I think of demons and dark power, Danzig is always the soundtrack. I thought they sounded like entities he would sing about.
I'm maybe 1/4 of the book in and I'm really enjoying. Like someone already said, characters feel real and I'm already getting attached to them. Still have to get to the "bad" parts. Now I'm excited.
Monica wrote: "I'm maybe 1/4 of the book in and I'm really enjoying. Like someone already said, characters feel real and I'm already getting attached to them. Still have to get to the "bad" parts. Now I'm excited."Thanks, Monica! And the bad parts are so good. ;)
Last night I kept telling myself "another chapter!" a lot.
Monica wrote: "Last night I kept telling myself "another chapter!" a lot."Hahaha!😂
Finished yesterday, here is my review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I also added the book to GR's 'Best Coming-of-Age Horror Novels' list (https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...) as I think it fits there perfectly.
Some additional thoughts about the book:
Just like Mort wrote in his great review, I was glad there was no priest in this possession story, and the 'religious' part was kept to a minimum, even with the explanation of the demons' background, which felt more human than 'religious' in any way.
I really had to google the name Gehrig. As I understand the old story was supposed to happen to a German family, but that name was totally unknown to me. Yeah, I do have a thing with names in books I guess...
I so loved that Alison and Carrie were no weak damsels, but knew how to stand up for themselves.
And a final question:
Is there a chance for a sequel, as suggested on the last page? I would love to read another adventure with God's Goon Squad!
As always, big thanks to the HA mods for setting up this group read and to Glenn for joining us!
Elke wrote: "Finished yesterday, here is my review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I also added the book to GR's 'Best Coming-of-Age Horror Novels' list (https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3..."
Thanks for the review and for joining us here, Elke.
As for the possibility of a sequel? I never say never. I would definitely need a unique idea to run with.
Thanks again.
Really terrific review, Elke! I'm glad yoy enjoyed the book. By the way, I think it's very cool that you added Glenn's book to the list of coming-of-age books.
Even though today is the official last day of this group read, I'll keep checking in if you guys have any questions or comments on the novel. I'll be doing promos for the next two months, so feel free to continue posting here.And I'll definitely see you guys in the Welcome to the Show read, as well.
Thanks again to Ken for having me, and to all of you for checking out the book. I really appreciate it.
Also, if you missed it. I wrote this piece over at Frank Errington's blog bout coming of age horror:https://frankmichaelserrington.blogsp...
Glenn wrote: "Also, if you missed it. I wrote this piece over at Frank Errington's blog bout coming of age horror:https://frankmichaelserrington.blogsp...?..."
Awesome! Thank you for sharing. I love coming-of-age and horror, and learning in general, so this is a no-brainer to me.
I finished it on the last day of October and enjoyed it. I found it easy to get through and engaging, while the characters were well crafted. I had some trouble with the sex stuff which were way too present imo. But overall a good read. Thanks for the group read.
Monica wrote: "I finished it on the last day of October and enjoyed it. I found it easy to get through and engaging, while the characters were well crafted. I had some trouble with the sex stuff which were way to..."Thanks, Monica.
That part was something I wrestled with just a little. Whether to go there, to keep it in the story, and I ultimately decided to stay true to my initial vision of the piece. Richie's impotence is a major weakness that these demons prey upon. They really, really work him there.
Each of my stories are very much their own thing. And that's because I let them each grow and lead me where they want to go.
This one led me to sex and violence, whereas a story like Abram's Bridge or Boom Town never ventures into the vicious realms of something like The Window or The Haunted Halls.
I enjoy having the freedom to let my stories take me where they want to go. I can't really worry about what other people are going to think of certain scenes. It would inhibit what's coming through that channel in my writing mind. And that's not to say I don't care what readers think, just that I can't allow that to hinder the process.
Sorry, I go off on tangents sometimes. I just want to thank you for reading the book and having the faith in the story to continue on past the parts that were a bit uncomfortable. Not all readers are willing to do that. So thank you, Monica.
Glenn wrote: "Even though today is the official last day of this group read, I'll keep checking in if you guys have any questions or comments on the novel. I'll be doing promos for the next two months, so feel f..."I've enjoyed this group read even if I didn't join until the end. October flew by. Thanks for interacting with us about your book. Look forward to more of your work in the future.
Glenn wrote: "Monica wrote: "I finished it on the last day of October and enjoyed it. I found it easy to get through and engaging, while the characters were well crafted. I had some trouble with the sex stuff wh..."It' s totally fine. You should follow the story, i agree. It was more that people were completely defenseless before some sexual avances, that bothered me. :-) thanks for the explanation though.
Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* wrote: "Glenn wrote: "Even though today is the official last day of this group read, I'll keep checking in if you guys have any questions or comments on the novel. I'll be doing promos for the next two mon..."Thanks, Erin. Late is better than never. :) Glad you enjoyed the book! Make sure to come visit us on this month's read for WELCOME TO THE SHOW.
Monica wrote: "Glenn wrote: "Monica wrote: "I finished it on the last day of October and enjoyed it. I found it easy to get through and engaging, while the characters were well crafted. I had some trouble with th..."Thanks, Monica. Yeah, my demons were definitely not playing nice. I'm glad you pushed through and dug the rest of the story.
I hope you'll join us for WELCOME TO THE SHOW.
Cheers!
Glenn wrote: "Monica wrote: "I finished it on the last day of October and enjoyed it. I found it easy to get through and engaging, while the characters were well crafted. I had some trouble with the sex stuff wh..."On a side note, though: should discomfort, unease, etc..., be an integral part of a good horror story?
Horror Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
Welcome to the Show (other topics)Abram's Bridge (other topics)
The Haunted Halls (other topics)
Blood and Rain (other topics)
Blood and Rain (other topics)
It's great to be back! Hope you enjoy the book, Dustin."
Thank you. I hope to read it asap!