Category: Fantasy

Interview with Tim Waggoner Author of A Strange and Savage Garden

8/26/2014

Bio:

Tim Waggoner has published over thirty novels and three short story collections, and his articles on writing have appeared in Writer's Digest and Writer's Journal, among others. He teaches creative writing at Sinclair Community College and in Seton Hill University's Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction program.

Visit him on the web at www.timwagonner.com

Please keep reading after the interview to find an early review of A Strange and Savage Garden, out from Samhain Publishing October 7th, 2014!

1. A Strange and Savage Garden is a novella that features Johnny Divine, a rather unique character from the mind of Kealan Patrick Burke. Did you enjoy working with your version of Divine in your own world? Were there any major challenges?

Kealan created Johnny Divine as a character to tie together the various novellas that originally appeared in an anthology called Brimstone Turnpike which came out from CD Publications several years back. Kealan developed a description of the character and the old desert gas station where he would encounter the main character of each novella. The only instruction we were given was that Divine should give the character an object that would feature somehow in our stories. We were given the freedom to interpret Divine however we wished. He could be a force for good, for evil, or somewhere in between. I enjoyed coming up with my take on the character, and the only challenge was trying to make sure that he seemed an integral part of my story instead of something tacked on. Hopefully, I succeeded!

2. Lauren is returning home after the death of her father and finding herself fighting for a sense of stability in the process. The reader ends up joining her in a sense, going back and forth between her sense of reality and the little shifts of consciousness, catching the little elements as we go. Were you happy with the way the book turned out? Did it stick to the original story formula you had in mind?

I was happy with the novella, and I hope readers enjoy it. I like to write with an immersive point of view in order to involve readers as deeply in a story as I can. I also like to make a character’s psychological landscape as much a part of the story as what the character says and does. It helps create an atmosphere of strangeness and skewed reality, which is where true horror comes from.

In terms of writing the story, it turned out the way I outlined it for the most part, but as usual, I made some changes as I wrote it, as improvements to the plot or new ideas occurred to me. An outline is just a guideline for a story – not a blueprint that must be followed exactly.

3. Grandma Madelyn is a strong figure, equal parts firm resolve and manipulation. What inspired her?

Without giving away any of the story details, Madelyn is the kind of character she is because of her unique abilities. Abilities like hers would be an outgrowth of a superhuman will and a pathological need to make things the way she wants – or maybe needs – them to be. So once I knew what her role in the story was, I was able to work backward and create a character with the sort of personality who could fulfill that role.

4. This is no ordinary town, were you surprised to see the story unfold as it did or did you plan it this way all along?

Everything was planned, although some of the specifics I developed as I actually wrote the scenes. That’s how I usually write, and this novella was no different.

5. Your writing is an interesting blend of dark fantasy and horror elements, often it’s very surreal and dreamlike. Did you always know it would have this tone or did you discover you voice over time?

When I was in my twenties, I thought it might be interesting to blend horror and fantasy in my writing. I loved horror, but I thought too much of it wasn’t as imaginative as it could be, and I liked fantasy, but much of it followed the same kind of Tolkienesque story patterns, and it too, ultimately, wasn’t very imaginative. So I started working on blending what I found to be the most effective elements of both genres in my writing, and as the years went by, people began responding positively to my surreal dark fiction, so I figured I must’ve done something right. At this point in my career, I’m known for writing these kind of stories (that is, if I’m known for anything at all!).

6. What other writing projects are due out in the coming year? Are there any particular ones you’re excited to see readers react to?

I have a horror novella called The Last Mile coming out from DarkFuse in October. The basic premise is what would humans do to survive in a world where Lovecraft’s Old Ones returned and reclaimed the planet. Also in October, I have a tie-in novel based on the TV series Grimm coming out from Titan Books called Grimm: The Killing Time. In late November, my YA horror novel Dark Art will come out from Nightscape Press. It’s about a troubled teenager whose drawings come to life with devastating results.

My Review of A Strange and Savage Garden:

Lauren is going back home to bury her father. After 11 years of living on her own in California its a tough trip and its only going to get tougher as she goes along. You see, when she left a piece of this place went with her in the form of awful nightmares, strange memories of something so awful she thought it was buried deep in her thoughts. Only now, with Grandma Madelyn in her life and memories of that past stirring, nothing truly seems as it appears to be.

I first discovered Tim Waggoner with his novel Like Death several years ago and I was very pleased with the dark and dreamlike quality of that novel. I'm happy to have had the pleasure of reading A Strange and Savage Garden and found that same sense of the unusual. Lauren is quite a lot more than she seems to be at first glance and the terrible past she's been running from is far more complex than she realizes. Having essentially run away at the age of 17 she's only come back to make her peace and, with luck, return to the life she created in California. The past is a powerful thing and the weight of her Grandma Madelyn's steady gaze often makes her doubt herself. The strange visions and memories only give that sense on instability more weight and soon she is questioning just what it is that really happened all of those years ago and why.

I enjoyed A Strange and Savage Garden because it's a great example of how Waggoner's voice is very much his own. We experience Lauren's life in little fits and starts, dreamlike interruptions coloring both her view and our own. We discover the world and its truths gradually until it all comes together in a very vivid conclusion that challenges many aspects of what we were told about Lauren's life and the identity of the people that surround her. Here we find some very strong characters with unusual outlooks, questions about the idea of self, some consideration of how our perception of the past affects us, and the dark fantasy and subtle horror elements I enjoy in Waggoner's work. This is a very enjoyable and surreal novella that was well worth the read!

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Author Interview with Essel Pratt Author of Final Reverie

7/2/2014

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Bio:
Essel Pratt has spent his life exploring his imagination and dreams. As a Husband and a Father, he doesn't always have as much time to write as he would like. However, his mind is always plotting out his next story and manipulating the plot. Someday he hopes to quit the 9-5 grind and focus on writing full time.

Currently, Essel is building his catalog by contributing to various anthologies as he works on his first novel. He also contributes to www.nerdzy.com and www.infendo.com on an (almost) daily basis. He can also be heard as a co-host on Infendo Radio.

Essel focuses his writings on mostly Horror/Sci-Fi, however is known to add a bit of other genres into his writings as well.

Links

amazon.com/author/esselpratt

Esselpratt.blogspot.com

Facebook.com/esselprattwriting

@EsselPratt

http://www.pinterest.com/EsselPratt/

1. Final Reverie is a great YA fantasy about two boys happening onto a very big adventure. What inspired you to write it?

Originally, Final Reverie (published by J. Ellington Ashton Press) started out as a short story titled “Brothers”.  It was initially created for an anthology called Hero’s Best Friend: An Anthology of Animal Companions. The characters in the story really stuck with me and I used them to outline a full novel that told more of story.  I submitted the outline as my second to last assignment with the Institute of Children’s Literature and then wrote the first three chapters for the final assignment.  The characters were inspired by my animals and other sources.  My two huskies created tons of inspiration for Chij. Franklyn was a combination of people that I know in form, name, and personality.

2. Were there any major inspirations for it?

Other than the anthology call for the original short story, a large inspiration came from my younger days playing video games like Final Fantasy, Phantasy Star, The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Warrior, etc.  Although I am predominantly a horror writer, Fantasy and Adventure are passions of mine as well.  I think that Final Reverie is sort of a call back to the earlier games. Simplistic in its adventure, but more complicated when you read deeply into it.

3. Could you tell us a bit about the world in which Chij and Franklyn live?

Chij and Franklyn are children of a world that has been reclaimed by magic that Mother Earth has released upon the Earth.  In the past, a world similar to the one we live in flourished. There was no magic other than illusion and technology reigned supreme.  However, through the mistake of one man, warheads were released and the end of the world was upon us. Mother Nature released her magic to save herself and the innocent lives that lived upon her flesh.  That magic created the world that Chij and Franklyn live in.  There are still relics of the computer ruled past, but they are mostly unknown to the boys.  With the good magic that has set upon the earth, the evil equivalent has also emerged, opting to collect in the formation of our main antagonist, Nafets.

4. What do you think happens for Chij after he and Franklyn finish their trip?

Chij was distraught and alone for the first time.  His communication was not what it was prior, yet his mind was just as sharp.  I think that he went out into the world to do some soul searching while still attempting to be the heroic traveler that he once was.  I think that he found success in his own rite.  Maybe his journey will be told in a novella or novelette.

5. How about their other companions they met along the way? Are their lives changed for having been a part of Final Reverie?

I think that they have.  Beals finds a new friendship, and becomes a little sister to the boys in the short time she is with them.  Doman, De’ahn, Konalecia, and Timothy are able to see their past lead to victory (We might see more of them in the second book, which takes place prior to Final Reverie).  Atrin finds out that he is not as grandiose as he once thought, although he has the potential to be quite powerful.

6. Who is your favorite character? What made them so interesting to write?

I think that my favorite character is Chij.  There is a lot of complexity to him.  He is still young and likes to have fun, yet he feels the need to be the more serious of the two.  Him and Franklyn have been through the same life experiences, yet Chij doesn’t seem to hide behind a façade of youth, but accepts that he is part of a grander plan.

7. What do you hope readers will take away from reading Final Reverie? How did you feel about writing it? Were any scenes very important to you as you worked on it?

I hope that the underlying theme of conservation of the earth and lesser reliance on technology will be realized.  Writing Final Reverie, I did not start out by creating a “save the earth” type book.  It just sort of happened in the final product.  However, there is a greater theme of friendship and teamwork.  Although Chij and Franklyn are the main characters, they could not have accomplished their feats without the help and inspiration of others.

Writing Final Reverie was a fantastic experience.  It went through many revisions, additions, and deletions.  It quickly became a labor of love for me, especially the final scene.  There is so much emotion in the scene that I might have shed a tear when writing it.  Of the entire book, it was my favorite.

8. Will there be any other books about this world? If so what do you think they will be about?

I am hoping to start the second book soon, which will tell the journeys of Doman, De’ahn, Timothy, and Konalecia.  Rabin will also play a much larger role in the book.  Once it is complete, I hope to write a third that focuses on Rabin and Nafets, starting prior to the return of magic.  I chose to write the story in reverse in order to introduce characters a little at a time.  Although we know how Final Reverie ends, the story leading up to it is just as emotional and full of adventure, and I think it deserves to be told.

9. You also write horror, do you often write fantasy as well?

“Brothers”, the beginnings of Final Reverie, was my first real fantasy piece.  I have some ideas for other fantasy stories, and am deciding to write short stories or plot full novels.

10. Do you have other books or stories in print?

Currently, besides Final Reverie, I have stories published in twenty other books.  Recently, I won third place in Blood Reign Lit’s anthology story of the year, Silent Scream.  I also won editor’s choice in JWK Fiction’s We Are Dust and Shadow.  Other stories are included in Horror and Mystery LLC’s Mardis Gras Murders and NightScape Press’s Blood Type: An Anthology of Vampire SF on the Cutting Edge. I also edited a collection of poems and short stories written by teenagers and young adults that have experienced emotional stigmas throughout their lives.  The book, Misunderstood, serves as an outlet to let others in similar situations that they are not alone.

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Interview with Sharon L. Higa

4/28/2014

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Bio: At six years old, Sharon L. Higa became obsessed with the supernatural, compliments of an older cousin who fascinated her with stories of hauntings and horror. Travelling the world with her family, the fascination grew, resulting in creating and telling her own stories. She wrote intermittently for a number of years, but it was after she and her husband moved to East Tennessee that her family and friends convinced her to write and publish her works. She is a newly published author with one novella, ‘The Dam’ and two novels, ‘Number 6’ and ‘Rose & Steel’., as well as four short stories in the Anthology ‘Midnight Remains’, all published by JEA Press. She also has one short story in an anthology, ‘Mental Ward: Echoes of the Past’ with Sirens Call Publications – with many more stories bubbling on the mental burners. She now writes full time. She resides with ten cats, one dog and Mark, her patient and loving husband of twenty two years.

Links:

Website: http://www.leapingunicornliterary.com/
JEA: http://www.jellingtonashton.com/sharon-higa.html
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7303130.Sharon_L_Higa
Twitter: https://twitter.com/elf126

1) Your Debut novel #6 is a murder mystery and revenge tale revolving around a woman who is murdered. Can you tell us a bit about the book and why you wrote it?

I wrote #6 after hearing about an actual murder which occured over thirty years ago when I was living in California. A nurse was kidnapped by two men who then drove her out to the Los Angeles National Forest, took turns raping her then slit her throat. The girl' body wasn't found for one year, but it actually was another year later before the men were caught committing a totally different crime. The younger of the two men confessed to her killing, implicating his partner as well. He said the reason he was confessing was because 1he kept seeing her everywhere he looked and he couldn't handle it anymore. The lawyers, police and media put it down to a guilty conscience, but there was always the thought in the back of my mind that she could have been truly haunting him. And that's how the idea for #6 was born.

2) It’s been called a brutal tale because of some of the darker elements related to both Ida Moreno’s (the main character) death and the crimes she is involved with trying to solve to catch the killer. Do you agree or is it just what the tale needs to be?

The tale is brutal because the crime committed against Ida is brutal. This is what the tale needs in order to carry out the dark theme throughout the story. I don't like gore or sadism for 'window dressing' - I believe it needs to apply to the story and carry the plot otherwise it has no place being in there. Then you are simply relying on shock to carry the reader to the end and that does not always work.

3) Do you often write dark horror fiction or is it one of a few different genres you like to work in?

I like to work with horror, thrillers, mysteries, dark comedy, and fantasy/action. I'm definitely not a girly-girl - give me a good action, adventure or ultimate horror and I'm as happy as a clam! To quote from the horror specialist Stephen King, "Write what you know" is my guide - and I guess I know through life experiences these genres very well!

4) Rose and Steel is your newest book and features an investigative agency that utilizes supernatural powers to solve their cases. Do they all share the same powers or are there a few different types in the company?

Each one of my characters all share the ability to transform into wolves, but they also have talents of their own as well. Shane, our main character, can read minds as well as send messages telepathically; Travis, our youngest and most timid of the group has the ability to become invisible and is very adept at medical aid which is discovered in book two (yes, I have a second book prepped!) and the others have special gifts as well. The key to the story is that they can combine each one of these gifts and help solve every case they are given.

5) The main story revolves around a series of crimes that leave children abandoned without any clear cause and human traffickers that are taking children. Was it a difficult subject for you to tackle?

That was the interesting thing about this story. It basically wrote itself. The 'children' who are abandoned (my 6 gifted characters) is explained using another fact of history - that many times children who were considered by some societies to be mentally deficient/insane or adults too old or sick to benefit the society would be abandoned in desolate areas to basically die. This story gives the fact a little twist which inevitably encompasses the major case they end up working on.

6) What other projects do you have in progress or due to come out soon? Tell us a little bit about them.

I have my own anthology of 13 short stories coming out soon. The title is "Horrors & Occupational Hazards" and - as you can guess from the title - each little story revolves around a regular job that has a 'twist'. The style, my wonderful editor, Mark Woods says, is very 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'. I am also collaborating on a novella whose title is 'Z-REGEN (Zombie Regeneration Project)' which is not really your typical zombie story. It is about a CDC researcher who is looking for a cure to the 'Zombiefication Plague' which has hit the planet in the year 2031. I'm also working on a dark comedy novel called 'One Night in the Eternity Of......' -about an Asian vampire with narcolepsy. Not to mention the little shorties I'm coming up with on the side. I guess my plate is pretty full at this time! I would truly be lying if I didn't say I'm lovin' every minute of it!

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Interview With Susan Simone Author of Morning Song

4/25/2014

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Bio: Susan is a writer and artist by day, a child and pet wrangler by night, and occasional crazy person on the weekends. She lives in a place where new hybrid cars, beat up farm trucks, and Amish horse and buggies meet in fast food parking lots for coffee.

Susan grew up in central Wisconsin, only to move to rural Ohio in adulthood. She's a country girl through and through with progressive and optimistic ideas of nation and society. A heathen by faith and major sci-fi fan she is an eclectic person and welcomes as much diversity into her life as she can to feed her fertile imagination. She lives by the motto, "Let your freak flag fly!"

Susan is the author of "Silent Heart", "Under A Twisted Moon", "Morning Song", and other titles forthcoming. Susan also has her one and only zombie short in the JEA anthology "All That Remains". In addition she has published articles on the Yahoo! Contributor Network in a wide variety of subjects such as the validity of deity in the American government and the use of easy to find herbs.

Susan is the Executive Editor with J. Ellington Ashton Press as well as a graphic design student at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online Division. She does a large portion of the cover art with JEA and has worked with businesses in the past for logo creation and event announcements.

Links:

Website: http://susansimone.weebly.com/
Yahoo Contributor Network: http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1652160/susan_simone.html
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6941373.Susan_Simone
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanSimoneFanPage
Publisher: http://www.jellingtonashton.com/index.html

1)    Morning Song is a great story about a wise woman and hedge witch facing her fears and owning her strengths to find that life has a great deal in store for her and the strange man she meets near the beginning of the book. What inspired Morning Song?

It started with a name. I know that sounds odd. I wanted to write a BBW heroine and started thinking about how that would work. There was this idea of calling her Morning. It was almost surreal. With that one thought I could see her in my head so clearly. I was actually the biggest snob picking a model for the cover because I knew what Morna (Morning) looked like to me. I started with the opening scene and that was the last part of that book I wrote consciously. The rest just poured out. It was as if Morna and Arrick existed in another realm or dimension and they were simply telling me their tale.

Yes, writers really are that insane. We have to explain all those extra voices somehow.

2)    Was it difficult writing a post-apocalyptic fantasy romance and handling the midwifery and herbal magic Morna uses in the book?

Post apocalyptic was harder because I’m not used to it. I had to think how the country would be broken up. What parts were important? I had this very clear idea of music. As a singer myself, I’ve picked up all kinds of folk music, madrigals, classics, contemporary. I played with this idea of what music would stand the test of time and turn into folk songs over the years. The music I chose was not a prediction, but more of a secondary idea of getting people to listen to the music and understand how it enhanced the scene.

Midwifery and herbals were much easier. They are subjects I have a fascination with. I do have some midwife skills, but I am not currently licensed because of the direct entry laws. The state I live in won’t let me apprentice under a midwife, I have to have an RN to practice which is another eight years of school. However, I still love it and I’m one of those very annoying people who hand out random unasked for advice when around pregnant women. Lol

I do the same with Herbs. “Oh you’re sick? Try this, this, this and this, but watch out for that, and only use this at this time of day.” That is only an amateur study for me, though. I ascribe to the American Indian belief that everything we need to live happy, healthy lives, and dispel illness grows somewhere on the planet. With doctors and scientists help we need to use it.

3)    Under a Twisted Moon also deals with a heroine discovering herself and growing stronger for it. In this case she learns the part of herself she hid was really her strength. Do you feel that many women find themselves in a position where other people cause them to fear their strengths?

That’s a deep question. I think any *person* of any gender or orientation who finds themselves in an abusive situation, regardless of the abuser or type of abuse, is there *because* their fears have been berated and their strengths twisted to weaknesses.

Some of Amelie’s experiences with Rick were based on things I lived through. I kept that under wraps for a long time, and even came up with politically correct answers to the inevitable questions. In a way, watching Amelie survive and thrive opened the door to a lot of conversations we need to have as a culture. Yes, we all know abuse is bad. We all know abuse comes in many forms and can sneak up on you, but until you’ve lived it, it’s very hard to understand how you got there.

The worst thing I hear is, “Why does she/he stay?” I want to shake people when I hear it. Fear. Fear of the abuser’s reactions. Fear that all the things they told you to keep you down were really true. A very real fear of society taking over the abuse and victimizing you when you just want to live in peace. Fear of being alone because you’ve been beaten down so hard you won’t ever have a normal relationship with anyone ever again, like an abused animal is never normal again.

“Why does he/she put up with it?” Because it’s not clear. Before you all scream at me, listen for a moment. It sneaks up on you. The line of the initial abuse is blurred. You can’t see it clearly from the inside. It doesn’t start with violence. It starts with an unreasonable argument. A personality disorder. A little niggling in the back of your head that makes you wonder if they really were being that manipulative or if they were having a bad day. Then there are more bad days. A lost job, or a fight with a friend. Oh of course they’re having a bad day. They don’t mean it. Pushing away your friends and family, slowly one by one. Life is really hard right now. He/she needs me. The line is blurred and by the time you realize it’s been crossed you’re so far over you start to believe all the lies you’ve ever been told. You worry about staying for the sake of kids, forgetting that by allowing it you’re teaching them that it’s normal or okay. Eventually you find yourself alone; facing things that you know may end your life.

4)    You write about strong female characters that are grounded in the real world. Do you think this gives your book a leg up on books that feature women in more unrealistic or unhealthy fantasy relationships?

I think that was on accident. I’m always interested in the psychology of it. Why do people do what they do? How do people get into these situations? But that’s on behavior alone. I do think it important to reflect women and men who are real, flawed. I pick characters because their flaws are interesting to me. I can’t stand the perfect blond bombshell types, or the overdone hardcore, but really sensitive and sweet deep down types. Everyone is a jumble of all that. No one is perfect, and society’s ideas of how genders should act or what they look like is nothing but a construct created thousands of years ago by a few that were insecure with their own image so they had to spout their way was the only right way. (That was *not* a religious diatribe, btw.)

5)    You write about some tough subjects in your books, how do you approach these? Catharsis or characterization?

Courage? For me and many other writers, the characters are like living people with their own separate lives. I don’t control them. I’ve had several die or get into relationships completely without my approval. I write the hard stuff instead of glossing over because I am honoring them and all the living people that have survived the same things. It’s a disservice to cut it out or gloss over because it’s ugly or makes me cry. In reality my characters may be fictional, but real people, myself included, live these things. There are no tasteful cutaways, or suspenseful music. The world did not stop moving just because your life as you knew it is forever changed. If we are to grow as a society, *that’s* what needs to be known. That’s what needs to be said.

6)    Under a Twisted Moon is a very strong empowerment piece about owning your strengths and coming out of a place where things had been very bleak. In a very real way while one of the male leads helps her to start out on her path to self-discovery it is she who must stand up and take up the reigns of her own life. Is this a message you hope will help others to do so for themselves?

Absolutely. No one can walk your path. It is entirely unique to you. Sometimes you need a little love or a loving kick in the rear, but you still have to be the one to stand up and be counted.

7)    While there are some very involving dramatic pieces there are also lots of humorous and endearing ones too. Was it difficult to write humor into Silent Heart, Under a Twisted Moon and Morning Song or does it come naturally to you and your stories?

I’m one of those dorks that laughs at her own jokes. I’m even snickering as I write this. The humor is very organic. I’ve noticed my dialogue follows my moods. The jokes, the tough conversations, the arguments reflect what I was feeling at that time. Sometimes I’m slap happy and everything in the world is hilarious. I’m also a horrible smart ass, and I think my own natural voice comes out a lot. The things I really want to say but often just laugh to myself about, or the things I wish I said at the time.

8)    Silent Heart was your first book and you’re currently at work on a new cover for it(See the new cover for Silent Heart and Under a Twisted Moon below). Is it hard to go back and try to think of a new way to represent your books after they’ve been in print?

Sometimes, covers make me want to cry. Lol When I did the original cover for Silent Heart, I was new to graphic design and still had a lot to learn. It was not a good cover. So right now I’m revamping a few covers, Silent Heart among them.

I had this perfect image in my head. Red and golds. This layout involving a band of color over top of a pivotal scene in the book in which Paige, a talented artist, takes back some of her power by doing this charcoal drawing on leather of her love. I even managed to make the perfect model for Stone look like it was a charcoal drawing. I was so proud of it. Thought it was great, (I still love the hell out of that image). I showed it off for feedback, which is very important for any work of art. Survey said? No. It was a cool image, but just didn’t work. It didn’t peak anyone’s interest to read the book. Well fudge.

So I slept on it and tried something else the next day. That finally worked. I grudgingly admit it’s a better cover. It fits the genre, but stands out from the crowd, which is what you want. That kind of redo and version after version is really normal for cover art. Never settle for the first thing an artist shows you. Push them and get something great.

9)    You’ve been a cover artist and executive editor at JEA for a long while now. You’ve even trained a few interns and earned an award for the cover of A Fish to Die For in the 2013 Predators and Editors competition. Do you feel like you’ve learned a lot since you first started out?

Yes. Each cover is learning something new. Finding this tool I hadn’t used in quite that way before. A new layout or idea. It’s amazing to take a concept from an author’s mind and turn into a picture for all to see. I love seeing how excited they get. I even love the tough ones that make me go through 10 versions before it’s right. The end result is always amazing. Every once in a while, something will happen, a new thought from one of my classes, a certain request I’m unfamiliar with, and it’s like someone flipped a switch and my work is never the same after, always moving forward.

10) In recent months you’ve also branched out from providing covers for JEA to becoming a freelance cover artist for other writers. What kind of services do you offer and how can people reach you to ask about their projects?

The best way to contact me is through my website. I have a contact form on the artwork page. I offer original design and full rights to the author. In other words I won’t get angry at you down the road and say you can’t use my art anymore. I also do something new that I want to make industry standard. I provide the client with documentation of where the images used on their cover came from. There is so much image plagiarism out there it’s rather insane. Covers on some sites are lawsuits waiting to happen. I’ve personally had to replace covers done by so called “professional” artists because they used a video game screen shot or stole one small part, like a hand, from a major piece of art and blew it up, both of which are illegal. I want to put out such a high standard that it forces authors to demand it from others and other artists to adhere to it.

11) Will you stick to the romance genre or do you think there are some other genres you’d like to explore?

I never intend any specific genre. I just write where the story takes me, following along in its wake attempting to capture the important parts. I get an idea in my head and I run with it. Sometimes that’s romance and sometimes not. I’ll figure out the classification when I’m done. I’m the same way with length. I don’t believe in word lengths based on popular books in the genre. I just write until the story is told. Sometimes that’s longer, sometimes shorter. If I need to flesh something out, I’ll worry about that later.

12) Do you have anything in progress you’d like share?

I have this one I call, Kiss of Luck. It’s a dystopian society with alien mind control and young adults, still teens really, that want out and stage daring escapes. I’m kind of careful with my ideas. I know more than one person that has had ideas stolen. Kiss of Luck, is a special one for me. I dreamed it one night, start to finish, the entire plot line. I’m just filling in details as I go, but it’s going to be really cool.

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Interview with Tabitha Baumander Author of Warriors

4/13/2014

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BIO

Tabitha Baumander is a novelist screenwriter and playwright with five books published and a lot more to come. She is divorced with adult twins and lives in Toronto Canada which she is currently populating with aliens, monsters and fairies. Well, why not.

Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tabitha-Baumander/e/B00F6GJCZ2

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TabithaBaumanderCanadianWriter

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tovha

Website: http://tabithabaumander.yolasite.com/

1)      Warriors is about a group of very special warriors who must protect our world from inter-dimensional beasties, Where did the idea come from?

To begin with Pope John Paul had just died. I wondered, as a fantasy writer might, what the death of someone who is supposed to be a very good person would do and where I could take that. The inter-dimensional aspect comes from a desire to stay away from theology as much as possible and ground the villains in a kind of explainable context.

The origin of the warriors oddly enough actually does come from the bible. I’ve used it before in another work.

"There were Nephilim on the earth in those

          days; and also after that, when the sons

          of God came into the daughters of men, and

          they bare children to them, the same became

mighty men which were of old. Men of renown."

That’s from the King James bible genesis. Some people like to think its proof of alien incursion on earth. I started playing with the Nephilim simply because Hollywood was beating the end of the world 666 Antichrist plotline into the ground with a big stick.

These characters are sometimes called Watchers and were been used in a Hollywood movie a few years ago. It was called The Adjustment Bureau.

2)      You clearly know action and humor, Warriors have it in spades. What are your favorite action scenes in the book?

I’m not very good at naming favorites of anything. I suppose the group of battles around the Vatican at the end is good. Then there’s the very big snake, can’t lose with a very big snake.

3)      Darius and Angela are our leaders, were they inspired by anyone?

Darius is the leader Angela is a new member and not a leader. She does have a lot of input because that is the stuff she brings to the team. Visually I guess I based Darius on my son. Angela is completely fictional created because that is the sort of person I needed to fill that gap in the story.

4) It's not all about the warriors, there's also a very strong story about a bishop and his assistant facing off with another bishop and his associate. Neither battle is any less important. How did you keep the pace so strong for both aspects of the plot?

     Someone once told me I was an “instinctual” writer. I don’t think they were intending to be complementary either but they were accurate. For me pacing is about feel. I move through the story and I tend to think “mmmm about time we checked in with this other bit now”.

     On a side note I have a papal conclave in this. It is total fiction in that I have stuff happening that would never happen in a conclave. But I’m hardly the first writer to play games with Vatican protocol.

5) Warriors is an interesting blend of b movie action, humor, romance and a healthy dollop of modern fantasy. How would you describe your books to someone who hasn't given them a look?

Two ways depending on how I feel at the time.

     I take fantasy and action and set it on as real a background as possible. A dragon in middle earth isn’t that remarkable. A dragon in the middle of down town Toronto now THAT is interesting.

     Someone who had read some of my short stories once described me this way. Reading me is like walking through a park along a path. Sooner or later you step off the path and bam the park disappears and you are somewhere else completely.

6) Many of your ideas start out as screenplays. I think there's a good chance that's part of what makes the action and drama so intense in your books. Is it hard to make a script into a full manuscript?

It depends on the story. Several have not got up to normal novel length which I think of as around 80 thousand words. They have ended up as novellas or perhaps I should think of them as books for a YA audience and as such an acceptable length.

     This one did start as a screenplay. I adapted it for two reasons. For one thing I needed a writing project and this was the only one that popped up on my radar. More importantly when I was writing the script a box load of detail wanted to push through onto the page and that simply isn’t permitted in screenplay format.

A script compared to a book is like a skeleton. A director takes it and adds camera stuff. Then the actors take it and “make the words their own” to use actor speak. Then all the other departments that go into making a film add their two cents and you end up with a film. It’s generally not what you were picturing unless you’re really lucky and had input but it’s a film.

     A book is the whole deal and you have control. So, when I wrote this particular script I had to use a lot of restraint to keep all the extra bits out of the mix which I eventually put into the book.

Warriors

Coming Soon from J Ellington Ashton Press

A good man has died a natural death. In that death he leaves a hole in reality and through that hole come monsters. Defending reality are people who if the world knew of their existence might be called monsters themselves. They are far stronger and smarter than any full blood human could be and they exist to fight with monsters. The problem is this time they might not win because the monsters are getting help.

Check out these other great releases from Tabitha Baumander!

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Interview with Michael Kanuckel Author of Agent White

4/3/2014

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Author Bio:
Michael Kanuckel lives in a small rural town in the middle of Ohio with his two sons. He has been writing since he was in kindergarten, and always knew that he wanted to be an author. He has published short stories in various science fiction and fantasy magazines. He's the author of Winter's Heart, Small Matters, Grunge Childe, Agent White, Quatro and the upcoming Trollbreaker.

Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Kanuckel/e/B00F1PTRSA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelkanuckelauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaelKanuckel

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7264569.Michael_Kanuckel

1) Most of your books are set in a classic fantasy world, was it tough getting into the noir tone of Agent White?

Not really. I’ve always loved the old pulp fiction detective stuff, like Mickey Spillane and his ilk, and there was a real revival of that when I was a teen, with Sin City and other graphic fiction. I just moved that into my world.

2) Ezra is a strong noir character facing some unusual truths about his world. What do you like about him and his story?

What I like the most about Ezra is that he’s a no-nonsense kind of guy. He says what he means and does what he says. Even when faced with the fantastic, he never really loses his head. He’s goes into it with his same old attitude: how do I fix what’s wrong here?

3) Are there any scenes that you admire from the book?

I was really proud of the sequence that shows Ezra getting his first glimpse at the world behind his world. I also really liked his scenes with “Stillfield” Liam Connelly, who is a pool hustler, and the old man Owen, who draws him into this business in the first place. And there’s a character named Denthel Halfhill who I really enjoy. Really, I had a lot of fun with the whole thing.

4) Like Winter’s Heart Agent White is populated with great characters, do they come to you fully realized or do you feel that you’ve crafted them? Who’s your favorite?

Characters develop as the story develops. At first they just are characters- templates that you moved around on a soundstage. But then they begin to take on flesh, and a history, and characteristics that make them who they are. Then they aren’t characters- they’re people. I think my favorite character in Agent White (besides Ezra Beckitt) would have to be Boggle the gnome. He was just a lot of fun.

5) Your books are set in the same world but in differing ages, what age is Agent White set in?

Agent White is set in the Third Age, which is basically like our own near future. Vondellius is a place very much like our own country- the flavors of everything are just a little different, just enough that if you were there you would feel a bit strange.

6) Do things always play out the way you expect with your books or are there some big surprises as you go along?

No, things never go the way I think they will- especially with this book. I had no real idea how I was going to end it until I got there myself.

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Author Interview with Dusty Lynn Holloway Author of Dragon Dreams

3/21/2014

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Dusty lives in California with her two children. She loves exploring, and hopes one day to learn to fly a plane, try on night-vision goggles just for the fun of it, and float in a room with zero gravity. Not necessarily in that order.

You can find out more about Dusty Lynn Holloway and The Chronicles of Shadow and Light at the links below:

https://www.facebook.com/Cerralys
http://www.amazon.com/Dusty-Lynn-Holloway/e/B005OXV66A/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1395434412&sr=1-2-ent

1) Dragon Dreams is a book in your series The Chronicles of Shadow and Light, what inspired your series and this book in particular?

I've always enjoyed writing, but never really seriously considered writing a book until several years ago. I thought about what I loved, what interested me, and I went from there. In my mind, I saw the prologue to Dragon Dreams very clearly. I felt Auri's emotions as she ran onto the plains of fire, and I felt Nachal's sense of helplessness. That scene, was so vibrant and real to me, that I built the rest of the books around it.

2) In your series there are humans, elves, dwarves, and shape-shifting dragons Was it difficult building a
world for your characters to inhabit?

Certain parts were more difficult to get down than others. For instance, in El`dell, the land of the elves, I could see the island very clearly in my mind, but making it come alive on the page was much more difficult. As far as the characters, I would say that the characters have been the most clear to me. In a sense, I built the world around the characters, rather than the characters around the world.

3) Tell me a little about your central protagonist and his plight. How does it affect his world
that he's had these dreams?

Nachal has had an unusual upbringing. To be brought up to inherit a crown is daunting enough, but to be brought up to inherit the dragon crown is something else entirely. His whole life has been built around these dragons, and around Cerralys, the Dragon-King in particular. Not only has he been raised to inherit the crown, but he's also been taught and honed by the most elite dragons in existence to be a commander in what the dragon's have believed for two decades to be the coming final battle between dragon-kind. I think to understand why the dreams effect him so deeply, you first have to know those things about him. To put it bluntly, his world is shattered by these dreams. I don't want to spoil things too much, but Obsidian, the leader of the Rebel's, figures prominently in the dreams he continues to have about Auri. Her life is in danger. Very real danger. And if that wasn't enough, through the course of time, as he continues to have these dreams, he comes to care deeply for her. He comes to love her. The dreams haunt him. Prodded to action by his foster father Cerralys, he sets out to find her and protect her from what he knows is coming.

4) What sets your world apart from other fantasy series?

I can probably say without hesitation that what sets my series apart is the emotion of the characters. Reading this book, you literally come to feel what the characters are feeling. They spring to life on the pages. As Nachal is trying to find Auri, you feel his sense of time closing in around him, suffocating him. As Auri sees El`dell for the first time, you feel her sense of wonder and frustration that she could have had such beauty in her life all along, but didn't. The emotions, whether they are turbulent and wild, or confused and wary, are felt. For some this might not be their cup of tea, but for me, it makes the characters and story more real. I want Nachal to find Auri. I want them to find a way to survive. I feel their pain and their triumphs both, and every time, even as the person who wrote it, it sucks me back in until I feel like I'm a part of the story again.

5) I see there are two books in the series thus far, do you know how many there will be when you've completed it?

I'd always planned it as a three part series. Dragon Dreams is the first, followed by Dragon Ties, and currently I'm working on the last and final book, Dragon Light.

6) Would you say it's harder to write and promote fantasy fiction in the indie market? How has your experience been so far?

I actually think that fantasy is an exploding genre right now, and has been for some time. I think, as an author and a reader, there is something so . . . intoxicating about reading or writing something that has no limits. You're not forced into a box. You're free to let your imagination carry you to the next story, and the next. As a matter of fact, my other project right now is a time-travel romance set in the 1800's. Again, fantasy. :) I just can't seem to get enough of it. I tried writing other things, but again and again I'm pulled back to the fantasy genre. For me, it's a world without limits. Anything can happen, and that's a heady feeling.

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Interview with Tim Waggoner Author of A Strange and Savage Garden

Author Interview with Essel Pratt Author of Final Reverie

Interview with Sharon L. Higa

Interview With Susan Simone Author of Morning Song

Interview with Tabitha Baumander Author of Warriors

Interview with Michael Kanuckel Author of Agent White

Author Interview with Dusty Lynn Holloway Author of Dragon Dreams

Amanda M Lyons

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