Category: Series

Coming This October!

9/12/2014

Both Water Like Crimson Sorrow: Shades of Midnight Book 2 and Autumn Burning: Dreadtime Stories for the Wicked Soul will be out in October Thanks to Michael Fish Fisher and Dave McGlumphy for the great covers! Autumn Burning has been coming along quite nicely and I think Sam Gregory , who came up with this great antho, agrees that we're going to have a great book to put out there in October. Keep an eye out for it! Water Like Crimson Sorrow is the gorier, more brutal half of the original ELBF book. I'll be submitting the 3rd book very soon.

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And Now for a Few Updates on My Work in The Coming Months

8/15/2014

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I'm going to be polishing Water Like Crimson Sorrow some more today, which means you'll be seeing it out on the market in another month or two. For fans of ELBF when it was a self-titled book, this will be the 2nd half of that book and will feature it's very own well-deserved cover. Once that's out, I will be submitting book 3 (which will be the first new book for you folks that read the first ELBF before we split it) Cool Green Waters. CGW features quite a bit more about three characters that had less focus in the first book. Mateo, Zero and Michael become far more interesting and detailed here and we also get a bit more about Raven and Katja, of course! Expect a lot of action, suspense, dark happenings and some elements that are a little more on the sexy side of things (Mateo happens to run an S/M club) as well.

I have a wee bit of book four to work with too, but it will be a bit before it's ready. That book, titled Hollow Black Corners of the Soul will hopefully be completed in the next year or two, so don't worry! I also have a few ideas in mind for book five which also features some surprising return characters. By the way we'll be calling this series Shades of Midnight, rather apt considering each title features a color, eh?

I will have a short in the JEA horror collection Rejected for Content and will again be taking part in a collaborative 666 project, this one, called Lycanthroship, will feature werewolves and is set shortly after WWII. Both of these books should be working toward completion and are hoped to be out this Fall.

Apocrypha is still in the works, with Robert Lyons working on his, I might just put together a few more for that too. I also have a couple of other books to work on finishing up like Other Dangers, Jodie, one that's barely developed called The Farm and another which will have dark, posssibly YA fantasy themes and doesn't have a title yet. Long story short there will be a great deal more to expect in the coming years and I do hope you'll enjoy them all as they do. In the meantime, please look into my 3 latest releases below:

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What to Expect Out of the New Eyes Like Blue Fire

7/14/2014

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I'm just over halfway into ELBF's edits now and something had occurred to me. If you enjoyed the book when I published it originally you might be wondering if it will be worth picking up a copy of the JEA release. Well, the answer is yes. While the indie print of Eyes Like Blue Fire was a solid one it, like many indie books out there, needed just a bit more polish and refinement to make it the book it always deserved to be. It was also a pretty good sized novel in it's own right and in many ways the events that take place in the first half make up a story worthy of being on it's own, separate from the later half, which stood well on it's own too.

As a result the editors at JEA and I felt it would benefit from being divided into two separate books, ELBF and Water Like Crimson Sorrow. So there will be two books coming out from that one original manuscript and as a result there will be some areas of both chunks that will be getting a well-deserved fleshing out and polishing up before they come out. Why? Well there are some clear points where it needed some refining and others where I could have done more to make the story stronger in that first release. I've enjoyed polishing ELBF these last few months because I was able to see the gems hidden in the rougher bits and make those rougher bits a lot more like the gems. I really think even the fans of that first release are going to enjoy reading this new ELBF and getting a clearer version of the story they love so well. It also means that I'll be able to really focus on that world and get the next book out that much sooner.

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Interview with Catt Dahman Author of the Virgil McClendon series and CEO of JEA

7/8/2014

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Bio: Catt Dahman has been writing for more than 30 years, has taught in public schools, private schools, home school, and college. Her B.S. and M.S. degrees are from Texas A & M. Her areas of study were: Criminal psychology, art, and English. She is a native of North East Texas, has lived all over the US, (and tries to claim Jamaica as a second home) but is currently back in the Fort Worth, Texas area where she lives with her husband, David (a retired Marine), son Nic, cats, a ferret, and dog. She has also been a public speaker, artist, director for a charity, dabbled as a PI, and more. When not working, she enjoys SCUBA diving (PADI), reading, ruining movies for her family by pointing out mistakes, collecting Tarot card sets , playing Legos with her son, and growing herbs. She now writes full time, has zombie series of nine books, short stories, and several books of horror. She is available by e-reader and paperback.

Links:

Website: http://www.cattd.com/
J Ellington Ashton: http://www.jellingtonashton.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CattDahman
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cattdahman
Wikipedia: http://zisforzombie.wikia.com/wiki/Z_is_for_Zombie_Wiki
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/cattdahman
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B007N5843K
Blog: http://www.cattd.com/catts-blog

1.You’re writing a great serial murderer series about a character named Virgil McLendon, could you tell us a little about the character and what he’s facing in your books?

The Virgil McLendon books have grown. I think they are stand alone books, but Virgil began as a small town deputy (book 1) and was teased a little because of his “weird” ways at looking at crimes. He still solved the crime, because of his quirks and not despite. He thinks of music and logic when he sees a case, and he notices things that don't fit and asks why. And he doesn't know it, because it is way back in the 1970s before law enforcement accepted new techniques, but he uses basic psychology. He listens to people and watches them. He looks for what is out of place and asks why. He never forms a theory but lets the facts stand alone. Because he is so unusual, he goes from deputy, to sheriff, to special agent in the FBI and to then one of the founders of the BAU division, and still doesn't understand why others can't see things just as clearly as he does. My favorite part is when a sheriff asks Virgil if it isn't a little unthinkable to have two serial killers acting in one town at the same time. Virgil is flummoxed. He can't imagine why there wouldn't be! Anyway, he is facing the changes of a country and in crime....

As the series go, we know the characters and sometimes some issues are not resolved. Virgil's entire family is in law enforcement and there are a few family secrets, so besides the legal work, Virgil has a beautiful wife who wants a family and career, friends who are sometimes in danger, and his own fears of failure.

2. These are based on real serial killer cases, was it difficult doing the research? Was it hard reading into some of the more brutal crimes?

It should be, but I guess I have become calloused to the cruelty. That said, one case I can't read about is the Adam Walsh murder, that is the one that gets to me, mainly because there is nothing worse than a killer that brags brutal details- it makes me physically ill. I read a lot, I began in criminal investigation, and even did some work as a private investigator, so I think I've seen a lot and learned to turn off the emotion for most cases. That said, I do have issue with the cases never solved or those that are so confusing that I have to pull court records and sift through before I understand them. One such case occurred close to where I live and for years I was torn on whether the person was guilty. I finally wrote about it and let “Virgil” look at it. I came to a partial conclusion, but not one I feel at peace with. Those cases..the ones where there is doubt...those bother me.

3. Of Blood and Water starts the series and right away you’re tackling some seriously brutal stuff, child murders during the 1970s. Was it difficult to cover that territory or did you feel the subject matter made the book that much more compelling?

That case hurt. After research and writing, I feel the wrong man died for the crime, a guilty man walked free, and I reflected that somewhat in the book. That was supposedly one of the first times that profiling was used, but it was- in my opinion- used without sound experience. It was more that I was using it to fit a scene than allowing the scene to dictate the parameters. It was hard to describe the deaths of the children, and I did try to stay with most facts, but I have done the same for the entire series and it never gets easier. The California Killer was horribly brutal and there was a man who fed victims to alligators...so they are all rough. I read and research the real cases before twisting them and making them a little more difficult to solve . I do feel the reality makes me stay more honest to the real evil that resides in the killers. While some cases are never really resolved (as opposed to solved), in my books, the killers generally meet a bad end. My good guys win. Mostly. There are a few who will be taken care of in later books...it was just not time to let them be punished yet.

4. Criminal profiling was very new during the era McLendon is utilizing it, was it interesting researching how it worked when it was first used? Is it much different than it is today?

People treat Virgil as if he uses magic. People think it's crazy, that he can tell so much from a crime scene and profile a killer because it just wasn't done back then. Virgil uses more of what we use today...he's way ahead of his time. But people are shocked at his logic. I get a kick out of having Virgil smarter than the others. Because of the changes in the 70s, we saw new things. Back then, it never dawned on us that a killer might be a female or a normal person. We still thought it had to be a crazed killer or the drifter or the black man. Virgil is aware that it is never the outside element and that mostly, it is someone very much like the victims as far as race and experiences. I have enjoyed allowing the first female and African American FBI agents to work with Virgil and hope that shows the changes of the country and changes in thinking.

5. Book two Of Lions and Lambs focuses on a male serial killer attacking young men and mutilating them, Of Guilt and Innocence takes place at an institute for the criminally insane, Of Lost and Found takes place at a huge house known for disappearances and book five Of Truth and Lies is about a killer who helps McLendon solve a copycat killer’s case. This is a series that covers a lot of ground! Was it hard coming up with great cases to base McLendon’s cases on?

Unfortunately, there are many brutal crimes available to take from. Of Guilt and Innocence is probably the one that doesn't fit because it is almost fully made up and not based on a crime per se. (The people incarcerated there have committed crimes we may be aware of or have heard in urban myths) but it's really about secrets related to Abraham Lincoln and the research I did is solid, but it's almost over the top as far as believability. Yet, the facts are pretty strong to support my “case”. The stories keep coming because there are so many mysteries out there and I get to combine them with my murder cases. The famed Winchester House appears, but I was able to reinvent it as something far worse. I guess real cases give me a seed, but I take the stories in new ways and tangle them so nothing is ever easy or how it seems. I wouldn't even say the books are about what they look to be. The first is about family traditions (bad ones). I love to tackle that topic and have done so in several books. The second is is more about people being seen as female, black, gay, whatever...as individuals in a changing world. I have dealt with forced religion and it taking ominous meanings, and more. I think I take social situations...injustices or changes...and show this with mysteries. In a new book, I am delving into rape and blaming the victim instead of the offender, but it looks like a simple murder mystery. I don't think I will ever run out of wrongness to write about. (oh...I have a new tag line???)

6. You’re known for taking risks with your writing and enjoying unusual subject matter, tell us a few of your more interesting stories/books and why you like to seek out the unique.

I probably take far too many risks. I don't set out to, and generally have an idea like...”what if some girls took revenge and then”....and from there it gets weird because I find connections and I let the characters control the action and there is always far worse than what we think. To me, there may be a fin at the surface, but I know that down deep, there will be a school of hungry sharks and probably someone who likes the bloodshed and a horrible back story. But isn't that normal? If we see a lady with a black eye, did she really run into a door? Or is there a terrible story there? I think I am all about the secrets and hidden stories because they are truth. I am one of those truth-seekers. No matter how bad it will be, I like to know. And as Virgil would say, why wouldn't there be all kinds of scary things going on behind the normal? We all once were innocents, but we lost that...maybe with Vietnam.

7. You also took part in a collaborative book called Feral Hearts due out from your publishing house J Ellington Ashton very soon, did you enjoy the project? Is it tougher to work with a mixed group of writers than it is to work alone?

I loved the story and the process. I loved working with such a talented crew that challenged me. But, that said, it was hard and I would have failed if not for Edward Cardillo. I tend to write myself into corners and blaze my way out; that wasn't workable for this project. Ed saved my bacon and made my work far more reader friendly. It's a great book and very, very unusual with the writers having to work off a single premise, but the other writers were far better at this than I was. In my defense, I am not a short-story writer ( a handful at most) and I am character heavy, so it killed me to have random characters that might do things I didn't expect! I have tons of respect and admiration for the rest who did so well. On the other hand, I am thrilled that Ed and I could collaborate (a nice word for his work to save my butt). And by far, it was harder to write with others; I don't play well in a group. I think I do better when I am sent to the corner alone so I don't bother others. :)

8. Tell us a little about Feral Hearts and what we can expect from your collaboration. What was your favorite part of working on it? Were there any major elements you really liked about it?

Going into FH, I was the weak link because I don't write short stories, don't delve into vampires, and had never collaborated. Even with that, my fellow authors are so strong that they covered my weaknesses and ran with the character I created. Designing “Jenna” -the OCD saturated nut of the bunch- was more than fun. I had a ball with her, adding little hints and secrets here and there, and giving her a life of her own. I feel like she stands as a strong character and frankly, that's all I do -develop characters and let them run amok. I like how others embraced my little monster, but that shows professionalism in their work. Again, I claim weakness, but the rest and editor Ed Cardillo are what makes FH a strong book. The voices are distinct and the action is solid. I think readers will get a favorite book out of this because of the diversity. They will at least get a shock!

9. Lycanthroship is currently in progress and utilizes some of the same authors as Feral Hearts, could you tell us a little about the premise? What makes the book unique from it’s siblings FH and Fish Tales?

It's (Lycanthroship) a looser type book...as far as the set up....I threw out a set up and said , “RUN!”. That works for me. FH was more controlled. One type isn't the better of the two...we get very different results with these and they can't be compared. I think FH with vampires, has some expected rules and twists, but with werewolves like in Lycanthroship, we get turmoil and confusions. Werewolves are just such messy beasts! What is interesting is that the authors don't replicate characters; they go in very different ways than in FH. Again, it shows that the authors are solid writers and not only think outside the box, but see no box at all! Fish Tales is a collection of frightening stories that are related ONLY by water. Lycanthroship and FH are stories set within a defined universe, a time and place in common and the characters interact.

10. As the CEO of JEA you have to make a lot of tough decisions about which authors to pick up. What are the biggest things you look for in an ideal author?

Sometimes, I can “smell” when a book is right. Sometimes, I don't know, but have a feeling. I know for a fact we have passed on several books that were fantastic and if I were to go back in time, I'd grab them. At the time, maybe a word threw me or we had something similar, or I was distracted by something else. I make mistakes. I never know how we decide something isn't right, except that we get a lot of subs and can only take a few. I have taken a few as favors, I admit that. I have taken some before because the pitch and the credentials were amazing. I'm impressed when a sub meets the exact requirements we ask for!

I took Keith Milstead as an unfinished sub, (that's unheard of) but his voice shocked me. I did ask for a few changes, but the story was rock solid. It's worth waiting for. Andy Bove was an author I asked to sub to us because his pose was virtually perfect. Sometimes I speak to an author and feel a connection and see their wit (Tabitha Baumander).

There is no ideal author. We have missed a few, but the most ideal ones I know are those with us. They are amazing. Those who want to be with us and who are....those are ideal because they believe. Mark Woods may be the most ideal. He was shy and quiet about his writing, took the swift kick in the rear I gave him, and came out selling like a monster! Anyone can say he is a great writer, but I take notice when I see that someone is and yet that person is humble. Still water runs deep...always has. I see authors boast about sales and waving hands and jumping around, and they generally don't impress me. I think the strongest writers are the ones who let their work say it all.

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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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Coming This October!

And Now for a Few Updates on My Work in The Coming Months

What to Expect Out of the New Eyes Like Blue Fire

Interview with Catt Dahman Author of the Virgil McClendon series and CEO of JEA

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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