C is for Christina Engela

It's the third week of Tonia Brown's Blog challenge this week and this week the theme is the letter C and so, as I promised I would tell you all about how I first encountered Christina Engela, that's how I'm going to begin...

I'm not sure now how I first encountered her writing, but I do know that as soon as I read the first of her many sci-fi books ( I believe there are around 8 so far written in her series) I was smitten and wanted to read more. I soon discovered I had read them mostly out of order, but you know what? I was having so much fun, I didn't even care. True, the covers were a bit amateurish and bit of a put off, but the stories inside were all fab and what's more, they didn't take themselves too seriously either.

I sent Miss Engela a message on one of the social sites I found her on, asking if she intended to write any more as many of the stories had been out a while back then, but got no reply. I kept the files on my old kindle anyway, and brushed her aside as one of those authors who just came and went. You know the ones - those who have a good run of books and then burn out, never to be heard of again.

Fast forward a couple of years later and I found Christina on Facebook. I became her friend and followed her posts with interest. Turned out not only was she transgender (which I already knew but which I hadn't let put me off because her books were so good) but also she was very outspoken and a social activist not just for LGBT rights, but HUMAN rights. If there was an issue she believed in, she thought nothing of quite openly discussing it on her page - something I admired and respected her for.

There is a point made here that I want to go back to. "(She was) transgender but I didn't let it put me off because her books were so good." I am not proud of this statement, but it's how I felt. Why should her being transgender make any difference? It didn't - but society is taking a long while to catch up and even now, when people are more accepting of gays and lesbians and their rights than they once were, issues of transgender are still largely misunderstood or ignored by society as a whole. 
I come from the eighties, and I still remember using terms such as gay, queer, even spastic, in a derogatory manner and it being socially acceptable amongst my friends. Then, no one really knew 
what transgender was. It never got mentioned except rarely and pretty much got classified as 'gay' if we ever did think about it, which we didn't.
I am older now, and wiser, we all are, and now we all know ( or should) that this sort of behaviour ISN'T acceptable but back then, it was a very different ball game.  
Christina's books had a couple of trans characters, one of them a main character, and explored some trans themes that highlighted certain issues in a couple of the stories but I thought she handled it 
subtly and well. 
No, it shouldn't have made any difference to what I thought of her writing but you know what, a part of me WAS a bit embarrassed about reading a book written by someone trans. 
That would've been my loss if I hadn't read them however, because like I say, her books were amazing.

Anyway, back to last year. Christina posted her books weren't selling so well, and that she was disillusioned by her writing and tempted to just give up. I wasn't going to allow that - so I sent her a message declaring myself a fan. By then Catt had me working for J.Ellington Ashton as an editor and we were talking about setting 
up a sci fi imprint. I asked Christina if she had ever considered 
going with a Press, rather than self publish - it would give her more respect as a writer and possibly help get her work to a wider influence.

Her response was that the only people interested so far had been vanity presses. 

Once again, I stepped in and with Catt's go ahead, asked her to consider coming to our Press. She checked us out, signed the contract and hey presto- Blachart was released in the latter part of last year with the second book, Demonspawn due out soon.

I will review Demonspawn for my D post, but needless to say as a fanboy I couldn't be happier to see her going mainstream. All our authors and fellow editors at JEA love her and think she's fab, and as well as having the privilege of having introduced her to our Press, I have also been given the dream opportunity of being able to help edit her books and help fine tune them so that a wider audience can appeciate them as much as I did the first time I read them.

I'm really enjoying reading them again, and it's been so long now 
since I first picked them up, its like discovering her work all over again.

Christina truly is a real gem to work with, one of my favourite authors amongst all those we have, and in a time when I see so many authors - indie, self-pub and traditional - behaving badly, slagging their peers off or just making their fellow authors' lives a misery, it makes a refreshing change to come across someone who not only stands up for what she believes in, is not afraid to stand up and show the world what she is made of, but is also kind, helpful and humble towards her fellow authors. 

She'll get a big head after this probably, and this post will probably embarrass her but you know what?

I am proud to have helped her find mainstream traditional publishing and I have a strong feeling that when her writing really starts to takes off, this woman is going to be one to watch. 

I have a good feeling shout Christina Engela and if any one deserves to make it big, it is her!

A is for Ash Hartwell...

One of our authors who has just had his debut collection of short stories released is Ash Hartwell. His first book, ZOMBIES, VAMPS, AND FIENDS has just recently been released and I can honestly say it is a great collection in the tradition of many of the late, great Alfred Hitchcock collections I remember reading as a kid.

In his first book, Ash introduces us to a variety of scary, thrilling and often accurately chilling possible futures where the forces of darkness continue to plague us despite mankind's modern advances. 

Though the book is a bit of a mixed bag at times, I really liked it and thought many of the stories work really well. With touches of Laymon, King, and even the likes of M.R.James and Algernon Blackwood at times, Hartwell still manages to exert his own writing style to great and often spine-chilling effect.

There were a couple of stories I was less keen on than others, but such is the case with most short story collections and those stories I DID like, I liked a lot.

It will be very interesting to see what Hartwell comes up with in the future, and I eagerly look forward to seeing something longer from this stunningly talented new author, as judging from the stories featured in this book, I can well believe he still has plenty more yet to pull out of the bag...

I took the time to ask Ash a few questions about his writing...

 

Tell us about your writing journey and how you got to the point where you are now.

I always wanted to write as a child. I remember making my grandmother dictate my elaborate tales about the exploits of characters from the books she read to me. I must have been four or five years old so probably garbled my words and included a ridiculously large number of explosions for the likes of Noddy and Big Ears to deal with.

It was only in the last five years or so when I actually started to write, and even then it has been sporadic, and initially just for relaxation. I attended a local writers group for a while and one of the guests speakers wrote for small publishers producing anthologies in America, sadly most of which seem to have since disappeared. He provided some useful hints and tips, suggesting it would be a good place for budding writers to submit a story. I wrote, what I now consider to be a truly awful story, although at the time I thought it a classic worthy of Poe or King, and submitted it to a Christmas themed horror anthology. It was accepted just before midnight (in the UK) on Halloween, and I was hooked. This was easy; One submission, one acceptance. Not for me those years of struggling, those mountains of rejections.

How wrong was I!

I still write on a part-time basis but I have learnt so much since that heady night of success. About eighteen months ago someone suggested I submit some stories to JEA as they were looking for writers. I’d had some success with short stories, having about twenty published in various anthologies, and wanted to step up, so the timing was right. I took the plunge and sent about five. To my amazement they liked them, in fact three of them form the basis for stories in Zombies, Vamps, and Fiends and a forth is currently being re-written as a novel.

I can’t thank all the people at JEA enough for their support and kind words, especially as I have other commitments that restrict my writing time. Catt and the team have been very patient and now things seem to be gathering pace again.

I still write brilliant stories on Monday only to hate them on Friday, but I guess that’s true of most writers. Isn’t it?

What is your book about? What themes do you explore and what can we expect from your stories?

Well it’s an anthology so I guess I cover a range of themes. What is it about? I’m not really sure. It’s an introduction, or maybe an invitation to sample my writing. It’s written in a number of styles and covers a number of genres so, in some ways it’s about me discovering my style, with the reader coming along for the ride.

Some of the themes covered include mental illness and depression, corruption and redemption, anger and revenge, and the futility of war. One story looks at medical science in the future and is more of a sci-fi/horror, while another is an alternative dystopian history (with zombies). One story is heavily influenced by Hammer House of Horror and written in a gothic/Arthur Conan Doyle style and written with my late father in mind – he was a great Sherlock Holmes fan.

I also have a tongue-in-cheek look at the world of dog shows and pageants and attempt, in a few of the stories at least, to hi-light the excesses or failings of modern society.

You should expect to encounter Zombies, Vamps, and Fiends and experience a few twists and turns as you journey through the book. I’d like to think, once you reach the end, you would have gained an insight into my style… and I hope you found the ride as uncomfortable as possible. (cue: sinister laughter to fade…)

What is your creative process? How and when do you get your ideas from brain onto page? Have you any hints, tips or techniques that you can share to help other aspiring writers?

I scribble. Words, phrases and sometimes, whole sentences. Whatever comes into my mind then, after a few days I draw them altogether, discard some, combine some, and then build a story skeleton. After that, or sometimes from that, I create a main character and let them, (under strict supervision if they’re using glue or scissors) build the story that best fits the skeleton. Often I find the character wants to tell a completely different story to the one I planned which is fine as the original ideas may still form the basis of another story.

Usually its characters that drive the story forward, their hopes and fears, likes and dislikes. But not always the main character, in BIOGULAG for example, John Maddox is the central character, established in the very first sentence, but the story is driven on by the faceless bureaucrat as it is he that holds all the power in their relationship. Is the story about John and his experience? Yes, undoubtedly so. But we learn more about the character and personality of the bureaucrat than we do about John. Slightly ironic, given he’s an impersonal, faceless cog in the penal system.

The process I use to write is simple.

Hand written scribbling on scruffy bits of paper, to which add coffee, then type.

After five minutes, swear loudly and press delete.

Repeat several times.

Once I have written a few paragraphs I enter into a process of negotiation with spellchecker to remove the red and green lines it has randomly scattered throughout my story. Did Shakespeare have a separate quill for red and green underlining… me thinks not?

When complete. Email story with a cover letter threatening the editors family with extreme violence should he even consider rejecting the attached story.

Ok. Some of that may not be true but I do simple sit and write from a few hand-written notes and see where my mind takes me. I don’t really have a preference as to when I write but usually in the evening as its quieter then. I have a small study piled high with books, notepads and movie posters where I write the actually drafts but the creative scribbling phase can happen any time, any place.

Any tips? In a word: Perseverance. Write what you want to write, what you feel comfortable with. Find an editor, or another writer, who will be truthful, critical, encouraging, understanding and patient, and let them guide you. Discuss with them what was good and bad about a particular piece, and learn from it.

Which writers inspire you? Who does your writing best compare to in your honest opinion?

I think as a horror writer some are obvious like Stephen King, James Herbert, and Richard Laymon to name a few, but I also admire the story weaving ability of James Patterson and Neil Gaiman who step gingerly around the horror genre without really ever dipping a toe in.

However, the list could really go on and on – Bradbury, Poe, Capote, AC Doyle, Orwell, Hemmingway, Fitzgerald, Kerouac, Stoker and many others.

It’s not always the writer themselves, but maybe one book they wrote that makes me think, Wow I wish I wrote that! For example Jack Kerouac’s OnThe Road.

A couple of newer writers I’ve enjoyed recently are Adam Millard and Gary McMahon. Although both have been around for a while, their stars are very much in the ascendancy and therefore count as new. So there!

So who do I compare myself to? That’s an unfair question, Mark. Alex S. Johnson, who was one of the editors kindly supplied by JEA, said that the style of one story reminded him of Arthur Conan Doyle. That was a nice comparison but to be brutally honest with myself, I’m not sure I’ve found my own style yet. I enjoy dipping my toe into different genres and styles to see what happens. Sometimes it works out okay, and sometimes it doesn’t. I’ll let others make the comparisons. For now, I’m just happy being Ash Hartwell.

What can we expect from you in the future? What other projects do you have up your sleeve?

I’m currently working on my first novel which, I hope, will be published by JEA when complete. It’s an alternative history story with nasty characters, an infected monkey and a hero you should hate, but can’t.

I’ve also started the scribbling stage of a story that hit me while on a long drive to visit relatives. It may form the basis for my second novel it the scribbling goes well.

I’m also going to be working on editing some anthologies for 13Press during 2015. I’m not sure how it will go, but I’m looking forward to the experience and hope it will help my own writing to develop. As the saying goes, ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’

ZOMBIES, VAMPS, AND FIENDS is available now from here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zombies-Vamps-Fiends-Ash-Hartwell-ebook/dp/B00STZ3EPQ/ref=la_B00L0FET0G_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423360536&sr=1-1

and here: http://www.amazon.com/Zombies-Vamps-Fiends-Ash-Hartwell-ebook/dp/B00STZ3EPQ/ref=la_B00L0FET0G_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423360536&sr=1-1 

Introducing.....Jim Goforth...

Jim Goforth is a break-out author, like myself, who had his first novel published this year. It really is a cracking read and really worth checking out, but in the meantime, I thought it might be good to find out a bit more about the man behind the writing.

(thanks must go out to Catt Dahman, as always, for providing the insightful and thought-provoking questions....)

Author: Jim Goforth

Books/SS: Plebs, Lycanthroship (collaboration with six other authors, out soon). Also involved in a vampire collaboration with six others which should be out before the end of the year I believe. I also have a couple of other completed,but as yet unpublished, full length novels In The Darkest Hour and Spirit Storm, a load of short stories, and about five or six incomplete novels. At the moment I am working on my first foray into the world of zombies.

Links to author pages and websites and Amazon page:

https://www.facebook.com/JimGoforthHorror

https://twitter.com/jim_goforth

http://jimgoforthhorrorauthor.wordpress.com/

Amazon and Goodreads pages will be up once Plebs has an ISBN number to add to their database

What genre(s) do you write in and why? Horror. I love horror, it’s been my chief writing passion for a long long time. I used to write all kinds of things but the horror genre was the one which ultimately won out. I love dark twisted things, I love where people can take horror, and where it can take them.

What is PLEBS about both on the surface and down deep? Plebs, on the surface is about a few idle young men who run into a whole passel of trouble involving dangerous women, old enemies, new enemies and of course the feral freakish Plebs themselves. Beneath that surface there’s a bunch of different underlying themes, friendship, relationships, finding purpose, blurring of lines between man and monster, the fact that some monsters just can’t be anything but monsters, while man can make a choice to be either and too often elects to take the monster route. There’s a whole host of things in there. 

What inspired this? It was originally intended to be a short story with a far different outcome but the more I wrote the more I loved playing with the characters and building them, giving them new directions, new terrible situations to contend with, and since I just couldn’t let them go at a short story I had to make a full length of it. I’m not even sure what initially inspired the idea but the end result turned out a whole lot differently than anticipated.

Who is the main character? Multiple main characters. A few shiftless young men and a host of mysterious women who certainly have a lot more to them than meets the eye. Corey Somerset is the principal character of the guys but the story is not his alone.

What was difficult about penning this? Finding the time to dedicate to finish it. It was on hiatus for quite a while unfinished while I was involved in the extreme metal scene then I re-read it and fell back into the obsession I had with completing the story.

What is difficult for you as a writer? Too many ideas, not enough time to get them all out and written. Some good, some atrocious but they all have to be put into written word just to see how abysmal or great they may be.

What is the best part about being a writer? There are so many great things about it, couldn’t really nail down one specific one. Getting published and out in print would rank high since that has been a lifelong goal of mine but just the whole idea of creating stories, as horrific or unnerving as they may be is exhilarating. Building a large body of work and being happy with the way it has turned out is always very satisfying.

How did you begin your career? I’ve only recently returned to writing horror after a long hiatus where I was involved writing reviews for the universal metal scenes. I started writing virtually as soon as I could read, I was always the kid in school writing about the monsters, freaky beasts and scary stuff and having them read out to the class. Nothing’s changed, I’m still writing that kind of thing, albeit very frequently with humans displaying the monstrous faces they hide under their skin. With regards to it being a published career that’s only a recent thing though it’s been something I’ve sought to achieve from very early on.

What advice do you have for new writers? Never give up, never become disillusioned. Though I’ve been writing for quite a long time now (most of my life) in terms of being published I guess I myself am a new writer so anybody with advice for me feel free to send it my way ;)

What writer(s) inspire you and why? Richard Laymon is the prime inspiration and influence for me, his writing altered and honed the way I write. There are hordes of others who earlier inspired me to write (which I was doing pretty much as soon as I could read) but Laymon will always be the number one influence.

What book(s) do you wish you have written? None. I am writing the books I want to write.

Do you write for yourself or for readers? A combination of both although I first started writing for me. I write what I like to read which I imagine will also appeal to those who like reading similar things.

Do you ever use dreams/nightmares as a basis for writing? Not to a large extent though I’ve taken bits and pieces from dreams to include in stories.

What is difficult/frustrating about writing or being a writer? Probably a common writer gripe but rejection letters and things like that are always frustrating. There’s nothing I find difficult about being a writer but finding the time I want to dedicate to my writing when I have abundant ideas running around in my head is often a fraction hard to achieve.

What work of yours was enjoyable to pen? Most of them so far. I find enjoyment in all of my writing and what I can do with characters, situations, 

What 3 words describe your writing? Violent. Visceral. Thought-provoking (yeah that’s two words which make one ;) )

Which actors/actresses would you love to see in a movie version of your works? Eliza Dushku. Danielle Harris. Katharine Isabelle. Shawnee Smith. (Awesome scream queens, some of them anyway), Billy Wirth, Joseph Gordon Levitt (both multi-skilled underrated actors), Danny Trejo (simply because the cool factor of any movie is amplified to maximum just by the addition of Danny Trejo even in a small role-though for Plebs he probably wouldn’t really fit any of the roles. I’d find a spot for him). Bruce Campbell (same reason as wanting Trejo involved. Bruce Campbell is the king). No interest in most of the traditional Hollywood types.

Do you like to write a series or stand alones? Why? Both. Some books are complete entities as they are, they don’t require sequels or prequels or additions, but sometimes there are characters that you just need to do more with, develop further stories and horrendous scenarios for them hence the desire to do a series.

Who, of your characters do you most want to hang out with? The characters I’d most like to hang with are all in a lengthy story I’ve written on and off over the years since way back in teenage years which will most likely never see the light of day. It involves street gangs, movies, heavy metal and then a nation of supernatural entities. Probably never in any plans to be published.

How did PLEBS get its title? It was originally going to be called something else; for the majority of the time I was writing it there was actually no title for it. Reading back through it prior to finishing it I decided that the term the characters use for the freaks inhabiting the book would be ideal. It’s short, punchy, to the point and suitably creepy.

How do you pick names for characters and which ones are you fond of? Mostly just off the top of my head. I’m fond of a lot of them. I give characters I don’t like too much the rubbish names ;)

Have you ever written real people into books? No. I generally don’t use real people as a basis for characters though they may serve as some kind of inspiration for some facets of these characters.

Do you outline and plan or wing a book? I almost always wing it. I might have some kind of plan in my head at the beginning of the book, or at least a few seeds of ideas but it rarely follows any strict path. I like to let my characters just run their own destinies, see what sort of mayhem they can create for themselves.

Which of your works ended differently than you anticipated? Pretty much all of them. Even if I have some preconceived idea about how things are going to end, it rarely pans out like that.

Do your covers matter? To an extent yes. Cover art often swayed me into being interested in reading a particular book, I’d imagine it still does influence people’s decisions whether to read a book or pass it up.

Does art/ music influence you? Some particular types of art/artists are inspiring but I’m more predominantly inspired by music (particularly heavy metal of the more extreme genres) and I often incorporate a lot of musical references in stories. I have written several things revolving around musical facets, bands etc. and I have plans for a series of horror stories with musical genres at their core. To me some types of music just go hand in hand with horror.

How do you begin a novel? I just start writing. Either from a rough idea or a more fleshed out concept, maybe just a basic thought but I never meticulously plan it out and most times I might not have any clue what is going to transpire. Novels can also spring from short story ideas, as is the case with Plebs. It was intended to be a short story but instead turned into six hundred odd pages of full length (with plans for a sequel).

Do you get “writer’s block”? Not really. Because I have so many projects on the go at any one time if I get stumped with one or run into some kind of block I switch to another and go back and forth between them all. Ultimately finishing one will inspire me to go back and complete the one I might have become disillusioned with.

Will you be prolific/ are you? Yes I intend to be extremely prolific. I already have a decent body of as yet unpublished material.

What is your goal? To have a plethora of books published. As many as I can write. It’s been a long term goal of mine, even as a teenager to have a large body of horror novels published. I’m not exactly writing for awards, probably don’t really write the type of material that is likely to ever attract awards but hey if that happened, awesome.

Do bad reviews bother you? Not particularly. Having been in the reviewing business (for universal metal scenes) I understand that certain things are not going to be everybody’s cup of tea, not everything is going to have an appeal to suit each single person.

Just like extreme metal, horror is for a niche audience, not everybody is going to like it and personally I don’t want, or need everybody to like what I write.

DO you research books? Yes and no. I don’t exhaustively research a book and all that is going to be in it but if there are certain things I want to address that require a little more knowledge than I might have on the subject I’ll do a little research. Others times I don’t when possibly I should have but hey, some horror requires one to suspend a bit of belief or warp reality a little, therefore maybe anything is possible. Having said that I wouldn’t want to delve into a subject I was completely clueless on without at least doing some kind of study up on it.

Which books have been grueling to write? None of them. The answer to the writer’s block question probably covers this one too. If I happen to run into a wall or start struggling with direction, ideas or anything I simply switch to another book and press on with a different one. That might only ever become an issue if I’m presented with deadlines in the future but working under pressure is fine by me.

Plebs comes highly recommended by me and is available RIGHT NOW from Amazon. I even wrote a review for it. Check it out here ~ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plebs-Jim-Goforth/dp/1495240398

There's always a bigger fish....

One of our latest acquisitions over at J.Ellington Ashton, both as a fellow Editor and an Author, is Michael Fisher. 
Hot on the heels of his latest release, Michael agreed to answer a few questions for my latest Author profile...

 Michael Fisher, Fish to his friends and family, has worn many hats in his long life including US Navy Hospital Corpsman, club DJ, security specialist, psychiatric technician, painter, and currently, father, Mason, author and tattooer, not necessarily in that order. He has a love of hats and ugly Hawaian shirts. He also bears a passing resemblance to Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski.

Author:  Michael Fisher

Books/SS: DCs Dead (SS)from the Tall Book of Zombie Shorts (STALKER Anthologies), The Return of the Devil Fly (SS) from Midnight Remains  and Feral Hearts collaboration(JEA Press) (upcoming)

Links to author pages and websites and Amazon page:

https://www.facebook.com/MichaelFisherAuthor

http://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Shorts-Zombiefest-Charity-Anthology-ebook/dp/B00D0WHUYY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390359947&sr=8-1&keywords=Tall+book+of+zombie+shorts

What genre(s) do you write in and why? I prefer to write in horror because it is so versatile of a genre, whether it is the personal horror of slowly encroaching insanity to the global horror of the zombocalypse.

 

What is DCs Dead about both on the surface and down deep?  It is the classic tale of friends bonding together to survive the zombie uprising, and what they will lose in their struggle to survive. 

What inspired this? A group of my dear friends in Washington, D.C. and their diversity were my primary inspiration. 

Who is the main character? The main character is the group as a whole. If I had to narrow it down, it would be Patrick and Fish as a pair, although who will survive is to be seen.

What was difficult about penning this? I started writing this years ago, as my first story, but then hit a creative wall.  It wasn't until I got a kick in the ass from a certain editor and publisher, that I got over it and focused on my writing. 

What is difficult for you as a writer? I think my biggest difficulty is staying concise. I would like to think that growing up on a steady diet of Lovecraft and King contributes to my love of details. 

What is the best part about being a writer? It lets me get the monsters in my head out for the world to share. 

How did you begin your career? I started telling stories when I was ten, playing D&D with my friends and kept it up, running many different role playing games, many horror games, into my thirties. I decided to start writing my stories down when I hit a slow stretch in my work.  

What advice do you have for new writers?  Just like Journey said, don't stop believing, especially in yourself. 

What writer(s) inspire you and why? As I said, I am a huge fan of the otherworldliness of Lovecraft, as well as how minuscule we are in the scope of the universe. I also feel the extremity of Clive Barker's horror writing motivated me to not limit myself.

What book(s) do you wish you have written? The game changer, such as when Lovecraft defined Cosmic Horror with At the Mountains of Madness, when Barker created splatterpunk with The Books of Blood or when Matheson's I Am Legend created the roots of what would become survival horror.

Do you write for yourself or for readers? I write for the sheer pleasure of writing, so I guess it is for myself. If others enjoy it, even better. 

Do you ever use dreams/nightmares as a basis for writing? No, but I have used gaming sessions as inspiration. 

What is entertaining/scary/ exciting to you? I am a big fan of splatterpunk and body horror as well as a long affair with the zombie world established by Romero.

What is difficult/frustrating about writing or being a writer? I think that the big frustrations are the same that plague many writers, muscling through that wall called writer's block. I have learned that if I can't seem to work out a particular scene, I'll go work on a different story so that I can come back fresh. Oh yeah, rejection letters suck too, but even the greats were rejected. 

Have you had a strange fan experience?  I have fans?  Not yet, but I expect it to happen sooner or later. One thing I am so grateful for, with the advent of social media, is the ability for an author to connect with his or her readers.  You can develop quite a devoted following this way.  We have come a long way from the days of fanzines. 

How is your writing evolving?  I am constantly striving to improve my skills, not just in writing, but in all of my creative mediums, be it writing, tattooing or doing cover design work for other authors. 

What work of yours was enjoyable to pen? I had a blast writing The Return of the Devil Fly.  Its shifting viewpoint was a fun change.  

What 3 words describe your writing? Never enough time.(Yup, I hear you on that one!)

Which actors/actresses would you love to see in a movie version of your works?  Well, if DCs Dead ever got made, I could easily see Seth Rogen as a certain DJ in the story. 

What is a genre you will never write in and why? Paranormal romance, simply because I don't have the stomach for it.  

Do you like to write a series or stand alones? Why?  So far, I have only written stand alone works although, I would like to think that someday the epic storyline will come to me. 

Who, of your characters do you most want to hang out with?  The main group in DCs Dead, of course, as they are based on my real-life friends, so I have already spent lots of time with them. 

How did The Return of the Devil Fly get its title?  I was listening to The Return of the Fly by The Misfits and contemplating a story idea when it came to me.  Write this period piece, set in the Fifties, with characters inspired by the actors and their characters from the film. To be honest, other than inspiring names and the titular Devil Fly, there is nothing of the Vincent Price classic in the story. 

How do you pick names for characters and which ones are you fond of?  Some of my characters are named after friends, with their permission, of course.  I always let them know that if they are in one of my stories, they won't make it out either alive or sane.  I do, for some reason, like the last name of Fleming. It shows up in a few of my pieces.  I don't know if it is a subconscious tribute to Ian Fleming or because a Mr. Fleming owned the liquor store across the street from the first tattoo shop in which I worked. 

Have you ever written real people into books?  See the above question. Most of the main group of characters in DCs Dead are real people. I wasn't sure if they would be up for it, but every single one was happy to be included and are looking forward to their literary demise. 

Do you outline and plan or wing a book? Both.  I generally have a rough outline in mind but it isn't rigid. Ideas come to me all time, usually forcing me to go back and tweak what is done to include the new bit. Nothing I say is written in stone, unless I am reading the Lincoln Memorial.  

Which of your works ended differently than you anticipated?  None yet.  Like I said, I generally have a plan on how it is going to end.  I just need to massage the details to make certain the narrative arrives at that destination, rather than the yellow house down the block. 

Do your covers matter? Covers matter so much.  They always say, don't judge a book by its cover, but we most definitely do.  As an artist, I usually have an idea of what I would like the cover of my story to look like. Luckily, I have developed both an eye for design and the skills to digitally create my covers. Generally, by the time my story is complete, so is its cover art.  

Does art/ music influence you? Of course, just as I must have my music playing when I am tattooing, the right music can really get me in a good headspace to write. 

How do you begin a novel? With a concept, short and simple. A story that I am currently working on started out as the idea of tattoos coming to life and it has branched into full murder mystery/horror story that is rapidly growing into a novel. 

Do you get “writer’s block”? I had writer's block for almost ten years until the lovely woman, who would become my esteemed publisher, gave me the necessary kick in the ass to get back at it. (If we're talking about the same person, and I think we are, then she's good at that!)

Will you be prolific/ are you?  I think we all aspire to that goal but I can't control it. When a concept shows itself, I write it down and revisit it. When if is in me, and needs to get out, it will.

What is your goal? My goal, as an author, is to share my stories with the world and hope there are at least a few people out there who will enjoy them. 

Do bad reviews bother you? Of course, they do, but I am able to avoid the personal drama aspect and learn from it. 

What do you wish to learn?  To be a better man, father, artist and writer. 

Do you research books?  If you don't have the personal experience, you have to research if you want that feeling of reality that detail provides. For Feral Hearts, I made certain to get the details such as specifics as what airport he would fly from and to, on which airline, what brands he would wear, et cetera.

Which books have been grueling to write?  DCs Dead has been eleven years in the writing and, finally, an end is in sight.