It’s not very often (ok, it’s not happened once and probably won’t happen again) that I have a 3Q’s guest on here just days after they have a Netflix movie arrive! But such is the case with today’s guest, the phenomenal Clay McLeod Chapman! On October 28th, 2022, the movie ‘Wendell and Wild’ arrived on Netflix. Directed by the legendary Henry Selick and based on the unpublished book Chapman and Selick wrote together, this one had me excited once I saw the trailer! As well, the one and only Jordan Peele co-wrote the script, provides the voice of Wild and is one of the producers! How amazing.

But, let’s not forget that Chapman himself is currently destroying readers with his recent release ‘Ghost Eaters.’ So, I was over the moon when he agreed to do this 3Q’s!

Please, do welcome Clay!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
Clay: Right now, it looks like I’m dragging my ass out of bed around four or five in the morning… just to get in front of my computer before anyone else in the house wakes up. I’m worried I’m going to sound like a fuddy-duddy, but I’m a dad now and there’s not enough time to get writing unless I do it in the cover of darkness while everyone else sleeps. Just me and the serial killers out there. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a mass murderer healthy, wealthy, and hard to revise…
And as far as word count goes, I guess it depends on the project… I used to aim for a particular target: Just 1000 words a day. They don’t have to be the right thousand words. I just need to get them on the page and see what settles the following morning. I tend to write in these circular cycles, always beginning at the beginning and revise my way through, cutting the crap from the previous day before pushing forward with new words. I’m less precious about hitting a mark these days, though.

Steve: You’re riding an elevator and BAM! It gets stuck. What two authors (one living and one dead) would you happen to find yourself stuck with?
Clay: S.A. Cosby? He’s just so damn cool. I don’t think I’d ever be in a situation where we could sit and chat uninterrupted, you know? I’d need him to get stuck in an elevator to gab with the man. It’d be pretty funny, though, if we were trapped in an elevator with the corpse of Dashiell Hammett. Not to have a conversation with him, but for me and Shawn to just talk about the fact that we’re stuck in an elevator with his dead body.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Clay: Sooooo… my most recent book is a spooky ooooky thriller called GHOST EATERS. It’s all about a haunted drug. Pop a pill, see the dead. But… guess what? Once you open that door to the other side, there’s no closing it. I think folks should read it because I think it’s a pretty good book and if you’re looking for something scary, you could probably do a lot worse. It’s got ghosts! Lots of ghosts! Too many ghosts!

Steve: Bonus Question! If you were transported back in time, which Pop Band/Hit Band would you hope to find yourself a member of?
Clay: The Beach Boys! Do they count? I could be a really, really distant cousin to the Wilson clan. I wouldn’t need to do much. I could just play the most innocuous little instrument in the far back of the band, away from the spotlight, and harmonize with the rest on a couple songs. You wouldn’t even notice me.

Ha! Amazing! Oddly the song Kokomo has been stuck in my head recently!

Thank you again, Clay!

To find more of his work, check the links and as well – I’ve added the trailer to Wendell and Wild!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/claymcleod

Website: https://claymcleodchapman.com/

What’s this? What’s this? There’s a new blue 3Q’s pic!

What’s this? What’s this? It’s time for new season!

That’s right! Today – November 1st, 2022 – brings in the new season of 3Q’s! Now, it’s come to my attention that more than just myself read these. THANK YOU! Thank you to everyone who has read these, shared them and commented etc. When I started doing these, I wanted to come up with a fun, quick (emphasis on quick) interview series where we could A) learn about someone’s fav author B) have a little bit of fun and C) keep it quick and brief so as it’s possible to digest and enjoy each day.

There is an ongoing 3Q’s Archive – located on the top menu there, so if you’ve missed any, or are new to these, go take a look and see what’s there.

Alright – let’s get rolling!

Today’s guest is a fun one. Jennifer Bernardini has quickly established herself as a super fun author and fantastic supporter of so many. I’ve even been fortunate enough to appear in an anthology curated and edited by herself.

Please, do welcome Jennifer!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

JB: I write early in the morning, before the kids get up. So, sometimes that’s 5 am and sometimes that’s 7am. Now that it’s summer, it’s kind of a liquid thing. When school is in, it’s usually around 6am. I’m a substitute teacher so I also write on breaks. The middle school where I work has two plan periods which for me are usually free. So, then and at lunch. I don’t have a word count, I just go until the words stop coming. Sometimes that’s a few hundred words and sometimes it’s a few thousand. Some days it’s none.

Steve: You decide to host a writer’s retreat. One weekend in a luxury house on an island. What three other authors do you invite to come along?

JB: Wayne Fenlon always. He’s one of my very best friends. We’d also have to include JB Taylor because, again, he’s a good friend. The third person is a bit harder. I’d have to say I’d like to keep that open to a mystery person, to someone I don’t know yet. Of course that would leave room for disaster, but I think it also makes it more exciting. Sometimes the unknown is just what you need.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

JB: My newest release is the Something Bad Happened: An Anthology of Horror. I created a journal of writing prompts as a way to get people started on their writing journey. Beginnings are hard and I wanted to ease the pain a bit. The anthology is a collection of stories born from those prompts. I wanted it to be accessible to everyone, seasoned and new writers alike. There are some pretty amazing stories in there.

Steve: Bonus Question! You receive an invitation in the mail from one of these two people. The invitation invites you to have dinner and spend the night in their home. Do you accept the invitation from Victor Frankenstein or Dracula and why?

JB: Easy. Dracula. If you’ve read Frankenstein, Victor is a whiny baby that never takes responsibility for what he’s done. I think I’d rather risk my eternal soul to a vampire rather than suffer through the agony of dinner with Victor.

Thanks for inviting me to answer these questions. They were super fun!

Most welcome! And great choice!

Thanks again, Jennifer!

To find more of her reads and discover her work;

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Bernardini/e/B0966NXLVC

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jen_Bernardini

Website: https://www.jenniferbernardini-author.com/