3Q’s today is with one of the nicest women in the dark fiction world. Christa Carmen has been so kind and supportive since we connected and it’s no surprise that her work is so widely sought after!

I’m super excited to have Christa as today’s 3Q’s guest!

Welcome Christa!

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

Christa: My writing time has changed significantly since having my daughter. I certainly don’t write at the same time each day; I don’t even write daily. To put it simply, I write when I have an ongoing project I need/want to work on, or if the idea for a new project or short story strikes me. Once I’m working on a project, especially a big one, I’ll get into a routine of hitting a daily page or word count, but I have to take advantage of the time during which I can write whenever it presents itself. That might be for twenty minutes in bed with my daughter while waiting for her to fall asleep or four hours straight on a weekend when my husband is at work and my daughter is with her grandparents or cousins. In a way, it’s more a more productive schedule than the one I had three years ago; I can’t waste time picking out ambient coffee shop sounds to write to or reheating my tea or screwing around on the internet. When I have an hour to write, I HAVE TO WRITE.

Steve: If you started a series and for some reason had to have another author finish it, who would you choose?

Christa: That one’s easy. Gwendolyn Kiste. I love her lush yet biting style and her lyrical way with language, the way she not only comes up with unsettling and important and ingenious ideas but executes those ideas to perfection. A lot of what Gwendolyn writes about consistently—feminist takes on vampires, sister relationships, the otherworldliness of birds, dark fairy tales, body horror, etc.—are subjects I’m drawn to as well. Being in the position of having to have another author finish one of my stories or manuscripts seems less than ideal (am I dead? How did I die? Wait, do I need to find someone to finish writing the answers to this interview for me?), but having an author of Gwendolyn’s caliber complete something I’d begun could only be an honor.

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

Christa: My newest release is We Are Providence: Tales of Horror from the Ocean State. I co-edited this anthology with Lauren Elise Daniels, and New England Gothic scholar Faye Ringel wrote the introduction. The table of contents includes Joshua Rex, John Lynch, Mary Robles, Jason Parent, Victoria Dalpe, Michael Squid, Paul Magnan, Faye Ringel, Barry Lee Dejasu, H.Y. Hsu, K.H. Vaughan, Curtis M. Lawson, Steven E. Belanger, and Aron Beauregard, and Lauren and I each contributed a story as well. My piece, “Testing a Horrible Superstition” (a nod to the 1892 Providence Journal headline describing a “vampire” exhumation that had taken place in Exeter, RI) is about an eighth-grade girl who—after digging into the legend of Mercy Brown to deal with the pain of being bullied—wonders if she, too, will live on after death if she were to be buried in one of New England’s hallowed vampire cemeteries.

Here’s the back cover content I wrote for the anthology, which I think showcases why I’m so enamored of Rhode Island horror, and why someone would do well to check it out!

Come. Take our hands. The twilight is dimming, but the moon is bright enough to see by, and it’s the perfect night to go for a walk. We’ll stroll through a cemetery in Exeter to where police officers are dispatched every Halloween and where a one-hundred-fifty-year-old vampire-girl is said to still roam. We’ll wander the wharfs in Jamestown, but mind your footing; the sea is home to all manner of creatures just waiting to break the surface after a thousand-year sleep. And keep an eye on the Romanesque Revival windows of the mansions along Newport’s Cliff Walk; you might catch a glimpse of a silhouette with no earthly reason for being there. In Providence, we’ll stalk the shadowy streets along with the ghosts of transcendentalist poets and jilted lovers, but don’t be surprised to discover that the monsters of Lovecraft’s fiction are not, in fact, the product of his imagination. The capital city has secrets and those secrets have tentacles. And teeth.

Welcome to Rhode Island, home of the weird, the hometown horror, the haunted, the hunted. Home of the Gothic and of horror with history. We promise there’s something here for everyone, whether visiting or already one with the region’s countless legends. Rhode Island is the smallest state but the biggest house of horrors…

And the door is open.

Steve: Bonus Question! If they made a movie about your life, what actor or actress would you suggest they get to play you?

Christa: When the Ash vs Evil Dead series was cancelled after only three seasons, I was incredibly bummed, first, because the show was a blast overall, with tons of blood, groovy antics, laughs, and one-liners, but even more so because I wanted more of Dana DeLorenzo, and somehow, since the series’ cancellation, no other television series or film production seems to have recognized how amazing she is. If my life were ever to be turned into a movie, I’d be psyched to have her play me. I feel like she’s a great mix between heart and humor, insouciance and intensity.

Thanks, Steve, for the opportunity to answer your thoughtful interview questions!

Oh, excellent choice! Most welcome and thank you for doing this!

To keep up with Christa’s work and discover more – check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Christa-Carmen/e/B01LNXO35A

Twitter: https://twitter.com/christaqua

Website: https://christacarmen.com/

Title: Enter the Darkness

Author: Sarah Budd

Release date: November 7th, 2022

Firstly – huge thanks to Netgalley and Brigids Gate Press for getting me a digital ARC of this one!

I’ve been a huge fan of Sarah Budd (or S.J. Budd) for a while now. She has such a devious way of crafting her stories. If you want proof, check out her pieces ‘Crowded House’ or even ‘A Bubble of Friendship Will Keep Us’ from her 2020 Demain Publishing release. Her short stories always grab you and pull you into a darkness you’d not expected.

So, when this one was announced – a full-length work – I was super excited to see what she’d created and just how dark she’d take the readers.

What I liked: The story follows four different people all going into the depths of a cave system under London during the Solstice. Each person has a ‘connection’ to the darkness that resides within, and it’s this aspect that Budd really dances with throughout as we see more layers revealed and the impact of these connections come to light.

This one reads a lot like how ‘As Above So Below’ felt. That movie was chaotic, claustrophobic and anxiety-driven, and Budd does this on each and every page. I think each reader will connect with one of the characters more than the others, but each one is done well and has their own storyline to follow, which works to give us solid POV shifts and different angles of the same events.

The action in the latter quarter was really well done and ratchetted things up another notch. Garth just might’ve been the character who goes through the biggest change from the beginning, but Cassie is a close second, especially considering the reason why she was going down below to begin with.

What I didn’t like:   While I enjoyed the Folklore aspect and how Fiona played into it and all the extra bits that came with it, a part of me almost wished this was purely a story of them going into the tunnels and getting lost and having to survive.

As well, while a lot of the POV shifts work, there were a few that seemed a bit unnecessary as it does just replicate the events that immediately occurred.

Why you should buy this: Budd is such a solid and phenomenal writer. She does a wonderful job of creating characters you want to root for and have them thrown into a scenario that allowed her to tease bits and pieces before completely launching into craziness.

This one was a ton of fun and I think it’ll make a lot of folks happy!

4/5

Very excited for today’s 3Q’s! Over the course of two novels, today’s guest has already leaped into my ‘must-read’ author list and I sit here desperately awaiting word of what we’ll get next from him.

A.M. Shine landed in my lap with the exquisite ‘The Watchers’ and then followed it up with the recent ‘The Creeper.’ If you’re a fan of Adam Nevill and some Tim Lebbon thrown in, Shine will be a writer you’ll want to read!

Please, do welcome A.M.!

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?

Shine: My writing habits are constantly changing, which probably doesn’t do my body or mind any favours. But I’ve learned through trial and error that it’s not something you can switch on when it suits you, so you need to be ready to run with the inspiration when it hits.
I do have a word count that I set myself. Otherwise, I know that I’d waste hours editing and fancying up what I’ve written instead of moving the plot forward. Maybe I’m a strange case here, but I genuinely love editing. Those little final touches to a sentence are always the most satisfying.

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?

Shine: Okay, I’m guessing that what happens on the imaginary island retreat stays on the imaginary island retreat. So, you’ll excuse me if I indulge in some casual necromancy and raise up two absolute gents.
First up, Edgar Allan Poe is always top of any guestlist for me. And I don’t believe for one second that he was the irrepressibly melancholic loner that some say he was. I’d expect nothing more than a dark sense of humour and a few recitals to keep us all entertained.
For banter and endless witticisms, Oscar Wilde would make a fine addition, but I’d have to go with Bram Stoker. Just because, well, who wouldn’t want to spend some time with the man who invented Count Dracula? And I’m sure he has a few interesting stories from 19th century Dublin.
And last but by certainly no means least, I’d ferry you over to the island, Steve. I’d like to catch-up with you in-person and chew the fat with a fellow horror writer who hadn’t just been unceremoniously dragged from their grave. (WHAT! NO WAY! THANK YOU!)

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

Shine: It’s called The Creeper. It’s an Irish horror novel with some Gothic stylings and a nice underlying sense of dread. I’m very proud of it. It’s the kind of horror that’s designed to get under your skin. And I think everyone should read it because that’d make me a very happy horror writer, and the world needs more of those.
We have an elusive academic, a village lost for two-centuries, and a curse that is kept alive through the old art of superstition. Oh, and there’s a creepy kid who really shouldn’t be allowed outside.

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?

Shine: Most definitely the Count.
Poor old Victor has a somewhat nervous disposition and wouldn’t make for the best of company. Add in the fact that we’ll be dining together, and the man’s habit of handling corpses could play havoc with my appetite.
I’ve always wanted to visit Dracula’s home – the meet the man himself and the three vampire sisters. And Jonathan Harker did say in his journal that the Count’s roast chicken was excellent. And it came with cheese and a salad and a bottle of old Tokay. And as my host doesn’t drink wine, then this rare little vintage would be all mine, and it’s meant to be seriously tasty.
I imagine we’d all stay up late, chatting by an open fire, probably calling it a night sometime just before sunrise.

Excellent decision! Thank you so much A.M.!

To keep up to date with his work – check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/A-M-Shine/e/B099S32KQJ/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AMShineWriter

Website: http://www.amshinewriter.com/

Today’s 3Q’s is a special one for me. When I first really branched out into the dark fiction community, Mark Matthews was one of the first people to ever give me support or encouragement. It went even to the point of sometimes him being the only one to comment on a Facebook post or tweet on Twitter. It’s the little things like this that really stay with you and I’ll always be grateful Mark took the time to do that.

A fantastic author, a phenomenal editor/anthologist and one of the nicest guys out there, please do welcome Mark!

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?

Mark: I am an early riser, early as 5 am, so typically I write in the morning before work and after I’ve wasted an adequate amount of time scrolling social media. (I’ve also got one child to get off to school, the other is in college) The morning is when my brain seems most fresh and the world seems quiet and the coffee tastes so damn good.

In general, I write in manic outbursts. Every bit of fiction I’ve written has consumed me at one point, where I have a desire to write nearly every free moment, and when I’m not at the keyboard, it still dominates my thoughts. Of course, if we only write when we want, not much will get done, so I do push myself to get words down, but when I do, I have never ever had a word count I aim for.  I sometimes aim for a specific scene or a specific paragraph to finish, since I think some are more crucial than others, but it’s more important for me to get the words down and in the right order than it is for me to write a certain quantity.

Steve: Which other author would you most like to see win a prestigious writing award?

Mark: John FD Taff deserves a lifetime achievement award for both his works and how much he’s helped other writers.

Samantha Kolesnik deserves a Jack Ketchum award for True Crime (wait, there’s no such thing as a Ketchum award? Well, let’s start that, and give her the first one)

In general, awards are fun and I partake (I cherish my Shirley Jackson award finalist ‘rock’) but if you write with an award in mind, or if you read based on awards, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.  I liked that award nominations and winners get us talking more about fiction, and they are as note wothy for what’s not nominated as what is nominated. It leads to some great discussion.

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

Mark: My latest novel is The Hobgoblin of Little Minds, a story that rewrites the Werewolf legend, (though never uses the word Werewolf) in the context of mental illness. It takes place largely in an abandoned psychiatric hospital, a true setting not far from my house. Read it because, well, Werewolves and psych asylums, and it will steal your face right off of your head.

Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror, is the latest anthology that I edited and contributed to. Read it for the talent and diversity in both the table of contents and the pertinent subject matter. It’s a topic which is very personal to my own life.

Steve: Bonus Question! You wake up in a comic book. What is your comic book character and what is your super power?

Mark: Neat question! How about the power of ‘advanced accurate empathy’.  With this super power, I can describe with precision and accuracy not just how you feel at that moment, but how you are going to feel when ‘such and such’ happens. With this power, I help you feel more understood and not so alone.  This is what I have done in my career as a counselor, and in a sense, what I also hope to do in my fiction. As Kafka said: “A book must be the ax for the frozen sea inside us” —and I think I’d add, for the frozen seas between us.

Thank you Steve!

Most welcome! Fantastic super hero answer!

To find more of Mark’s work, as always, check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Matthews/e/B0058HDKC0

Twitter: https://twitter.com/matthews_mark

Website: https://www.wickedrunpress.com/

Title: The Root Witch

Author: Debra Castaneda

Release date: August 26th, 2022

If you’ve not figured it out yet – I’m a huge fan of reading, watching and writing folklore themed stuff set in the woods. Could be creature features, could be supernatural occurrences, or it could be legends passed down come back to get vengeance. No matter the who, what, why or how – sign me up. Even if things have been covered before or are ‘similar’ to other releases (and I’m not saying that about this book or any book in particular), I don’t care – each author offers their own unique experience. Heck, I could read three novels back-to-back-back about witches and each would be completely different while still treading some familiar ground.

Which brings us to ‘The Root Witch.’ I connected with Debra Castaneda over on Twitter a little bit ago and it’s been fantastic seeing what she’s been getting up to and what she’s working on. When I saw this book – I had to snag it – I knew it was right up my alley, and I even bumped it way up my TBR to read it sooner, as I felt it really fit into the October spookiness.

I went in making sure I knew the bare minimum – a terrifying legend set in a forest, in the late 80’s. I love when stories are set before the advent of modern technology as it creates a chaotic energy knowing that help isn’t simply a text message or phone call away.

What I liked: The story is told through two different main characters. First up is new Forest Ranger Knox. He gets the job and moves with his frustrated and reluctant wife. She doesn’t want to live outside of a city and definitely doesn’t want to live as remotely as they’re about to be. The second is Sandy, local TV producer, working her behind off to keep things operating, while dealing with a jerk of a newcomer.

When Halloween arrives and strange occurrences begin in the forest, Knox and Sandy’s stories collide.

Castaneda does a phenomenal job of teasing out what is happening and creating a book that is paced really well, but is always slowly turning up the tension and dread with each chapter. When we get to the point where two reporters go missing, things really escalate and Castaneda pounces, driving the horror home and battering us over the heads with it.

No surprise here, I loved the setting and the way she uses the forest as a character itself, not just a set piece. The trees and leaves and branches play just as much of an important role as do the shadows and palpable air. It works really well to keep the readers on the edge of their seats.

The ending is spot on and while it does close the chapter on this book, it does leave a sliver of potential for a further story down the road.

What I didn’t like: This might be considered a tiny bit on the spoiler-ish side, so maybe skip if you want – but I was honestly expecting some sort of tucked away figure who lived in the woods and ‘resembled’ a witch in some capacity. What happens here is great and really spot on for the story, but I was still perplexed about how it became called ‘The Root Witch’ in the local lore, when it was a bit away from that.

Why you should buy this: If any of what I said in my intro resonated – then you’ll love this one. Crisp pacing, great characters and plenty of action-packed moments, Castaneda has done a solid job of creating a story that resonates with Folklore fans while also etching her own space in that genre. This was great and had me racing through to see what happens!

5/5

Today’s 3Q’s guest is an anomaly. I’ve only had the pleasure of meeting a few of the dark fiction community in person and they are one of them! I connected with J.A. a number of years back. Then they joined the Kendall Reviews team and I was fortunate to be able to have breakfast with J.A., their husband (Hey, Jeff!) and my friend Walter when we all happened to be in Canmore a few years ago! J.A. even gifted me with an Andrew Pyper gift which I still proudly display!

Beyond that – J.A. is an immensely talented writer and supportive of so many.

Please, do welcome my friend, J.A.!

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?

J.A.: Although I write dark things, I’m a morning person and find my creativity is at its best before noon. Typically, I’m in my home office around 8 AM with lots of coffee and a stick of incense burning in the background, then I transport myself into my fiction for 2 to 3 hours. If a story is really burning in my imagination, I’ll work on the weekends too, but usually I only write Monday through Friday. My “writing time” includes things like reading specific works for research, staring into space while thinking of character names, and doodling timelines on a whiteboard, so I tend to set my writing goals in terms of time spent in the story rather than a specific word count. I’m also quite a slow writer and can spend an hour on a single paragraph, so setting a word count could be discouraging for me.

BUT, when November hits, something magical comes over me. Every year since 2012 I’ve attempted National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), where the goal is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. Surprisingly, I’ve managed to smash that goal 3 times, and even in the years where I didn’t reach the finish line, I’ve made far more progress on a story than I would have otherwise. To meet my NaNoWriMo goal I aim to hit between 1,500 to 2,000 words a day, every day for the entire month. I love the way it challenges me to push myself, and I’ve already started planning my project for this year.

{Isolation Tales} The Crate By J.A. Sullivan

Steve: You decide to host a writer’s retreat. One weekend in a luxury house on an island. What other author do you invite to come along so you can co-write something with?

J.A.: Without a doubt, I would choose Lisel Jones. Last year we cowrote a serialised story in 9 parts called “The House that Death Built” and it was an amazing experience! (All 9 parts of “The House that Death Built” are available to read for free on my blog.) Our styles are very complimentary, so I know she’d be able to pick up anything where I left off and carry it forward without any visible seams. Plus, Lisel is an amazing writer and would make the story far better than I would have on my own. Several of her stories have appeared on The NoSleep Podcast, and if you enjoy having ambient sounds/music on in the background while you read or create, please check out Lisel’s YouTube channel (4059) Lisel’s Cozy Corner – YouTube.

{Halloween Exclusive Fiction} Gourd-Man By J.A. Sullivan

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

J.A.: Since there have been snails that write faster than I do, my last published work was a short story included in the anthology A Silent Dystopia, released in November 2021 by Demain Publishing. It’s an amazing collection and I still can’t believe I’m sharing a table of contents with fabulous writers such as Stephanie Ellis, Kev Harrison, and the phenomenal Steve Stred! The collection is set within the world created by Dave Jeffery in his A Quiet Apocalypse series, which I also highly recommend.

My story “Wolf Pit” follows Yvette through one night of disturbing memories and actions she’s taken to survive in the Canadian wilderness after society crumbles. Most post-apocalyptic fiction centres on characters much younger than Yvette, so I wanted to explore what extra challenges age might present and dig into the heart of self-preservation. She’s also queer and in her memories reflects on the 2 major loves of her life, both the good times and the bad. I hope it draws readers close to the safety of her campfire, empathizes them with her plight, and makes them a little more weary of women in their seventies.

Steve: Bonus Question! They make a movie about your life – who is cast to play you?

J.A.: If I could suggest anyone to play me, I’d say Bex Taylor-Klaus. When I saw them perform as Audrey in the TV series Scream, I saw someone like me and they were awesome. Their general vibe and range of roles in drama, comedy, and horror, would represent me well. But, the only thing I’d really push for is that my role be played by a nonbinary person. I’d want someone who knows what it’s like to not strictly fit in to either a male or female gender role, as my entire life has been played out in the spaces in between.

Excellent choice!

Thank you so much for doing this!

To find more of J.A.’s work, check the links!

Blog: https://writingscaredblog.wordpress.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ScaryJASullivan

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/j.a_sullivan

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20319805-j-a-sullivan

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/

Title: A Strange Little Place: The Paranormal Secrets of Revelstoke, British Columbia

Author: Brennan Storr

Release date: Originally released August 6th, 2016, re-released October 21st, 2022

If you’ve followed along with my writing journey, reviews or just my social media stuff in general, you’ll know that I was born in Nakusp, BC, but grew up thirty minutes South West-ish in the small town of Burton, BC. From Nakusp, if you were to travel almost two hours North-West-ish (and within that travel is the Galena Bay Ferry trip, which is approximately a thirty minute crossing) you’ll arrive in Revelstoke. I didn’t spend much time in Revelstoke over the years. It was usually a pass-through town onto other places. Somewhere we stopped to get gas or food and growing up, we occasionally played soccer there. My biggest memory of Revelstoke was actually the time we stopped on our way home from Lac La Biche, Alberta and everyone ate at the A & W expect my mom. Everyone who ate there had extreme food poisoning and kept me from eating at A & W for about a decade!

Now, when you grow up in small BC towns (and this may often be the case about small towns all over the world) you end up having these random encounters years later. Heck, my wife and I just had one Friday night, when we went to an event at our Telus World of Science here in Edmonton. We started talking to two people at an Ocean’s Research booth and it turned out the man was actually from Edgewood (another thirty minutes South-West of Burton and yup – across another ferry!) and he even dated my younger sister for almost two years! These random encounters is how I met Brennan Storr. We connected on Twitter two years ago? Last year? after he found my work and invited me on his Podcast, Largely the Truth. We started messaging back and forth – he thinking I was from Edmonton, me thinking he was from Victoria, when we finally started asking specific questions and lo and behold – he was from Revelstoke and he couldn’t believe I was from Burton. In fact – Brennan couldn’t believe that I knew his relative – who he himself was a local folklore hermit out near Lemon Creek/Winlaw. Amazing how small the world truly is.

So, yes – that was a long rambling way to get to this review – but, while I was on his podcast (with the amazing Andrew Pyper!) he mentioned this book and that it might be coming out in a new edition. I snagged it once it was and dove in, expecting an amazing read, but finding and discovering so much more.

What I liked: Non-fiction books work best for me when I don’t know the ‘story.’ For instance, a few years back, a guy landed an airplane in the river near New York. I saw the news stories and the footage etc. I have no desire to read about it or watch any movies about it. I don’t need it dramatized for me – I know exactly what will happen. It’s like being told the big twist, big ending of a book – why would I still want to read it.

Books like this one, ‘A Strange Little Place,’ grab me, because not only is Storr a gifted storyteller, but I got to learn a lot about the history of a town I didn’t know much about, as well as hear some amazing events, occurrences and strangeness from a place with a remarkable back story.

Storr has done his due diligence here, collecting a lot of really engaging instances and experiences and organizing it in a way that even when certain topics shouldn’t flow very well together, they do and it creates a cohesive reading experience.

I will say, my favorite chapters were about Sasquatch and The Hermit and wished we’d had more about The Hermit. I’ve heard instances of a similar thing near Whatshan Lake, close to Edgewood, of people coming across a strange little man hiking high up in areas where it didn’t seem like they should be and then just vanishing around a tree or rock and completely disappearing.

What I didn’t like: I would imagine this was completely a cost thing or an efficiency thing, but I really wished some of the chapters and topics had photos accompanying it. It would be great to see the architecture of some of these old houses, or how Revelstoke has changed over the years, with different areas growing or becoming completely different industry sectors.

Why you should buy this: Much like Indigenous people pass on their stories over the years, Storr has done a masterful job of cataloging these stories that define and make up a lot of the heartbeat of Revelstoke. Part historical document, part examination of what makes a town tick, ‘A Strange Little Place’ does a really good job of walking the line between paranormal document/town history piece, without ever trying to jam anything down the readers throat and tell you that there is no other explanations. This was great and I hope we see more from Storr in this realm, especially knowing places like Trout Lake, Nakusp, Kaslo, Sandon, New Denver, Winlaw, Slocan, Fauquier, Edgewood and even over to Nelson have so many stories just waiting to be gathered.

5/5

Title: Birdsong

Author: Mark MJ Green

Release date: October 27th, 2022

It’s been a number of years since I connected with Mark, through book reviews and a shared love of horror and family. I’m always excited to see when people take the dive into writing fiction and starting to find their way on their writing journey, and Mark has been putting in the time and due diligence to find his voice and start to put out longer pieces. Now, when his previous piece, ‘Abortus,’ was released, it wasn’t something that caught my attention. The synopsis is intriguing, but the perceived subject matter just wasn’t something that I thought would connect with me, so I passed on it. But when this, ‘Birdsong,’ was announced, I was super excited for it and really wanted to see what Mark had created.

What I liked: The story is heartbreaking, but also quite riveting. We follow an elderly woman, gripped by the sad claws of dementia, trying to determine what is real and what isn’t. When she befriends a blackbird, she seems to have made a connection, but this connection comes with a hallucinatory effect that steers her story for the rest of the way.

Green has does a remarkable job of creating a character that the reader instantly loves, but also instantly feels for. She’s lost her husband. At times she remembers this, at other times she’s searching for him, wondering where he’s gone. Is he gone to the store? A walk? each time it happens, the readers heart breaks just a little bit more.

The ending – while telegraphed far earlier in this novella, is still hauntingly poetic and just soul crushing. That we get to experience through our main characters eyes, as well as from the POV of a random passing stranger offers it another level of sadness. I was holding onto hope that somehow we’d get a different ending, but was still ‘happy’ Green went where the story needed to go, no matter how awful it made me feel.

What I didn’t like: There’s a care aide/home worker featured within that visits our main character that really had no reason to be in the story, other than to call for help near the ending. I would’ve maybe liked more of the two of them connecting so that we see some of their relationship building and making what happens – both to the worker and at the end – even more powerful.

Why you should buy this: This novella is an easy one sitting read, but it’ll stay with you long after you’re done. Emotional, impactful and based on something many of us have had some experience with the elderly people in our lives, ‘Birdsong’ raced along, while keeping me on the brink of crying. Really enjoyed this one.

4/5