It’s insane now when I think back to my first introduction to today’s guest and his work. I didn’t even really know it was his work. I was making my way through the Hellboy and BPRD works, which also included Baltimore. Christopher Golden has had his hand in so much of those worlds, but I just never put it together. After reading ‘Ararat,’ I was hooked and only then did I connect the dots!

Christopher has done so much to help and support so many authors, so I for one, am super excited to welcome him today as a 3Q’s Special Guest!

Welcome, Christopher!

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?

CG: This changes so much over time, depending on what kind of project I’m working on. I’m currently writing several things at once, but when I’m working on a novel, my goal is a minimum 2000 words a day. I tend to get that done mostly between 1pm and 6pm, and the mornings are usually my email and phone call and other business time. Although this year has been absolutely chaotic, so all of those rules are out the window.

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?

CG: That’s cruel. I know so many wonderful writers and actually have hosted writers’ retreats. But I suspect the nature of the question is more like those “you can have dinner with anyone” questions, so in the spirit of that I will purposely leave out anyone I’ve ever met in person. I’ll say S.A. Cosby, Tana French, and Attica Locke, all of whom I’ve started reading in the past five years, each of whose work I adore, and from each of whom I think I could learn something about storytelling.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release and why someone should read it!

CG: My new novel, ALL HALLOWS, will be out at the end of January. It’s a 1980’s nostalgic Halloween night suburban horror story, a change of pace for me, and a kind of homage to my childhood. As for why you should read it…creepy kids, suburban drama, and a creature called The Cunning Man roaming your neighborhood after dark!

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?

CG: From Victor Frankenstein, of course! Why? So I can befriend his so-called monster!

Excellent choice! Thank you so much, Christopher!

To find more of his work, check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Christopher-Golden/e/B000APAU2I

Website: https://www.christophergolden.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristophGolden

Here it is, August 2nd, 2022 and I’m just now scheduling this post for October 31, 2022. And you know what makes this double special? LET ME TELL YOU!

1) This is the final 3Q’s of Season TWO!! That’s right! Going forward it will be Season Three with a snazzy BLUE 3Q’s Logo and…

B) J.H. is not only one of my favorite authors, but she’s also a good friend and one of the very few authors I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in real life. It’s hard to fathom it’s already been four months since J.H. and I visited FOREVER, but it was a phenomenal night and one I’d love to replicate again in the future. Well, other than sitting in Boston Pizza and hearing the staff sing Happy Birthday every 25 minutes!

I’m so excited and humbled to have Moncrieff here today, so, please do welcome, J.H.!!

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?

Moncrieff: At the moment, my writing time is very sporadic. I’m juggling various jobs, including performing as an on-air expert on several true crime documentary series, screenwriting a few episodes, teaching university classes, and developmental editing some client books.

I’m trying my best to write every day, but when I can’t, I can’t. There’s no point in being overly hard on myself about it, especially with big changes on the horizon.

Steve: You win the lottery and the only condition is that you need to fund another author’s book to be made into a movie. What book would you choose to be filmed?

Moncrieff: That’s a really tough question. There’s so many writers I know who deserve that kind of attention, but don’t get a shot in the constant flood of King remakes, etc. When I first read this question, the book Slash by Hunter Shea popped into my head, so that’s the one I’ll go with. But only if someone could do the depth in that story justice in a film.

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

Moncrieff: I’m hoping to have one or two books released beforehand, but the one release I’m sure of is Dragonfly Summer on November 15th. It’s the story of a former journalist who returns to her hometown to investigate the mysterious disappearance of her best friend when they were seventeen.

Those who love mysteries with a touch of the paranormal and strong female protagonists would enjoy it. It speaks to the nostalgia of having grown up in a simpler time, but also recognizes that everything was not as sunshiny as it seemed in the days before social media and smartphones.

Steve: Bonus Question! If you could be an extra on any TV show, which one would it have been and why?

Moncrieff: Friday the 13th, the series (not related to the movies, except for having the same producer). I loved that show. I still love that show. I’d want to get to know John D Lemay, who played Ryan, and beg him not to leave the show in the third season.

Very cool! Thank you so much, J.H. and best of luck with the launch of your newest!

For Moncrieff madness – check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/J-H-Moncrieff/e/B00UB4I8Z4/

Website: https://www.jhmoncrieff.com/

Title: The Life Engineered (World Engineered)

Author: J.-F. Dubeau

Release date: November 17th, 2014

Many of you will recognize the author here.

J.-F. Dubeau delivered two truly outstanding dark fiction pieces with ‘The God in the Shed’ and its sequel ‘Song of the Sandman.’ Both are firmly and solidly in the horror genre, and because of that, his debut novella, ‘The Life Engineered,’ seems to be a book that doesn’t get as much love or shared as much as it should. This novella falls squarely in the science-fiction genre and for us fans who do like to read across a few genres, I was excited to see it make it to the top of my TBR.

What I liked: The story follows a former police officer, killed in the line of duty, who consciously wakes up a thousand years later. Her mind is now in the operating system of an android-type body, one perfectly suited for life as it now exists. From here, Dubeau sets up a phenomenal back story, a new way the world operates and a very tangible and threatening device that eradicates some of what we learn and pushes the narrative forward.

I’m a big fan of this style of sci-fi/action reads and love how they are always so cinematic. Dubeau gives us shades of Murderbot, with assistance early on from a secondary character who reminded me a little of Chappie.

The pacing is great, the story flows really nicely and throughout we get huge moments that are fantastically described in vivid detail. While in his horror novels, his writing is dark and gloomy, the writing here has a stainless steel shine to it, a case of the metal described always pushing through the explosions.

The ending was really intriguing and does set up a sequel. Saying that, the cliffhanger works really well to have the readers imagination going crazy.

What I didn’t like: There’s a specific reason for it, but I really wasn’t overly keen on the Norse naming and mythology throughout. It didn’t take me out of the story or anything, but I found it really odd until we’re told why it was used.

Also, this came out in 2014 and at the moment there’s no sequel in sight. With how heavy of a cliffhanger this one has, I hope one day we see the follow up, but until then, that may dissuade perspective readers from diving in.

Why you should buy this: If you like the Martha Wells school of storytelling, you’ll love this. As well, if you’re a previous fan of Dubeau’s work from his horror releases and like sci-fi, you’ll really enjoy this one. Engaging, emotional and always chalk full of action, ‘The Life Engineered’ is a novella that had me racing through to see what happens.

This was a ton of fun.

4/5

There’s a few authors who it truly blows my mind they even know I exist on this earth. I’ve had so so many stellar and phenomenal guests over the course of 3Q’s, but at the end of the day, I’m still just Steve and Steve still struggles to comprehend he’s not a young kid living in a town of less than 100 people. I’ll always have a part of my heart in Burton, growing up isolated in the mountains and running as free as I wished.

But, now, as adult Steve, that disconnect between being there and here rears its head when people I genuinely consider to be Author Celebrities respond to me, let alone know who I am.

Case in point – Adam Nevill. Adam is easily one of my all-time favorite authors and he continues to destroy readers with each and every release. I was fortunate enough to get an advanced copy of his newest, The Vessel, which arrives in a few days on October 31st! But, first, Adam stopped by for 3Q’s!

Please welcome Adam!

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?
Adam: My schedule varies greatly and has changed as my career has changed. I now split my time between writing new novels and publishing Ritual Limited titles, and working on screenplays and film developments. Sometimes, it can feel like having three jobs, and one of the three will take precedence at any given time. For the instance, the last quarter of 2021 was all about film work; I had no time or energy for anything but films. Over the last few months, though, it’s been all about The Vessel and signing, packing & shipping the limited edition hardbacks, as well as setting up the audio book with a producer.
But I always review my schedule if one component is taking over. This winter I’ll go back to getting up early to write the second draft of a new novel for the first few hours of each day, before switching to the film and publishing demands.
All of this I balance with family time, exercising and well, life just taking over, as it often does.

Steve: You win the lottery and the only condition is that you need to fund another author’s book to be made into a movie. What book would you choose to be filmed?
Adam: It’d probably have to be the Euro millions and one of those 140 million euro jackpots, to finance War of the Worlds, set in the time of Wells’ story, and with a much closer adaptation of what Wells wrote.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Adam: Well, my latest release is a novel, The Vessel. It’s the second novel I have derived from one of my own screenplays in development. And it’s been an interesting aesthetic endeavour, in which I have closed the gap between film and prose. I guess it’s also part of my continuing investigation into my own take on folk horror, in which I embed a story into as credible a background as I can. It’s an eerie story, I’d say, for the best part, but with some monstrous and sinister scenes erupting. It’s a tight and very concentrated horror story too, claustrophobic I’d say. In some respects, it’s inspired by The Turn of the Screw, that made my blood run cold when I first read it as a teenager.

Steve: Bonus Question! If you could be an extra on any TV show, which one would it have been and why?
Adam: Raised by Wolves, to be involved in something Ridley Scott is connected to.

Oh, yes, Ridley Scott would be awesome to be involved with. I’ve yet to watch this show, but it looks stellar!

Thanks again Adam, and best of luck with the launch!

To find more of Adam’s work, check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Adam-Nevill/e/B0034PH9HA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AdamLGNevill

Website: https://adamlgnevill.com/

One thing reviewing has done for me, is open the doors to so many new and exciting authors I might’ve never taken a chance on previously. I don’t mean in terms of freebies (I do get a decent amount of free ARC’s which I am forever grateful for), no – what I mean is the various projects and synopsis’ that are sent over that might’ve been lost in the fray otherwise.

Case in point – today’s guest came onto my radar with his phenomenal release ‘Midnight in the Chapel of Love.’ I very well might’ve missed that one if not for it being offered for review on Kendall Reviews.

Please, do welcome Matthew R. Davis to 3Q’s today!

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?

Davis: My writing time is in total disarray at the moment, which is to say, business as usual! My schedules are all over the shop as I work two jobs with floating rosters, which means I no longer have any solid conception of routine. I’d like to say that I write whenever I can, but the truth is, I write whenever I feel like it. I’m not one of those disciplined authors who can sit down for an hour a day and write 500 words every time; I’d much rather do nothing particularly productive for a week while I get the feel right, then block out a day and write an entire short story or novelette in one go. (My record so far is 17,000 words in a day. I know, right?) But my mind is always chewing over ideas new and old, putting pieces together in the dark. Sometimes you have to think yourself into the right state of readiness to write a story.

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

Davis: Ha! Unlikely as it is that I would ever write a series, I would certainly want to have complete creative control over it. The only reason anyone would finish my work is if I died and the world cared enough to get some closure on my incomplete plots. But if that were the case, what happened next would depend upon the executors of my estate. If they respected my living wishes, they’d probably just leave it hanging; if they didn’t, the choice of author would be up to them, not me. That said, I’ve been idly thinking about projects that would require a group of authors, kind of like a TV writer’s room, and the possibilities are very broad there. Sorry, too many cool peeps to namedrop!

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Davis: At the time of writing, my latest release is a novella called The Dark Matter of Natasha (Grey Matter Press). It came out in June and it’s a terrifically dark, gritty, disturbing slice of small-town despair that, according to the reviews, seems to linger in the minds of those who read it like an inherited haunting. It’s not a horror story, exactly – we called it a psychological thriller for lack of a better marketing term – but with its constant cloud of impending doom, it sure feels like one! It’s for lovers of sex, drugs, and heavy metal, lovers of deep and dark explorations of the flawed soul, and it’s also just for lovers, though as a cautionary tale more than anything else. I may have a few more short stories out by the time this goes live: “Vigil at Singer’s Cross” (Voices in the Dark), “Visitation Rites” (Midnight Echo 17), and “Dawn Dressed in Rain” (Draw Down the Moon) should all be out in July or August.

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

Davis: Anyone better looking than me! I used to get compared to Brendan Fraser, especially his character in Airheads, but these days, if I have my hair tied back and my glasses on, I tend to get Penn Jillette instead. (Thanks, guys.) You know what, let’s fuck with everyone’s head and cast Idris Elba as me – it doesn’t get much cooler than that! Or maybe Kate McKinnon – Benedict Cumberbatch – a particularly tall mop, with a Sharpie face drawn on a paper plate stuck on it! It’s not like any such film would be hidebound by an adherence to the truth – they never are – so let’s have some fun with it! Maybe I could do a Howard Stern and play myself, and we could cast Karen Gillan as my partner Meg – she’s one of the very few women beautiful enough to even attempt the role – though Meg would no doubt insist upon overseeing the shoot to give Karen notes and make sure I behave myself during the movie’s copious love scenes. “Copious love scenes?” you ask, somewhat disbelievingly. Oh, yes, because I’d be writing the script, too.

Loved that movie and I can still totally see it!

Thank you so much, Matthew for doing this!
To find more from him;

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Matthew-R-Davis/e/B09SKSTTZ7

Website: https://matthewrdavisfiction.wordpress.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5332110.Matthew_R_Davis

Holy cow – what an honor to have today’s 3Q’s Special Guest here!

I’ve said it a number of times, but it blows my mind when some of the authors I reach out to agree to do these and it warms my heart to see them have fun with it and participate. Today’s author has written some of the most powerful fiction out there over the last number of years. His work moves the reader, frightens them and makes them question why they read it and when can they read more.

I’m so excited to welcome Nathan Ballingrud!

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?
Nathan: I work best in the mornings, but I’m not militant about that. Sometimes it’s mid-day, sometimes it’s at night. It depends on the circumstances. I try to hit a minimum of 500 daily. Usually I’ll go over, but on days when everything I write seems like garbage, 500 is an achievable goal. Even though it might take me a while to get there. I also have several projects going on at the same time, so if I get bogged down in one, I can switch to another. I leave myself no excuses that way. Something is going to get done.

Steve: You end up at an estate sale and discover an unpublished manuscript from an author you love. Do you keep it just for yourself or do you share it with the world?
Nathan: I would absolutely share it. Art is not meant to be hoarded.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Nathan: My first novel is The Strange, coming in March of 2023. It takes place on Mars in 1931, and is about a girl whose life is turned upside down first by a catastrophic event that affects the whole colony, and then by a more specific attack on her family. Unsatisfied by the response of people around her, she decides to seek restitution herself. It might not be the story people expect from me, but I think if people give it a chance they’ll see it’s coming from the same place as everything else I’ve written: conflicted characters, an uncertain moral center, and the loss of preciously held assumptions. And there’s an undercurrent of horror in there too, because I am who I am.

Steve: Bonus Question! You wake up in a comic book. What is your comic book character and what is your super power?
Nathan: The Gargoyle. I could hang from the sides of walls or perch atop buildings, watching everyone around me with a sympathetic objectivity. I would yearn to be one of them, but my distance, horrible countenance, and stony heart would make me forever grotesque and unapproachable. It’d produce some good stories though.

What an amazing response!

Thank you so much, Nathan!

To find more of his work, check the links!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NBallingrud

Website: https://nathanballingrud.com/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nathan-Ballingrud/e/B00E7I2OGY

Fun one again today, friends!

Kevin Lucia is an author, editor, family man AND now one of the driving forces behind Cemetery Dance. I was lucky enough to have Kevin agree to do a 3Q’s, and I’m thankful he found the time to squeeze this in!

Please, do welcome, Kevin!

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?

Kevin: For the past fifteen years, I’ve gotten up at 3 AM in the morning to write for an hour before school. At this point, it’s so hardwired into my system, I get up before the alarm! No word count. I write for that hour, and whatever I get done, I get done.

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

Kevin: Either Norman Prentiss, Ronald Malfi, or Paul F. Olson. All of them were huge influences on me, and I think we have the same vision when it comes to horror.

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

Kevin: The Night Road – Cemetery Dance Publications. If you like Irish Folklore and Myth, folk horror in a small town setting with an emotional core, this is the book for you.

Mystery Road/A Night at Old Webb (novella duet) – Cemetery Dance Publications. Coming of age stories that are love letters to the Twilight Zone and Boys Life, by Robert McCammon.

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

Kevin: John Krasinski!

Very cool!

Thank you so much, Kevin!

To find more of Kevin’s work;

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kevin-Lucia/e/B003L29OEM

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevinBLucia

Website: http://kevinlucia.blogspot.com/

Title: Dragonfly Summer

Author: J.H. Moncrieff

Release date: Originally released February 13th, 2020, re-releasing November 15th, 2022

Huge massive thanks to J.H. Moncrieff, Flametree Press and Netgalley for sending me a digital ARC of this one!

Originally released as an audible only release back in 2020, fans of Moncrieff were elated when this was announced as coming in November in physical form! As a massive fan of her work, I’m always excited to see what she’s creating and knowing that this one was partially inspired by a real-life moment from her youth, I knew this one would be filled with emotions. The other thing that I was curious about – Moncrieff and myself both come from small-towns (at opposite ends of the same province) but we both share similar feelings towards ever returning to those places.

What I liked: The story follows Jo Carter, who, after receiving some odd bits of mail regarding her high school best friend, Sam, who disappeared mysteriously around grad, returns to her hometown. A town she vowed she’d never return too, but is now determined to get to the bottom of what happened to her friend.

Moncrieff does a wonderful job of showcasing just how claustrophobic and intermingled these small towns can be, and how interwoven appearances and justice are. Money and subsequently status associated with money play a prominent role and as Carter begins to discover little bits and pieces, we see that rear up.

Moncrieff also does a pointed, spot-on job of showing how those who typical remain behind can end up bitter, jaded and outwardly aggressive to those who return. This not only begins to create issues for Carter, but it also begins to highlight Carter’s memory struggles, which move the story along really well and help to heighten the chaos that is continuously happening.

The ending is messy, complicated and worked really well to show just how much each person involved had to bury for so many years to keep their stories straight.

What I didn’t like: When taken as a whole, there are a number of ‘tells’ throughout that give away the ‘who’ as you go on. Fear not, that only pushes Moncrieff to try and deflect and distract more often, which gives us some other clues to fill in the gaps.

As well, I think if someone hasn’t experienced the frustrating aspects of small town life, they may find this to come off a ‘bit much,’ but trust me when I say – it is 100% accurate.

Why you should buy this: Fans of Moncrieff will know exactly what they’re in for – a solid, strong female lead, a mystery-wrapped-in-a-riddle and electrifying sequences that are tailor-made for the big screen. ‘Dragonfly Summer’ walks the line between her straight ahead horror novels and her Ghostwritten series and will make fans very happy!

5/5

Hello, I’m Steve Stred, and this is… (BOM BOM BOOOOOOAAAAAAMMMMMMBBBB) 3Q’s.

Today’s guest joins me at a time when the world is influx, the NHL season has started, the MLB playoffs are in full swing and his books are flying off shelves.

That’s right – I’m talking about none-other-than (BOM BOM BOOOOOOAAAMMMMMBBBBBB) Tyler Jones.

I connected with Tyler when his debut, ‘Criterium,’ arrived and his fiction has a way of infecting your soul.

Please, do welcome (BOM BOM BOOOOOAAAMMMMBBB) Tyler!

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?

Tyler: It’s changed a lot over the years. The first ten (or maybe more) books I wrote were done in stolen hours after my kids fell asleep. I’d think of the story all day at work, and then the words would come rushing out when I finally sat down at the computer.
These days, my schedule is much more intentional. Writing time has become an important and protected part of my day. I’m incredibly blessed that my wife supports and encourages me to hide away for hours at a time and tell spooky stories.
On a good day, I get up early and spend an hour or two before the kids wake up attending to the more “business” side of writing. Emails, interviews, scheduling etc. After the kids go to school, I’ll get at least three hours of solid writing done. No music, no distractions. Around noon I’ll break to have lunch with my wife, run errands, do work around the house, and maybe a little reading. I’ll try to fit in another hour before school lets out, and if I’m really caught up in a story, I’ll steal another hour at night.
I keep a close eye on how many words I’m writing, but it’s more to feel a sense of progress on a day to day basis.
Depending on where I’m at in a project, that “writing” time might actually be editing or rewriting or note taking.

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?

Tyler: Only three? Well, this means I have to be selfish. No room for friends on this retreat. First, I’d invite Thomas Pynchon. I assume he wouldn’t come, but in this scenario, let’s just say he does. Why Pynchon? Besides the obvious (no one knows what he looks like, he doesn’t do interviews, and he’s written some of the craziest books in American literature), because I’d love to have a conversation with him about anything other than writing. We already have the books. I don’t want to know his process. I’m fine believing he performs some kind of sorcery, or goes into a trance and auto-writes stories telegraphed from the future. I just think it would be cool to hang out and chat with him, get his thoughts on the world, on society. I’d love to discuss Edward Snowden, government surveillance, privacy in the digital age, UFOs, and the JFK assassination. And he seems like he’d be a fun guest. I mean, he voiced himself on The Simpsons and his character wore a paper bag on his head.
Second would be David Mitchell. His prose is electricity in my brain. His novel The Thousand Autumns of Jacob deZoet is one of my favorites of all time. I didn’t read that book so much as live in it. And I really admire all the effort he and his wife put into getting the book The Reason I Jump out into the world.
Last, would be Joe Hill. To those who know me, this will not be a surprise. I love Joe’s writing. His prose, his stories, his ideas—especially all the big ones lurking behind the smaller ones.
I imagine this writing retreat being one where we all go our separate ways during the day and write our stories. But once the sun goes down we’d gather in the dining room for dinner, then move to the massive library where we’d drink wine and talk into the early morning.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Tyler: Earlier this year my horror collection ‘Burn the Plans’ was released. Fifteen stories that contain ghosts, bloodthirsty machines, witches, ghosts, dark family secrets, and mysteries that touch the edge of the cosmos. Two stories in the book, “Trigger” and “Full Fathom Five” are my favorites of anything I’ve written. If you’re looking for stories that are character and concept driven, and don’t hesitate to run headfirst into the dark…then grab a match and set your plans on fire with me.
I’ve got a new story called “Trip Sideways” that’s in the anthology Campfire Macabre 2, which also includes tons of other great writers/friends.
In a couple months Thunderstorm Books will release a special edition collection called Turn Up the Sun, which combines four novellas (Criterium, Enter Softly, The Dark Side of the Room, and Along the Shadow) into one volume, along with a brand-new novella that takes place in the Criterium world. My good friend Ryan Mills did the cover art and it’s stunning.
My story “Who Built the Moon?” will be appearing on the Tales to Terrify podcast later this year as well.
A new novella called Heavy Oceans will be released by Dark Lit Press in Spring 2023. It’s a cross between The Mist and Nope. A bloody, bonkers good time.
And last, my novel Midas will be released in October 2023 by Earthling Publications. It’s about a man mourning the death of his son, and he stumbles across a cave that contains the power to transform anything into solid gold. This puts him on a collision course with a violent cult leader who has been searching for the power for years. This book means a lot to me, and I’m absolutely thrilled it found such a good home.

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?

Tyler: Victor Frankenstein, without question. That book is somewhere in my DNA, and so is he as a character. A tragic figure who follows his ambition across a line he didn’t even know existed. And that mistake, along with an act of cowardice, set in motion a series of events that lead to death after death, loss after loss, until Victor is a just a haunted shell of a man, obsessively trying to destroy what he’d created.
That book is one of the most haunting stories every written. It contains so much, and I’d love to unpack the details surrounding a life suffocated by guilt. I’m sure he’d have some unique insights. If he’d survived that book, I bet he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from creating again. A man like that…he’d have to. You know he’d be thinking, “I can get it right this time.”

Excellent reason! Thank you so much, Tyler and best of luck with all you have going on!

To find more of his work, check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tyler-Jones/e/B0069ESEZ4

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tjoneswriter

Website: https://www.tylerjones.net/

Hello, my name is Steve Stred… and… this… is… 3Q’s! BAH DAH BUM!!!!!!!

Welcome back to another fun, fantastic, phenomenal (with an F!) 3Q’s.

Today’s guest is none-other than Bram Stoker Nominated author S. Alessandro Martinez!

Welcome, S!!

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?
S.A.M.: I try to write every weekday, starting around 10:00 and going until 4:00 or 5:00. I take weekends off, but I usually end up writing a bit anyway. I don’t have a word count I try to hit. Just getting any writing down is good for me. I’m also reading and researching topics related to what I’m working on, which I count as part of the writing process.

Steve: If you started a series and for some reason had to have another author finish it, who would you choose?
S.A.M.: That’s a tough question. I write horror as well as fantasy. I have already started writing a fantasy series (currently working on Book 2), so I think I would want Brandon Sanderson to finish it. Now for a horror series, I think I’d love it if Adam Nevill completed it.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
S.A.M.: My debut novel, Helminth, came out last year! Four best friends decide to get away for the weekend after one of them suffers a great tragedy, and drive up to a lakeside cabin in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. It seems like an idyllic location, that is until the women start experiencing unexplained phenomena such as disembodied whispers, shadowy figures, unnatural fog, someone moving in the house, oh, and something begins to call to one of them from beneath the waters of the lake. It’s got lots of things for horror lovers to enjoy: ghosts, hauntings, nightmares, monsters, cosmic beings, cults, dark rituals, blood. Did I mention it was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award? You can grab a copy on Amazon!

Steve: Bonus Question: If they made a movie about your life, what actor or actress would you suggest they get to play you?
S.A.M.: Hmm, I’m going to go with Charlie Cox. He seems like a nice guy. He’ll have to go a bit goth though.

Good stuff! Thank you again!

To discover more outstanding work – click the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/S-Alessandro-Martinez/e/B01K8C23K4

Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_Morda_Shin

Website: https://salessandromartinez.com/