Super excited for today’s 3Q’s guest!

Chris Marrs is from a small town in British Columbia (like me!) and now lives in Alberta (like me!). We connected a few years back and Marrs’ has been incredibly kind and supportive!

I’m a big fan of her work!

So, welcome, Chris!

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?

Chris: My writing time could be described as chaotic at best. So much so I recently created a schedule of sorts and taped it next to the computer. I’m in between day jobs and found, given the chance to write all day, I was spending too much time falling down various rabbit holes or starting new projects then getting behind on the ones where the submission deadline is looming. The schedule has really helped keep me focused. Having said that, though, I work on two projects at the same time. I’ll swap from one to the other when I get stuck on one. I’m a pantser but also an over-thinker which leads to a sort of writing paralysis if something isn’t flowing right in a story. So switching to the other story lets my back brain noodle the issue without me getting in the way of myself.

Steve: Out of all your releases, do you have a favorite character you’ve written?

Chris: I don’t really have a favorite character that I’ve written but the two I feel closest to are Autumn in PAPER AND PENCIL, SKIN AND INK and Julie in WILDWOMAN. They are both women who lose themselves, a nasty boyfriend in the case of Autumn and bullies and a non-present mother in the case of Julie, and struggle to overcome it, to find themselves again.

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

Chris: I’m really excited to have my story, PIECES OF PRUE, included in The Seventh Terrace Publishing’s forthcoming anthology TERRACE V: PENITENT’S GOLD (AVARICE). It’s the third instalment in their excellent Purgatorio series. Lust and gluttony, respectively, were the first two sins covered and I thoroughly enjoyed the stories in both anthologies. Highly recommended.

PENITENT’S GOLD drops November 7, 2022.

Steve: Bonus Question! What is your favorite album?

Chris: Picking an all-time favourite album is difficult as I have a favourite in pretty much all musical genres. I grew up in a small isolated town on the west coast of British Columbia in the 80s, our musical options were pretty limited. When we moved to a larger town, one of the girls I made friends with was into different types of music. She popped Guns’N’Roses APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION into her tape player and I got chills. Then she popped in Nirvana’s NEVERMIND and the same thing, chills. These were followed by Queen, Ice-T, and others and thus began my quest for music that gave me chills no matter which genre. Which makes it difficult to pick a favourite.

Thanks for having me, Steve! This was a lot of fun!

Thank you so much, Chris!

To find more works;

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B01A2XOOQA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chris_Marrs

Website: http://hauntedmarrs.zinginc.com/

Man oh man! I am excited for today’s 3Q’s guest.

As some of you may know, I have a favorite author. I love this author’s work and collect all of his work and love posting about his work. Well, today’s author just happens to be THAT author for my book pal, George! Every time I see George posting about his love of today’s guests work, I smile and am so very happy, knowing exactly how it feels like. The one difference – George (at the time of writing this) has actually met his favorite author in person A NUMBER OF TIMES. Son of a bitch.

Without further wait – please welcome Mr. Paul Tremblay!

Paul, welcome and thanks for doing this!

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?

Paul: During the school year I typically write at night, but try to take advantages of free periods if and when I have them. Weekends and days off I prefer to write in the morning. When I’m going good, I aim for 500 words, give or take 100.

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?

Paul: I’d like John Langan’s The Fisherman to be a limited series. It’s too big to be a single film, which means we need more money, enough to keep the producers at bay and enough for all the cocaine that John would require once he goes Hollywood. Seriously though, I’d love to see that book with its tonal shifts and story within a story leading to the leviathan/Moby Dick ending. It’s such a great story.

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

Paul: The Pallbearers Club is presented as the found memoir of a Gen Xer who calls himself Art Barbara. The book starts with Art in high school, he’s a loner with no friends but he decides to start a Pallbearers Club: volunteer at a funeral home to serve elderly and homeless that don’t have any living relatives. No classmates stick with the club but a strange older woman, a punk fan he names Mercy, joins. She may or may not be a supernatural figure from New England folklore. Oh, she found the memoir and makes comments at the end of chapters and in the margins. Come for the supernatural ambiguity, stay for the monstrous verbing and adverbing of nouns like Hellrasiered.

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

Paul: X-Files. I just loved the show. I could be a creepy tall skinny person hanging out in the shadows randomly. When spotted, I’d bend and stretchy my bendy stretchy fingers in Hellraisered ways.

Amazing! Thank you so much for doing this, Paul! And thanks in advance to George for sharing this when it goes live, lol!

To discover more of Paul’s work;

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Paul-Tremblay/e/B001JRTI1K/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulGtremblay

Website: https://www.paultremblay.net/

Man alive, am I excited for today’s 3Q’s! Today’s guest is the award-winning author, David Demchuk. David’s writing pushes the reader hard and to the extremes, so I was excited to see what answers I’d get back!

Please welcome, David!

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?

David: UGH. I am very slow compared to many other writers, so my first caveat would be: Do not compare yourself and your output to that of other writers. I generally write late in the evening, when I can barely keep my eyes open, usually after 10, sometimes after 11, and I rarely go past 1 a.m. I usually write three or four evenings a week. If I pass 250 words, I’m thrilled. Occasionally I make my way up to 500 words, but if I do it can wipe me out for several days. However I can edit pretty much anytime.

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

David: This is an interesting question. I wouldn’t normally write a series, but I can easily imagine starting a book and being unable to finish it for one reason or another. In that situation I would probably nominate my husband Chris first (he is an unpublished writer of queer urban fantasy and is very familiar with my work), and if he felt uncomfortable with the task, I would probably suggest Gemma Files, Kelly Robson or PJ Vernon.

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

David: My newest release is RED X, published by Strange Light / Penguin Random House. It is a hybrid horror novel / memoir about gay men disappearing from Toronto’s gay village over a period of 200+ years (so back to when the area was a plot of woodland belonging to queer pioneer Alexander Wood), and the friends and family members who begin to suspect that something supernatural is at work. The memoir part involves me, my queerness, my love of horror as a genre, and my conflicted feelings about how queerness has been represented in the genre I love. It is undeniably an experimental novel but I think a very accessible one. And scary!

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

David: UGH. Actually, RED X has been optioned for film and television. so this question is eerily relevant. Daniel Radcliffe? Tilda Swinton? Maybe Daniel Radcliffe in my youth, and Tilda Swinton in my old age? The reality is it would have to be someone Canadian, so Ryan Gosling in my youth and Mary Walsh in my old age.

Hey! Big congrats and thank you so much for doing this!

To find out more about David’s awesome work – check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/David-Demchuk/e/B074BWWMKQ/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/spo0ky_dad

Website: https://www.daviddemchuk.com/

Way back when, when I began my writing journey, one of the earliest folks who supported me and encouraged me was today’s guest – the amazing, Bo Chappell. Bo has released some truly outstanding work, so I was so pleased when he agreed to hop on here!

Welcome, Bo!

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?

Bo: I’ve certainly tried to utilize scheduled times and word count goals, but that always leads me to burnout. I find more broad goals like, “Write AT LEAST a chapter this week” gets better results because, if I don’t feel like writing, then the act of doing so (or trying to more often than not) in those moments has a negative impact on my relationship with writing. And that’s what it is. It’s a relationship. If I am forced to say, “I love you” to my other half with each sentence, then those words can lose meaning, even if I mean it. Being aware of that, the love shows when I feel it most. So yeah, I like to keep the structure in the story and off my calendar.

Steve: If you could write a story for another author’s fictional world/series, which would it be and why?

Bo: I cannot express how badly I want to write a Zorro book. I have a really fun story idea ready to go and I’d put everything aside to write it. Unfortunately, while Zorro is a public domain character, he has a messy trademark issue in the US with a very litigious “owner”. The moment that clears up, I’ll have a pen in hand marking Z’s.

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

Bo: My last release was FROM DAY ONE which was the omnibus for all three of the YEAR 47 books plus a bunch of bonus content. I put that together to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the post-apocalyptical, survival horror novel that started everything. I never imagined my first novel would lead to where its travelled and allow me to meet so many wonderful people along the way. I think that’s a nice parallel to a story about isolated people expecting the worst and finding the best in others. To never give up.

And the best part was working with so many talented writers over the years who have contributed stories over the last five years. It’s so packed, I literally hit the page limit on the book when I submitted it. You ask, “How many more stories could you have had in there?” and the answer is “None.”

I also got a chance to interview someone I greatly admire for APHOTIC REALM MAGAZINE. Look for that interview when they come back later this year.

Steve: Bonus Question! Do you have a cherished book?

Bo: Honestly, it’s the one I’m (re)reading at the moment. I don’t read as often as I’d like, but when I find myself with a book, I’m gone.

Cheers for stopping by, Bo!

You can find more works from Bo at the links;

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bo-Chappell/e/B01N8Z39SO/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/infrafan

Website: https://bochappell.wordpress.com/

Exciting today here in on the site! Today we got the awesome Sisters of Slaughter!

Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason are Stoker nominated writers who keep churning out the darkness!

Please welcome them today!

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?

SoS: We don’t have a set writing schedule or word count. We usually just get together after work 3-5 days a week and work until we can’t see straight, ha ha!

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

SoS: If we weren’t able to finish a series, there’s a few writers that come to mind to finish it. Ron Kelly, Somer Canon, or Brian Keene.

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

SoS: PANDEMONIUM, ARIZONA is our latest novel, released through Journalstone. It’s about a trashy town in Arizona and a demonic force looking to open the gates of Hell. It involves drug cartels, lot lizards, and a curendera. It’s pretty gross and brutal. We loved writing it.

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

SoS: If a movie was made about us, we’d probably want Elvira to play both of us, ha ha!

Great choice! Thank you both for doing this!

To find out more about the Sisters of Slaughter – check the links!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fiendbooks

Not gonna lie – when I send out the invites for things (much like when I message regarding blurbs), there’s a few that you send out that A) you don’t expect a reply and B) if they do, it’ll be a thanks, but sorry. Look, life is busy and we have limited time. Some things just don’t slot in and being a small fish like myself, I’m never hurt or offended if someone declines anything I send their way.

Today’s guest, I’ll admit – was in B. Joe’s super nice and while I really wanted to feature him, I know how massively busy he is, so I honestly expected a thanks, but not right now reply. BUT TO MY ABSOLUTE SHOCK – he agreed! So, here we are. Today’s guest is one of the most accomplished and distinguished authors to walk the planet.

Please welcome the amazing Joe Lansdale!

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?

Joe: I write in the morning, three hours. I try and write pretty shortly after I wake up. I try for three to five pages a morning and sometimes get more. Polish as I go. No outlines.

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

Joe: Probably someone in my family.

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

Joe: The newest is BORN FOR TROUBLE and is about my Hap and Leonard characters. Mulholland/Little Brown publishes the novels, but the collections about the characters so far have been published by
Tachyon. I think they’re pretty exciting and funny, and I like to think they’re original.

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

Joe: We don’t need a movie about my life.

There you have it! Thank you so much, Joe for doing this!

For more info – check the links!

Website: http://www.joerlansdale.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joelansdale

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Joe-R-Lansdale/e/B000AP8R6Y/

Hello, hello!!!

Welcome to a fun 3Q’s today! These have all been a blast haven’t they?

Today’s is no different!

Please welcome, Antonia Rachel Ward!

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?

Ward: I usually try to write for at least an hour each day. I’m lucky that I’m in the position to arrange my own work schedule so I fit my writing into the day as and when it suits me. 500 words per day has always been my general rule of thumb, but with my current work-in-progress I’m trying a different approach of alternating writing and planning scenes, so some days are more about planning rather than actual writing. I think at times in the past I’ve focused too hard on hitting specific word counts, and I’ve worn myself out doing that and my writing has suffered as a result, so now I’m trying to pace myself and focus more on quality. Sometimes that means I don’t get a lot of new words written in a day, and that’s ok.

Steve: If you could write a story for another author’s fictional world/series, which would it be and why?

Ward: I’m not sure. I don’t think it’s something I’d particularly enjoy. I much prefer inventing my own worlds and characters, rather than trying to fit into something someone else has come up with. There are definitely authors whose work inspires me, though. With my current novel, I’m trying to capture something of the flavour of 19th century gothic novels like Dracula and Frankenstein.

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

Ward: My first novella, Marionette, is out 16th August. Set in fin de siècle Paris, it’s the story of an exotic dancer and ex-prostitute, Cece, who agrees to be the star of an erotic seance. But she becomes possessed by a lustful, vengeful ghost, and has to find a way to break the spell before she becomes lost in the afterlife. It’s supposed to be a bit of fun – plenty of sex and blood – but I also wanted to explore the way contemporary society viewed sexually available women as being dangerous or evil. Read it if you enjoy richly-described historical settings, gothic horror, and something that maybe subverts your expectations a little bit.

Steve: Bonus Question! Do you have a cherished book?

Ward: I have a couple of childhood favourites that I still keep on my shelf, one of which is The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo. It’s such a magical, bittersweet story, and Joanna Carey’s illustrations are beautiful and haunting. It’s a book that will always stay with me and is a huge inspiration of mine.

Awesomesauce!

Thank you so much for doing this!

To find out more info about Antonia click the links!

Website: https://antoniarachelward.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AntoniaRachelW1

Here we are today with another fantastic female author that you should be reading!

My guest today is the always amazing… Catherine McCarthy!

Welcome, Catherine!

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?

McCarthy: I tend to write (or edit) from around three in the afternoon until perhaps seven or seven-thirty. That’s what suits me best. Mornings are for chores or for going to the gym or shopping etc., and I don’t function well after eight in the evening because I’m a morning person. The afternoon is when I’m most calm, so it suits me best.
I don’t give myself a specific word count, but I might aim to finish a specific chapter or scene. When writing or editing I tend to work in stints, forcing myself to stay away from social media for periods of at least thirty minutes before allowing myself a five minute doomscroll. It’s what works for me.

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

McCarthy: First of all, I’ve always said I could never write a series. I don’t have the kind of commitment it takes. I know I’d get bored, and it would show in my work. I hardly ever read series for the same reason. A recent exception, though, has been Daniel Barnett’s Nightmareland Chronicles. I’ve had to intersperse them with other books because my TBR is so long, plus I get ARC and blurb requests, but it’s a series I will definitely read to the end.
To answer the question though, if ever I did write a series and disappeared off the face of the earth before I got to finish it, I would be thrilled if Laura Purcell picked it up. I love her work, and feel an affinity with her as a writer. Having said that, I’d be more than thrilled just to have her read any of my work, never mind continue my writing.

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

McCarthy: I’m going to cheat here, because there’s more than one. I have a fair few short stories due to be published in anthologies this year, but these are the ones I’m allowed to speak about so far…
My short story, M1-k1, will be published in Issue 11 of Dark Matter Magazine this September. It’s best described as an Artificial Intelligence story with heart.
I also have a story called Monster Mistaken in the forthcoming anthology, Human Monsters (Dark Matter and the Night Worms team in October), which I’m ridiculously thrilled about. This one plays with the concept of human monsters and puts a spin on the title by telling the story from a child’s point of view—a child who has behavioural issues. It’s a real heart story, because I based it on a boy I taught.
My story called Soul Cakes is coming out in Gaby Triana’s (Alienhead Press) anthology Literally Dead: Tales of Halloween Hauntings this October. This one offers an insight into the Welsh tradition of Ysbrydnos – Night of the Spirits. Ysbrydnos is the one night of the year when the barrier between the living and the dead is rice-paper thin, so that might give you a hint of what’s to come.
I also have a tale called The Peddler’s Promise in Black Spot Books’ anthology Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga which will be published early November. The TOC for this one is ridiculously good!
Phew!
Perhaps most exciting of all is my forthcoming novel, A Moonlit Path of Madness, which will be published in 2023 by Nosetouch Press. I don’t have a precise date yet, but fans of Gothic ghost fiction with a twist will hopefully love it.
Last but not least, I’ve signed a contract on another novel, but the details have not been released publicly yet, therefore I’d better stay quiet.
Exciting stuff!

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

McCarthy: Geez, now I know you’re kidding! I’ll let you into a secret…when I was younger, I quite fancied acting. I guess that’s why I became a teacher. There are a lot of similarities. Seriously though, this is a difficult question to answer. I won’t even think about it from a ‘looks’ point of view because that would be ridiculous, so I’ll choose Eva Green, because her role as Vanessa Ives in the series Penny Dreadful was outstanding. She does dark and moody to perfection, though at heart I’m bright and cheerful. I just write dark and moody.

Great choice!

Thanks so much for doing this, Catherine!

Now – you all need to go click those links and discover her work!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/serialsemantic

Website: https://www.catherine-mccarthy-author.com/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Catherine-Ann-McCarthy/e/B07RQYTT4P/

Title: Ghost Story

Author: Peter Straub

Release date: January 1st, 1979

My history with Straub is limited. Growing up, my first exposure to horror was when my neighbor, Patti Moody, would let me borrow her Stephen King books. This started when I was eight or nine. I began making my through her books, always thankful to her for letting me read them. I eventually got to the one titled ‘The Talisman’ which was co-written by Straub and King. I loved it and asked Patti if she had any of Straub’s work. She didn’t but she did believe our tiny Burton Community Hall Library did. She looked for me and sure enough, the only book they had was one titled ‘Ghost Story.’ She borrowed it for me, as I was too young to take it out at the time. I devoured it. It had me up for nights, long past when I should’ve been asleep and it gave me nightmares for weeks after.

Now, some thirty years later, it was a book that I vaguely recalled events from but not enough to accurately recall most moments. You may know my love of a specific author and after seeing he had re-read it and raved that it held up, I knew I needed to dive back in once again.

What I liked: The story follows a group of older men who gather to tell each other stories. The stories are designed to frighten each other, but what occurs now, is one such tale coming back to have real life implications and events to unfold related to it.

Straub weaves the story masterfully, as one would expect from an author of his stature and ability. The characters all feel like older relatives we each have, with their odd little quirks and funny-isms that only they have. The location/setting works well to have a big city aesthetic with a small town flow and the first few discovers that occur are so spot on with creating internal terror, you’ll be absently pulling your feet closer to your body, no matter where you sit.

This book is a classic case of revealing done right. The opening sequences with the man standing over the girl and practically begging her to tell him who she really is would’ve made for an unsettling novella purely on its own, but once you understand it is wrapped up in a larger narrative, the ripples begin and they travel far off from the shoreline.

What I didn’t like: Large sections of the novel will feel dated and some newer (IE younger) readers will smirk or question why certain things are done they way they are, but that is the case for the year this occurs.

For me, it did remind me a lot of my recent re-read of ‘Frankenstein.’ That book had sections that came across as phenomenally tedious and completely unnecessary, especially when compared to the masterfully pristine portions that showcase some of the best writing and horribly dark moments you’ll ever read.

Why you should buy this: Straub has long been a favorite author of King and it is a book like this that showcases that. Straub has also been a massive, massive influence on so many of the current crop of super-authors, those horror writers who are churning out best-sellers, Netflix and Worldwide Theatrical releases. This book is a masterclass is developing atmosphere and keeping the reader’s mind agape with potential. Really, really dark and disturbing book and one that should be considered a must-read.

4/5