M.R. Gott's Cutis Anserina; A Place for Hard Boiled Macabre, cult flicks, books & comics
Monday, October 31, 2011
The newest Halloween classic!
This is the perfect Halloween film, thanks to Reed Rothchild for the picks.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Untreed Horror Sale ends tomorrow...On Halloween
Your last chance to order Where the Dead Fear to Tread at 40% off is drawing near. Click below to order.
M.R. Interviews..... K.A M'Lady
Thank you M.R. for inviting me to visit with your readers. For those of you not familiar with me or my works my name is K.A. M’Lady and I am the author of the Paranormal-Fantasy Romance Series: Realm, the Gothic Horror Novella Series: Faith Savage Demon Huntress, as well as various paranormal, time-travel and poetry works. I live in a small suburban town on the way to Chicago with my family; I believe in God, that the devil exists, the right to bear arms, that children’s imaginations should be fed an abundant amount of reading material, that even as we age and our children become grown sometimes we still know squat, but we grudgingly continue to learn along the way. I believe in the tried and true measure that where there’s breath there’s hope and that sometimes along the way you just have to believe in your faith – and not necessarily all in that order. Life is difficult, surviving it more so and writing is my release.
What is your most recent project?
I’ve been happily immersed in my Faith Savage series. I say happily because sometimes the darkness just lures us. I find its depth and history highly intriguing – the religious aspect alone can lure you for days in its history, and its angst, its sadness, bloodshed and even its mythology. It’s all very captivating. I have many friends of various faiths and I love to learn what it is that their religion teaches them. But at the end of the day I think it all circles back to good versus evil and man’s place in it. It is here that I found Faith. Her summation begins like this:
In the beginning God created the Heavens, the Earth…and Angels. No one is certain when the war started – when the Angels went astray. All that is clear is that war erupted in Heaven and the Angels fell from Grace. Today that war continues.
My name is Faith Savage and I hunt demons. Some say that God has a master plan for all of us – from an Angel’s first breath to mankind’s final death. Somewhere in between lays the battle for salvation.
I have most recently released the 5th and 6th installments in my Faith Savage Demon Huntress novella series via Mojocastle Press, LLC – www.mojocastle.com. Book 5 – The Ash Collector introduces Faith to the fallen angel Samael – or, as he’s also known – The Angel of Death. The battle for mankind’s salvation is a continuous struggle and Faith now questions God, her own role in His master plan, as well as her duty amidst growing temptations and devilry. Here is a snippet from the back of the book:
In the beginning, God created man in his image; from dust and ash, hope was cast.
Yet as far as time remembers, in the scrolls of history’s past, it was written that woman brought temptation to the garden. Woman introduced death unto man. But have you forgotten about the trickster? Was mortal destruction not his master plan?
There are those who say death is a celebration. One soul’s defiant, heavy passing; another’s gentle ease into the Light. Commemorations for the departed. Forgiveness of old transgressions. A final rest for pity, the end to immortal strife. But is death just the beginning? And who comes to collect you when you pass?
What happens to the worthy if the Light turns against them? Do they stand their ground, stay and fight? What about those who seek no forgiveness? Do the deceiver’s minions scurry from the darkness? Come and collect their next eternal victim? Is everlasting damnation the deceased’s future plight?
My name is Faith Savage. I know what it is to walk the dark shadows at the edge of destruction. To feel the presence of The Collector in the night. I know what it is to bleed the dust of life’s possibilities, to sift through the ash of mankind’s hopes and dreams. To seek the evil that makes souls rot. It is here in this impossible darkness that I hunt demons, searching for my own answers and retributions, in the battle for the Light.
What is the strongest appeal for readers of this most recent project?
Definitely the age old adage of God vs. the devil. Good vs. evil in its truest sense of the phrase. The battle for mankind and the devil’s reign over the earth and all of its vessels. Who truly gets to win? One has to wonder, or at least, I sometimes wonder, was this plan premastered? Was it preordained? As author, Ann Rice wrote in her Vampire Chronicles – did God and the devil sit in a café and work out a deal? Interesting concept. But with Faith Savage the tale doesn’t just begin and end with Good vs. evil, it’s figuring out who is truly good and evil and to what end? What is her place in this game of the Lords? And if she chooses not to play – what then?
What is the process you use when crafting your tales?
I wouldn’t say that I exactly have a process. I work full time so I grab time on my lunch hour – if I get one. Then I write for three or four hours every weekend. I usually get an idea for a story like a freight train that’s ridden rough-shod through my brain – characters have full-blown conversations and I have to write them down. Most often I’ll know the beginning, the middle and the end of a story before I sit down to write it. With Faith I already know how her story ends; I just have to take you there.
What is your favorite character that you created? Do you love or hate him/her?
Oh, I have several. I love Rihker from my Realm series. She’s a pixie-human hybrid that’s gaining all sorts of power. She has massive amounts of attitude, and power – she’d probably kick your ass just to take her bad mood out on – she’s brilliant. But she also has this uncertainty about everything. Realm is like Underworld meets Lord of the Rings. Lots of monsters, magic and mayhem.
As far as Faith Savage, I’m leaning towards Death right now. I haven’t quite figured out his game. He’s kind of like Death from the Simpsons, but hotter. The ulterior motives are definitely there you just don’t quite know what they are and whether he’s a good angel or a bad angel.
What are the advantages to crafting a series of shorts over a singular novel?
A series of shorts is like a mini-series for TV. You get to add to it as you deem necessary but the story-line expands at its own desired pace. It almost takes on a life of its own. And, with people being so busy grabbing a few hours to actually sit down and read full blown novels is difficult. This gives you the luxury of both. The story-line continues but you stay up-to-date with a shorter amount of time required. That’s also why I try to release a couple of the stories together at the same time.
What do you feel separates paranormal/romance from paranormal/horror?
I’m of the opinion that it mostly has to do with the happily ever after aspect. Sure there are elements of the other-worldly involved in both, but with a romance the seduction ends in happy. For horror to feel real and subjective, even if there is a sexual aspect involved somewhere in the story, happy lays dead at the edge of the darkness where hopes, wishes and possibilities dribble in bloody bubbles from parched, cracked lips. Nobody really wins – victims are dead, wounded and/or scarred for life, the killers add another notch on their bloody belts and the heroes/heroines have one more dark scar to keep them up at night while they ponder the relentless question; Why?
What does it take in your opinion to be both erotic and scary in story telling?
I think that just about anyone can write a sex scene but how well you write it is another story in and of itself. You can either choose to be crass and brazen or decide to take your readers on a sensual journey where all of the scents and textures are involved. It should be like savoring a fine wine or a morsel of truffle. The human body – in all its forms is beautiful and should be reflected as such and when writing a particular scene it is the journey itself that should develop slowly with sight, touch and taste until every avenue has been revealed to the ultimate scope of pleasure.
It is the same with fear. It should be a slow, heart-throbbing build-up. Don’t just immerse me in the darkness; lead me to it with my eyes wide open. Let me experience every aspect of its shadows and, if possible, its grace. Let me hold it and waltz on its edge at my own pace. And if I fall let its oblique serenity be my comfort, if only for a time.
What are your future writing aspirations?
I have several projects in the “To do” bin but right now I’m currently working on the fourth installment of my Realm series – Blood Oaths – Warrior Rising. Rihker’s powers as a Changeling are growing and as the story opens with a murder – being a hunter for the Silent Court – she must once again find those responsible. But this path leads to The Slaugh, ancient Elvin warriors shrouded in mystery and the ghosts of vampire’s past. Treachery and villainy abounds – who could ask for anything more as the holidays commence?
I’m also working on a new Zombie Chick-lit story – Blondification – A Blonde Chicks Stint in Zombieville. I’ve a very odd sense of humor so this will sort of ease me from my darkness for a bit. I have to thank a very peppy, sweet, lovely blonde in my office building for being my inspiration for this one. That and knowing she has pom-poms shoved in her glove box somewhere adds to the fact that she has to die. It’s all for a good cause, of course. Inspiration thy name is a swaggering, brain-eating dead chick in smart Jimmy Choos. Lol!
Then I intend to wrap up Faith Savage with Book 8 – Messenger. This is, of course, if this is all the characters have to say. One never knows with these things sometimes.
There are other works in my list. I’ve five or eight things on the back burner. Always a monster somewhere. It keeps my publisher happy to know that the list is endless. Now if I could only find more time to write them all.
What author do you feel most influenced you? How?
I don’t think it’s ever been just one author. I’ve always read stories and poetry and loved all of it. From J. R. R. Tolkien, to CS Lewis, Laura Lee Hope, VC Andrews, EA Poe, Thoreau, Longfellow, Ann Rice, King, Rimbaud, Lovecraft, Jane Austen, and Bronte, Shelly, Shannon Drake and Christina Dodd, Laurell K. Hamilton and Charles Bukowski. The list is just completely endless. In every page and every word there is something that inspires me. Something that I learn from each of them and it drives me to keep learning my craft, honing my skill. Reminding me why I read and why I write and why I love it so very much. The worlds we create and the places and characters we birth from an idea. There is nothing more beautiful or inspiring.
What is the most influential literary character to you personally? Why?
One story I will hold with me always is The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe. It took you into its magic and showed you a world of characters, evil and rebellion and hope, all the while man was fighting their own darkness and yet it still taught you to believe. And Lucy Penvensie is probably my favorite. The innocence of youth, the light of dreams in her eyes and her heart. The weight of responsibility that she bore so well. She believed in all of it.
If you could take the reins of writing for any existing franchise, which would you choose and why?
You know, as I went in search of that one infamous story, read hundreds of books ago by the author who’s name escapes me, but I recall she never had plans to write the next phase of the story, I realized that we, as readers and fans do this for pretty much every story we read. We want to know what happens next no matter how the story ends. There is always that, “well if I were the author I would have done this, and so and so would have done that.” We take it to the next level in our minds only because we’ve grown attached to the characters and villains we’ve grown to love and hate. We want the opportunity to control their fate. I think for many of us that is part of the reason we’ve become writers – So that the stories never have to end.
Thank you for allowing me to share a bit of my works with you. If you’d like to read more about me and my work please look me up on the web at www.kamlady.net
Two sexy angels can fight over me any day! *laughing* Poor Faith. This is the first book in the series and I definitely want more.
Want the full review? Check it out at: http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=23795#more-23795
Faith Savage ~ Faith Temptation Faith Savage - 4 1/2 Tombstones Bitten by Books
This angel/demon world K. A. M’Lady has made is very addictive and is a great start to a great series. Want the full review? Check it out at Bitten By Books: http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=23793#more-23793
"YUM! I am in love with your series. I just went to Mojocastle and purchased the rest of your books! I had to...Thank you for the immense pleasure given to me as I read your tale."
Amy J. Ramsey
Ramsey's Book Reviews
Website: www.trinagon.blogspot.com
Amy J. Ramsey
Ramsey's Book Reviews
Website: www.trinagon.blogspot.com
Fan Response:
B&N
5 stars...
Tracy at Goodreads said "this series has the feel of a dream world the way it is written. And, it is a great series if you are looking for a fast short story read." http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/208489609 
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Personal Demons
Overview;
The story follows Jake Hellman an accomplished NYPD police officer searching for a serial killer known as the Cipher. After a random shooting unrelated to this case Jake is forced to confront both his own demons, and those that walk the world.
“First the blade sliced through the darkness, then through the soft flesh of Shannon’s throat.”
Review;
The Jake Helman Files Personal Demons combines, police procedural, noir, supernatural horror and genetic engineering elements together. While this mish mash has no right to work, it does. Lamberson’s love of these elements oozes through every page. Despite the clichéd trappings that would threaten such an ambitious novel, they are evaded with a perfect grace, as the narrative rockets forward. The central characters are fully developed complex people, this helps the reader suspend belief at the fantastical elements of the plot. The only exceptions are the Cipher’s plot propelling victims. While the first few kill sequences evoke a great amount of tension, later they bog down the flow. Lamberson is trying hard to get his reader to form an attachment to these victims, but we recognize the pattern soon and distance ourselves from these numerous fodder characters. This is the only complaint I have about the novel.
Jake Helman is a phenomenally realized protagonist deserving of a series. I am often leery of horror series with a clear central character. It is hard to keep tension, when I know Jake survives to the second book. Lamberson handles this by making his reader care about what Jake does. Jake’s motives are not survival, it is helping those who need and him and developing as a person.
In the end;
Gregory Lamberson writes for horror fans because he clearly is one and respects them. He masterfully includes all the elements we as fans have come to love with a reverence and respect. Jake Helman’s Personal Demons is a terrific read. I highly recommend it to anyone who is searching for characters with heart, thrown into all the genre trappings we love.
Untreed Halloween Sale ending soon
If you have not gotten yourself a copy of Where the Dead Fear to Tread yet...you have one week to at 40% off.
Get a little action with your horror...Dog Soldiers
Before Neil Marshall scored big with The Descent he directed Dog Soldiers. This is a criminally under seen flick. It follows a group of British Special forces guys on a training exercise, who are then attacked by werewolves. The film is a down to earth version of Predator, except with multiple werewolves attacking there is a greater tension. If you are not sold yet you won't be. Embedded below is the full movie.
Action ...Come Get Some
Monday, October 24, 2011
Two Ends of the Pen Interview
Click below for my interview with Debra L Martin at Two Ends of the Pen.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
As the Darkness Falls suspense and horror books
As the Darkness Falls
suspense and horror books,
suspense and horror books,
Friday, October 21, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Hills Run Red
A well layered mystery in the guise of a typical slasher.
If this interests you I strongly recommend the criminally under seen The Hills Run Red. All the clichéd elements are here, from rednecks to kids in the woods, yet all your presumptions will work against you. The film starts unremarkable a college student, Tyler (played by Tad Hilgenbrink) obsessed with tracking down a copy of a legendary horror film, screened only once. He tracks down a cast member, Alexa (Sophie Monk) who brings him into the wilderness to show where the film was shot.
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