M.R. Gott's Cutis Anserina

Peter Schwotzer of Literary Mayhem & Famous Monsters Reviews Where the Dead Fear to Tread

2012-03-01T06:26:00.000-08:00

"The book starts out fast and violent, and ratchets up the intensity and carnage from there."

Click Either Banner below for the full review by Peter Schwotzer

Literary Mayhem is also raffling off a Free copy of Where the Dead Fear to Tread

WOOD a new novella by Robert Dunbar

2012-02-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

“Blessed is the beast that knows its purpose.”

Something has begun to creep in from the woods at night … something that stalks a young girl along deserted streets …

WOOD

by Robert Dunbar

$2.95 for Kindle or Nook

An excerpt from WOOD by Robert Dunbar:

Boundaries shift.

Towns and cities grow in spurts, sometimes encroaching upon places better left alone, areas that through a sort of negative geography remain neither forest nor park, neither rural nor urban. No proper designations exist. Unnamed and unclaimed, such regions appear on no map. They never have. Perhaps always they seemed too insignificant: half a lot, a strip of woodland, an acre of bog. Dead space. Easily overlooked or deliberately ignored. As though, all along, people knew … or at least suspected.

Yet such places exist everywhere. In every village. Every suburb. Ask any child. They form the terrain of all the darkest fairytales, the landscape of nightmares.

Alleyways through the worst sections of town inevitably empty into overgrown fields, scruffy and menacing and strewn with rubbish. Bad places. Dwellings on these outskirts slouch toward bitter soil. Boards splinter. Bricks crumble into gravel. So many futile walls loom, intermittent with tilting fences of all variety, a plethora of barricades (as though residents sincerely believed it could be kept at bay). Behind cinderblock barriers, chains rattle as dogs howl out their rage and fear. It is not wilderness that creeps up against these blighted neighborhoods.

Perhaps someday mankind will invent a term for that which seeps in, someday when the cities have decayed and the suburbs have withered and the bad places have inherited the earth. Perhaps, at last, the survivors will know Hell when they see it.

Dana Fredsti reviews Where the Dead Fear to Tread

2012-02-24T13:02:00.002-08:00

Self described "Writer, swordfighter and crazy cat lady" on Where the Dead Fear to Tread

The first words that come to mind after reading Where the Dead Fear to Tread are "bleak" and "relentless." The world of William Chandler starts out dark and grim and M.R. Gott is not afraid to make it darker and grimmer with every page. The pace in the first half of the novel is slow but steady as Gott introduces characters and starts weaving various plot elements together with a careful eye for description. The third person present narrative is an interesting choice, something I found distracting at first. But it works and once I settled into the story, it definitely adds to the author's distinct narrative style. Lots of action and gore, monsters and creepy atmosphere (my favorite scene is in an old asylum and is one of the most disturbing and atmospheric things I've read in a long while), with a vigilante hero, a kick-ass female detective, and assorted interesting secondary characters. This book cries out to made into a graphic novel a la Sin City!

Four Stars

Dana Fredsti is the author of Plague City and Murder for Hire

Jebbie74's Jellybean Journey – All About Books Review of Where the Dead Fear to Tread

2012-02-22T17:17:00.000-08:00

"William Chandler was such a storm trooper!"

Click below for full review from Jebbie74's Jellybean Journey – All About Books

M.R. interviews Kim Fielding

2012-02-21T17:12:00.000-08:00

Please Welcome Kim Fielding

Stasis was written in 30 days, what was that like?

Crazy, but in a good sort of way! I’d forewarned my family what was coming and they gave me space to write. I do really well with challenges and deadlines, so having only one month to finish my first draft was a good thing. It’s also really freeing to just write really quickly without agonizing about things or spending endless time going back and self-editing. The words really flow and I’ve found that often passages were much better than I thought they were when I first wrote them. Of course, lots of editing still had to be done when the 30 days were over, but by then the skeleton and most of the flesh of the story was well into place.

Where did the idea of Stasis as a punishment come from?

Honestly, I’m not sure. I think my subconscious must be a strange place. I began with a very clear image of a man caught in Stasis, and then I began to think about how awful it would be to be stuck like that for centuries, so that when you were released everyone you knew was gone and everything had changed. I suppose I may have been inspired in part by the stories of real people who have been incarcerated for long years and then released after evidence has proven that they were innocent. Imagine what it would be to be sent to prison in your early twenties and then let out again when you were in your forties.

When you began your dark fantasy trilogy did you have a clear vision of how it would begin and end?

Only vaguely. I knew some of the themes I wanted to explore—power and justice and responsibility and family and love—and some of the challenges my heroes would face, and I knew approximately where they would end up. But I had very little idea how they would get there. I rarely plot things out beyond a bare outline when I begin, and I find that the story tends to evolve pretty naturally from the characters themselves.

What was the inspiration for the character of Ennek?

That’s another mystery! He sort of popped into being and I was intrigued by his contradictions. For example, he grew up very privileged but was always denied the one thing he most wanted, which was love. He has the potential for immense power and yet he thinks of himself as useless. I also liked that his heroism isn’t foreordained; he has a dark streak in him that calls pretty loudly. He’s a little spoiled, a little headstrong, and often blind to his own best qualities. I’ve always preferred deeply flawed protagonists.

Do you find the fantasy genre to be liberating, or do you feel the archetypes can become too restricting?

Oh, definitely liberating. I like to read lots of different kinds of things and my writing often crosses several genres. I think fantasy is more forgiving of that kind of thing than many other genre. Sure, there’s plenty of boring stuff out there that follows the same old rules, but there is also so much room to bend those rules or break them altogether. I love the way fantasy allows me to play with place and time as well. For example, this trilogy begins in an alternate universe in the city-state of Praesidium. Praesidium is located where the real San Francisco sits, but the technology is roughly Gold Rush-era, the history is Roman, and the world itself contains wizards and magical creatures. I guess the best thing about fantasy is that it allows us to ask “What if?” without any real limits.

What was it like combing modern and ancient elements into the world you created?

It was great fun! Combining modern and ancient elements allowed me to create what I hope is a fresh and interesting world. It was a challenge, because if readers are going to enjoy a story the world has to be believable. I’d hate for people to get thrown out of the tale because the details just didn’t seem to work. But I love history, and I think if we look at all carefully we can see the ways that even ancient customs and events continue to color our modern civilizations. Maybe this is a little more obvious outside the United States, in countries where people are still living behind walls that were built centuries earlier. And because I do love history, I really enjoyed doing the background research for these novels, yet without being forced to be a slave to what really happened.

What Dystopian tale affected you the most? Why?

When I wrote this trilogy I thought a lot about the lengths that power will go to maintain itself, and the extent to which many of us acquiesce to that power because it seems safe. Old favorites like George Orwell and Kurt Vonnegut probably had the greatest influence on me from a literature perspective, but so did real life

political events, both historical and present-day.

What are some contemporary authors you are following now?

I’ve been reading dark fantasy by authors such as Sarah Monette, Lynn Flewelling, Carol Berg, and Charles de Lint. Neil Gaiman is a huge favorite of mine as well. I especially enjoy authors who combine elements of fantasy and horror. But I’m a pretty eclectic reader, and I also love Christopher Moore, Bill Bryson, and Isabel Allende.

Anything new coming down the pipeline you would like to share with us?

In April, I will have a new novel published by Dreamspinner Press. It’s called Good Bones and the protagonist is a gay hipster architect—who also happens to be a werewolf. In April I’ll also have a superhero-themed short story in Dreamspinner’s Men of Steel anthology. I have a few other short stories in the works right now and I’m in the midst of writing a fantasy novel about a giant of sorts and a broken magician.

Double Shot Reviews Heather Faville Reviews

2012-02-17T17:33:00.001-08:00

William Chandler "I loved this character!"

Heather Faville of Double Shot Reviews gives Where the Dead Fear to Tread her Espresso rating: Triple with a splash of milk. Click below for full Review

M.R. Interviews... Pearce Hansen

2012-02-16T16:27:00.001-08:00

Please Welcome Pearce Hansen,

Gun Sex is a collection of your favorite short stories. Within the collection is there a particular that you feel best represents you as a writer?

Probably a three way tie between The Storm Giants, Greater Than the Sum and The Day He Raised. If I really had to choose, The Day He Raised.

How did Markus of Stagger Bay come into creation?

Well, on one hand I kind of ‘channeled’ him – he popped up like some guy at the pub who button-holes you and insists you hear out his tale. On the other hand, many aspects of him are based on an actual person (no, NOT me, sorry) and I envisioned what this particular person would say think and do in a given situation. On the third hand (one hand too many I know) when it was done I realized that, if a move adaptation were ever made, the only person I could see playing Markus would be Danny Bonaduce – Danny’s a good actor, Markus would be a slam dunk for him, and the movie industry has recently had great success with older actors getting a second chance through off beat casting opportunities.

Your protagonists, Speedy of Street Raised and Markus of Stagger Bay are both recently released from prison. Was this a conscious decision?

Almost coincidental – that is, no thematic connection between the two – but a reflection of my reality. When I was coming up, it was a rite of passage to do time – this was before ‘three strikes’ and mandatory sentencing, so most jolts were quite short – with good behavior you were looking at a year or less, maybe 18 to 24 tops unless you REALLY stepped on your dick. Multiple male relatives, LOTS of friends and associates were/are ex-cons. It didn’t feel unnatural. In fact, back in the day it was real common to get your glove box full of traffic tickets and FTAs, then turn yourself in, do maybe 90 days up in Santa Rita, and get out with a clean slate – doing the time to pay your fines.

Myself, I’ve never been to prison. Been frisked and cuffed and sat in the back seat more occasions than I can count; been arrested and booked and interrogated at the station a handful of times; actually incarcerated only once, and that was an EXTREMELY short stint. There was a time when I saw that as a lack – like I was missing some cred because I’d never been in. Now I know I was extremely lucky.

Your works are often labeled as noir. Noir is debatably the most difficult genre to define. Personally, what are the defining elements that separate it from simple crime fiction in your mind?

A good question, and one I’m unsure I’m qualified to answer. As I’ve told other interviewers, I didn’t choose crime, crime chose me – so I can’t offer specifics on WHY I write within this genre. I can hazard some observations however:

Crime fiction: you have police procedural, which is often written by ex-cops or cop groupies, and emphasizes the rule of law in our affairs – I include the Miss Marple/’tea room cozies’ as a subset: life has value, and justice is worth seeking. You have ‘heist,’ ala Richard Stark’s ‘Parker’ series: again, the score is the thing, the money and freedom are worthy goals in and of themselves.

Then you have noir, which is more existential and nihilistic. You look at David Goodis or either of the Cains (Paul or James M.); their worlds are bleak and meaningless, all action is futile, and the characters’ weaknesses draw them inevitably into the spider web of fate like a Greek tragedy. So I suppose noir has more potential for literary depth.

For my own works I have noir elements, and due to my own history my comfort zone is crime/suspense – but my novels are more melodramas in structure, or picaresque distillations from my youth in the late-20^th-century East Bay underbelly.

What elements are crucial for a strong and true noir protagonist?

Damaged and flawed – so as to be unpredictable, and so they stick around in a situation that a ‘normal’ person would flee screaming from, probably about on page one. They have to have some competency that makes it believable they can contend within such a predatory milieu. They have to have a heart that opposes; else it degenerates into a story about a victim, which is hardly entertaining. The need a voice the reader can’t tune out, and be ‘real’ – i.e. three dimensional and believable. You need to care about them, if only enough to root for their destruction.

Neo Noir/Neo Pulp who working in the field today are you a fan of?

Josh Stallings. Raymond Embrack. Right now I’m reading Wolf Tickets by Ray Banks, and finding him enjoyable.

What does the term “hard boiled” mean to you?

I always think of Paul Cain’s ‘Fast One’ when I hear people mention hardboiled; anyone that hasn’t read it, I recommend they go out and pick up a copy – but I hear he’s hard to find these days. Laird Barron writes in what I consider a hardboiled style, but in the genre of horror – as you might imagine, it’s a startling though effective amalgam.

To me hardboiled = obsolete. Not the genre itself, but the manly values it predicates. Hardboiled means no complaints at the hand fate deals you, to laugh in the face of the unpleasant, and to speak up at those who try to roust you round rather than submit and take. In the value set of hardboiled, NOTHING is worse than to be a punk. But IMHO, in today’s New World Order, there’s no real room for manhood anymore, and the hardboiled ethos is no more than a dinosaur from another time.

What writer most influenced you as an author? How?

Jack Vance. He had a laconic style, wherein the most scalding events and interactions were conveyed in a spare, restrained way, paradoxically amplifying and magnifying the emotional intensity. No one reads him anymore, and that’s their loss.

Anything else coming down the pipeline you would like to share?

I’m 70k words into my third novel The Storm Giants, and will be finishing it as soon as I honor another couple obligations. My first novel Street Raised is of course available for the Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050JL0IM -- it was blurbed by Joe Lansdale, Eddie Muller(Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir is a great book by Muller), and had a sweet SF Chronicle review (as well as a Borders book signing, which nobody’s gonna get anymore). My second novel Stagger Bay was just released at http://www.amazon.com/Stagger-Bay-ebook/dp/B006ZW650Q -- it has blurbs from Ken Bruen, Jason Starr & Anthony Neil Smith.

Thanks to Pearce Hansen for taking the time...

Berserk by Tim Lebbon

2012-02-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

Overview; Tom and Jo lost their only son while he was serving in the Army. After ten years their son’s death is still as painful as ever. While at a local bar, Tom hears whispers of an Army cover up relating to his son’s death. Needing to know the truth Tom searches for a rumored mass grave. In the grave he finds the body of a little girl among the decaying corpses, and she speaks to him.

“Quiet, still waiting. Her presence was like a hollow in his mind that he had never noticed before, a place begging to be filled.”

Review;

Tim Lebbon’s Berserk quickly establishes a bleak tone with tinge of hope. This allows his story to unfold at an incredible pace. The story is well layered and the characters are all fully developed beings, not merely the movers of plot. The sequence of Tom digging in the mass grave in a rain storm and sorting the body parts looking for signs of his son is unquestionably one of the strongest I have read in quite awhile. It is the type of sequence I will always remember, even as other details of the book fade.

One of the book’s strengths in Tom, who is so clear in purpose and expertly set against a series of shadier characters. While the reader questions the motives of the little girl’s corpse as well as the soldier Cole, investigating the grave’s disturbance, Tom is constant and straightforward in purpose, despite anything that occurs around him. This helps the reader delve into a deep and mysterious story without becoming lost. The characters around Tom have an intriguing moral ambiguity he does not share.

The clearly written actions sequences in the novel are a refreshing change from grand heroics, and have a sense of plausibility that helps ground this story of supernatural horror. Tim Lebbon communicates intricate series of movement that can be followed breathlessly. I especially enjoyed a few old fashioned fisticuff sequences.

Aside from some excessive flashbacks, Tim Lebbon’s Berserk is an emotionally rich horror novel.

In the End; Tom’s journey in Tim Lebbon’s Berserk is grounded in parental compassion and a well developed sense of loss. Tom provides a strong emotional core, giving greater weight to the events that unfold around him. I strongly recommend this book to anyone searching for an emotionally rich unique horror tale.

M.R. Interviews...Rick R Reed

2012-02-10T17:05:00.000-08:00

Cutis Anserina welcomes Rick R Reed

What were some of the particular challenges in creating the character of Joe MacAree in Obsessed?

Joe came to me one night when I was driving home from a job I hated, back when I was a young married man living in Chicago. I had had to work late, it was raining, and all of a sudden, I noticed how the colors looked almost neon in the rain-slicked pavement of the Eisenhower Expressway. For some reason, I thought of a man who had just murdered a woman, heading home to his own wife, and what was going on in his head. This scene, altered and fictionalized, became the opener for the novel.

Joe was obsessed: obsessed with killing, blood, and the sexual gratification it gave him. As we read the book, we learn of Joe’s disturbing background and one time a reviewer said he killed because he was the controlled becoming the controller. There was a lot of truth to that.

Once I knew who Joe was, he led me. He got deep into my psyche in ways I don’t even want to think about. So, I can’t say how challenging writing him was—once he was real to me, I just followed him.

In your novels Bashed, Tricks, and Blood Sacrifice you combine romantic elements within the context of the darker horrors that elements. When crafting these novels is it difficult to find a balance between these polarizing elements?

I don’t really agree that horror and romance are polarizing. As I’ve said before, fear and love have a lot in common. Fear is a powerful emotion and I’m fascinated by how people react to terrifying situations, and what makes evil characters tick. Readers of horror want to be scared; it’s terrifying and fun all at once. Readers of horror want a satisfying ending, that’s the safe part. Fiction is a created world where things can be put to right, unlike the real world, where atrocity doesn’t necessarily have rhyme or reason and may go unchecked. Similarly, love is unpredictable and often terrifying. Good can turn bad very quickly. There’s a remarkable emotional vulnerability. Readers like romance because it’s also a controlled world. They can count on a happily-ever-after ending. Romance in fiction allows the reader to experience the thrill and conflict of love, in a safe way, because the reader knows it’s not real. I think that sense of emotional vulnerability applies to both romance and horror. Vulnerability is universal and that’s why people enjoy reading about it.”

Crime Scene has a very personal connection for you contained within the story. Is this a common thread throughout your writing?

My goal with Crime Scene was to write about a crime through the eyes of a distant witness. I was inspired by a picture in a book of actual crime scene photographs of a little girl who had been strangled and left on a women’s room floor. It was so disturbing that I wanted to capture what it would be like to go back to when the crime occurred and, in a way, change time and put things to right. That can never happen, but it can give the observer and sense of peace to imagine that things turned out differently than they actually did.

A Face Without a Heart is a modern re-telling of Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Grey. Was updating the work of Mr. Wilde a daunting prospect?

Not really, because I thought the story—about a quest for youth and beauty at any cost—was even more relevant in today’s times than it was during Wilde’s. It was also very liberating to have the ability to bring the gay elements of the story out in a more graphic way. The only thing that was daunting was capturing and retaining the wit with which Mr. Wilde wrote. I hope I have done him justice.

Blood Sacrifice is a vampire tale; are there any other classic monsters you wish to try your hand at?

I already have. I’ve written about a demonic force haunting a house in A Demon Inside, werewolves in The Blue Moon Café, and ghosts in Bashed and Echoes. IM features a diabolical serial killer, which is, to my mind, another “classic monster.” I think I have explored a lot of monsters, both real and imagined, in my work. The only thing I have yet to write about are zombies—we’ll have to see if that ever happens.

What is your favorite character that you created? Do you love or hate him/her?

In Obsessed, there’s a wheelchair bound woman who becomes an accidental witness to one of the murders. But she’s a hateful woman, obsessed herself, and ends up entrapping the killer and using him for her own twisted sexual gratification. In her own way, she’s just as, if not more, evil than the killer. And that makes her kind of deliciously fascinating. The fact that she’s handicapped and that she overcomes her paralysis not for good, but for evil, makes her a very unusual character, one of the oddest I’ve ever created. Pat is certainly not sympathetic, but you can’t look away from her.

Supernatural or conventional horror, which do you find easiest to craft? Which to you find to be personally more frightening?

The horror of real life is what I find the most frightening—and what I am drawn to writing about more. In IM, Obsessed, Penance, Crime Scene, Orientation, Bashed, Echoes, Deadly Vision, Tricks, and others, I write about monsters that could, and do, exist in the real world, which makes them infinitely more terrifying. The supernatural is more like a thrill ride and can be more “fun” as opposed to disturbing because there is a lot less chance you’ll wake up and read about a werewolf or vampire going on a killing rampage in the morning paper. Real folks, though? Not so much. That scares me.

What is the first book you remember genuinely being frightened by? Was your immediate reaction to run out and find other similar tales, or stash it in your closet and block it out?

That’s tough. All my life, I’ve devoured books. I never take a break from reading. Once I finish one book, I’m on to the next. Writers who have affected me most and made me compelled to read more of their stuff include Patricia Highsmith, Flannery O’Connor and Ruth Rendell. All three of these women know what darkness lurks in the human heart and explore it in their work to fascinating result. I know that didn’t quite answer your question, but it’s impossible for me to pick one, or a first.

What are some of your current favorite genre writers working today? What attracts you to their work?

I read a lot of thrillers. I love Brian Freeman, Harlan Coben, the Scottish writer Denise Mina, and, as I mentioned above, Brit author Ruth Rendell. All of them write books I can’t put down and that I can completely lose myself in. I love that.

Do you have anything new coming down the pipeline you would like to share with us?

I am working on a love story right now that actually has no dark elements. It’s called Chaser and I’m about ¾ of the way through it. I don’t really want to talk about—I rarely talk about work in progress in any detail. It kind of spoils the momentum for me. I do look forward, though, to getting back to my darker side in the book I will write when CHASER is finished. Right now, I’m thinking of either a vampire story or a suspense/romance novel with elements of murder and multiple personality disorder.

Rick R Reed Can be found on the web at

www.rickrreed.com and www.facebook.com/rickrreedbooks

For more information on his novels or visit his blog at http://rickrreedreality.blogspot.com/

Play DOOM

2012-02-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

For five bucks Doom is now available for PSN and XBOX live. If that is too rich for your blood, click below to play a flash version for free. PS all the old codes work on the flash version.

Clive Barker emerges from a week long coma.

2012-02-08T05:06:00.000-08:00

A twitter feed from one of my favorite creators of macabre.

“Dear Friends, I’ve had some medical issues that have recently forced me away from my beloved desk and into the hospital…In my case the dental work unloaded such a spillage of poisonous bacteria into my blood that my whole system crashed, putting me into a coma. I spent several days in Intensive Care, with a machine breathing for me.
Later, my Doctors said that they had not anticipated a happy ending until I started to fight, repeatedly pulling out the tubes that I was constantly gagging on. After a few days of nightmarish delusions I woke up to my life again, tired, twenty pounds lighter but happy to be back from a very dark place. And here in the world I intend to stay. I’ve books to write ,films to make and paintings to paint. I seem to have come home with my sight clearer somehow and my sense of purpose intensified. Thank you all for your messages, your prayers and love. What better reason to wake to life than knowing I have such friends? Again, thank you.
My love to you always,
Clive.”

Plague Town by Dana Fredsti Press Release

2012-01-31T15:26:00.000-08:00

Click to enlarge.

Precursor to Shaun of the Dead

2012-01-30T17:35:00.000-08:00

Before Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes and Edgar Wright worked together on Shaun of the Dead they worked on Spaced a British Comedy from the late 90's. In the episode 'Art' we are treated to a glimpse of what is to come. Click below.

Where the Dead Fear to Tread 33% off

2012-01-30T15:27:00.000-08:00

All Untreed Reads titles are 33% off at Books On Board right now. Click below for the sale.

33% Off

Praise for Robert Dunbar's "WILLY"

2012-01-24T16:34:00.000-08:00

Recent guest at Cutis Anserina has turned a great number of heads this year for his novel Willy.

WILLY a dark literary novel by Robert Dunbar - published by Uninvited Books - has been turning up on a lot of best-of-the-year and top-ten lists. The book has now appeared on the preliminary ballot for the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association.

Critical response to WILLY:

"Unique ... highly recommended." ~ MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

"Dark and complex ... a book that will stay with you." ~ READER ADVISORY BOARD

"Profound ... honest and authentic ... a journey of healing." ~ THE READING REVIEW

"Dunbar, oddly, is a light in a world that is all about darkness." ~ LL BOOK REVIEW

"A literary horror masterpiece!" ~ THE KINDLE BOOK REVIEW

"Lyrical and suspenseful ... a tour de force." ~ SHROUD MAGAZINE

"Horror at its best, most fulfilling." ~ DARK SCRIBE MAGAZINE

"One of the most powerful novels this reviewer has ever read." ~ HELLNOTES

"Challenging and satisfying." ~ NIGHTS & WEEKENDS

"A genre-busting tour de force." ~ LITERARY MAYHEM

"A welcome change from the average horror novel." ~ DARK MEDIA MAGAZINE

"It just doesn't get any better than this." ~ HORROR WORLD

Best-of-the-Year lists on which WILLY appears:

Nights & Weekends

http://www.nightsandweekends.com/articles/12/NW1200001.php

Literary Mayhem:

http://literarymayhem.com/wordpress/2011/12/29/my-top-books-for-2011/

Serial Distractions:

http://serialdistractions.com/2012/01/06/top-distractions-of-2011/

Layers of Thought

http://www.layersofthought.net/2012/01/our-best-of-year-2011.html

Rabid Reads:

http://waggingthefox.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-10-favorite-novels-of-2011.html

To the Bone Reviews:

http://tothebonereviews.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/here-are-the-best-forget-the-rest-to-the-bone-wraps-up-2011/

SF Signal:

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2011/12/mind-meld-favorite-sff-media-consumed-in-2011-part-ii-of-ii/

The Crow's Caw:

http://thecrowscaw.com/2011/12/22/a-year-in-review/

M.R. interviews.... Robert Dunbar

2012-01-23T16:45:00.000-08:00

There are a few authors out there you only need to read briefly before you have to stop and say, "God Damn he is good." Robert Dunbar is one of those authors.

Your novel Willy leaves its readers with many interpretations, allowing them to come to their own conclusions. This is your creation; to you, are there multiple conclusions, or a few red herrings?

Everyone says this about the “many” conclusions; I’m not sure I agree. There’s only one story, one real story, and all the clues to it are there. The ambiguity creeps in because of the limited point of view of the narrator. The boy barely comprehends much of what occurs. He recounts events, yes, but his interpretations? Often wildly inaccurate. The reader understands this and is forced to consider what must really have transpired. That’s the heart of it for me. The most terrifying aspects involve what the reader will imagine between the lines.

In The Pines, you mix real world evils with those of the supernatural. In your mind does the accepted evil of the world add credence to the otherworldly elements?

Are there supernatural elements in THE PINES? I suppose there must be, but I never really thought of it that way. (Of course the book is meant to be about the Jersey Devil, but it isn’t. Not really. I use superstition as a metaphor for ignorance and evil.) But so many other things are going on. Certainly Matthew and Athena have a psychic connection. If anything, there’s more an edge of science fiction about the story than supernatural horror. What characters in the book interpret as a legendary monster turns out to be a genetic mutation, something that occurs with some consistency … but that usually leads to the death of the afflicted person (and others) before it fully manifests. Of course, what really interests me as a writer is where this will lead.

What were your thoughts when you set out to craft a sequel to The Pines? Was the end result – The Shore – what you envisioned when you set out?

THE PINES developed such a strong following: I wanted THE SHORE to continue the storyline while staying as far from the tone of the first book as possible. I mean, THE PINES seethes. It’s all summer nights. The emotions are scalding and miserable, and the (frequent) sexual encounters are steamy, tawdry. Everyone drips with sweat, and the air roils with insects. Yet, despite the meanness of their situations, some of the people possess a sort of innate nobility (which has nothing to do with conventional morality). They redeem themselves. They make sacrifices for love. They grow. (And die. Some of them.) If THE PINES seems to be occurring in an equatorial jungle, THE SHORE may as well take place on a polar icecap. The people barely speak. They huddle, move slowly. They harbor secrets. (And die. Some of them.) Where THE PINES is all bloody thunder and bolts of lightning, THE SHORE is an icy wind … and mounting dread.

When writing supernatural stories how do you ensure you never betray your reader’s suspension of disbelief?

By never writing a word that isn’t true.(God Damn he did it again)

Martyrs & Monsters is a collection of your short fiction. Is there a specific story contained within that to you is the standout?

You want me to name my favorite child? Let me think. Okay. Some of the linked tales, specifically the ones about Conrad and Timmy, still resonate powerfully for me. They almost became a novel, but I actually grew afraid for my sanity (such as it is) if I went to that very dark place for such a length of time. It’s much easier to escape from a short story. You can finish it and walk away. Writing a novel is like being trapped in an elevator with your characters … for a year or so.

How does your writing approach differ when crafting short fiction as opposed to a novel?

With a short story you just want the essence – haiku instead of an epic poem. Harder to do in its own way. With a novel, I try to pull the reader into the world I’ve created, to seduce them not just with imagery but with sounds and scents and textures. The effects accumulate.

But one false note could destroy a short story. It must be an intense fragment – a shard that suggests the complete edifice. It must be satisfying in itself while evoking so much more.

No wonder I drink.

What is your favorite character that you created? Do you love or hate him/her?

I closely identify with the narrator in WILLY. (I heard you mutter “duh” just then.) So many book critics mused at length about whether the ending of that novel was hopeful or sad. It’s both of course. He’s not out of the woods yet. Not even literally. The boy may even have killed someone, though in the development of an adolescent psyche a little thing like murder is a fairly trivial event. But the road into the light is there for him, and he will – in time – be able to follow it. For now, there’s pain and fear ahead for him, and terrible loneliness … but he’s already beginning to discover his own strength and to grope his way out of the maze of mental illness. He’s growing. And somewhere at the end of that road, he’ll even find love. On this score, I can speak with some authority.

What is the first book you remember genuinely being frightened by? Was your immediate reaction to run out and find other similar tales, or stash it in your closet and block it out?

The first one? Like something I read on a cave wall?

The first book I can remember that left me physically shaken was probably Fritz Leiber’s Conjure Wife. I’d suffered from a recurring nightmare through most of my childhood in which I tried desperately to prevent a little girl from realizing she was dead. I used to wake up in a cold sweat. About three-quarters of the way through Leiber’s novel something happens that echoed that feeling for me, and I swear it actually brought me up out of my chair. Moments of such intensity haven’t been easy to find. But there’ve been a few. I cherish them.

What prompted your decision to found Uninvited Books?

Idealism, I suppose, mixed with a certain amount of frustration with current publishing realities. As a writer, I’ve pretty much seen it all. My favorite rejection slip reads: “We find your manuscript to be riveting and important but do not feel that we could successfully promote it in the current marketplace.”

Umm … huh?

Riveting and important is a rejection? Most people never get a review that good. What am I missing here? If you were a publisher, i.e., someone in the business of publishing books, wouldn’t you wait in hope for a manuscript that was riveting and important? And if such a project were to find its way onto your desk, wouldn’t it become your job to figure out how to promote it?

Never mind.

Must be me.

Truthfully, I think I just wanted to make the point that there’s another way to go about all of this, that there is still such a thing as artistic integrity. Or at least there should be. Even in business. Our mission statement reads: “At UNINVITED BOOKS we believe that lovers of dark fiction will choose works of quality ... if works of quality are made available. Our goal is to celebrate visionary artistry, subtle craftsmanship and psychological sophistication in dark literature.”

What does Uninvited Books offer readers?

Zombie mashups and Sasquatch porn. Oh, wait. That’s what we were designed to counter. Umm … golly … I guess I’d have to say sophisticated, intelligent dark fiction of highly evolved literary quality.

Sorry. It’s just that the awareness of what’s mostly out there gets to me sometimes.

All of our titles are available in paperback and as ebooks.

Do you find the label of Horror fiction is restricting, or does it grant you a freedom to pursue any content or thought?

I despise labels, but if I must have one I’ll take Dark Literature.

Is it ever difficult to take off your proverbial author’s cap when editing the works of other authors?

Only an incompetent (and possibly unstable) editor makes changes to another writer’s content. Editing is just the craft, the mechanics of the language. Even a genius could use another pair of eyes sometimes. When editing, I simply do what I do with my own work. Check for inconsistencies. Solecisms. Accidental shifts in POV. That sort of thing. Sometimes of course, if you have a real creative connection with the author, you might want to make a suggestion. But there have been very few such moments so far, which probably has to do with the caliber of the authors I’m working with. What changes would I presume to ask Greg Gifune or T. M. Wright to make?

I feel very strongly about this. I’ve told the story of what happened with my first book so often that it’s become a sort of legend in its own right. An editor (with a great deal of autonomy) apparently decided that my African-American heroine … shouldn’t be. (I believe he felt it would hurt the book’s marketability.) All mention of her race simply vanished. As did a homoerotic subplot. Ah, such professionalism! Needless to say, these deletions made nonsense of my carefully constructed storyline, which was now full of bizarre gaps.

I discovered all of this at my first book signing. I had to excuse myself to go and vomit. Writers are such sensitive creatures.

Time passes. One gets over things.

A few critics did observe that “Mr. Dunbar appears to have been ill-served by his editor,” and a handful of perceptive readers even asked whether the character was meant to be black. That helped. But it was a very long time before a restored version of the book appeared in print.

It’s disgraceful what writers have to endure. Uninvited Books is all about redressing some of that, as well as about serving the sort of cultured reader who’s so often ignored. I thought about making our slogan “Horror! It’s not just for dummies anymore!” but was afraid a few people might find it provoking.

Do you have anything new coming down the pipeline you would like to share with us?

WOOD should be along quite soon, also from Uninvited Books. It’s about a teenage Hispanic girl who battles monsters (symbolic and otherwise) in a foreboding neighborhood. I’m really looking forward to seeing how readers respond to it.

Killer Deal

2012-01-22T18:13:00.000-08:00

Cemetery Dance is offering an all you can read e-book deal for $49 for the year of 2012. To sweeten the pot they will also send you a hard cover signed edition from the stable of limited Press authors. Click below for more.

A Man’s Gotta Eat What a Man’s Gotta Eat by Dana Fredsti

2012-01-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

What would happen if Raymond Chandler and Frank Miller conceived a child in a cheap motel room while a Romero marathon played in the background? Dana Fredsti’s, ‘A Man’s Gotta Eat What a Man’s Gotta Eat.’

The story centers around a private eye named T-Bone in a world where zombies are the dominant species and humans are collected to feed the population. I am generally biased against these grand dark worlds, but Fredsti creates a vivid believable world comprised of small details rather than sweeping vistas and statements. The world created is through and consistent supporting itself naturally within the narratives progression. The best comparison I can make in successes, is Hell in Edward Lee’s infernal series.

T-Bone himself speaks with a clear and distinct voice. The story is told through his perspective. He is a fully developed character in a fully conceived world. What is most impressive about this feat, is how quickly Fredsti accomplishes this in the confines of a short story.

The story itself revolves around a missing person’s case brought to T-Bone, by who else a sexy (for a decomposing body) fatale. Fredsti respects the standard pulp/noir conventions. This keeps the archetypes from delving into self parody and cliché. Zombie and pulp fans should both be pleased with this fast paced distinct offering.

A Man’s Gotta Eat What a Man’s Gotta Eat can be found in Danger City from Contemporary Press.

New Trailers Released For the Resident Evil Franchises

2012-01-21T07:49:00.000-08:00

Newly released Trailers for....

November 20th Resident Evil 6 will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360

Resident Evil Retribution will be released in IMAX 3d in fall of 2012

January 20th 2012

2012-01-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

Two major theatrical releases occur on this day in direct competition with one another. Haywire and Under World Awakening.

Kate Beckinsale and Gina Carano compete for the ultimate bad ass title. Did you think women would be competing headlining action flicks? Will this prove profitable, will the predominately male audience of these flicks accept this?

I always enjoy seeing stereotypes called into question.

Update

Expendables 2 is to be rated pg-13

Gina Carano in Haywire is now unquestionably more bad ass then this...

Click the poster for details.

M.R. Interviews... E.S. Moore

2012-01-18T14:29:00.000-08:00

Please Welcome E.S. Moore to Cutis Anserina

What group of readers to you is the perfect audience for To Walk the Night?

I think those that enjoy a dark and gritty urban fantasy would be perfect, as well as those who like a little horror in their paranormal. It’s definitely a darker world than some other series, but there are familiar bits any UF fan would recognize. I’d like to think I’ve written a book that can appeal to a wide range of people. Only time will tell...

What was the catalyst for the creation of the character Kat Redding?

I’m not real sure, actually! She was one of those characters that came out of nowhere for me. It just hit me one day and I plotted out the book. I was trying to come up with a character that was different than another unpublished urban fantasy series I’ve been working on and the character just popped into my head.

To Walk the Night’s sequel, Tainted Night, Tainted Blood will be released later this year. Do you have a clear end point for this series, or are you taking it novel by novel?

Sort of both. I have an idea of where I want to go, how I want it to end, but things can change as the novels progress. I won’t force my characters down a path they don’t want to go. It wouldn’t be fair to the characters or the readers.

What is your favorite character that you created? Do you love or hate him/her?

Ethan, I think. He’s the character that is most like me and really, I think I needed that in the story. He might have a dark past and secrets of his own, but he still tries to keep a smile on his face. I love that about him.

What is the first book you remember genuinely being frightened by? Was your immediate reaction to run out and find other similar tales, or stash it in your closet and block it out?

Wow, that’s a tough one! I’ve always read horror as far back as I can remember. I’d have to say that maybe Pet Semetary by Stephen King was the first one that really rattled me. I’ve grown up with cats and to think of one of my own coming back like that was scary for a kid. I devoured the book and read everything else King wrote that I could get my hands on. I really do like to be frightened, though that has happened a lot less frequently these days.

What current genre authors are you following/reading right now? What draws you to them?

Jim Butcher and Stephen King are probably the top two. I’ve always been a fan of King, and while a few of his books weren’t as good as some of the others, I’ve always taken something from them. I’ll continue to read anything he puts out there!

As for Butcher, I was drawn to him because of the short-lived TV series, The Dresden Files. I went out and bought the books and immediately was sold on urban fantasy. I’d never read any of the other urban fantasy authors until then. Something about his characters attracted me and I have yet to find the same feeling anywhere else.

As an avid gamer and storyteller, what game or franchise do you feel has the strongest combination of game play and storytelling?

I think the two that stick out most in my mind are Final Fantasy 7 and Dragon Age: Origins. I loved the story and gameplay for both of those games. I got so invested in the characters, when something bad happened to one of them, it was quite a shock to the system. I just wish the other games in each series were as good as those two.

From any medium, who in your mind is the ultimate hunter of supernatural creatures?

Buffy and her friends! I was never much into the love interests of the show, but really enjoyed the interactions between all the characters and how, really, no one was safe. That’s one show I could actually watch again, which is something I can’t say for very many shows these days.

Do you have anything new coming down the pipeline you would like to share with us?

Right now, all I have is the second book of the Kat Redding series, Tainted Night, Tainted Blood, coming, as well as book 3, Blessed by a Demon’s Mark. Hopefully I’ll have more in the near future! I’m working on quite a few projects and hopefully something will come out of them.

Freddy Vs Jason Vs Ash

2012-01-16T17:11:00.000-08:00

Overview;

Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash

Review;

This limited series comic is a bitter sweet little treat. The script is based upon the film treatment that was bounced around after the success of Freddy vs. Jason. The events begin with the survivors of Freddy vs. Jason, using them to introduce Ash (quite cleverly) and a new cast of kids.

The story revolves around Freddy using Jason to retrieve the Necronomicon to live again. Ash is also in search of the book. Carnage ensues.

If this film had come to fruition it would have had great potential. The respective franchises are respected, without delving into accidental parody. In interest of complete disclosure I was never a fan of Jason and was only lukewarm on Freddy’s films. The Ash portrayed here is more akin to Evil Dead 2, rather than Army of Darkness. He is a clear hero, but takes incredibly abuse.

The artwork by Jason Craig is effective. He balances the gritty real world elements well with the absurdity of the extreme levels of violence. The action is brisk and clear, If these had been story boards this could have been amazing.

In the end:

What could have been but never will be. For fans of either franchise I recommend this read to see how the series could have ended, before the inevitably reboots. For those less or unfamiliar with the franchises you will probably have your interest piqued. Also of note, avoid Freddy vs Jason vs Ash 2 Nightmare warriors. You have been warned.

M.R. Interviews...Paul D Brazill

2012-01-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

Please Welcome Paul D Brazill

How did the character of P I Roman Dalton from Drunk on the Moon emerge?

It all came from the Tom Wait’s song, Drunk On The Moon. I thought it would make a great title for a noir story. And, Tom was in the film Wolfen, as well as having a voice suitable for a werewolf, so I suppose the ideas just mashed up.

Around the same time, the sadly defunct Dark Valentine Magazine set up and they were looking for cross genre stories.

A P I who is also a werewolf just seemed pretty natural.

At the same time, I was enjoying reading Lee Goldberg’s series books The Dead Man. I thought Roman Dalton’s world was ripe for a series. So, I contacted a few writers- BR Stateham, Richard Godwin, Julia Madeleine etc – to see if they would be interested and, lo and behold, they were.

There have been 8 Drunk On The Moon stories published so far and there are more to come!

http://www.amazon.com/Drunk-on-the-Moon-ebook/dp/B005AJM28O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326544692&sr=8-1

Did you find it difficult to mix noir and horror archetypes together without delving into cliché?

I think you have to accept that these cliché’s exist and don’t worry about it. Hopefully, Drunk On The Moon is such a mash-up of genres- monster movie/noir/hardboiled/ kitchen sink/ comic book – that it has a life of it’s own.

From your short story collection, 13 Shots of Noir, is there a particular story that you feel the most affection towards?

Yeah, I like a sad little story called The Friend Catcher, which is all about the loneliness of living in a big city, in this case London.

Noir is debatably the most difficult genre to define. Personally, what are the defining elements that separate it from simple crime fiction in your mind?

I think Otto Penzler hit the nail on the head when he said that noir is about losers losing. There doesn’t even have to be a crime. And certainly no resolution! That's why it lends itself to black humour s well.

What is your favourite character that you created? Do you love or hate him/her?

I like Duffy, a character that’s in the Drunk On The Moon stories. I like him because he makes me laugh and other people seem to get him, too. Which is nice!

What writer most influenced you as an author? How?

I see the influence of Damon Runyon more and more. I hadn’t realized how much of an influence he was until the writer A J Hayes pointed it out. It’s to do with the recurring, colourful, characters and the lives below the surface.

Anything else coming down the pipeline you would like to share?

Brit Grit Too has recently been published. It’s an anthology that contains 32 stories from up and coming British crime writers. The proceeds go to charity.

http://www.amazon.com/Brit-Grit-Too-ebook/dp/B006N7YAUU/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

The first few Drunk On The Moon stories will be collected in an anthology soon. The collection will also include a new story from me. A prequel, really.

I’ll have a book published by the great Pulp Press, this year. It’s based on my short story, Guns Of Brixton, which was included in the 2011 Mammoth Book Of Best British Crime.

M.R. Interviews...Dana Fredsti

2012-01-13T17:32:00.000-08:00

Please Welcome to Cutis Anserina Dana Fredsti

How did Ashley Drake of Ashley Drake Zombie Hunter A Plague on all Houses, evolve to become Ashley Parker of Plague Town?

Ooh, you’re jumping right in with the complicated questions, aren’t ya? Okay, settle in and here we go. I was originally asked by Lori Perkins if I wanted to write a trilogy of books. She pitched it as “Buffy, but with zombies.” Being a Buffy fan and a zombieholic, I jumped on the chance. The challenge for me was writing something that (I hoped) would appeal to paranormal romance/urban fantasy readers as well as the die-hard zombiephiles. I like to read both genres so I figured there had to be others that swung both ways, so to speak. As I worked on the first book, Lori shopped it around to other publishers (it was coming out as an ebook with Ravenous Romance to start) and eventually sold it to Titan Books. I worked closely with Steve Saffel (whom I refer to as my Dark Editorial Overlord, DEO for short), the Titan editor who bought the book, and we made some changes (picture my original manuscript dripping with bloody red edits) to further broaden the potential readership and just make it a better book overall. We also changed Ashley’s last name from “Drake” to “Parker” because “Ashley Drake” was a little too close to “Anita Blake”, Laurell K. Hamilton’s heroine. I think it’ll still appeal to fans of the original version, but I’m really happy with the new and improved Plague Town.

What distinguishes Ashley Parker from the plethora of bad-ass female characters flooding the Horror and Urban Fantasy shelves of late?

She doesn’t have a tramp stamp crawling out of her butt crack. Seriously, those things remind me of Chthulhu emerging from his dark lair beyond the stars… Okay, REALLY seriously, I like to think what makes Ashley unique is her narrative voice and sense of humor. She lacks a major chip on her shoulder too, which a lot of the bad-ass female heroines seem to have. And she’s not a vampire, witch, shapeshifter, fae or psychic. She’s just an average twenty-something Liberal Arts Major without a clue what she wants to do with her life until the Zombacolypse makes the choice for her.

When crafting Murder for Hire you seem to have drawn on your own background, is this a fair assumption?

Yup, that would be a fair assumption. The inspiration for the novel was a sincere desire to kill a woman we worked with -- ‘we’ being me and Maureen, my old writing partner and co-founder of our San Diego based theatrical troupe, Murder for Hire – on the entertainment for the first La Jolla Raymond Chandler Festival. To quote MFH’s press release:

Along with her best friend Maureen, Dana was co-producer/writer/director for a mystery-oriented theatrical troupe based in San Diego. While no actual murders occurred during their performances, there were times when the actors and clients made the idea very tempting.

The client in question not only ended up being murdered in the pages of MFH, but one of the confrontations between Connie, MFH’s heroine, and Lucille (fictionalized version of said client) actually happened in real life. I took a couple of liberties while writing the scene for the novel, but the gist of the argument and the reason for it really happened. And boy, was “killing” this woman satisfying… Ahem.

Murder for Hire shows a clear affection for old 40’s noir. Have you considered combing that into a zombie opus?

Funny you should ask that… J My very first attempt at writing something with zombies was a story called A Man’s Gotta Eat What a Man’s Gotta Eat, about a zombie detective who specializes in finding missing people (live ones) and is written in a very hard-boiled noir style. I came up with the idea while driving from L.A. to San Diego in the middle of rush hour traffic on the tail end of a migraine. Between the headache and the fumes, my brain got very creative. The story was published in Danger City, an urban noir anthology published by Contemporary Press, and remains one of my favorite pieces I’ve written to date. (M.R.'s note If Raymond Chandler and Frank Miller conceived a child in a cheap motel room while a Romero marathon played in the background the child would be 'A Man’s Gotta Eat What a Man’s Gotta Eat')

What drew you to the zombie sub-genre? Are there other classic monsters you hope to tackle in the future?

I have loved zombies (in a non-carnal way, thank you!) since I first saw the original Night of the Living Dead on TV back when I was in Junior High. I watched it with my friend and next door neighbor late at night, no adults home, all the lights turned off. Scared the crap out of me and left an indelible impression, especially the main cemetery zombie staggering after Barbara. Fleshing-eating ghouls were my new favorite monster. To seal the deal, my very first date movie was the original Dawn of the Dead, which remains my all time favorite zombie movie of all times. I’ve always spent an inordinate amount of time scoping out surrounding buildings wherever I happen to be to see what would and would not be a good place to hole up should the zombie plague hit at that moment. Everything is a possible weapon. I used to feel kind of lonely until I discovered www.homepageofthedead.com and discovered it wasn’t just me. Now, of course, zombies have hit it big and it’s no longer this fairly exclusive, twisted little club. Everyone has their own plan to survive the Zombacolypse.

What is the most influential literary character to you personally? Why?

Oh dear. This is the sort of question that has an ever-shifting answer. It depends on the day, my mood, what sort of inspiration I happen to need at the moment. And of course my mind goes blank when confronted with the question. J Lessee… I’ll give you Scarlett O’Hara for one, the heroine of Gone with the Wind (I shouldn’t have to add that, but I’ve come to realize there are people who have not read or heard of this book). She’s not a particularly nice person throughout most of the book, but she does what she has to do to survive and is one of the most complex and consistent characters ever created. To go to a totally different place, I love F. Paul Wilson’s Repairman Jack character because he’s just so damn fun to follow in his adventures and he’s one of the best endearing tough-guy heroes ever. I feel like I’m missing someone really obvious here… but that is how my brain works. Stoopid brain…

If you could take the reins of writing for any existing franchise (this can be any format), which would you choose and why?

I wouldn’t want to necessarily take the reins of an existing franchise, but I would have loved the chance to write for Joss Whedon’s show Firefly. Love the characters, love the stories, love the premise, I'm still angry at Fox for cancelling it after one season. Boo, Fox!

What contemporary horror author are you keeping up with? (Feel free to include more than one) Why?

Jonathan Maberry, Joe McKinney, Ray Garton, F. Paul Wilson, Mira Grant, Richard Kadrey, Jim Butcher, to name a few… They all create compelling characters, horrific and/or suspenseful stories, and they’re fun to read (I love humor with my horror). One of my favorite horror authors is T. Chris Martindale, who unfortunately hasn’t written anything recently. His novel WHERE THE CHILL WAITS is one of the scariest books I’ve read and prompted me to write my first fan letter. I will still read Stephen King, although I really do like his older works (The Shining, Salem’s Lot, Dead Zone, The Stand) better than most of the newer stuff. And although Barbara Hambly isn’t strictly horror, she’s created some of the scariest scenes I’ve ever read (The Darwath Trilogy comes to mind) so I’ll read anything she comes out with. I’ve also read several really fun horror novels on my Kindle by new (to me) authors, like Eleven Twenty-Three by Jason Hornsby, Hissers by Ryan C. Thomas, and Dead Tropics by Sue Edge, and I’ll happily read anything else they put out there because their books are all well-written, original within their respective sub-genres, and generated a lot of ‘can’t put this book down’ type of suspense. There are more, but some veer more into Urban Fantasy than horror so I’ll stop now. Even though I know I’ve probably left out someone really obvious and am going to smack myself over the head later on. I will add that I will read/watch just about anything if it has zombies in it, be it good, bad or so delightfully bad you invite a bunch of friends over, get drunk and MST3K the hell out of it.

Anything else coming down the pipeline you would like to share?

I am really excited about the upcoming launch of Plague Town by Titan Books (I love you, Titan!) on April 3^rd this year. I’m equally excited about Plague Nation and Plague World, the next two books in the series, although I will be even MORE excited when I’ve finished writing them. I’ve also done some books (spicy genre romance, including paranormal) for Ravenous Romance under the nom de plume Inara LaVey, but there are no zombies in them. No, wait, I take that back. I have a story in Hungry for Your Love, (an e-book by Ravenous Romance and a paperback release from St. Martin’s Press) an anthology of zombie themed romance short stories. Each author had their own take on the theme. My story, First Date, deals with a first date from hell … and then the zombie plague breaks out. Lots of fun stories in that anthology, including my favorite Last Times at Ridgemont High by Kilt Kilpatrick. Oh, and if you get a chance to read the elusive Mondo Zombie (edited by John Skipp, another of my favorite authors), I have a short in that called You’ll Never Be Lunch in This Town Again, about a first time film director trying to finish his low budget film when (you guessed it) the dead start to walk. What can I say, it’s a favorite theme of mine.

Short, Sharp Interview of M.R. Gott by Paul D Brazill

2012-01-13T04:15:00.000-08:00

Click below to read my interview with Noir enthusiast Paul D Brazill at You Would Say That, Wouldn't You?

M.R. Interviews... Chris Bauer

2012-01-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

Please Welcome to Cutis Anserina Chris Bauer

What is the strongest appeal for readers of The Winter of Her Discontent'?

The story portrays a woman struggling through a bad boss, a bad job, bad weather, and pests in the attic—all familiar situations. At a certain point in the story I give plausibility a weird turn, resolving all of her issues through an unexpected intervention.

You have a number of titles available from Untreed Reads Specters line. Do you find the classification of horror on your work to be liberating or limiting?

My stories are hard to categorize, so they fall into the horror category by default. I would compare them to Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone, whatever the category would be. A car that eats people, an airplane flight to impossible destinations, the return of a dead WWII fighter pilot, turkeys seeking Thanksgiving revenge, and killer squirrels…..well, maybe horror is the right category. Untreed Reads has been very supportive of my stories, so whatever genre they want to call them is fine.

What can readers rely on you for?

They can rely on me to tell them a good, satisfying story with the spice of dark humor. I accomplish this by tapping into the reader’s true-life experiences, and then giving them a twist. Every story begins firmly grounded in reality, and I lead the reader down the path of plausibility until they find themselves in a very strange place.

What is the process you use when crafting your tales?

Everyday life is filled with stories, and each of my tales is founded in real events. The story becomes mine when I ask myself the question “What if…?” It is important to hook the reader at the beginning, set them at ease with a familiar reality, then take them for a ride. I have found the formula of Hook, Story, Wrap Up, and Twist to be most successful.

What is your favorite character that you created? Do you love or hate him/her?

Right now, my favorite character is Denise in Winter of Her Discontent. She is modeled off a real person, and I especially like her ‘grit’. My favorite tale is Harrigan’s Price, which my father, a World War Two veteran of the South Pacific, related to me as a true story when he was dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease.

What is the first book you remember being genuinely frightened by? Was your immediate reaction to run out and find other similar tales, or stash it in your closet and block it out?

I read a paperback compilation of the earliest of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone stories, and because of their reality, some are especially frightening. Remember the child who falls through the wall to another dimension? I do!

What is the most influential literary character to you personally? Why?

Franz Kafka and Rod Serling are most influential. Again, both tell stories founded in a reality that take a left turn somewhere. I did not start writing to copy them, but found their kind of stories and their styles instructive (and enjoyable) when crafting my own tales.

What current genre authors are you following/reading right now? What draws you to them?

At the moment I’m re-reading Chandler’s “The Big Sleep”. He has a gift for setting the scene that is enviable. I also recently finished Whitney Howland’s “Huey Dusk” and Trey Dowell’s “Ballistic” with Untreed Reads.

If you could take the reins of writing for any existing franchise, which would you choose and why?

Definitely The Twilight Zone. Rod Serling was a gifted writer as well as a story teller, and as we live in a world where truth is stranger than fiction, I believe it would be a repeat success.

Do you have anything new coming down the pipeline you would like to share with us?

Untreed Reads has published A Killer of a Deal, Special Charter, Harrigan’s Price, Fresh Never Frozen, and now Winter of her Discontent. Special Charter and Harrigan’s Price have received especially enthusiastic reviews—the writing in Harrigan’s Price has been described as ‘elegant’. There are always more short stories coming---and a novel is in the works.

Dead in the West Review

2012-01-12T06:16:00.000-08:00

Overview;

Reverend Jebidiah Mercer is a man questioning not only his own, but faith. In need of money he finds himself in the East Texas town of Mud Creek. This is a town where a vengeful act of human weakness is about to engulf the town in a horror like no other. This is the story of zombies in the old west.

“The town was dead. And the Dead Walked.”

Review;

This is a novella I have wanted to read for a long time, however was never willing to pay 30 dollars for. I recently acquired a kindle and while browsing came across this story again and downloaded it for five dollars. It was not the story I was expecting. I mistakenly believed this was going to be a tightly paced series of action set pieces with a cowboys vs. zombies themes.

What I found instead was a well constructed slow burn horror tale with a rich cast of deeply written characters. This book further confirms Lansdale as a master storyteller. His prose is basic, but powerful. As with his other works he has a taken a fun original idea, and not allowed it to stand on its own. Instead he filled in the world around his idea creating something truly unique that can be taken very seriously despite the potentially hokey sounding premise.

Reverend Jebidiah Mercer’s background story is compelling and adds a great deal of weight to each decision he makes. The interplay between him and all the townsfolk is nearly flawless. Each character is a perfect counterbalance to the other. It also is vital to note the zombies in this book are wholly the creation of Lansdale. He takes a page from the playbook so perfectly established by Romero, but does not use his rules as gospel.

In the end;

When I sat down to read Dead in the West I was ready for a rip roaring tale of zombie shootouts. While the action sequences contained were satisfying, what I found was another excellent character driven tale from an American master. Kudos to you Mr. Lansdale.

Fun fact. Joe R. Lansdale wrote four episodes of Batman the Animated series.

Organ Trail

2012-01-07T19:06:00.000-08:00

If you remember the old Oregon Trail game from your youth, then click below to play Organ Trail a Zombie Apocalypse version.

http://www.hatsproductions.com/organtrail.html

Stupid Zombies

2011-12-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

It is like Angry birds, but with Zombies and free. You ricochet bullets to kill all the zombies on each screen.

Untreed Reads 50% off all titles

2011-12-23T16:47:00.000-08:00

For 24 hours on December 24th all titles on Untreed Reads will be 50% off. Stock up, they are light and easy to conceal. Click a dagger below for to enter the sale.

A Great Time to pick up

Cleveland Die Semi-Hard

2011-12-23T16:45:00.000-08:00

In the Christmas spirit click to watch Die Semi Hard

M.R. Interviews...the creators of the Morrigan’s Brood series

2011-12-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

Please Welcome the writing team of Christopher Dunbar and Heather Poinsett Dunbar

What is your most recent project?

Heather: Our most recent projects are books 6, 7, and 8 of the Morrigan’s Brood series, plus a novella anthology that we’re putting together with some other authors. However, our current project for sale is Dark Alliance, which is book #3 in the Morrigan’s Brood series.

Christopher: I recently finished getting our first novel, Morrigan’s Brood, ready for a re-release through Triscelle Publishing’s new printer and distributor; it should hit on-line markets all over the world in six to eight weeks. Like Dark Alliance: Morrigan’s Brood Book III, it will be available for printing in the USA, UK, and Australia. The new Morrigan’s Brood: Morrigan’s Brood Book I incorporates many of the new improvements in interior content, typesetting, and layout that we had incorporated into Dark Alliance. For instance, we added character bios, including pronunciations, an expanded list of gods and goddesses, and even a map guide. We also touched up the content a bit, adding some polish where we needed it. Because we were able to reduce the page count from 336 to 312, and because of the print pricing of the new printer, Triscelle Publishing was able to drop the retail price from $18.99 to $15.99.

I do more than just write… I am also responsible for the overall look of the inside and the outside of the book, in conjunction with our cover and interior artist, Khanada Taylor; however, I have also contributed to the drawing of some of the graphics, such as our triscelle, and for editing the maps. I also handle the bookings for our book signings and design and print (or order) our marketing materials, such as our chapter books, bookmarks, posters, and post cards. Aside from that, as Heather mentioned, I am helping her write books 6, 7, and 8, with two of the titles being Odin’s Chosen and Dynasties of Night… haven’t yet decided on the third. Oh, and Curse of Venus: Morrigan’s Brood Book IV will be released in 2012 around Q3 or Q4, and Shards of Light: Morrigan’s Brood Book V will be released in 2013.

What is the strongest appeal for readers of this most recent project?

Heather: I think the appeal might be that it involves beings that consume the life essence of mortals who do not sparkle. I loved discovering all the different stories and ‘vampire’ mythologies from around the world, and I thought that it would be far more entertaining to look at history through their eyes than, say, the typical urban fantasy involving vampires, or Gods forbid, vampires that stalk teenage girls. Then again, lots of authors say that they have a different take on vampires, but we tend to focus on how their hidden deeds could have created our current world. Also, we like our history and mythology gritty and dark.

Christopher: Clearly, mythology, folklore, and history are appealing subjects for would-be readers. Few stories take place during the Dark Ages, so our books present something novel. I also believe that, once someone begins reading our books, they will realize and appreciate that we spend so much time with character development, enriching our characters such that, to the reader, they almost seem like real people, even though this one is levitating, that one is mesmerizing, and they all drink blood.

I think we also take a different approach to vampirism (yes, every author says that these days…), in that we don’t focus too much on what they are, but who they are and what they do. So they drink blood… so what. Does that make them monsters? No… Their deeds determine a good, evil, or gray bent. They also don’t kill their victims, typically, and most victims don’t even remember the experience or have bite marks afterwards (some races heal their victims afterwards). Since our blood-drinkers (most) don’t kill indiscriminately, and therefore do not suffer guilt or angst from blood-drinking (those who do kill indiscriminately know naught of guilt or angst), we can focus on more aspects of their character.

What can readers expect from your series?

Heather: A lot of action, blood, political intrigue, and what we feel is an entertaining, historical backdrop. Chris gives a better idea of what can be expected from the Morrigan’s Brood series.

Christopher Our characters live in a brutal world… a world of our past; a world where mythology and reality collide. What if blood-drinkers, beings derived from the gods and goddesses of cultures from around the world, were real and manipulated the events of mortals from night’s sweet embrace? What if nothing were written about them or their influence on how events in our history unfolded because they wanted no knowledge of them recorded? Why did Gaius Julius Caesar lead an expeditionary campaign to Britannia in 55 BCE? Why was Pope Leo III persuaded to crown Charles, King of the Franks, as Imperator Augustus on Christmas Day, 800 CE? Why did the Vikings begin raiding Ireland around the late 8^th century CE and increased their raids dramatically for the first three decades of the 9^th century CE? Why did the French lose the Battle of Agincourt 25 October 1415 CE? The answer to these questions, and more, is that a blood-drinker did it. Interested in reading more?

What is the process you use when crafting your tales?

Heather: Usually, we’ll sit together, after dinner, during lunch meetings, or while sipping on coffee, and we just sort of talk out various events and piece together dialog. Then I go back home and start typing it out. The strange thing is that the manuscript usually gets split into two or three books. I know some authors who swap chapters or characters, but to me that confuses the voice a little. If we write together, it feels like it’s OUR story, not my chapter, my character, my idea.

Christopher: We don’t use an outline, though we do document our main plot points and where we would like to end, though the journey there grows with the characters, and sometimes we find that we end up in unexpected places. While writing the first pass, we also sometimes follow a single thread of a plot line, though in the second and third passes, these single threaded plot lines will become woven into a tapestry, with each strand in its place.

What is your favorite character that you created? Do you love or hate him/her?

Heather: Probably my favorite brat is Mandubratius. I guess you could say I love and hate him. He’s such fun to write, but he’s also very demanding and wants to take up all my time. I pretty much love any character that is complex and enjoys manipulation as a hobby. Then again, I kind of love them all for different reasons. It’s a little like being asked to pick a favorite child. I’ll have an answer and then a few minutes later I remember why I love another ‘child’.

Christopher: Mandubratius (aka ‘Awvarwy’) would be too easy of a choice for me, so instead, I shall choose Maél Muire (aka ‘Máire’ beginning in Crone of War [book 2]). Consider the role of women in 6^th century CE Ireland, a strong Christian Ireland… demure, married at a young age, devout Christians, husband comes first, a woman’s place is either the hearth, the nursery (raising the kids) or in bed making more babies, and a woman’s role was either as a wife and mother, a nun, or a whore… you get the idea.

Yet, her father, the chieftain of her clan, raised Maél Muire in the manly arts (fighting, leading, being assertive, etc.), which was contrary to the role of women at the time, though before Christianity, many women in Ireland were warriors. In addition to her upbringing as a warrior, her aunt Sive and her uncle Fergus taught her the ways of the Druids. During the story, this defiant woman refuses to marry, if not for love, and her role must be equal and not subservient to her husband’s, which both contribute to why at 26 she remains unwed and childless… much the ‘young crone’ in that day and age.

Since she is brought up believing that the gods and goddesses of their ancestors are real, she adapts when the supernatural is revealed to her. She has a strong moral code, and she is not afraid to use force when necessary. She does not fear the unknown, but embraces it. Maél Muire also makes a great third point to the trinity created by Marcus, Mandubratius, and herself. I love writing for Maél Muire / Máire, and I love equally how she has evolved over the next several books (we are writing books 6, 7, and 8 right now, and boy does she evolve…)

What are the advantages to crafting a series over a singular novel?

Heather: I guess it gives an author more time to allow characters to grow. Plus, you already know the characters, and it allows you to play with the world and how time and place can affect characters and their beliefs and viewpoint. I remember once discussing this with Chris, and how after a few centuries, alliances would shift simply because what seemed important one year is a trifle a decade or a century later. Writing different books with different universes would be a lot of work too. I just sort of like building on what we’ve already created and making it a richer universe.

Christopher: I’m lazy, and I would rather not create an entirely new universe complete with a different array of characters for each new book. (I am laughing at my own half-truths…) Seriously, though, to what my esteemed colleague / co-author / wifey wrote, having multiple books in the same universe with many of the same characters presents the opportunity to see relationships evolve, and perhaps die off, and for the reader to experience different periods in history.

When Heather first got me involved in what became Morrigan’s Brood (meaning the Children of Morrigan, as in the Deargh Du), we had envisioned several books spanning history, encompassing major milestones in the development of the global society, from pre-Roman times through to the modern era. With books 6 and 7 being in the early 9^th century CE, we still have a long way to go.

Will we write single-novels? Sure, we plan to write a few, A Year and a Day being one, but I think even these individual novels will tie in, somehow, to this universe of blood-drinkers we have created.

What do you feel separates fantasy from fantastical horror?

Heather: That’s a really good question, and I’ll have to go into my genre studies from my masters work to really fully answer that, or at least to give an answer that makes some sense. Hopefully, that won’t be too dull. Let’s see… according to my resources in reader’s advisory, horror is supposed to produce fear, involves a monster, whether it is physical and based in reality or is imaginary and exists purely within the characters’ imaginations, and there is a foreboding atmosphere that is supposed to make a reader feel ill-at-ease. Classical fantasy fiction usually involves a magical battle between good and evil. Good wins, and it’s fairly obvious who’s good and who’s evil. Both genres have developed and changed a great deal in the last few decades.

Fantastical horror isn’t as cut and dry as horror or fantasy. I think that the genre of fantastical horror involves a combination of these descriptors. So, there may not be a clear cut team of good guys versus evil guys. Everyone could be ‘gray’. There may be a foreboding atmosphere permeating the story, and magic may be involved with defeating the ‘monster’ who may not be a monster at all.

Christopher: I see fantasy as being more of a feel-good story, even inspirational, showing the growth of characters over a difficult and change-inducing journey; the end is generally happy.. again… feel good. I think fantastical horror, which I believe is sometimes called ‘Dark Fantasy’ (at least we call Morrigan’s Brood Dark Fantasy, among other genres), intentionally leaves the reader feeling dread, fear, and perhaps questioning one’s sanity, or at the very least challenge perceptions they might have taken for granted. Fantastical horror is still a journey, but it is one fraught with peril, and sometimes it is not clear whether those upon the journey do so for noble means. Distinctions between good and evil are distorted, mottled, such that there really is no distinction. I feel there are seldom happy endings in Fantastical Horror… though perhaps bitter-sweet ones.

What are your future writing aspirations?

Heather: To be able to write and research fulltime again. Short of that, I do love moving a group of characters through history, and I think we’re both ready to expand the Morrigan’s Brood universe a bit and involve some mortals and the fae.

Christopher: In terms of what I can control, I would like to see how many books in this series Heather and I can dish out… can we eventually get to the modern era in Morrigan’s Brood? In terms of what I cannot control, my dream is to see our series grow into other mediums, such as graphic novels, role playing games, tarot cards, and perhaps even a TV series on one of the premium stations… now I am really dreaming (more laughter ensues).

What author do you feel most influenced you? How?

Heather: Probably Morgan Llwellyn. Before I read her books, I had no idea anyone was interested in reading about Celtic mythology, besides me, anyways.

Christopher: It wasn’t just one author, but one series, the Forgotten Realms Series, I think, that has most influenced me. Authors like Douglas Niles, Ed Greenwood (the key creator of the universe), and especially R.A. Salvatore (the creator of characters like Drizzt Do’Urden, Bruenor Battlehammer, Wulfgar, Cattie Brea, Artimes Entrerie, and many others), have inspired my interest in the Epic Fantasy, which has had a strong influence on Morrigan’s Brood. In his Icewind Dale Trilogy, his Dark Elf Trilogy, and more recent, related works in the Forgotten Realms universe, R.A. Salvatore has brought together a motley group of characters from vastly different backgrounds who manage to avoid killing one another upon their many adventures across the rich tapestry of the Forgotten Realms universe. I feel that by engrossing myself in his works and the other authors I mentioned (and those to whom I eluded), my reading experience has left an indelible mark on my story-telling.

What is the most influential literary character to you personally? Why?

Heather: Probably the Cheshire Cat. There’s just something very complex and wonderful about him. I pretty much love any character that embodies the mythical trickster. I also remember loving Crowley from Good Omens. Llwellyn’s vision and characterization of the god, Lugh Lamfada, and his son, Cu Chullain, are also faves. Hey, does Ripley from Alien count as a literary character? She’s pretty kick-ass.

Christopher: How could it not be Drizzt Do’Urden? A Dark Elf, born into existence, with lavender and not red eyes, while his mother, Matron Malice, casts a powerful spell; he only lives because one of his brothers dies in battle (matriarchal society, you see). So, as this boy grows up, he begins to have an ill-effect on the society around him. He must escape into the unknown vastness of the Underdark or die. He finally makes it to the surface, but everyone fears him and / or hates him because of what he is, not who. So he finds a far-flung place in the world and forms what will become life-long friendships with the most unlikely of beings, but all the while, he is hunted.

I think what impresses me most is the depth of his character, as written by R.A. Salvatore, and how his development is not an even curve… there are many, rather large, bumps on his development line. I haven’t read any of the recent Drizzt books in about 14 years or so, but when I have a breather, I shall definitely pick up where I left off (my last book was The Two Swords).

Yes… I think I borrowed a few elements from Drizzt and the Drow in general, but these elements were also common with mythology from which much of the universe and the races of blood drinkers have been based. Marcus uses two gladii, for instance (Drizzt fights with two scimitars), Deargh Du can draw down the darkness as part of their glamoury (Drow can bring forth an inky blackness), Deargh Du can fly (Drow only levitate, and not very often), and, under Felician’s leadership, if a new Lamia is sponsored, an older Lamia must die to keep the numbers balanced (similar to the Drow keeping control of the number of living male siblings, as I had described earlier).

If you could take the reins of writing for any existing franchise, which would you choose and why?

Heather: I don’t think I’d want to take over someone’s universe or franchise, because I’d wind up changing their universe, and as fun as that could be, I could potentially ruin it for their fans. That’s way too much responsibility! I would feel the same way if someone I didn’t know entirely took over our little world.

Christopher: I agree with Heather, in that I don’t see myself taking over someone’s universe or franchise. However, I do see that I could benefit a franchise or universe if their more recent product has seemed stale. I tend to bring an off-the-wall creative element to story-telling, pitching ideas left and right, and then ironing out the best ones of the group.

At some point, we may be in a position to expand our universe beyond ourselves through some kind of writing franchise. The Morrigan’s Brood universe carries many possibilities for great stories, and Heather and I may only be able to scratch the surface in terms of what she and I together can write. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in five years or so, that we might have a small franchise within a similar context as Forgotten Realms. Who knows… (yes… dreaming again. Keep dreaming…)

2012 Book Signing Event Schedule Thus Far

· 2012 ConJour – Confirmed (Clear Lake, Texas from January 27th – 29th, 2012)

· 2012 Houston St. Patrick’s Day Parade Fundraiser – Confirmed (Houston, Texas on February 11, 2012)

· 2012 North Texas Irish Festival – Confirmed (Dallas, Texas from March 2nd – 4th, 2012)

· 2012 AggieCon – Confirmed (College Station, Texas from March 23rd – 25th, 2012)

· 2012 San Antonio Highland Games – Possible (San Antonio, Texas from March 31st to April 1st, 2012)

· 2012 Houston Indy Book Fest – Pending (Houston, Texas on April 14th, 2012)

· 2012 Houston Highland Games and Celtic Festival – Possible (Houston, Texas from May TBD to May TBD, 2012)

· 2012 Comicpalooza – Confirmed (Houston, Texas from May 25th – 27th, 2012

· 2012 ApolloCon – Pending (Houston, Texas from June 22nd – 24th, 2012)

· Other events TBA

M.R. Interviews.....Mark Allan Gunnells

2011-12-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

Please welcome to Cutis Anserina Mark Allan Gunnells

Tell us about Asylum. What separates it from the other zombie fiction?

Well, what separates it from other zombie fiction is that I wrote it. Okay, just kidding. I guess with ASYLUM what I wanted to do was introduce a familiar set-up and use characters that the typical zombie fiction reader may not be familiar with. So I set the story in a gay club.

What type of readers do you feel will most enjoy Asylum?

I was worried when I wrote it that a straight audience may be alienated, but I’ve gotten great feedback from straight readers. I think those who love zombies will enjoy it.

There is an odd ironic sense of humor in Asylum, was this difficult to balance with the horror elements?

I don’t know that it was intentional, but as I developed the characters, it just seemed that some of them would have some gallows humor, so it felt natural and right to put it in.

Do you think George A Romero’s zombie work limited what could be done with zombies, because of the success and recognition he found?

Well, it certainly created a “formula” that some stories follow, ASYLUM included. But I’ve seen much other zombie fiction in both books and movies that don’t follow that formula and do bold and different things.

What drew you to the zombie sub-genre? Are there other classic monsters you hope to tackle in the future?

This is really the only significant zombie piece I’ve ever written, but I do enjoy zombie fiction because I love to see character battling overwhelming odds. As for other classic monsters, such as vampires and werewolves, I don’t really have any ideas for them at the moment, but I’m always open to anything.

What is your favorite character that you created? Do you love or hate him/her? Why?

In ASYLUM, maybe Madam Diva because I think that her desire to create a safe haven for those who are different like her, so that they won’t feel the same isolation as she did, is very commendable. I like her a lot. In all of my fiction, I have a recurring character Greg Nigel (and I’ve only ever sold one of the stories that feature him) that I love writing because he is such an unapologetic prick that it’s just a blast to write.

What literary character most influenced your work? How?

I would say characters like Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard, because they show that you can take average, everyday people—not spies, not police detectives, not anyone glamorous—and make them incredibly interesting and complex. (I am a big Lansdale Fan)

If you could take the reins of writing for any existing franchise, which would you choose and why?

Going back to Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard series, I’ve always thought it would be neat to see a tale told from Leonard’s point of view for a change. But I’m not sure I would want to write it, as Lansdale’s a master and you can’t beat that.

Anything else coming down the pipeline you would like to share?

I am planning to put up some shorts digitally on Amazon, and I’m very excited that sometime next year I will release my first full-length novel entitled THE QUARRY through Evil Jester Press.

Less Conventional Christmas Classics

2011-12-17T16:50:00.000-08:00

Here are a few suggestions to add to your Christmas cannon

Gremlins

Highlight; a stalking sequence set to, "Do you hear what I hear."

Batman Returns

A great Tim Burton Movie, and yet a poorly done Batman movie. Still a favorite of mine.

The Long Kiss Good Night

Highlight; Gena Davis swinging from a Christmas light, firing an uzi and yelling, "Die Screaming Mother Fucker."

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

A personal favorite of my wife. A pulp infused noiresque Christmas caper.