Welcome back! Today, I’m thrilled to spotlight author Kelly Robinson. Kelly is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of numerous non-fiction articles appearing in publications such as Scary Monsters and Rue Morgue, among others.

Recently, she and I discussed her inspiration as a writer, her love of silent film, her research process, as well as what she’s got planned next.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

In a way, I’ve always been a writer. I was reading at age 3, which almost seems freakish, so by the time I was in schooI, I’d already been reading a while. My kindergarten teacher used to have me read books to the class while she sneaked out for smoke breaks! I started writing soon after, writing stories, poems, and scripts for puppet shows that I would come up with and perform for the class. I was always obsessed with the Scholastic Books order forms, and I made up one of my own, making up titles of books my friends could “order,” and then making and drawing books by request for the titles they wanted. (One was called The Girl Who Snuck Into the Boy’s Bathroom.) I talked my teacher into letting me single-handedly make a school newspaper, which I duplicated on one of those old ditto machines with the smelly purple ink. It was called The Classroom Clammer, which had nothing to do with clams, but I guess I was going for “clamor.” It featured news stories like “Robbie is moving!” and “D.C. has a lot of cats!” So, when I say I’ve always written, I really mean it.

My taste in writing ranges from old comic books to classic literature, from the humor of P.G. Wodehouse to the bleak, noir worlds of Cornell Woolrich and Horace McCoy. I enjoy things that are difficult, like Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker, which uses language that is almost like a code to be cracked. As far as favorites, I often cite Martin Amis, A.S. Byatt, Doris Lessing, Octavia Butler. My taste in horror skews weird. I like demented things like Jon Bassoff’s Corrosion, the weirdness of David Mitchell’s Slade House, or anything by Tony Burgess, who is some kind of a freak genius. But then, I’m just as happy reading ghost-y 19th century authors: J.S. Le Fanu, Théophile Gautier. My favorite short story is Joe R. Lansdale’s “Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man’s Back.”

Oh, and I should mention non-fiction, since I’m a non-fiction writer. I love writers like Joan Didion whose essays are smart and provocative, with such beautiful prose. I’m in awe of horror writers/researchers like Gary Rhodes who do deep, deep research, turning up brand new information about very old things.

You’re a two-time Bram Stoker Award nominee for your excellent nonfiction articles. What draws you to writing horror nonfiction and in particular to writing about classic horror?

I’ve always been interested in the story behind the story. I think I’m just a question-asker by nature. For me, the thing itself isn’t enough. I want to know the origin of the thing, you know? And that curiosity extends to the books I read and the films I watch. Nothing happens in a vacuum, so even the oldest horror films were inspired by something. Today, horror films have the entire history of the genre to inspire them, but the further back you go, to say, the 1890s, those films had to draw from non-film sources. Some of them came from books, obviously, but also from stage plays, vaudeville acts, comic strips. Some short films were even inspired by popular catch phrases of the day.

As far as classic horror, I do like all kinds of horror, but I’m particularly drawn to silent film. I think that goes back to what I was saying about wanting to know what’s behind everything. I like seeing the horror film in its infancy, before it became so imitative. I particularly like writing about obscure or even lost silent films, because they are so far removed from the world of the internet. Some of the films I write about have barely any trace online, except for maybe an IMDB listing, which is often filled with inaccuracies. When I first started writing about the 1913 film The Werewolf, there were only a few references to it online. (Now there are many, the majority of which are sourced from my own work, whether credited or uncredited.)

Do you remember the first horror movie that really captured your imagination?

My parents weren’t particularly horror fans, so I didn’t get a lot of exposure to them at a young age. My brother and I surreptitiously watched Jaws on HBO and thought it was just the greatest. I remember seeing a thriller called Paper Man that had a scene where someone is crushed by an elevator and it haunted me for decades, until I recently rewatched it and found it is pretty silly. I was captured by horror lit long before film. I devoured books about witches, vampires, and mummies. My favorite books on those subjects were non-fiction, even back then. I had a children’s book on werewolves that contained Medieval woodcuts, and one on vampires that included that famous Vlad the Impaler woodcut of people on spikes. (They don’t make kids’ books like that anymore!) The fact that they were non-fiction books made me feel like vampires and werewolves were a real part of history. So, when I was much older and could choose movies for myself, I gravitated toward the subjects I’d always been drawn to.

What kind of resources do you seek out as you’re working on your nonfiction articles? At this point, do you have a specific research strategy, or do you find that every article requires its own approach?

Some of the films I write about, as I said, haven’t left a big trace. I liken it to detective work when I write about certain lost films. The best resources are movie magazines from the silent film era, and also historic newspaper articles. Finding reviews in small-town newspapers is like striking gold, because, while magazine pieces are cool, they’re puff pieces, and they often exaggerate the film’s appeal. Reviews give a much more realistic picture. I’m sort of a no-stone-unturned researcher, because you never know what source might lead to an interesting fact. When I was writing on Attack of the Mushroom People, I investigated the natural resources on the tiny Japanese island where some of the filming took place, and discovered that it is home to actual bioluminescent mushrooms—something I’ve never seen reported anywhere else.

Nonfiction is an area in every genre that often doesn’t get enough love. What advice do you have for other nonfiction horror writers out there who are looking to get started in the industry?

It’s funny that non-fiction is overlooked, when it’s the type of writing people encounter the most. You may not read a novel every day, but you probably look at news articles, click on some humor pieces, read some reviews. Those things don’t just appear out of the ether! It’s funny that novel writing tends to be so much more romanticized.

My best advice for starting out in non-fiction is to think about what you can bring to the table that’s new. What’s the point in writing yet another article about something that’s been covered over and over. That doesn’t mean you can’t write about well-tread subjects, but think about what you’re bringing that’s not been said before. Unearth a new fact. Tackle a film from a new angle. Make a comparison that others might not have thought of. Questions are also a good starting point for articles. If there’s something you’re wondering about, chances are good someone has wondered about it, too. Find out the answer, and tell everyone else.

While I’m sure it’s hard to pick just one or two, what are your favorite underappreciated classic horror films that you wish more people would see?

That’s a tricky question, because the term “classic” suggests a film has already stood the test of time. When I’m trying to hook people on silent horror, I always suggest The Unknown from 1927. It stars Lon Chaney as an armless circus performer who shoots guns and smokes cigarettes with his feet. It has so many bizarre twists that it is never dull for a second, and it’s easy to forget that there’s no dialogue. I’m also a fan of The Hands of Orlac from 1924, starring Conrad Veidt of Caligari fame. It kicked off the hands-with-a-mind-of-their-own trope, inspiring two remakes: Mad Love with Peter Lorre in 1935, and The Hands of Orlac with Christopher Lee in 1960.

In addition to your nonfiction, you also had a poem, “Caligari,” appear in last year’s HWA Poetry Showcase. What can you share about the inspiration for this piece?

I’m new-ish to poetry, which I hadn’t written much since childhood, but I’m very much enjoying it, as it allows me to play with words in a very precise way. I’m working on poems for all my favorite classic horror films, and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari seemed like a good place to start, as the somnambulist character is so iconic. That was my starting point—the idea that Conrad Veidt’s face is so recognizable, so often reproduced in silent film books, but do people really understand what he’s about? And that he’s not the villain?

What are you working on next?

I am thrilled to have just signed a contract with 1984 Publishing to write a book on an absolutely insane cult film from the 1980s. I can’t announce the title just yet, but when I can, you will probably hear me yelling about it.

Where can we find you online?

You can find me on Twitter at @KellyRobinsonHQ, where I mostly crack lame jokes, and I’m always eager to have Patreon followers.

Huge thanks to Kelly Robinson for being this week’s featured author!

Happy reading!

Welcome back! This week, I’m thrilled to spotlight author Nicole Givens Kurtz. Nicole is the author of numerous short stories and novels, including Kill Three Birds and A Theft Most Fowl, as well as the editor of the critically acclaimed anthology, SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire.

Recently, she and I discussed her inspiration as an author, the release of her fantastic anthology and new novel, as well as her favorite parts of the writing process.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

I realized I was a horror author after I wrote my first scary story in 10th grade. It involved a Thanksgiving dinner gone horribly wrong. I fell in love with the horror genre when I was 4. Where the Wild Things Are was the first horror book I read, and it remains one of my favorites to this day. I graduated to King in elementary school along with Poe and then to others later in life like Shirley Jackson, L.A. Banks, and Tananarive Due. . My favorite authors are Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Octavia Butler, and Robert B. Parker.

Congratulations on all the success of your recent anthology, SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire. What can you share about your inspiration to create this anthology?

The inspiration for SLAY came about due to many conversations I have had with authors about the lack of Black vampire stories in the wake of L.A. Banks’s death. Sure, there have been other Black vampires, but they remained on the perimeter, in the background, window dressing. We wanted stories like Banks wrote, that centered Black people, Black vampires and Black slayers in the forefront. What would that look like now? So, the idea was born to seek out short stories for an anthology to answer that question and to fill the void.

Even more congratulations on the recent release of your new book, A Theft Most Fowl, which is earning rave reviews. What inspired your Kingdom of Aves series, and how was writing the second book in the series different than the first?

Around March 2020 when the United States was going through a lockdown, I wanted to write something fun. I wanted to write something for me. Something that I would like. I enjoy reading everything that I write but I wanted something lighter. If you think about my Cybil Lewis series it takes place in post-apocalyptic D.C. She is very pulpy noir-ish. Right, it’s kind of gritty and the same is true for my Minister Knights of Soul series, again it takes place on Veloris, an ice planet it is very dark and gritty. Sorcery, magic space opera-ish but it is still dark and gritty….I wanted something fun! And I wanted something fantastic and I wanted to like build a world and be more intentional about the world I was building. Thus the Kingdom of Aves was born. The second book draws its influence from heist stories unlike the first one that deals with a serial killer. It was different in its approach, its plot, and its mystery.

You’ve written in numerous genres, including horror, fantasy, and weird western. Do you have a particular favorite genre? Also, do you decide in advance what genre you want to write next, or do you allow the project to develop as you go along?

I always know before I start a story what genre it is going to be because I plan out the story, My favorite genre is mystery/horror writing, if I am honest. My next project is a 80s style slasher horror novella set just outside my hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. The title is “Leave a Pretty Corpse.”

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever heard?

The best writing advice I was ever given was to be patient with the story.

Which part of the writing process is your favorite: brainstorming new ideas, creating a first draft, or polishing an almost finished piece?

My favorite part is always the brainstorming. I love generating the idea and coming up with the story. That’s the exciting part! The labor comes when attempting to funnel that amazing idea onto paper and executing it. That’s the real work in writing.

What projects are you currently working on?

I am currently working on the horror novella, “Leave a Pretty Corpse,” and my on-going cyberpunk thriller, “Lucky Glow: A Fawn & Briscoe SF Mystery” for my Patrons at Patreon. I am also currently editing titles for Mocha Memoirs Press, as well. We recently released two new horror titles, L. Marie Wood’s “Telecommuting” and Stephen L Brayton’s “Night Shadows.”

Where can we find you online?
I am online at Twitter, @nicolegkurtz, at Facebook as facebook.com/NicoleGKurtz, at website http://www.nicolegivenskurtz.net, and at Patreon http://www.patreon.com/NicoleGKurtz

Tremendous thanks to Nicole Givens Kurtz for being this week’s featured author!

Happy reading!

Welcome back! This week, I’m excited to spotlight author Douglas Ford. Douglas is the author of the collection, Ape in the Ring and Other Tales of the Macabre and Uncanny, as well as numerous works of short fiction.

Recently, Douglas and I discussed his new collection as well as his inspiration and favorite parts of the writing process.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

Thank you so much for this opportunity! I’ve pretty much always aspired to write, starting at a young age, like around seven or eight, when I put together a community newspaper in my parents’ garage. My friend and I wrote all the content, including a sports section where we talked about our t-ball team, and we went around and sold it to neighbors for pennies. I had a romantic idea about writing and being a reporter that probably came from Superman’s alter-ego, Clark Kent. I was the kind of kid who didn’t aspire to be Superman, but rather Clark Kent since he had such a cool job. Later, as a teenager, I would write short stories that imitated what I read in The Twilight Zone magazine and Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, all of which was pretty terrible. I still have my first rejection from Asimov’s that I received when I was around 17. I’d always wanted to write horror and speculative fiction, but my adult inspiration came when I read two short stories for the first time: “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates and “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor. Those stories lit a fire in me, and so I would acknowledge them as favorite authors, along with Shirley Jackson, Charles Beaumont, and Brian Evenson. Short fiction is my life-blood, and I gravitate towards those authors, along with writers we don’t always associate with genre fiction, like Don DeLillo, Thomas Pynchon, Ralph Ellison, and Toni Morrison.

Congratulations on the recent release of your collection, Ape in the Ring and Other Tales of the Macabre and Uncanny. How did you choose the stories that appear in the book, and do you have a personal favorite?

Thanks! The stories in that collection come from work I’d published in the last decade, mostly in the small press, and the decision to include them simply came down to them being some of my favorite pieces. It’s hard to identify a favorite–when people read the collection, almost everyone mentions different ones as favorites, with “Wasps” probably mentioned most often. But if pressed, I’d probably say that the title story, “Ape in the Ring,” means the most to me since it’s the first story I wrote that is set in a fictional area of Florida called Vissaria County. It was also the first story I wrote where I felt like I found my voice, something I realized when I had the opportunity to read it out loud to audiences. It’s also weird and nasty, with questionable parental figures, a motif that I seem to come back to over and over again. That, and apes, though the titular “ape” in the story might be something else, but I want to avoid spoilers in case anyone wants to read it.

You also have a new book due out in the fall. What can you share about the inspiration behind it?

It’s a novel set in Vissaria County, which I just mentioned. I’m a proud horror nerd, and in some sense, that novel is essentially me free-basing on the genre elements I adore. I let myself have fun with the characters and the narrative, which as one early reader has pointed out, has a stronger than usual southern gothic vibe. It’s also a love-letter to the kind of Euro-cult horror films I love, with a character through which I paid homage to the late, great Jacinto Molina, who went by Paul Naschy in his films, many of which involve a recurring werewolf character. Likewise, this novel involves lycanthropy, witches, black masses, and lots of other fun stuff, even possibly a Skunk Ape, which is Florida’s version of Big Foot. It’s called Beasts of Visssaria County and will appear in late 2021 from D&T Publishing.

What draws you to the horror genre in particular? Do you remember the first horror movie you ever saw or horror story you read?

As a kid, I would grab every issue of Tomb of Dracula I was lucky enough to find, and at some point, someone gave me a kid’s version of Poe’s works, printed on really cheap paper with lurid illustrations. I was most drawn to its version of “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and that’s still my favorite Poe story. My parents let me stay up late to watch scary movies on the tube, and the one I remember seeing first was Son of Frankenstein. The best part was that my parents would wait until the movie was over and hide in the hallway when I stumbled to my bedroom. They would jump out of the shadows and scare the hell out of me, which definitely added something to the experience of watching the movie. I really love them for doing this. I can’t say for sure what draws me to the horror genre. Maybe I still crave that feeling of knowing something lurks in the shadows and I want to tease it out into the open so that it’ll reveal itself.

You currently reside in Florida. How, if at all, does your home state influence your writing?

A big part, certainly, since I have a good portion of my work set in Vissaria County. Aside from all the stuff about Florida Man, Florida is just strange and swampy. It’s a diverse state, not just in terms of people, but in land and history. With climate change and rising sea levels, there’s even a sense that it’s sinking, fueling the sense that we’re surrounded here by nature in forms that are both beautiful and terrifying. For me, it often generates the feeling of the sublime that Edmund Burke talked about and which is so important to horror and weird fiction.

If forced to choose, which is your favorite part of the writing process: crafting characters, writing dialogue, or establishing setting?

I was re-reading King’s Tommyknockers recently, and there’s a line about how creative people hear voices, and that’s me: I tend to start with characters who manifest themselves in the voices I’m hearing. Hence, I tend to start with characters and how they sound, how they talk, and from there, I learn about what they’re feeling and what they want. In the fiction I write that works best, it begins there, with the characters teaching me about themselves, and I try to listen.

What are you working on next?

I’m finishing up a novella for Madness Heart Press, another story about Vissaria County, this one a love story involving a couple with a pet leech. It’s called Little Lugosi: A Love Story. Where Beasts of Vissaria County has many hallmarks of the southern gothic, this one has folk horror qualities that I enjoyed playing with. I also recently finished a short story that fictionalizes the creation of Coral Castle, a strange, long-standing roadside attraction in South Florida. I’m pretty happy with how that one turned out, so hopefully it finds a home in a magazine or anthology.

Where can we find you online?

I can be found on Facebook as well as Instagram and Slasher. Give me a holler–or a howl!

Big thanks to Douglas Ford for being this week’s featured author!

Happy reading!

Welcome back! Today I’m excited to spotlight author Fred Venturini. Fred is the author of numerous books, including The Heart Does Not Grow Back, The Escape of Light, and his latest, To Dust You Shall Return.

Recently, Fred and I discussed his new book as well as his inspiration as an author.

When did you decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

I can’t remember making a conscious decision. I always wrote stories, and I’m not sure why. I remember playing an NES game, Dragon Warrior, and writing spin-off stories about the game on a legal pad.

My grandmother valued reading. We’d sit on her porch, and she would just read and read, I don’t know how she had the endurance to do it. Her rule was letting me read anything I wanted to, so I gravitated to the dark and weird stuff. I did my 4th-grade book report on CUJO.

So, it’s cliche, but I grew up with Stephen King, the man who launched a million novelists. I’m a Constant Reader. FIGHT CLUB blew me away, and I’ve been a raving Chuck Palahniuk fan ever since. I can’t read enough David Foster Wallace, especially his essays.

And there are just so many great authors right now, and I can’t read everything from everyone. Malerman, Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones. Richard Thomas has a new collection I’m excited about. Gabino Iglesias talks the talk (his Twitter feed is a must for authors and readers alike), but man if he doesn’t turn a phrase with the best of them.

And you! Rust Maidens was legit.

Your new book, To Dust You Shall Return, is due out soon from Keylight Books. What can you share about the book? What was the inspiration for it, and how long did it take you to write it?

My wife writes in a journal. One night, she was jotting something down, looked at me, and said: “If I die, bury this with me. Don’t read it.”

Felt like an invitation to speculate, and eventually, the journal became a MacGuffin of sorts, and a way for a strong-willed female character to take control of tropes and cliches to her own ends.

I also wanted a way to toy with my favorite character archetype, the “reactivated badass” that has popped up in many different genres over the years like westerns (Unforgiven) and sci-fi (old Luke in The Last Jedi).

So, the book is most succinctly described the way Jed Ayres did and I’ve been ripping it off ever since: JOHN WICK MEETS THE WICKER MAN.

A revenge character past his prime shows up in a small town to investigate the death of his wife, and quickly learns this isn’t just any small town, it’s more like a Stephen King, Castle Rock small town ruled by cultists.

The heart of the story is the teen girl who grew up there, caught between two destructive forces, nurturing a dream to escape and lead a normal life.

If I may be dramatic and drop the tagline:

A man ruled by darkness. A town ruled by evil. Only one can survive.

What is it about the horror genre in particular that appeals to you?

I get asked this quite a bit, why horror appeals to me. Especially by my wife. I think I finally wrapped my head around an answer.

First, it’s fun. Horror movies are related to comedies: they’re audience films with a release of built tension. My most memorable moviegoing experiences were seeing films like SCREAM and the first chapter of IT with a date and a packed theater. Reading a Paul Tremblay book and then thinking of it when I have to cross the dark to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night? It’s just hard for any other genre to have a lasting effect on me like that.

Second, it’s healthy! Yes, healthy. King once said horror is a rehearsal for death. I think horror is a way to do “negative visualization” that the Stoics and Marcus Aurelius prescribed.

I think horror fans are a resilient bunch because when you’ve considered what it’s like to be stalked by a slasher, haunted by a ghost, or hunted by a serial killer, putting on a mask to go to Home Depot doesn’t seem so bad. Having a tough day at the office? Leatherface could be mounting you on a hook. Trouble in your relationship? Jack Torrence could be swinging his axe at you.

I’ll never forget being at the World Horror Convention as a panelist and getting to meet heavyweights like Joe Hill, Jack Ketchum, Peter Straub. Everyone was just so . . . nice? Polite, well-adjusted, generous, cool people.

At the artist level, writing horror is therapeutic, a release of negative emotions and tension. It also helps that it is the genre that can really get a reaction out of an audience. That’s why I’ve always compared horror to stand-up comedy: free therapy AND art that can be measured by audience reaction.

You’ve written both short and long fiction. Do you find that your approach varies depending on the length of the project?

I don’t prepare for short fiction writing. I just have a premise, and tackle it. A short story, you can rewrite it and open up new layers lots of times without taking up too much time. It’s like building a watch or crafting a joke.

A novel, I need to know where I’m headed. I don’t outline, but I need to know my characters, I need to know my big midpoint setpiece, I need a general ending in mind. A novel is like a 100,000 piece puzzle. First, you have to sort out all the pieces into little piles where you think they may fit. Then, start testing pieces. Oh, the feeling when they click!

If forced to choose, what is your favorite part of the writing process: writing dialogue, establishing setting, or crafting characters?

Dialogue, no question. I love writing cinematically. I love the first-person POV because it’s all dialogue, right? It’s all dialogue coming from a single character.

Dialogue can do the heavy lifting of crafting character. I like to think that what they DON’T say crafts the most character.

Dialogue can also establish a setting AND the character’s relationship to the setting in one go.

Dialogue is where I can slip humor into the darkest story.

Dialogue is also the one piece that skimmers don’t skip. Fast readers never skip over dialogue.

I just love dialogue. Most of my friends would say I like talking, but dialogue sounds more artistic.

What projects are you currently working on?

I have a backlog of ideas that I’m trying to execute as short stories. I haven’t written and submitted short fiction in a long time, and I think that would be a fun way to spend 2021.

As for a new book, I’m always working on my next long-form story, but in my head. I think walking and thinking is writing, and the time at the keyboard is just transcribing, sometimes.

Big thanks to Fred Venturini for being this week’s featured author. Find him online at Twitter and Facebook!

Happy reading!

Welcome back for this week’s author interview! Today, I’m excited to feature Leo X. Robertson. Leo is the author of the forthcoming Unfortunates and The Glow as well as numerous short stories.

Recently, Leo and I discussed his forthcoming books, his inspiration as an author, and his favorite part of the writing process.

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

I started writing at 22 because I’d just finished my engineering bachelor degree and I finally had free time to learn about stuff other than humidity calculations and serpentine disinfection tanks. I started writing well by like 27, though this is probably disputable, haha!

Haruki Murakami got me into reading for pleasure at first. These days, Lionel Shriver, Melissa Broder and Curtis Sittenfeld are authors whose every new book I blindly preorder. I just can’t get enough disillusionment!

Your new collection, Unfortunates, is due out later this year from Unnerving. What can you share about the book? How many stories are included in the table of contents, and how did you select which stories to pick? 

It’s a collection of 8 horror stories and one novella, taken from my last five years of writing. Inside you’ll find a haunted performance artist, a few serial killers and at least thirty child ghosts. Several stories are previously published, but there’s as much unpublished material too. “Unfortunates” is the name of the title novella, but of course could apply to anyone in a horror story!

It’s a mix of my favourite stories and ones that found prestigious homes. I could’ve made an entire other book out of material I didn’t include. Though I wouldn’t make that book, because it wouldn’t be any good.

That gave me some confidence in the quality of this collection. For like a week.

Your next standalone book, The Glow, is due out in the fall. What was the inspiration behind it?

It’s a sci-fi novella based on two random story ideas I’d written down. One was a title, “The Cult of Plastic Island”—the other would spoil the ending!

To me, the story is about my own sister. Just like Lily, the protagonist of this book, I would easily risk my life attempting to retrieve my sister from a cult that lived on an island of plastic garbage. I hope that love translates to the reader—not like I would consciously know how to make that happen, but somehow through fiction it just does, right?

What is it about the horror genre in particular that appeals to you? Do you remember the first horror story you ever read or the first horror movie you ever saw?

As is true of all horror writers I’m sure, I use the genre to explore the things that scare me. And I find life absolutely terrifying for all sorts of reasons!

In my horror stories, there’s usually an aggressive tone, lots of hostile forces and manipulative people. It reflects my experience of life from horror’s perspective: it’s too much, too fast, and very loud.

I love connecting with readers because I know they can relate. I’d guess that’s why the horror community is the kindest and most encouraging.

My first horror memory is when my brother and sister rented “The Witches.” I was too young to see it, so I went outside with my dad and shone a torch through the window at them to scare them. I remember this because the mere suggestion that a scary movie had played on our TV scared me at that age. And rightly so! “The Witches” is messed up!

Later, I saw that “Tooms” episode of the X-Files and kept expecting to see glowing yellow eyes in every shadow for like a year!

You’ve written both short and long fiction. Do you find that your approach varies depending on the length of the project? Do you prefer writing short fiction or longer works?

Good question! My method is more or less the same—chaos, confusion, doubt etc—but if I have a longer thing with multiple character perspectives, after a general plotting, I will write it one strand at a time. I’ve found that it’s tougher to write a story like that from beginning to end in order. Switching character perspectives is like restarting your imagination over and over.

I like the satisfaction of creating something long, but I also enjoy the confidence of knowing every word has a purpose that I can only really get from short fiction. Unfortunates is about as confident as I can get that a book of mine is worth reading for that very reason.

If forced to choose, what is your favorite part of the writing process: crafting characters, plotting the story, or establishing setting?

I’d never thought of it before, but, characters!

I give all my characters some element of myself. They get into all sorts of messes and I think, “Oh it’s not a big deal, you can move past this”—when I almost never so readily tell myself the same thing. I like devising their internal monologues too, which usually consist of endless unanswerable questions—then I think, “They can’t answer that, no one can! So why do I always expect myself to know the answer?” I end up wanting to be more forgiving towards myself and others. I hope my fiction serves that purpose for others—not that I have any idea what it does.

What projects are you currently working on?

I just finished my second feature film, “Burnt Portraits”! It’s a horror film starring myself and actor Sam Crichton. Sam’s mum mentioned that the basement of her art studio looked like a great set for a horror film, so I wrote one and we went and made it there! It is such a good setting and I look forward to people assuming that we procured all the stuff there for our film, but I just wrote a film around what was in there. So many free props!!

I was thinking recently how literally anyone else, if offered the prospect of making a film with their best friend, would’ve created something fun and silly. But no, I made an extremely ambitious, very intense and harrowing film that questions why anyone bothers doing anything. Because that’s what I do. My only regret in finishing it is that I feel like I could’ve enjoyed the process more. That’s what I’ll do next time.

I’ll get back to rewriting a novel I’ve been working on for ages, hopefully finishing in time to make another film with Sam in the summer, time and COVID allowing. (Sam if you’re reading this, it will be a nicer script and easier, I promise!)

Where can we find you online?

I like getting added on Facebook! That’s usually how I find out what writers are up to and message them about appearing on my podcast:

https://www.facebook.com/leo.x.robertson

You can enjoy my Drag Race meme retweets on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Leoxwrite

My blog is here:

Leoxrobertson.wordpress.com

I also encourage just about anyone to consider joining the Stavanger Filmmakers Club. I started it here in Norway so I could make stuff with people in person, but I frequently request international voiceover work, and you can appear as a character on a Skype/Zoom call from anywhere in the world, right?

https://stavangerfilmmakers.com/

I found my people! Everyone is so nice. A guy even made us this website just because he enjoys doing that?!

Big thanks to Leo X. Robertson for being this week’s featured author!

Happy reading!

Welcome back for this week’s author interview! Today, I’m thrilled to feature Joanna Koch. Joanna is the author of The Wingspan of Severed Hands and The Couvade as well as numerous works of short fiction.

Recently, Joanna and I discussed their latest book as well as their inspiration as an author!

A couple icebreakers to start: when did you decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors?

Well, first, thank you so much for having me, Gwendolyn. I admire your work tremendously, and I’m so pleased to speak with you.

I started writing around 2010. I’d always done visual art with modest success, though mostly for the pleasure of self-expression. At some point, art wasn’t fulfilling my needs. It wasn’t saying what I wanted to say. I got really into organic and homestead gardening, the physical and stewardship work involved in that. I wrote a gardening blog (which is now defunkt) to document that journey. My first attempted fiction was on the blog: a surreal fairy tale about sawfly larva transforming into roses through compost. I’d never considered writing fiction before. Once I started, I was addicted I guess.

I have such a hard time naming favorite authors, because I appreciate a wide variety, and it changes over time. I’m in my fifties, so I’ve read more books than I can remember. Currently, I’m really interested in Gary Shipley, Kathe Koja, and Gnome’s experimental open source poetry books with pseudonymous authors. I try to stay in touch with popular horror fiction, but I’m more inspired as a writer by work that’s difficult, that feels like it’s just out of my grasp.

Your new book, The Wingspan of Severed Hands, is out now from Weirdpunk Books. What can you share about the inspiration behind it?

The overt source material referenced in the book includes the Grimms fairy tale, “The Maiden Without Hands,” and Robert Chambers’ King In Yellow mythos stories. The personal inspiration was my desire to create a multifaceted character in a richer way than I’d seen in speculative novels like “Ophiuchi Hotline.” I wanted to explore a character with tons of trauma who survives and thrives after going through hell. I wanted that character’s internal world, which is by definition disturbed and uncomfortable to inhabit, to really stain the pages. Professionally, I’ve spent time with people experiencing some levels of psychotic process, and glimpsed the alternate reality created in minds pushed to the extreme. I wanted to capture that, and more than that, suggest it is not a permanent state. I wanted a narrative demonstrating that change is possible.

You’ll pardon me for going on too long, but it’s really a problem that in our society we give up on people once they are labeled with certain diagnoses. There’s no funding for the kind of treatment that really heals deep wounds, the kind of communal support, almost tribal support, that’s proven to effect slow but permanent change. Instead, the focus is on meds and capitalist goals, like putting people into the workplace when what they need is time and space to heal. Anyone who’s interested can look up The Windhorse Project for an example of the kind of non-traditional approach I’m referring to, and look into ecotherapy as well for more radical psychotherapy ideas.

What is it about horror and the weird that appeal to you as a writer and reader?

At first, I didn’t know I was writing horror. In critiques, I was hearing that my characters behaved shockingly, or subject matter was too distasteful or “unrealistic.” So one day I was reading an anthology of horror for fun, because horror was my go-to “cheap thrill” entertainment. I came across Joyce Carroll Oates. Hers was a kind of horror that wasn’t slasher, that wasn’t necessarily supernatural, and that towed an uncomfortable line between reality and imagination. Full of symbolism and emotion. Unquestionably literature. That’s when I had my “Aha” moment. Horror and the weird can take us places we aren’t allowed to go in normal life. Horror faces hard questions with more courage than therapists, parents, and churches. Horror will not make things easy for you; it’s going to show you the truth. And you feel it, when horror is done well. Rather than letting you sit on the sidelines, horror demands you face moral questions, existential questions, issues of violence and its cause, its meaninglessness; and questions about what you would do to protect those you love or to survive a threat. Horror doesn’t lie, and I love that. That’s the conversation I want to have.

Your story, “The Revenge of Madeline Usher,” appears in the Stoker-nominated anthology Not All Monsters. How did that particular story come into being?

I love Poe, and I first read all of his work around age 11 or 12 when my mother was cleaning a church for a living. I had to wait around several hours after school for her to finish every day, and it was next to the public library, so I spent that year reading Poe and Shakespeare, and then books like Clockwork Orange and Malone Dies while hanging out in the pews! It was perfect. Anyway, I wanted to examine Poe again from my point of view as a writer, and I was shocked that Madeline literally never speaks in “The Fall of the House of Usher.” In my mind, I remembered a central, vital character. Yet she was a ghost. Worse, she was abused not only in the story, but in the text, in the way Poe handled her. No shade on Poe; he was a product of his time. I was busy with another project, but I had to grab a notebook and write Madeline’s “real” story in her own words right away. It was absolutely urgent. I’m incredibly fortunate it was chosen for Not All Monsters by Sara Tantlinger, who is a delight to work with.

Do you have any particular writing habits? Do you write at a certain time of day or in a certain place? Do you listen to music or prefer the quiet?

I’m obsessive, and I always need to have a project occupying my mind. I like to have at least one project running as a background program in my head no matter what else I’m doing. When I sit down to write, I tend towards quiet, so I can hear the words, but it depends on the project. I’ve found that different projects, and the desire to push myself to change and experiment, call for different approaches. So I don’t write every day, or at the same time every day. And sometimes I write or edit for ten hours straight. I edit so much. It’s hard to stop! I try to trick myself into creativity by changing things: fonts, location, handwritten versus computer, and now I’m doing a novella on my phone, which makes me laugh, because I think it’s a terrible idea, and that’s exactly why I’m doing it. I’m all about surrealist games. I asked a friend for words by text message all through a piece once, and the results were amazing. I guess I have no rules except to keep writing.

If forced to choose, what is your favorite part of the writing process: establishing setting/mood, crafting characters, or plotting the story?

Mood is essential. By this I mean conceptualizing the tone and texture of the piece, getting a feel for it before any words hit the page. The mood is my guiding light, and setting, characters, and plot are malleable elements that serve it. I take a kind of sculptural approach, although if you press me to explain, I’m not sure how to quantify that. Let’s just say I can work my way through all the mechanics of a piece once I get a strong feeling for it in my gut. If I don’t have that, I move on to another project.

What projects are you currently working on?

As I mentioned, I’m experimenting with writing a novella on my phone. It’s a coming of age story set in the early 80s under the threat of nuclear war and Reagan-era religious politics. I’d like to capture the sense we had that the world was going to end, that there was no reason to plan a future or avoid drugs and sex and violence because we were going to die any second. The bomb was going to drop, or the rapture was going to come. This was also exactly when HIV emerged, and suddenly even in the deep south, queer culture could not be ignored, even though the light shone on it was deeply negative. My narrator is trans, and I’m negotiating how they will or won’t express that in a time and place when almost no one was out, when there was no language for discussing gender identity. My teenage characters are getting in so much trouble. They’re experimenting with a nuclear powered drug that might induce time travel, among other things. I like them all so much, and I’m at the point where I’m really sad I have to start killing them off soon. I’m sure you understand!

Anyway, I also recently tasked myself to write one flash piece every day for a week. I’m often a slow writer, so this was a challenge. It resulted in 5 good pieces, and one has already been accepted for publication. Another I’m going to expand into a novella or mosaic novel because I created a big world with magical beasts and a personal emotional charge that doesn’t fit the short format – very exciting. I have a wealth of material and ideas and simply need the time and energy to craft finished works. I very much do not believe in rushing. I’m planning to release a collection in 2022 or early 2023, even though I have the requisite quantity of material now. I came out in 2020, and it changed my writing. I want more of my new work to be included in my first collection, for both quality and queer representation. If I release nothing but old work, it just won’t be queer enough.

Where can we find you online?

I’m on Twitter @horrorsong. My website is horrorsong.blog where I maintain a running bibliography, including a section with links to my online fiction. My favorite free-to-read piece is “Good Paper,” published by Storgy Magazine Online. There’s also an excerpt of my novella The Wingspan of Severed Hands available at Fright Girl Summer.

Thank you so much for speaking with me. It’s been such a pleasure. Take care!

Big thanks to Joanna Koch for being this week’s featured author!

Happy reading!