In “The Compound” With Robert Ford

From the publisher:

Tartarus Federal Penitentiary is home to the worst violent criminals society has cultivated. It’s also a revolutionary modern-day fortress, powered by solar panels and built to be a self-sustaining environment, complete with dairy barns and green houses. It’s the perfect place to be when an experimental virus hits the American public, making the dead walk the Earth once again.

Two brothers become entwined in a deadly struggle for power among the crowd of prisoners that have overtaken the guards.

Divorced parents fight for survival, trying to find each other and keep their daughter safe from the growing number of zombies.

An old biker is a man on a mission, trying to fulfill a promise to his dead wife, apocalypse be damned. Both his will and his supply of ammunition will be tested.

As the survivors on the outside fight for their lives, their lines of fate converge, leading them through the crowds of zombies and forcing them into the hell of the prison to save one of their own.

Robert Ford has delivered a hit right out of the gate with his debut novel, The Compound.  From the beginning where a disillusioned General watches the world burn because of the Branch 14 virus, Ford takes the reader on a tightly woven tale that left me unable to put the book down until that final page.  As illustrated in the description above, the book follows the characters on their own paths as they find their way through a new and terrible world.  Without going into too much detail about the characters and their trials, each one reads like a person you know and can relate too.  A brother watching his sibling go crazy with power while inside a prison where the inmates rule, a father trying to find his ex-wife and daughter, and a man trying to keep a promise to his dead wife all grab you and stay with you long after you put the book down.

The book starts quickly with the Branch 14 virus getting loose and quickly spreading across the United States.  Once the virus is established, we are introduced to the main characters in short chapters placing them in the path of the newly risen dead.  Ford shifts the point-of-view around in short sweet chunks.  Each person gets time to grow and the chapter lengths aren’t long, but instead are small bite sized pieces that help to build the tension.  This is really used well when the action is focused on the prison as the action ramps up for its bloody conclusion.

Overall, the father trying to find his family during the zombie apocalypse has been done many times.  Robert Ford does take it and with his voice, makes it a new experience that doesn’t seem old and worn, but instead new and exciting.  The hardcover is sold out from the publisher, but it is available in eBook format (click here to purchase).  I highly recommend the book to anyone who loves zombie fiction or to anyone who wants to read a great book.

I am now pleased to welcome to the Arena for the “10 Questions”, Mr. Robert Ford…   

1.  Who is Robert Ford and how did he get here in his writing journey?

Oh wow. That is a long journey without a ring of power, I’ll tell you.
I grew up as an only child on a large farm in northern Maryland. My
parents worked a lot and my grandfather lived with us as long as I can
remember — he was the farmer on previously mentioned working farm —
and I was left to my own devices a lot. My mother kept buying me books
as a kid… I guess to occupy me and feed my imagination as well as so
she could get something done around the house. Little did she know…

I devoured books as a kid and rapidly worked my way up the ladder to
more adult fiction (a lot of which, my parents probably didn’t know I
read at the time), and one day I discovered a paperback of Stephen
King’s Carrie. That absolutely changed everything for me. I had
written short stories and poetry in school as far back as I could
remember and just kept on doing it. I was very lucky to have a string
of phenomenal English teachers that saw something in me back then and
kept urging me on.

Who am I? I am my own worst boogeyman.
I am a wearer of many hats… but to be honest, as much as I’d like to
answer this one, I’ve honestly got no clue who I am. You hear some
people say they’re really in touch with themselves and they “know” who
they are… I don’t know. Over the years I’ve started to think we’re
all fluid like quicksilver, forever changing and impossible to grasp
and maybe a little bit poisonous.

2.  The Compound takes place in a world where the undead walk and  
the inmates are running the prison. How did you research the prison  
life portrayed in the novel?

The prison in The Compound is a futuristic model, created with modern,
self-sustaining amenities to take the burden off of the American
taxpayer. To my knowledge, I don’t think a prison exists like this in
the real world, but I kept kicking around the what-ifs and arrived at
the design of Tartarus.

I looked over a lot of overhead views and layouts of penitentiaries
and prisons across the country, studying them for how secure they
might be, as well as how the hell I could break into one if I had to.
Like the old saying goes… if it’s built by man, it can be destroyed
by man.

For a while, I fell down a rabbit hole of research, reading a ton of
files and message boards and publications about… ehh… let’s say…
information that could be frowned on by the government. Thing is, I
HAD to read about this kind of thing. It’s the sort of information
that would come in handy during a zombie apocalypse. Homemade bombs,
survivalist booby-traps, weaponry, poor man’s silencers. The internet
is an absolutely scary wealth of knowledge.

3.  You are a very busy man between your writing and your Whutta (www.whutta.com 
) ad agency.  How the hell do you find time to write?

I gave up sleep about a decade ago.

It’s difficult, definitely not going to lie about that. My normal
process of research and pre-writing takes longer than a lot of other
writers I know, so it’s always been a struggle, but The Compound,
overall, was written pretty quickly for me. I hope I can continue this
trend.

4.  Samson and Denial was a fun romp through the streets of Philly  
with cults and severed mummy heads, but The Compound took a more  
serious tone dealing with the decay of society and the family.  Did  
the story always want to be a more brutal and serious novel or did  
it turn out that way organically?

Samson and Denial was completely character driven from page one and I
think Samson’s personality is truly what set the tone for that
novella. I knew it was going to be hard and fast-paced with some
twists the readers wouldn’t expect, but there would be undertones of
humor because Samson was the one narrating the story.

With The Compound, I had the opening scene from Chapter One in my head
for about six months before I knew what else happened afterward.
Without giving too much away to anyone who hasn’t read it yet, the
opening scene is supposed to be a light-hearted fun sort of moment
when all of a sudden, things start hitting the fan.

I think that’s what it would really be like if an apocalypse broke
out. I think most bad things that occur in our lives are like that.
You’re strolling along, sipping your Red Bull or playing Angry Birds
when all of a sudden, destiny throws you a curve ball and that happy
little secure pocket of safety you thought you had all along… well,
you realize that was all an illusion.

Death is always over our shoulder whether we want to admit it or not,
and in a communal life or death situation, I think we would see all
manner of breakdown in law and morality and a good portion of human
decency. There will be some who stand out, as there were a few in The
Compound that did — but whether they stand out for being good-hearted
or for utter brutality remains to be seen. I wanted to portray that
type of brutality the world would be like in a situation like that.

5.  What tops Robert Ford’s read pile right now?

This year, I have been scrambling so much I haven’t had time to read
nearly as much as I’d like to, but I have “White Picket Prisons” by
Kelli Owen, “Severance Package” by Duane Swierczynski, and a book
about Shamanism. Oh, and there’s also a tattered copy of Musashi’s The
Book of Five Rings, but that’s a gap-filler because I’ve read it so
many times.

6.  Seeing your first novel released must have been a huge high.   > What went through your mind when you came home and found a box on  > your porch from Thunderstorm books?

Paul Goblirsch is an absolutely amazing guy to work with. I really
can’t say enough about him. He was an absolute pleasure to work with
on Samson and Denial and when he invited me to pitch him some ideas on
a full length novel, I jumped at the opportunity. When I saw the
package on my doorstep, I had seen the cover art on-screen a long time
before that, but seeing and holding my first novel in my own hands…
yeah, that was a big deal. That Thunderstorm does such a beautiful job
on production and design is icing on the cake.

7.   While the characters in The Compound fought for their lives 
around Tartarus Penitentiary the Branch 14 virus was spreading.  Are 
there any plans to return to another area during the outbreak or  
have you said your piece on the subject?

Ahhhh Brent, this question made a smile appear on my face. Here’s the
thing — I had never really intended to write a zombie novel at all. My
fiction has always tended to be more about human monsters, with a
little twist thrown in for good measure. But the idea came to me and I
thought it would be fun and it took off. Along the development of The
Compound, the character Calvin popped into the story out of nowhere—I
hadn’t had an idea of him at all until the day I wrote him onto the
page—and he became one of my favorites.

There’s a lot of things I’ve got lined up first, but I definitely
can’t rule out revisiting this world. As things were wrapping up in
the final chapters, I kept wondering what Calvin’s motorcycle brothers
were doing elsewhere. I don’t know the answer to that question yet,
but if I ever find out, maybe you will too.

8.  What does Robert Ford have coming up for the readers to devour  
next?

I’m finishing a novel right now that’s out of the horror genre titled
No Lipstick in Avalon and it’s a huge departure and for a very
different audience than what I normally write. It was just one of
those ideas that came to mind and a character that wouldn’t shut up in
my head so I sat down one day to write a page or two in an effort to
quiet the thoughts down a bit on the matter. No dice. It only got
stronger and thirty thousand words later, here I am. There’ll be more
information released about that as I get closer to wrapping it up.

But next up in the horror genre, I’m working on a novella–Big Stakes
Jackie—that I had written some notes on and forgotten about. I came
across the notes a while back and laughed as I remembered just how
disgusting some of the things that take place really are. I had the
opening idea a long time ago and it never fully fleshed out until
recently.

After “Big Stakes Jackie, it’s a bit of a toss-up. I’ve got a lot of
notes and research for The Crimson Sisters, which is a novel-length
sequel to Samson and Denial. I won’t reveal a lot of what will happen,
as it’s taking some turns as I flesh it out, but I’ll tell you the
opening line:

“The fucking midget was on fire.”

9.  This is not a question.  Welcome to “Pimp Yourself”!  Right here  
you can lay out where the good people can find and follow you my 
friend.

Haha!  I’m available on Amazon at:

> http://www.amazon.com/Robert-Ford/e/B004TA252S/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

twitter
@bobford

> https://www.facebook.com/robertfordwriter

and the blog

> http://coronersreport.blogspot.com/

10.  There are a few writers who stop by here on their travels 
through the writing world.  What bit of Bob advice do you have for  
them tonight?

If you want to be a writer, then write. That novel/screenplay/short
story/novella isn’t exactly gonna write itself and if you really do
want to become a writer, you’ve got to heed the advice given to me by
so many others in the field: Ass in chair. Write. Repeat.

If not, you’ll end up being that person years from now telling someone
“Yeah, I had a great idea for a novel once.”

Don’t die with your music still in you.

Bonus Question:  Who wins in a drink-out?  Robert Ford or Ron 
Dickie?

Sweet mother of all that’s holy… I can hold my own against mortals,
but he’s CANADIAN for God’s sake! I think the only thing I could
outdrink Dickie in is probably tequila. Everything else he’s got me,
maple leaves down.  =)

I would to thank everyone for stopping by and a big thanks to Robert Ford for taking the time to stop by and chat!

Goodnight… (I know it’s day, but that’s the closing line regardless)

Behind the “Blind Shadows” of James A. Moore and Charles R. Rutledge

In the past few years, I’ve been catching up on the horror authors who I missed.  Among them is James A. Moore.  His partner in crime for this tome is Charles R. Rutledge.  While I have read Moore and enjoy his work, I’m unfamiliar with Rutledge.  After reading their new collaboration Blind Shadows from Arcane Wisdom Press, I will be adding him to the read list.

From Amazon:

When private investigator Wade Griffin moved away from his hometown of Wellman, Georgia he didn’t think he would be back. Too many memories and too many bridges burned. But when an old friend is found brutally murdered and mutilated, nothing can keep Griffin from going home. Teamed with another childhood friend, Sheriff Carl Price, Griffin begins an investigation that will lead down darker paths than he could ever have imagined. Soon Griffin and Price find that there are secrets both dark and ancient lurking in the back woods of Crawford’s Hollow. As Halloween approaches, something evil is growing near the roots of the Georgia
mountains, and the keys to the mystery seem to be a woman of almost indescribable beauty and a dead man who won’t stay dead. As the body count mounts and the horrors pile up, Griffin and Price come to realize that the menace they face extends far beyond the boundaries of Wellman and that their opponents seem to hold all the cards. But the two lawmen have a few secrets of their own, and one way or another there will be hell to pay.

The novel throws you right in the action as Griffin arrives to the murder scene of a childhood friend back in the hometown he left years before.  This is where the novel works really well, it starts off quickly and builds like a crime novel, taking you by the hand and leading you through the backwoods in search of a killer who has a certain dramatic flare when they kill.  Wellman, Georgia has a problem with meth and the murder seems to stem from the local drug trade except the victim exhibits various cult-like symbols.  The ritualistic killings raise questions as to the motive and the killer’s identity.  A string of similar mutilated bodies begin to pile up linking the murders in the method and details taken at each crime scene.  The action builds as Griffin and Price race to figure out who is behind the killings while enlisting the aid of an old man versed in local lore, an old professor, and the local occult bookstore owner.  In the center of it all is the Blackbourne family who controls the local drug trade and maybe more than anyone else ever imagined because on Halloween night 1986, something tried to enter our world and failed.  Now as Halloween approaches, it is time to try again leading to a page turning climax that is very satisfying.

The book reads like a hard-boiled crime novel and shifts to a good horror novel.  Once the focus changes to the cult and supernatural elements, it takes you for a ride that grabs you and throws you around for a bit.  There are nods to the Lovecraft mythos, pulse pounding action, and some surprises are in store for those who are familiar with Moore’s work as you find out what is going on in the shadows.

Overall, when you can throw some murder, an undead hillbilly, and elder gods into a novel…you have my attention.  It is a bloody fun read and the book flew by quickly.  When it was over, I wanted to read more about the area and the local myths and legends that built the novel’s narrative.

Great book, highly recommended, and I give it 4.5 out of 5 tombstones.

The 2012 That Was and My 10 Favorite Books of the Year!

2012 kicked ass.  Simple and awesome, it was one of the best years a person could ask for.  The writing really started to get somewhere this year and there were some great things going on along with it.  Over the course of the year, I had stories come out in six anthologies as well as a few other accepted ones that are upcoming.  I had tales in Little Stories for the Smallest Room, a short non-fiction piece in Zombie Writing!,  Short Sips: Coffee House Flash Fiction Vol. 2, Father Grim’s Storybook, Undead Tales 2,and I received the honor of closing out Ten Silver Bullets. The big moment for the year was the release of my first solo work, a novella called In Memoriam. This year also saw me give my first book blurb for my friend Carl Moore on his novella Slash of Crimson (a very good read-go pick it up).  One of the most fun things I took part in however, was the book signing with my friend and fellow author Wesley Southard in October.  I finished up work on a handful of new stories and I am in the last stretch of the first Southern Devilsbook.  If you like zombies and history smashed together, this will be for you.

Here at the blog I had interviews with Nate Southard, Tim Lebbon, and Armand Rosamilia, a few different blog hops roared through, and I had my best viewer year ever because of all of you stopping by to take a look.  The Twitter, Facebook, and blog follower numbers have all increased this year and I hope the trend continues into the new year.

2013 looks promising too.  There are more anthologies on tap and some more surprises in store for you readers out there.  But first, without any more delay…my favorite books of 2012.  There are some older books, I wanted to branch it out to the books I’ve read over the last year.  Fear not, the focus is still on this year’s releases.

These are in no order at all…

1.  Edward Lee- The Infernal Series…  For this, I read the whole series back to back and the way Lee portrays Hell as a city called the Mephistopolis was amazing.  He constructed an entire working city-scape complete with a demonic caste system and even an evil economic system.  All three books are worth picking up and reading when you think society around you sucks.  Remember, it could always be worse…

2.  Anthony Kiedis w/Larry Sloman- Scar Tissue… Yes, there is a biography on the list.  The lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers gives ua a raw and no-holds-barred look into his life and his constant battle with drug addiction.  At times uplifting, sad, and horrific, Kiedis shows the reader everything that has made him who he is.

3.  J.F. Gonzalez and Wrath James White- The Killings…  A very tightly written tale about racism, murder, and evil.  The story takes place in two different timeframes, 1911 and 2011 Atlanta.  A series of killings in 2011 mirror a series of murders in 1911.  Carmen Mendoza is a reporter who thinks they have found the link between the two sets of murders as well as a string of other deaths that have occurred in the Atlanta area over the years.

4.  Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee- The Woman… This is the third book in Ketchum’s series about a tribe of feral people living in the wilds and the bloodbath that follows them.  She is alone and finds herself captured.  The woman is being broken.  A sick man and his family have made it their duty to domesticate her, to tame her wildness.  But all the best intentions never end well and the violence he showed her is about to be repaid a hundred fold.  The Cemetery Dance hardcover also includes the bonus novella “Cow”, which serves as a nice coda to the book and leaves the door open for more to come.

5.    Kelli Owen- White Picket Prisons… A tale of justice in the town of Valley Mill where there is no crime and when Detective Mark Baker tries to track down his sister there, he thinks he finds the utopia his burned out soul has been looking for.  But for Mark, things are never what they truly seem behind the false fronts and smiles.  Something lurks beyond the happy town’s front that could be his end.  This book came along at a time when I was preoccupied with justice and how things go unpunished.

6.  J.F. Gonzalez and Brian Keene- Clickers vs. Zombies… This was the most fun I had reading a book all year long.  At first, I thought the idea sounded absurd, but it turned out to be a full-on B-Movie like assault through both author’s mythologies.  When Ob and his minions begin to inhabit the dead bodies of the Clickers, characters from both worlds cross-over in a riotous time.  This is worth it to see some of your favorite characters in positions and jobs you’d never expect them to be in.

7.  Nate Southard- Something Went Wrong…  A short story collection where each story is a great read.  Nate’s short story writing is amazing and every tale is worth reading.  My favorites in the book were, “Team Building Exercise”, “In the Middle of Poplar Street”, and “Going Home, Ugly Stick in Hand”.

8.  Geoff Cooper- Answers of Silence… The second story collection on the list is a very dark and ironic look at the world around us.  Overall a strong collection where I enjoyed every story.  For a taste of how twisted Coop can be, I recommend “Latex: Like a Glove”.

9.  Jeff Strand- A Bad Day for Voodoo… A funny romp through the day that Tyler Churchill decided the best way to deal with his teacher Mr. Click is with a voodoo doll.  When the tables are turned on him, he must survive long enough to reverse the curse placed upon him…if there’s any of him left.  At times while it’s really crazy and bloody, it packs the laughs a Strand novel is known for.

10.  Brian Keene- Earthworm Gods II: Deluge…  If I had to pick a favorite, this is the one.  Picking up where the first Earthworm Gods left off, the survivors of the great rains struggle to live through the constantly rising waters and the new creatures coming up from the deep.  The book was at first a serial novel on Keene’s website, but he re-edited it and this is the collected version.  I waited until the book came out to read it and I wasn’t disappointed at all.  The novel also serves as a lead-in to the next stage in his mythos with The Lost Level, which he working on now.

And there it is my friends, this is the end for this year.  I’ll see you again in 2013 where we’ll start kicking ass again!

Goodnight…

Halloween is Near, So Let Us Coffin Hop!

Here we are again kiddies, the baddest of bad, the scariest of scary, the Coffin Hop 2012.  Last year I wrote several posts about authors I dig that you should be digging too.  In my “10 Questions” feature I have from time to time, John Everson , Nate Southard, and Jeff Strand entered the arena and survived their battles.  This year I want to take it back a bit.  There is one guest lined up to step in the arena and as soon as the interview comes back, you’ll be in for a treat.  The other days, I want to focus on what music, movies, books, and such influence me and my work.

Before I begin however, there are some housekeeping things to tend to.  First, to see what other amazing authors are on the Coffin Hop go here and hit the Linky Link 2012 button, to check out the Scavenger Hunt at Melissa Smith’s website visit here, and to support the upcoming Coffin Hop anthology to benefit literacy programs by picking up some sweet Coffin Hop swag drag your mouse this way and click here.

For those who have found me here for the first time, hello.  I want you to step inside and get comfortable.  Fire up a cigar and pop open a beer.  Kick your feet up on the table, hell I don’t care.

But once you settle in and feel like everything is going to be ok, I’ll plunge you down into the dark depths of humanity and the evil lurking in the shadows of our very minds.

No, really…I’m glad your here and please feel free to roam around the site (nothing will bite…much).  This year is new to me because before I only had anthologies to promote, but this year I have my controversial novella In Memoriam.  A signed copy is part of this year’s prize package as well as an electronic copy of the Coffin Hop Anthology E.P. ( a short preview of next year’s full anthology), and a few nice paperbacks from some of my favorite horror authors.  To be entered in the drawing, you must make a comment on any blog post this week during the Coffin Hop or sign up to follow the blog (comment once-comment often).  You can earn extra entries by following me on Twitter or “liking” my fan page on Facebook (links are over on the side).  Already signed up for all the social media places to find me?  That’s fine, just comment and you’ll be entered!

Well, that does it for today.  Tune in Wednsday for the top 10 albums that haunt my dreams and me scream when I write and on Friday night, author Tim Lebbon stops by to answer the “10 Questions”!

Goodnight…

On “Lights Out” and Interview with Nate Southard!

Nate Southard is brutal.  His writing is tight and visceral.  In the short time I’ve been exposed to his work, I’ve devoured almost everything he’s published.  He’s brought us the cruelty of Just Like Hell, a view from the end of the world in This Little Light of Mine, and the will to survive the monstrous in Red Sky.  It’s been one of recent works that really caught me when I read it.  Lights Out is a lean and mean descent into the Hell of Burnham State Maximum Security Prison. 

Beneath the walls of the prison, two convicts attempt to dig their way to freedom only to disturb a force that’s slept for years.  Now awake, it’s thirsty and it wants blood.  So begins the tale of vampires and other monsters.  Unlike the ‘new’ vampires in todays culture, Nate gives them their horrific edge back.  No beautiful people falling in love, just pure blood lust and evil, the way it should be.

The vampires aren’t the only monsters however.  Within the walls of the prison lives the evil that manifests its self in humanity.  Diggs, Sweeny, Marquez,  and Ribisi are the men with the power within the walls.  They are the men in charge of the four gangs vying for supremacy among the prisoners.  When the bodies first start to mount up, the gangs blame each other and look to take the fight to their adversaries.  Father Albright and Warden Timms want to control the situation and keep the gangs from retaliating.  It is these characters where Nate really shines in the book.  The prisoners and the staff are so well-rounded and their stories so interesting that I found myself wanting to read more about them and less about what happened when the sun went down.

Once the body count starts rising and the bodies themselves are vanishing, Father Albright works to form an alliance between the gangs to find the reason for the brutal attacks and killings happening at night within the prison.  Albright must do all this behind the warden’s back while he is trying to save his job from a governor who is quite upset about the murders in the prison.  The book follows the men on their quest to save the prison and the extent they can trust those who are their sworn enemies.  It all leads to a riotous conclusion that was both tightly written and satisfying.  Oh…and bloody.

Lights Out reminded me a lot of Salem’s Lot, which I consider ‘the” vampire novel after Dracula.  Like in Salem’s Lot, it is the build up of the characters and the slow burn that makes the book great.  The denizens of Burnham feel real and true.  Their distrust of one another and their forced alliance tightens the screws and doesn’t let up until the last page.  Overall, I highly recommend grabbing a copy and reading it, you won’t be sorry.  Thunderstorm Books still has a few copies, so click over and pick it up before it sells out.

Now as a special treat, Nate has agreed to enter The Arena to answer the 10 Questions!  So without further ado, here is Nate Southard:

1. After completing Lights Out, I was blown away by the way you put the monster back into the vampire. How did you prepare to write the novel?

-Honestly, I’ve never read many ‘romantic’vampire stories. The ones I always loved were things like Kin’s ‘Salem’s Lotand McKammon’s They Thirst, so I’ve always pictured vampires as brutal monstrosities. All of my preparation went into researching how things generally work in prison. Once I had a very basic outline in place, I put in Faith No More’s Angel Dust (which I listened to exclusively as I wrote the first draft), hit play, and got to work.

2. The characterization of the inmates, especially the gang leaders, is brutal and Burnham is such a rich backdrop. What planning and research went into the people who inhabit the prison?

 -Well, I tried really hard to schedule a tour of a prison, but it appears the State of Texas doesn’t do such things. I interviewed a few people who’d worked as correctional officers to find out what a day in the life is like. I wanted to know things like how much freedom inmates have during the day, what happens during a lockdown, and a whole host of other things. The rest of it was deciding what these people had done, what they believed in, and what sort of moral code they upheld. To this day, Marquez is my favorite creation. I love his strange mix of anger, wisdom, and honor, all while capable of doing some truly horrific things.

3. While reading the novel, the character of Maggot reminded me of somebody. Is he your novel’s answer to Renfield in Dracula?

 -I can see where he kind of fits that mold, but I really wanted Maggot to be the guy who probably should have wound up in a psychiatric hospital instead of a prison. He’s felt like a victim most of his life, and then he ends up in a place where he’s the ultimate victim. I’m sure there has to be people in prisons who are just terrified day in and day out. That’s Maggot.

4. I found This Little Light of Mine intriguing and at the end I wanted to go on further. The world you created within the parking garage seemed like a piece of a much bigger puzzle. Is it something you plan on returning to in the future?

 -Good catch! This Little Light of Mine started as one-quarter of a novel called The Collapse, which would show a global apocalypse from four different places. My plan has always been to write four novellas and then splice them together like a movie. One of these days, I need to get around to writing the other three. They’re all in my head, just not on the page.

5. How do you go about writing a new Nate Southard novel. Do you plot out everything with an outline or do you just dive-in and let the story take you where it takes you?

 -It depends on the piece. Some of my stuff, like Lights Out and Just Like Hell, got pretty sparse outlines. With Red Sky, all I knew was that I wanted to write one scene near the end of the novel. I saw something that just struck me as really horrible and beautiful at the same time, and I wanted to put it in a novel. I had to write about fifty thousand words to get there, but it turned out all right. Other times, I just start writing scenes that stick in my head until somehow they fit together and make sense. The title novella of my new collection, Something Went Wrong, was partially written that way.

6. I am a big fan of beer. How did your homebrew turn out?

 -My first batch, a brown ale, turned out both delicious and potent, but it never did carbonate right, probably because of a mistake I made while bottling. Right now, I’ve got an IPA on storage that I’m hoping will get nice and fizzy in the next two weeks.

7. Don’t hurt me, but I haven’t got to Scavengers or Down yet. They are high the reading list though… What is on your reading list right now?

 -I just finished reading Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, which is amazing from start to finish, and I’m getting ready to start John Horner Jacobs’ Southern Gods. After that, it’ll probably be some Laird Barron and Paul Tremblay, unless Sarah Langan has a novel coming out that I don’t know about. She always goes on top of the pile.

8. What upcoming projects do you have in the pipeline you haven’t been sworn to secrecy about?

                                      -My new short story collection, Something Went Wrong, should be out from Thunderstorm Books in another week or so. Go look for it. The title novella is the most deeply personal thing I’ve ever written. After that, I have another zombie novel coming from Creeping Hemlock sometime in the next year or so. Everything else is half-finished or looking for a home.

9. Where can readers go to find out about everything Nate?

 -I try to keep my website (www.natesouthard.com) updated nice and regularly, but people can also check me out of facebook (www.facebook.com/natesouthard) for semi-regular snark, song lyrics, and pictures of me going to food trailers. Also, I’m not one of those facebook folks who spreads a lot of memes, so you don’t have to worry about me clogging your news feed.

10. The last space…this is yours to say anything about anything.

                                    -Everybody should check out my latest novel, Down (from Sinister Grin Press). It’s about a rock band whose plane crashes in a forest that contains some nasty surprises. I think it’s a big step forward for my fiction, and I hope everybody reads it.

Bonus question: Who wins in a cage match? Nate Southard or Wrath James White?

 -Wrath. Roughly four seconds in.

I would like to thank Nate for stopping by and I’d also like to thank all of you for stopping by  too!

Goodnight…

Is Writing a Job?

I already have a full-time (plus some) job.  I put in a ton of hours and sometimes when I get home, the muse is toast and it takes a great deal of rum to awaken it again.  Every so often, by the time that happens, I’m asleep and my dreams freak me out.  The muse is a stubborn thing and can’t be held down very easily.

But is writing my second job?

Yes, I choose to look at it that way.  I have to work hard to carve out my tale, I have to work harder to polish it, and I have to make sure I follow submission directions.  Editors?  Those are my bosses.  They can tell me to fix something or tell me, “no, but please try again”.  Customers?  Everyone that will read my work is a potential customer.  I have to deliver a product they will enjoy and will make them want more.

So, how should I treat this second job?

I treat it very seriously.  My blog (you’re already here), Amazon page, and Facebook feeds (links on the sidebar) are kept clean (my Twitter – @BrentTAbell - on the other hand is where I let it all hang out and can be vulgar on occasion).  Does a new fan want to click on any of the above links and read me curse every other word?  No, I didn’t just learn the ‘f-word’ yesterday so I choose not to throw it around like I did.  New readers checking things out are sizing me up.  So, will I sound like a two-year old or will I sound like a professional trying to land a new client?  I’m treating it like a job interview.  If they like me and my work, I’m in with a new reader.  If I act belligerent in my posts, then most people would skip me over and try someone else.  If that happens, I’ve lost current and future sales.

The one lesson I’ve learned early is that to be a professional, you must carry yourself as one.  I strive to always be gracious and thankful for everything I’ve been able to do so far.  I’ve been to some cool places, done some cool things, and met tons of cool people.

What will I do with my second job?

Try to make it my only job.  Oh, here is the cramped space I have to work in until we make the house bigger and I have a whole office to myself.  Well, my bookshelves will take up most of it…

It has also been awhile since I talked about the new books I’ve read.  This is being cleared up now and I’ll be posting my thoughts on the books I’ve read from this year so far.  I just received a package from Thunderstorm Books and I am expecting one from Sinister Grin Press this week.  Let the flood gates open!

Goodnight…

The Journey: Novella Thoughts Pt.2

I sit here working on some short stuff and preparing to take the next step into a larger world.  Soon, I will begin the editing process and rewrites on In Memoriam, my first novella and really a labor of love.  Part 1 set the stage with the current stage the novella is in, but tonight I thought I would go back to the beginning and touch on how it all started.

In Memoriam started out as a short story I played around with about two years ago.  I’d just finished my first three short stories and had all three promptly rejected and rightfully so, they were bad.  They have some promise for down the road, but they shall remain on the hard drive for the forseeable future (side note: I sent one to a publisher and they accepted it until they were really rude and unprofessional, so I pulled it and I’m glad nobody will read it).

The story started out about a woman and how the consequences for her actions catch up to her.  I might sound a little vague, but I’ don’t want to give to much of the plot away yet.  I’m doing it mostly because I’m not sure how much of it’s going to change when editing begins.  The story sat around and I thought about it for quite some time.  One day I realized that her actions past and present also affect the people around her directly.  In the long run, I thought a human element was needed to run a path along side the supernatural one.  When she is now caught between two worlds and two entities full of rage, how does she react?

The story took a different path that I envisioned originally and I like the way it turned out.  Parts of the novella deal with a very touchy subject in our country and both sides take a hit in the story.  Will portions of it piss some people off?  Yes, it will.  Am I ready to deal with the pissed off people?  Yes, because I told the story I wanted to tell and if they don’t like it, they can write their own stories.

Don’t forget to join the blog to be entered in the drawing for a signed copy of Undead Tales 2, the new anthology from Rymfire Undead with my story, “The Reaper Rides”.  All members of the blog by May 15th will be entered to win.

 

Goodnight…

The Year So Far…(and a pretty good one to boot!)

I started out the year with some modest goals while I tried to build on the beginning success of last year.  2011 was my first full year of writing and I finished the year with 10 stories in 8 anthologies.  My goal was 5, so I thought I did ok.  Raising the bar higher for 2012, I found myself with 5 stories already finding homes in 2012.  The running total now is 15 tales in 13 books, so be sure to collect them all!  This year should also see the release of my first novella if everything stays on course and according to plan.  I’m not going to say much at this point except that the manuscript is in the editor’s hands and we will begin polishing it up soon.  My goal is to have it ready for the book signing I have lined up in October.  More to come on the event later…

The anthologies getting to print have been steady this year so far also.  Ten Silver Bullets, Zombie Writing, Short Sips: Coffee House Flash Fiction V.2, Undead Tales 2, and a new printing of Undead of Winter have been released since the first of the year with several more coming shortly.  The shelf in the office is growing larger and looks more impressive with every release.  Good trend to have and to celebrate the release of Undead Tales 2, I will have a drawing from all blog subscribers on May 15, 2012.  Anyone who is an active subscriber and comments on this post by that date will be entered to win an autographed copy of the anthology.

I enjoy the spinning of yarns for those who like the darkness hiding in the everyday recesses of life.  If you read and follow any new or established author, go to their Amazon page, their Facebook page, or their Twitter @BrentTAbell (click on the word and the nice little link will take you there or you can get there from the links on the side of the page) and ’LIKE’ them or the books they’re involved in.  Let all of us know if you liked it or not, give some feedback, or just tell us you’re reading us.  That my friends is what keeps us going, not some blind ambition to get rich.  Well, if I can, I won’t turn it down.

I have stuff to do on some projects, so be sure to take a few minutes and do some liking!

Goodnight and here are the new release covers…

Special Guest Blogger…Armand Rosamilia!

Today it is my great pleasure to hand the wheel over to author, editor, and all around kick ass guy Armand Rosamilia.  He is the editor at Rymfire Books and is one hell of an author.  His newest novella, Dying Days 2 is now out and I found it a really fun read.  So my friends, I bring to you…Armand.

Dying Days Confusion

 

Armand Rosamilia

    I’m knee-deep into this Dying Days Blog Tour 2012 (less impressive than it sounds, I assure you) and had a question (or three) about the series, so I am going to answer those questions… and ask my mom to stop sending them in and leave me alone so I can write… anyway…

 Question: If Dying Days 2 is the THIRD book in the series, why isn’t it named… wait for it… Dying Days 3?

 Answer: Oh, there will be a Dying Days 3, but it will be the next one. Actually, when I wrote Dying Days there was no Darlene Bobich: Zombie Killer book on the horizon, because only a couple of short stories had been written with Darlene in them. But when I finished Dying Days I had quite a few readers that had been lucky enough to read the prequel short stories ask if I was going to eventually release them in one book. I decided to collect them, add new ones, and before I knew it I had thirteen Darlene Bobich stories bound together. The original idea was going to have it as Dying Days 0, like a comic book origin issue thing, but I decided it would be confusing.

So, I went all-out (not really) and named it Darlene Bobich: Zombie Killer, but added a preview of Dying Days at the end to maybe get you to figure out it was part of the same world and story.

 Question: Where does Highway To Hell fit into this?

 Answer: None of your business. Actually, it was written as a stand-alone novella to see if I could write something extreme and with zombies, with plenty of sex, profanity, drug use, and raping zombies. I succeeded. While the story is set in the same world, Randy, the main character doesn’t have anything to do with Darlene and Dying Days directly… although I’ll let the proverbial cat out of the bag and tell you that Randy will show up in a short story in the upcoming Still Dying: Select Scenes From Dying Days short story release.

 Question: Is Darlene Bobich based on a real person in your life?

 Answer: Yes, she’s currently tied up in the crawlspace. Actually, no. When the first short story was written, “Anything But Luck”, all I needed was a name. I got it by asking my 5,000 Facebook friends for a name of a female to use. One of my friends on there said to use her name. Yep, her name is Darlene Bobich. Simple as that.

That being said, other characters are based on real people I know: Murph (Kim’s father) and John-John (Kim’s brother). Luckily I don’t know anyone like Doug Conrad.

 Question: How many books will there be in Dying Days?

 Answer: Three or more. Actually, I have no set goal. I think the story will be done when its done, and I’ve given up trying to tell Darlene and her friends what to do and when to do it. If you saw my notes on each book and where it was supposed to end, you’d think it was a different book. And it ended up being a different book. But a better one.

I know I’ll do a Dying Days 3 at some point in 2012, and there are plans to do a few off-shoot books like Still Dying: Select Scenes From Dying Days, which will give some back-story on several characters in shorts, as well as some longer novella-length books starring characters other than Darlene but set in the same world and loosely tied to her (she might even make a cameo).

I’m treating this like an epic series, with many releases. So far readers have responded and purchased all three books, and I intend to keep giving them zombies as long as they ask for them. And as long as I have something fresh to give.

 Question: OK, but -

 Answer: No more questions.

 Armand Rosamilia

 *   *   *   *   *

 Want to know more about the “Dying Days” series? Want to win free eBooks and maybe print books of them? My contest is simple: e-mail me at armandrosamilia (at) gmail (dot) com with DYING DAYS in the subject line and I’ll enter you into the daily giveaway… also, post a comment here and you get another chance… follow my blog at http://armandrosamilia.com for yet another chance, and friend me on Twitter (@ArmandAuthor) and simply post DYING DAYS to me, and you’ll get another shot… nice and easy, right? If I get enough people joining in the giveaway there will be a print book given away that day!

 

“Dying Days” series information can be found here: http://armandrosamilia.com/dying-days-series/

 

 

 

My Review of Rainstorm Press’s “Mutation Nation”

When I first opened the package containing the book, I was greeted by this really great cover hiding all sorts of wicked mutation fun inside.  Rainstorm Press put together a really good-looking book, but I was curious as to if the tales would stand up to the theme.  Almost all of the tales fit really nicely, but as with most anthologies there were some that stretched the story to fit the anthology.  Don’t get me wrong, as a writer I have done the same thing.  At some point we all have to make a deadline or just to sell that story we love but haven’t found a home for yet.

Editor Kelly Dunn assembled a great collection.  Out of the eleven stories, there was only one that didn’t do anything for me.  Four stories really jumped out at me as my favorites in the book and I will give them a little shout out here.

Opening the book is Ed Kurtz’s “Angel and Grace”.  The story reminded me of Edward Lee’s tales of the backwoods only in a very toned down manner.  A man showing up claiming to be a relative of a deceased man finds more than he bargained for in the East Texas wilds.  When he is introduced to the conjoined twins Angel and Grace he finds his deception might cost him everything.  This was my favorite story and set a good tone for the rest of the book.

Second, I enjoyed “Swanson” by Jarret Keene.  An old, rich businessman who has secluded himself in a hotel in Vegas has an old military robot his company built reprogrammed to serve as a butler and gopher.  The way the human employees in the old man’s inner circle treated and regarded the robot made for an interesting read, but this is the tale that I felt forced the mutation angle in.  The story would have been fine without it.  However, it’s still one of the best in the book.

JT Rowland’s ”Compatible Donor” is next on the highlight reel.  Mark can regrow and regenerate lost tissue and organs which makes him the most sought after man on the organ black market.  It doesn’t matter what blood type or anything, Mark can match them with whatever organ he sells.  When the rent is due, he can just sell a liver or a heart, but someone else has taken notice and has his own plan for Mark.  It keeps you wondering until the end and it is an exquisite ending, in a truly tasteless way.  When Mark finds out his fate, I laughed, I cried, and I laughed again.

Finishing out my top four is the closing story, “The Transmutation” by Charles Austin Muir.  One friend stricken by cancer disappears leaving the other to sort out the mystery of what happened to him.  Taking on a writing career, he becomes obsessed with a new nihilistic author and his very familiar take on the world.  His journey takes him to a secret place where nobody leaves unchanged and the truth can set you free.

Overall, the entire book is a good read and I highly recommend it.  A super book from Kelly Dunn and Rainstorm Press – 4 out of 5 Tombstones.

Goodnight…