Present and Past - Guest Post from J.S. Watts

Present and Past

I am really pleased that this current stage of the blog tour celebrating the May launch of my paranormal novel, “Witchlight”, is being hosted by the Battered Suitcase Press blog of my publisher, Vagabondage Press.

Vagabondage are the people who, in the past, have had sufficient faith in me and my writing to publish two of my novels, first “A Darker Moon” and now, in the present, “Witchlight”. It gives me the opportunity, in the here and now, to thank them for their past trust and the mammoth and ongoing effort involved in designing, publishing and promoting a book and to say, “Thank you, guys. You rock!”

I love the way present and past so often come together, sometimes positively, sometimes not, but inevitably in an intriguing and fascinating way. Two sections of existence’s timeline, separated by months, decades or centuries, but influencing one another and combining to create and shape new events and occurrences.

Writing, whether a letter, a blog post or a novel, is a way of capturing the present and fixing it so that, however long ago something was written, it will always seem the present for someone reading it for the first time. My present thanks to Vagabondage for their past efforts will be available for you to read in your present for as long as this blog remains on line, even when this moment, as I am experiencing it, has long since faded into the past.

There is a coming together of past and present in “Witchlight”. The novel’s lead character, Holly, is content with her present at the start of the novel, but it turns out her past has been holding out on her. The birth mother she has never known, and was sanguine about not knowing, has gifted her magical witch powers. Moreover, these powers turn out to be stronger than anyone initially realised, so the secrets of the past suddenly become rather pressing in the present and the present is dramatically changed for Holly because of them.

Holly, supported by her fairy godfather, goes in search of her and her biological parents’ past. In the present, however, something is stirring: accidents start to happen, people die, Old Magic is on the hunt, but in the age-old game of cat and mouse, just who is the feline and who is the rodent?

After the initial fun and amusement of discovering her magical powers, Holly has to learn the hard way that, in a world fuelled by magic, appearances, and reality itself, can be magically deceptive and trust can be difficult, if not downright dangerous.

Before the novel ends Holly will discover the truth of her birth, find love (and struggle to keep it) and learn that a darkness begun centuries before has shaped her past and is now influencing her present.

“Witchlight” is a book set in contemporary Britain, but in a world grounded in the here and now, present and past come together in a conflagration of mystery, magic and (what else?) witchlight. 

About Witchlight: Holly has been mortal all her life. Now at thirty-eight, her fairy godfather arrives to tell her she’s a witch, and suddenly she's having to come to terms with the uncertainties of an alarmingly magic-fuelled world. Magic is not like it is in the books and films, and Holly starts to doubt whether her fairy godfather, Partridge Mayflower, is the fey, avuncular charmer he appears.

When appearances are magically deceptive, Holly cannot afford to trust those closest to her, including herself. Accidents start to happen, people die, Old Magic is on the hunt, but in the age-old game of cat and mouse, just who is the feline and who is the rodent?

About The Author: J.S.Watts is a British writer who lives and writes in the flatlands of East Anglia in the UK. Her poetry, short stories and reviews appear in a diversity of publications in Britain, Canada, Australia and the States. Her poetry collection, “Cats and Other Myths”, and subsequent multi-award nominated poetry pamphlet, “Songs of Steelyard Sue”, are published by Lapwing Publications. Her dark fiction novel, “A Darker Moon”, is published in the UK and the US by Vagabondage Press. Her second novel, “Witchlight”, is available at Amazon, B&N and other bookstores. You can find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/J.S.Watts.page or on her website www.jswatts.co.uk

Author Insides: Tamela Ritter, author of FROM THESE ASHES

Interview with Tamela Ritter

Tamela’s truck driving father taught her the value of stories, travel and adventure. Her housewife mother taught her the value of daydreaming, family and escapism. Though she was raised in Spokane Washington, it wasn’t until she moved to Missoula Montana that she felt she was “home.” She currently lives in Virginia, but still dreams of the Big Sky.

Her debut novel, From These Ashes, was released in March 2013 to numerous 5-star reviews. We wanted to take a peak into her inspiration and her writing process.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

I remember the exact moment. I was 10 years old and my teacher, Mr. Knowles, gave us inanimate objects and we were told to write their life story. I received a beat up A&W Root Beer can. I remember how excited I was to create this story for the object, how I imagined a long and torturous life for this misused can. I did research on the recycling process and created transformation and rebirth, only to be separated by his pack family. It was pretty epic.  I remember taking my story to school and being horrified and terribly embarrassed when I saw that everyone else’s stories were a page or two long; mine was 10 pages. But, that fear of fourth grade public humiliation was short lived because what I remember most was the awe of my teacher and the praise bestowed on me by the school. I won my first award that year. In fact, in my entire school career from then to college, the only awards I ever won were for my writing. I was hooked.

Why do you write? 

Haha, if it’s true that there are only a handful of original ideas out there, I’d say there are even less so original reasons why anyone writes. Mine is just as clichéd as everyone else’s. I’ve never NOT written; I can’t imagine I’d be very good at it.

What was the inspiration for From These Ashes?

I wanted to tell stories about my brother. I remember talking to my sister who is three years younger than me and I was telling stories about him—he died when I was 10, she was 7—she told me that she feels horrible that she doesn’t remember much about him. That broke my heart. I feel like he’s been such a motivational force in my life and I wanted her to know a bit about what I remembered. Of course it turned into something completely different, but that was the inspiration.

How has your own heritage played into this story?

I didn’t set out to write about American Indians. Like so much of this story, I just arrived at it organically, and discovered I couldn’t tell it any other way. I honestly know very little of my own heritage, my being Cherokee. My mother came from a very troubled and dark background and I believe she blamed a lot of that on her heritage and so walked away from it. We never got to spend too much of our time with her family, but the time I did spend with my grandmother I remember two things distinctly: she was extremely proud of being Cherokee and she loved my brother Tim the best. I somehow had it in my head that these two things were linked. My brother looked way more Indian, was way more curious about his heritage then any of the rest of us.

Sadly, since I’m unfamiliar with most things having to do with Cherokee, but am really well educated in, and have been surrounded by Spokane, Kootenai, Coeur d'Alene and Flathead my whole life, I have committed a horrible sin. I have assimilated my characters into a tribe not their own. Since this whole book is about them trying to find a place to belong, and not feeling they ever really knew who they were in relation with the heritage, it seems rather appropriate. Besides, this story needed to be told in the West of my childhood, of my earliest memories and the home I turned to in Montana when I myself went looking for a family, a place to belong.
 
Do you see any of yourself in your characters and their hopes and dreams and struggles?

Yes. So very much. Though we didn’t live on a reservation, we did live in extreme poverty and the struggle to survive, the hope for a place to belong and the dream that somewhere out there is a family that will accept you for what you are and see all your strengths and all that you can offer and welcome you. Those are all themes I’m familiar with.

You put your character through a very traumatic incident – something that happened to you personally. Care to talk about what it was like to write that scene.

Yikes. Which one? I stole a lot of painful memories from my own life for this story. When I was 10 my brother was run over by an 18 wheeler on his way home from school. For years after I had nightmares where I was there that day, standing beside him, watching and not able to do anything. Later, I tried to see it from everyone involved’s POV, including the man who was driving the truck; a man I know nothing about but had to imagine experienced something just as life-altering. For me, the rest of the novel exists as a way to tell that story.

What do you think makes a good story? 

Characters.

What's your favorite genre to read? 

Literary fiction is my go-to. I also really enjoy and am amazed by Young Adult.

Who is your favorite author or poet? 

Steinbeck and Whitman: two men who had distinct views on America—the good and the bad and articulated them masterfully.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a writer? 

Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.” I read it for the first time in college. One of the stories was given as an assignment—I can’t remember which one—and I remember this overwhelming sense of optimism that someone could exist and be heralded as a voice of a generation who came from where I did, and wrote about characters who were flawed in stereotypical and not so stereotypical ways like I did. That you could be funny and also heartbreakingly honest, like I desperately wanted to be.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? 

S.E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders.” Without that book I don’t think I’d have dreamed of being an author from the age of 12. I mean, at 10 I knew I wanted to write, at 12 I wanted to write honest to goodness books! I’m certain that “From These Ashes” wouldn’t have been written if I hadn’t had “The Outsiders” in my life first.

From the very beginning, walking out of the movie theater (yes, I saw the movie first—best adaptation EVER!), I couldn’t get the comparison of my brother and a lot of those characters—mostly Johnny Cade—out of my head. I remember just weeping the entire ride home and it’s really the first time I remember mourning my brother’s death.

It’s almost embarrassing now how very obsessed with that book I was and for how long. At one time I had the first two pages memorized and to this day can recite the first paragraph. I walked around barefoot for six months because Sodapop Curtis did, I read Frost because Ponyboy did and I started smoking because…wait, nevermind.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration? 

Just everywhere. There are different sorts of inspiration that I seek out and they occur at very different places. For ideas and character-study inspiration, nothing beats book stores, bars, malls and amusement parks. To write, or to become inspired to write, I like to be outside—at the beach, lake, river, or in the mountains.

What does your family think of your writing? 

My family is extremely proud of any accomplishment I achieve and I truly think they like my stories.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

Schedule? What’s that? These days I grab any free moment I can to write but I am constantly—no matter what I’m doing—creating, plotting, thinking of my characters and where they are in the story and where they need to go.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? 

None that I’m proud of and absolutely none I’d condone others to emulate.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? 

Um… all of it? No, seriously, I usually have no problem coming up with stories, finding characters that have worthwhile things to say as they travel through tremendously painful traumas on their way to self-actualization. I know how blessed I am to have that come so easily, and yet, I am constantly feeling I let down that gift when it comes to actually sitting down to put the words on the page. So, for me, I guess the most challenging thing is mustering the concentration it takes to get the story from my mind to the page before I lose it.

What are your current projects? 

I just went through every computer I’ve ever owned and pulled out all the things I’ve started and never finished. In there were at least 10 short stories I still think might have value and 4 novels in varied levels of undone. My current project is going through all of these files and sorting what needs to be banished to hard-drive hell to burn for an eternity and what needs to be dusted off, spruced up and finished.

What are you planning for future projects?

Ahhhh, so many future projects, so very little planned. I get stifled when I think too far in the future.

Do you have any advice for other writers? 

Read everything. Don’t be afraid to suck. Don’t be afraid that you won’t find your own voice. You will. Until then? Fake it ‘til you make it.

Where else can we find your work? 

I have a few short stories online, there are a few obscure literary journals floating around with my work included. Or, if you’d like to help a worthy cause, there’s the anthology “Ripple Effect” that I’m still extremely proud of and whose proceeds still go to New Orleans Public Libraries.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I always feel the need to be witty when asked this question—or whip out pictures of my pets. Honestly though? I got nothing.

From These Ashes is available in paperback from Powells, Amazon, and B&N, and is also available for Kindle, Nook, and other eReaders.

From These Ashes chronicles the journey of two siblings looking for “home,” while searching for themselves, each other, their heritage and their destiny.

In a center for cult recovery in Phoenix, Arizona, 16-year-old Native American Naomi West refuses to talk; instead she writes — about her life, about her brother, about the prophecy, and about the fire that nearly destroyed it all. 

Meanwhile, her half-white brother, Tim West, awakes alone in a forest without memories of his past, only an unconscious urge to head west. It is on a Cascade mountaintop where he once again gets too close to a fire, and what starts as a horrifying nightmare wakens him to the truth of his past and a devastating choice that cost him everything.

Author Insides: Alex Miller, Author of OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD

Interview with Alex Miller

Alex Miller grew up in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and lived in Nashville for a few years. He’s a newspaper editor who lives with his wife in Hilo, Hawaii. He misses the South, and especially all the hot weather, poverty, crime and rampant unemployment, but—if he must—he’s willing to go on living in Hawaii for a little while longer. Or maybe forever.

Alex's young adult novella, Osama bin Laden is Dead, is a story about adolescent frustration in a post-911 America.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

It happened when I was in the fourth grade. Every few weeks the teacher would make everybody in the class write a story. I think we had to include a bunch of spelling words in the stories. And we had to read them out loud in front of the whole class, which, by the way, is terrifying, especially for a 10-year-old. But there was this cute girl who liked my stories, and at the end of the year she walked over to my desk and asked me if I was going to be a writer someday. That’s when I made up my mind.

Why do you write? 

To meet cute girls. And because I just can’t seem to stop. Writing is as meaningful to me now as it was when I was a kid, or when I was in college, or afterward when I worked crappy jobs and wondered what was the point of anything. Other stuff came and went, but writing is the one thing I can’t let go of.

Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be? 

I always thought that becoming a writer would change me, like I’d be a different kind of person, a “writerly” person. But that’s not what happened. I’m still the same person. I just spend a lot of time writing.

What do you think makes a good story? 

A story needs to give the readers something that matters to their lives, something they can relate to, something that feels universally human. Any story can do this, even crazy stories about robots with serrated knives for hands. If the robot falls in love or gets chewed out by its boss, the robot will matter to the readers. And if you can write a story that makes the reader say, “Sometimes I feel exactly like a robot with serrated knives for hands,” that’s going to be a good story.

What's your favorite genre to read? 

Realistic fiction. Basically I’ll read anything in the “literature” aisle at Barnes & Noble. And sometimes I take a break from the heavy stuff and read a book about hobbits or elves or whatever.

Who is your favorite author? 

Tim O’Brien. He’s the best there is.

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?

“The Sun Also Rises,” by Ernest Hemingway; “Winter Dreams,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald; and “The Nuclear Age,” by Tim O’Brien.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? 

The same three as above, but here I’ll add “Ishmael,” by Daniel Quinn; “A People’s History of the United States,” by Howard Zinn; “The Once and Future King,” by T.H. White; and “The Insurgent,” by Noah Cicero.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration? 

Just from life. The experience of being alive in a world that makes no sense. Or if all else fails I read a newspaper. Newspapers are brutal. If you want to know everything bad that happened in the world today, read a newspaper.

What does your family think of your writing? 

My wife is extremely supportive. She’s also a writer, so we swap our stories and proofread and give each other advice. And over the years we’ve learned how to do this without a lot of yelling.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

I have a day job, so I write at night. It works for me because I like staying up and sleeping late. If I wake up before noon on a weekend, I feel like I’ve failed myself.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? 

The hardest part is judging what I’ve written, trying to determine if it’s good or bad. Because I lie to myself. I’ll crap something out and tell myself it’s great. I’ll really convince myself. That’s why editors matter. A good editor will set you straight.

What are your current projects? 

I’m putting together a short story collection, and I’m writing a novel about Hawaii and people who have no interest in working 9-5 jobs or being productive members of society.

What are you planning for future projects? 

Global Socialist revolution. Or maybe something sort of inspired by Socialism, but without all of the oppression and mass killings. Some new kind of Socialism that’s all about rainbows and ecstatic dancing. It’s a work in progress.

Do you have any advice for other writers? 

Just sit down and do it. Write something. Finish it. Rewrite it. Hit it again and again until all the words are right. Then try to get it published, because the process of writing for publication will take your writing to another level.

Where else can we find your work? 

I’ve had stories published—occasionally in print but mostly online—in New Wave Vomit, DogzPlot, Bartleby Snopes, The Boiler Journal, Fifth Wednesday Journal, WhiskeyPaper, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Thunderclap, Barely South Review, Queen Vic Knives, One Title, The Bombay Literary Magazine, The OFI Press, 50 to One, Fiction365, Dr. Hurley’s Snake Oil Cure, Open Road Review and We Feel Pretty.

Osama bin Laden is Dead is available on Amazon, Kobo, and B&N. 

Osama bin Laden is Dead is about growing up in a sad little town in the middle of nowhere. It’s about going to high school with a bunch of rich kids who hate you because you buy your clothes at Walmart. It’s about your parents manipulating you into enrolling in a creepy Christian college where morons go to be brainwashed. It’s about dating a girl who won’t put out. 

Osama bin Laden is Dead is about Mark, a high school senior who can’t imagine how his life could ever stop being pathetic. Mark is neither happy nor well adjusted. He likes to pretend that Osama bin Laden is some kind of anti-Christ superhero who can save him from the bleak hellscape that his life has become. “Osama bin Laden is Dead” is about all of Western civilization crumbling and collapsing on top of you. It’s about war and terrorism and making out with your best friend’s girlfriend on a sticky couch in her basement. It’s about finding a new way to live.

Author Insides: Lee Hitt, Author of BREAKING THE SEAL

Interview with Lee Hitt

Lee Hitt lives and writes in Southern New Hampshire. His first story, “The Power Man,” is featured in Best Gay Erotica 2014, published by Cleis Press. He is currently working on an erotic short story collection while his alter-ego writes a memoir.

Lee's erotic short, Breaking the Seal, was published by Vagabondage Romance in March 2014.

What was the inspiration for your story?

Well, I’ve been to Mexican restaurant and had a few too many margaritas before. Who hasn’t? Nothing like this has happened to me, but I love exploring what-if situations. What might have happened if different decisions were made? I took that setting, and the phrase “Breaking the Seal”, which is uncommon enough to have an Urban Dictionary entry, and went from there. This story goes off in a crazy direction, so by the time I finished, it was hard to imagine that any of this was inspired from real life.

Do you see any of yourself in your characters?

Yes, but only barely. Of course, since they sprung from my brain, there’s a part of me in all of my characters. But the characters in this story ended up taking on a life and personality of their own, turning out nothing like me at all. My board game night has never ended up like this.

What drew you to the erotica genre?

I think erotica is an under-appreciated literary genre. Some popular fiction that gets billed as “erotica” gives the genre a bad image, in my opinion. That “erotica” is more like pornography, which is sex for the sake of sex. Erotica uses sex to achieve a goal, a catharsis, an epiphany. Erotica can be very complex, deep, and literary, like any other genre, from historical fiction to mystery or sci-fi.

I started exploring it as a reader when I stumbled across a copy of Best American Erotica 1999 in a used bookstore. The first story in that collection, “Je t’aime, Batman. Je t’adore” by Kelly McQuain turned me on (so to speak) to exploring the genre myself. It can have all the best facets of other genre of fiction: symbolism, imagery, strong characters, a little humor. Instead of sex being incidental, erotica explores incredible themes through sex. Sexual positions can be very symbolic.

Anyway, I later read online that DC Comics sent a cease and desist to Simon & Schuster, scrubbing “Je t’aime, Batman…” from future printings of BAE1999. The fact that I found a copy with the story in it in a used book store felt like fate whispering to me.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

I wrote Maniac Mansion fanfiction in the second grade, before knowing that “fan fiction” was even a thing. I can’t say I wanted to be a writer then, though. When I was in my late teens early twenties, I kept an online journal, and had a friend tell me over and over that I should. When I published my first story, she pretty much said, “I told you so.”

Why do you write? 

I write to explore possibilities. I write to put my thoughts in order. I write to make sense of a chaotic world. I write because I overthink every little detail and mannerism.

Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be? 

It is, actually. I get to make my own schedule, do whatever I want, and I get to talk about myself all the time. People think it’s a cool job. What more could I want?

What do you think makes a good story? 

Strong characters make a good story. The strongest characters don’t even need an intricate plot. I can watch good characters do anything, the same way I can watch Jennifer Lawrence do anything.

What's your favorite genre to read? 

I like contemporary fiction, especially short stories. And when I have the time, I like delving into a really complicated science-fiction novel.

Who is your favorite author or poet? 

My favorite author is Nicholson Baker. His book The Fermata taught me that it’s possible to want to create positive change in the world and be a kinky pervert.

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? 

In addition to Kelly McQuain’s short story inspiring me to write erotica, Nicholson Baker’s The Fermata, George Saunders’s “Sea Oak”, Dan Simmons’s Hyperion, and the short fiction of Karen Russell and Alissa Nutting are the types of magical masterpieces I one day aspire to write. Nicholson Baker does some great erotic/pornographic writing too, like the sci-fi porn opus House of Holes.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? 

David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas kind of changed my life. (The movie… well, we can talk about that later…) Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried changed the way I think I about writing. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books kept me sane as a teenager (but only barely sane).

Where/how do you find the most inspiration? 

I find the most inspiration by shutting up and paying attention to my surroundings. It’s hard to do. I love traveling to new places (I consider that location scouting) and meeting new people. Aspects of other people’s personalities stitched together, like some sort of psychic Frankenstein’s monster, make up my best characters.

What does your family think of your writing? 

My mom supports everything I do. Whether or not she’ll read my kinky gay fantasies… that remains to be seen.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

I like to read in the mornings. Something non-fiction, like a magazine article, something interesting online, or something I’m trying to research. I pair the reading with a hot cup of coffee and a warm breakfast with some spicy sausage. (Links preferred over patties. Does that say something Freudian about me?) That gets the inspiration flowing, and I’ll usually start writing around 11 a.m. and go until I get hungry. If I’m really picking up steam, I might forget to eat until late at night.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? 

I like to handwrite a lot, which can be a problem because my handwriting often devolves into meaningless scribble. And when I revise, I like to print out a hardcopy and write on it in pen. Also, I can’t write at home, so I could probably find any café within a ten mile radius of my house while blindfolded.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? 

Um, everything? I find the whole process extremely difficult, at least until I have a workable first draft. Plotting, creating characters, just coming up with a concept can be very challenging for me. I enjoy the revision process, because I just pretend I’m revising someone else’s work and making it better.

What are your current projects? 

I’m working on an erotic short story collection and my alter ego is working on a memoir.

What are you planning for future projects? 

Whenever someone tells me that they’re writing a novel, my stock answer is, “That’s ambitious.” If I’m ever feeling ambitious, I have two hot messes of novels in process. One is a modern-day retelling of a super-classic epic story (one that actually hasn’t been done before), and the other is a supernatural romance that I would actually want to read.

Do you have any advice for other writers? 

Just the basics: write every day. Show don’t tell. And find someone you trust to read your work… and tear it apart. A good editor will rip you a new one out of love!

Where else can we find your work? 

My only other publication (at the moment) is my first short story, “The Power Man” in Best Gay Erotica 2014, published by Cleis Press in softcover and e-book. It’s the first of many great stories in that book.

Breaking the Seal is available for eReaders through Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and Google Play. 

Perhaps it’s the many, many drinks clouding your vision, but tonight, you notice something different about the way Jackson, your presumably hetero coworker is acting toward you. Maybe it’s just the change of atmosphere — coworkers having an office party at a bar — or maybe it’s something else entirely. When Jackson notes you are entirely too intoxicated to make it home on your own and offers you a ride, you decide to find out if there was any double meaning in that offer.

Author Insides: Joe Clifford, Author of JUNKIE LOVE

Interview with Joe Clifford

Joe Clifford is an editor at Gutter Books and producer of Lip Service West, a “gritty, real, raw” reading series in Oakland, CA.He is the author of the short story collection Choice Cuts and the novels Wake the Undertaker and Lamentation: A Novel.

His novel, Junkie Love, was published by Vagabondage Press in April 2013, and of course we needed to grill him about this breathtaking tale of redemption and his inspiration in creating it while we had the chance.

How did Junkie Love come about? 

That’s a loaded one. The first part is that it is based on the roughly ten years I spent as a drug addict in San Francisco in the 1990s. Even when I was mired in that life, on the darkest of days, I knew there was a story in there somewhere. And not just mine, but that of some amazingly wounded and wonderful people I met, many of whom sobered up (if they didn’t die first) and who are my friends to this day. Except that it isn’t really a story about drugs. It’s a story about growing up and trying to find a place one belongs. The heart of the novel is about a need to be loved; it’s about redemption and reconciliation. And, of course, rock ’n’ roll. It’s very much a book about being an artist and an outsider, and to that end some other authors figure prominently, the biggest probably being Jack Kerouac. I like to joke the novel has taken up half of my life: the first half making the mistakes, and the second half (straightening out and) writing about it. I suppose in the end, Junkie Love, like all novels is concerned with relationships—to ourselves, each other, and to that person we hope to one day become.

Why did you want to share what essentially is your life story?

I’ve always believed the job of the writer is to render the unique universal, and the universal unique. It’s communication. This is what good art is supposed to do: make a connection with another so we don’t have to feel so alone, can glean some meaning and comfort, joy, empathy, whatever you want to call it, from our time here. To me, even though the novel uses addiction and some harrowing settings, the story itself is a classic bildungsroman. It’s Catcher in the Rye. It’s Portrait of the Artist. To Kill a Mockingbird. It is a book about growing up. There are a lot of people—not everyone, but a lot, especially in America—who drag their heels becoming an adult. Part of that is obviously a luxury other places don’t have. But it makes this theme, I believe, pertinent. Crossing from boy to man isn’t neatly delineated, 17 to 18, or even 20 to 21. Sometimes it takes a lot longer than that.

What was the hardest scene to write and why?

Probably the very last one. When writing a book, it isn’t always true that the last scene was the last one written. But it is here. The Epilogue was added long after the final draft. Without giving the ending away (not that the book relies on any great twist), that final scene was a goodbye. To someone I cared a great deal about, let down, and can never fully make amends to. That’s a tough burden. And in terms of writing, giving such a scene the proper respect and weight isn’t easy.

Who should read your book?

Everyone! Even though the subject matter can be grim and gritty at times, I tried to invoke and infuse some brevity, some humor (if you can’t laugh, you cry). I didn’t want to write a book about a junkie. I wanted to write a book about someone trying to find his way, who happened to succumb to drugs. And I love language, the rhythm, the cadence, the musicality of words. Much of the novel takes place in San Francisco, and in many regards the city itself is a character. Who should read it? Certainly fans of Kerouac. But honestly the writing itself draws on the hardboiled probably more than the Beats (I write mystery/noir novels, mostly). Raymond Chandler. Hammett. Jim Thompson. And it’s not just a “boy’s book,” either. I mean, the heart of this thing is a love triangle and forbidden love. Wuthering Heights is very present in terms of influence…

What do you hope people take away from your story?

The first goal of all creative writing should be to entertain. I sought to evoke a mood and deliver the reader into a particular world that he or she might not normally see. But even if some of the situations in the novel seem exotic or outlandish, I’m hoping a few universal themes do come across. You can’t find what you’re looking for without searching, and it’s never too late for a second chance. Those are the big ones.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

From the earliest age, I’ve identified as an artist. Musician, painter, writer, all those things that make it tough to earn a paycheck. Writing specifically? I began making up stories and acting out narratives soon as my mother first bought me a Star Wars action figure. I began to think I’d like to do it professionally I suppose in my teens when I read On the Road and Catcher in the Rye.

Why do you write? 

When I was in grad school in Miami after getting sober, I helped run a true story reading series (which I later brought with me back west to San Francisco) called Lip Service. I remember a line from one of these stories, which has always stayed with me. It was about a man trying to swim the English Channel, and he wakes up one miserable, cold, overcast, gray morning to practice, which is the last thing he feels like doing, wishing he could just crawl back in bed. But as he stares out into the frigid, blacks, he knows that isn’t an option. He gets in the water because he has to. The line was something, like, “This is what I do. It is who I am.” I can’t say it any better. That is why I am a writer.

Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be? 

Ha! That’s a good question. Yes. And no. The image of writing as a profession, like many occupations I suppose, has been shaped—and distorted—by pop culture. Writing is a little like piracy in the lingering romance that surrounds it. With the latter, you disregard the scurvy and starvation, thinking only of the splendor and riches. Same with writing. Well, maybe not the scurvy part. When you make writing your job it is work. This is the biggest difference from starting out. Novice writing is mostly throwing words down about how you feel. I did it too. What I do now, however, is write books for an audience. A lot of writers don’t make that transition. I have many good friends who want to be (published) writers but can’t get over that hump. (Good) writing isn’t about your enjoyment; it’s about providing that experience for others. It is the trade-off any writer makes: you give up on the magic. Anyone who wants to do this professionally discovers that. When you first start reading books as a kid, and on through adulthood, you are transported to another world. It is magical. When you opt to become a writer, you make a choice to strip away the casings and shells and veneer and get inside to see how it all works, so that you can produce that magic for someone else. I still love reading books—you can’t be a writer if you don’t read more than you write—but it will never be the same again. Once the curtain has been pulled back, you can’t un-see it.

What do you think makes a good story? 

In a word, conflict. “Everyone was happy and they loved each other very much and nothing ever went wrong” doesn’t make for a very compelling read! It’s all about those things we want—love, money, acceptance, whatever—that we can’t have. Or at least not right away. And not for long. And it’s insatiable. It’s like the Boss says: “Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and the king ain’t satisfied till be rules everything.” What you have you don’t want. What you want you don’t have. And when you do manage to get it, you lose it or give it up or piss it away, and then you want it back more than anything. Human beings are forever searching. And they are equally unsatisfied. In one regard, of course. Not that we all walk around as one big ball of yearning. But for me a good story is built around a lack and a want.

What's your favorite genre to read? 

Hardboiled pulp. My window is pretty narrow there, at least in terms of my favorite books, 80% of which seem to have been written between 1939 – 1955.

Who is your favorite author or poet? 

That isn’t so simple. My favorite author is Jack Kerouac. Even though I wouldn’t put any of his books in my Top Ten all-time, and even if I haven’t read one of his books in over a decade. His influence on my life is simply too great to ever knock him from that mantle. My favorite book is Catcher in the Rye. The writer I enjoy reading the most is probably Raymond Chandler. Currently I am all about Hilary Davidson and her Lily Moore mystery series. That question is sorta like asking who my favorite band/musician/singer is. Depends on the day. Usually involves some combination of Springsteen, the Replacements, and Pink Floyd. And a whole bunch of other bands too.

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? 

Catcher in the Rye; Razor’s Edge; Wuthering Heights; a Phillip Marlowe book (take your pick); Slaughterhouse Five. Those are probably my Desert Island Five. Knockemstiff is the best collection I have ever read (although I recently read another amazing one by Jordan Harper, American Death Songs). The best short story I have ever read is “Ordo” by Donald Westlake. But influence? I am probably as influenced by pop culture as I am anything else. My story stories are very influence by The Twilight Zone. Bruce Springsteen is a major influence on my work, from lyrics to prose. I mean, all my interests, from Cracked.com to Richard III, impact my writing. Like the fellow Bay Area writer Will Viharo, my three biggest literary influences in my work and life are Holden Caulfield, Philip Marlowe, and Batman.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? 

On the Road and Catcher in the Rye. I moved to San Francisco, a decision that triggered every major event in my life, because of Kerouac (and a line in a Replacements’ song). Junkie Love wouldn’t have been written without my reading that first book. And I named my (only) son Holden. It’s really those two, and then everything else.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration? 

Man, this is going to sound schmaltzy, but my son is pretty tough to top in that department. If you read Junkie Love, you’ll see that I probably should be dead. But for the grace of God I am alive…and my son seems to be the reason.

What does your family think of your writing? 

My lovely wife, Justine, is supportive. Although I am sure it helps that I am proving successful at it and I have money to play the bills. Being a writer at 42 is a little different than being one at 23. Outside of the occasional glass of wine with dinner, I don’t drink much. I don’t go out much. My work is pretty much my life. To quote Philip Marlowe: I work it; I don’t play at it.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

I try to keep as regimented as possible. I know there are writers who claim to write 8 hours a day. Not to call them liars or anything, but I don’t believe them. Still, when I am writing, I strive for a solid 3 or 4 (the Internet willing). Part of what a writer has to do these days is hustle—I guess he’s always had to do it. Now, though, with the Internet and social media, there are different avenues to promote your work. And the rub is that that can’t be all you are doing. The best advice I received with social media is not to forget the “social” part. You can’t just be linking your own work and ignoring your peers. You need to see what others are up to, say hello, be, well, social. I think of Facebook as “the Office.” It can also be a colossal waste of time. All of the Internet can. But that is where I work. I am also an acquisition’s editor for Gutter Books, and one of the flash fiction editors for Out of the Gutter. I also produce Lip Service West, a “gritty, real, raw” reading series in the Bay Area, managing subs online, working with venues and authors. Then there’s my actual paying job, which is also online (and thankfully from home). I am literally on my computer 10 – 12 hours a day. Plus, I also almost died in a motorcycle accident a few years ago, so daily exercise is a must, or my body shuts down.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? 

I have severe OCD. Does that count?

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

First drafts. I deplore them. I once heard that a writer doesn’t like writing; he/she likes having written. It’s different for everyone, I know. My good friend and fellow writer Tom Pitts (who is a character in Junkie Love) is the exact opposite. He loves first drafts, hates re-writing. I would seriously rather spend the day at the dentist getting 10 root canals than writing a first draft. In fact, that is a pretty apt comparison since both entail pulling teeth. The part of writing I enjoy, love, is that final stage where I’ve rewritten and I can start to play with the language a little more. Until I get that foundation down, though, it is, frankly, hell.

Do you have any advice for other writers? 

This what someone told me. And I hated hearing it at the time because I didn’t have any books out. But… If you are good, keep at it, and you will get published. Simple. And true. Writing is all about rejection. But like Rocky says. “It ain’t about how hard you can hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit—and keep moving forward.”

Where else can we find your work? 

www.joeclifford.com

Any additional thoughts/comments?

Thanks to Battered Suitcase & Vagabondage Press, Fawn Neun and Nanette Morges for having faith in Junkie Love and taking on this book and working with me. To say it’s dear to my heart is woefully underselling. This book is the story of my life and the people I loved and lost and won’t forget. A lot of heart and hell (and humor, too, I hope) went into writing it. I hope readers walk away seeing that effort on the page and feeling touched.

Junkie Love is available in print at booksellers like Powell's as well as in eBook for Nook and Kindle.

From the cow fields of Connecticut to the streets of San Francisco, Joe Clifford’s Junkie Love traverses the lost highways of America, down the rocky roads of mental illness to the dead ends of addiction. Based on Clifford’s own harrowing experience with drugs as a rock ’n’ roll wannabe in the 1990s, the book draws on the best of Kerouac & the Beats, injecting a heavy dose of pulp fiction as it threads a rollicking narrative through a doomed love triangle, lit up by the many strange characters he meets along the way. Part road story, part resurrection tale, Junkie Love finds a way to laugh in one’s darkest hour, while never abandoning its heart in search of a home.

Author Insides: Paul Abercrombie, Author of TROUBLE BREWING

In TROUBLE BREWING, Paul Abercrombie takes a satircal look at just how far some ambitious microbrewers are willing to go to make a name for themselves and their company. With tongue firmly in cheek, Abercrombie delves deftly into murder, blackmail, and cover ups, all fine ingredients for an award-winning ale and a great read!

TROUBLE BREWING was released by Dark Alley Press (an imprint of Vagabondage Press in October of 2014, and is available in paperback and for Kindle or Nook.

What was your inspiration for Trouble Brewing?

Well, I like beer. And weird Florida stories. The idea for this book just popped into my head one morning in the shower. Maybe that’s too much information.

Beer and micro-breweries play a big role in this story; is this a passion of yours? Tell us about it?

I can’t pretend to be an expert on making beer. But I do enjoy drinking it. Especially some of the genuinely great craft beers being produced here in Tampa Bay.

If you owned a micro-brewery, what kind of beer would you make and why?

Ha, definitely nothing with added protein of any kind.

Is there any of yourself in your characters in this book?

I don’t think so.

What was the hardest/easiest part of writing this book?

Hardest was, as I imagine with most wannabe authors, forcing myself to sit and write. Easiest was fantasizing about having written it.

What about dark fiction is a draw for you?

Who doesn’t want to be scared and laugh at the same time?

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

High school.

Why do you write? 

Probably some deep character flaw of mine.

Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be? 

Except for the curious lack of groupies, it’s about what I imagined.

What do you think makes a good story? 

The usual – good characters, nifty conflict, thwarted desires.

What's your favorite genre to read? 

Wow, can’t say that I have a favorite genre.

Who is your favorite author or poet? 
Again, I don’t really have a single fave.

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? 

I’d like to hope all the ones I liked.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? 

Stuff like Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises; anything by T.C. Boyle, Charles Portis.

What does your family think of your writing? 

They’re awfully tolerant.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

I try to put in at least an hour or two every workday morning.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? 

No, but now I’m inspired to get some.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? 

Yes, not sounding like a moron.

What are your current projects? 

I’m plotting out another novel.

What are you planning for future projects? 

I have all sorts of goofy ideas, but I’m trying to force myself to concentrate on the next one first.

Do you have any advice for other writers? 

Yes, change your name to J.K. Rowling.

Where else can we find your work? 

I write about travel and booze topics for publications such as The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, BBC Travel, Tampa Bay Times, Wine & Spirits, National Geographic Traveler, Penthouse and Wine Enthusiast.

Interview with E.H. Lupton, author of The Joy of Fishes

Interview with E.H. Lupton, author of The Joy of Fishes

E.H. Lupton lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband and various pets. In her spare time, she pursues a number of hobbies including running, baking, making things up, and taking naps.

Her novella, The Joy of Fishes, was published by Battered Suitcase Press in December of 2013.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I was about twelve or thirteen and having an argument with my father about a TV show we both liked. I didn’t like the direction it was going in. My father challenged me to write my own version. I haven’t stopped since.

Why do you write?

I feel like I have stories to tell. Also, I don’t have a TV, and if I run too much my joints get angry, so I have to have a “sitting down” hobby.

Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be?

No. When I was young I thought all writers just wrote full time. Also, I’m guessing I thought writing was easy. In fact I still want to believe that, because I am continually surprised by how difficult writing is—I keep hoping I’ll come around a bend in the road and suddenly find everything is a cinch.

What do you think makes a good story?

It has to have compelling characters and a good plot. Artistry of writing is nice, and if the story fails on plot, sometimes artistry can get you pretty far (I mean, look at Ulysses). But if it fails on characters, I don’t care about the rest.

What's your favorite genre to read?

Probably mysteries. I read a lot of genres, because I’m always reading things that people recommend or that I find somewhere, but left to my own devices I look for a mystery novel. I’m especially fond of hardboiled detective novels.

Who is your favorite author or poet?

This is a hard question. Raymond Chandler is up there. Salman Rushdie. James Joyce. Zora Neale Hurston. Thomas Pynchon, especially his more recent stuff, like Inherent Vice. I’m probably leaving out a lot of worthy names here, but I think if you’ve read any of these writers you might begin to detect a trend: I like incredibly well-written works with interesting characters and (in most cases) dense, complex plots that are funny and heart-wrenching by turns.

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?

Probably the biggest influence was James Joyce’s Ulysses. I learned from it that books don’t have to stick to a single topic; you can put all of life into them. This book, more specifically, was influenced also by Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, Milan Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and by Wandering on the Way, a collection of Daoist stories translated by Victor Mair.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person?

I started down the path to study philosophy when I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Persig. I think a lot of my work is deeply rooted in philosophy in general, though it’s not always as apparent as it is with The Joy of Fishes. As an undergraduate, I studied philosophy and Chinese, which led to me taking the class in Daoism that inspired TJoF.

More prosaically, my mom used to read me Kipling’s The Just-So Stories and a lot of the works of James Thurber, and I think both of those had a big influence on me.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration?

When I’m lucky (that is, when I’m not recovering from an injury), I do a lot of thinking when I’m out running. When I’m not able to run, driving or biking can have a similar effect. (I live in Wisconsin, so the window for biking is pretty small.)

What does your family think of your writing?

I think they’re proud. Maybe a bit surprised that this is what I do, but proud.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

While I was finishing my thesis recently, I would get up around 5:30 and write until 7ish (sometimes pausing earlier or later depending on whether the puppy needed to go out). After I took the dogs out, I put the thesis away and went to the gym for an hour. Then I’d be ready to go to my day job. I find it easiest to get things done in the morning when there are fewer distractions. I’m sleeping in a little later now though.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?

I really like to write off the computer—I write longhand quite a bit, and when I have the opportunity, I like to write on my grandmother’s old typewriter. It is about fifty years old and probably weighs twenty or thirty pounds. I really like the feeling of connecting with the keys. Also, I like being away from the Internet.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

The Internet. Especially when things get difficult, I have a hard time focusing. Also, I know that in the course of writing a first draft, there are going to be boring bits that will have to be cut out later. But I hate writing them down. I have to force myself to press forward.

What are your current projects?

I have a short story I’m rewriting, and a novel I’m doing the first draft of. There are probably a few other things, too. I pick stories up and put them down all the time.

What are you planning for future projects?

I don’t really know. Someday I’d like to do a graphic novel, if I ever meet an artist with whom I could work. But I don’t always know what I’m going to do ahead of time. I squirrel away little bits of information for the future all the time, but I don’t usually have a plan of what I’m going to do with them.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

No. I know enough to know that I know nothing.

Where else can we find your work?

I have a blog at pretensesoup.com where you can find all of (or a lot of) my comic “Em ơi!,” which chronicles my various adventures in a somewhat piecemeal and occasionally imaginary fashion. I’ve been drawing it since 2008ish, and have amassed nearly four hundred comics at this point, making it probably my longest-running work. I have had a story published in issue 6 of Greatest Uncommon Denominator/GUD (“Salad Days,” which can be found here: http://www.gudmagazine.com/vault/6/Salad+Days). And I have had a story published in issue 5 of a magazine called Wilde Oats, but it appears to have been archived and isn’t on their website right now (looks like it will be in the future though).

E.H. Lupton's The Joy of Fishes is available for immediate download from our website or your favorite ebook retailer. 

Mara Daniels is a physicist doing cutting-edge research into the nature of reality at the University of Chicago. She’s an astronomer. She’s an amateur student of Chinese philosophy. And she’s still recovering from last summer’s car crash that killed Benjamin Zhu, her fiancé. It’s a slow process; she can walk without a cane now, but she still suffers from migraines, nightmares, and seeing Zhu’s ghost everywhere she goes. The novella The Joy of Fishes follows her through the day on which these threads begin to unravel.

Interview with Nancy Moore, author of The Vicar of Wrynbury

Interview with Nancy Moore, author of The Vicar of Wrynbury

Nancy Moore is originally from Northeastern Missouri and graduated from Truman State University with a degree in mass communication. She's worked in publishing, marketing, journalism, and in the non-profit field. She's dabbled with writing since childhood, winning a few awards for creative writing in her youth. It wasn't until later in life that her hobby developed into a serious pursuit. She is an unabashed Anglophile who lovesHarry Potter, Doctor Who, and Sherlock as well as any historical drama series to come out of the U.K. Nancy loves reading historical dramas, horror, biography, and non-fiction historical. She currently lives in St. Louis with "the greatest guy ever," her cat, and dog.

Her debut historical romance, The Vicar of Wrynbury, is set in the late Edwardian era, and was published by Vagabondage Romance in May of 2014. 

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

I dabbled even before I could really write very well. I would draw pictures and make storybooks when I was really little. I did various stories as I grew. In high school, I got third place in a creative writing competition through a university and it really advanced my daydreams of writing as a profession.

Why do you write? 

Because I have movies playing in my head. There are people in there, living stories and doing these great scenes that need to get out and on to paper. I’ve found that escaping into those story lands has been a great fantasy life for me. I can get away from real life, but also be creating something tangible too.

What do you think makes a good story? 

A good story is one that you never want to end and characters that you want to have contact with forever. My favorite stories are ones I go back and visit, especially in times of stress or unhappiness, and they comfort and soothe me like an old friend or warm, snuggly blanket.

What's your favorite genre to read? 

I love a good ghost story! A novel about a creepy house and mysterious haunting is such a treat that is rather hard to find. I also love biographies of the golden age of Hollywood stars. Usually their lives are very different than what was projected on screen or perpetuated by the big studios of the day.  

Who is your favorite author or poet? 

I discovered Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind when I was in junior high and it is still my favorite. Others include: Sarah Waters, Martha Grimes, Christopher Moore, and Audrey Niffenegger.

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? 

Sarah Waters's Affinity influenced me a lot for its pacing and style. The delicate mix of formal construction and sensuous context was really well crafted. I remember going through the last pages and feeling like I was on the fast downhill of a roller coaster.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? 

In college I had to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Kundera and was just amazed at how someone had put down in words a lot of the things I was struggling to understand as a young adult.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration? 

I’ve got a vivid imagination that has a bizarre trigger. A movie or a picture can start the ball rolling for me and begin a whole story arc.

What does your family think of your writing? 

My mother is my biggest cheerleader. She is an avid reader, and when I nervously let her read the first draft of my story she said to me, “This is as good as any book I’ve ever read. And I’ve read a LOT of books!”

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

Very unstructured. My first draft of my novel took a year and that was with working on it most days. But, I run hot and cold about writing. I’ll work on it for several days then not touch it for a week or a month or more. I won’t say that this is the best way to write, it’s just how it has worked for me in trying to make it a part of my busy life.  

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? 

When I’m stuck I walk away. If I start cooking or ironing or doing anything that allows my mind to wander, I can usually work out a solution. 

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

I’ve realized creativity is like a cat. It can’t be summoned on demand. You just have to leave the door open and hope it wanders in on its own.

What is unique about the Edwardian and WWI era that made you place this story at that time? 

I’ve always said I was born too late. The era of 1910-1930 is my favorite in many ways. There were many changes going on very quickly, especially for women. The world was progressing at an amazing pace. A lot of very old-fashioned notions and practices fell to the wayside as the world came into the twentieth century. Yet there is still this aura of romance, class, and formality. 

In what ways are the character of Anne and you alike? 

Anne is a lot like me, and I don’t know if anyone would believe me when I say that I’d never written a female character like that before. We both have had lives that didn’t turn out how we had expected and felt the need to nurture and cultivate positive relationships, not always with the best results. We both, also, went through changes when forced to be out on our own and learn from our struggles, which only made us stronger. The end of the novel reflected a lot of the change in my own life and my evolving views of love, romance, and lasting relationships.

What are your current projects?  

I have started a modern day ghost story and would like to see how I am able to do with this genre. 

What are you planning for future projects? 

I have another turn of the century drama-romance started but sitting on the shelf. It would be a tale taking place in St. Louis at the turn of the century and centering around another woman going through some difficult life changes that affect her views on the people around her and herself.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

It takes nothing to put it on paper. Write like no one will ever see it. Write for yourself and you may end up creating something everyone appreciates.

Nancy's debut historical romance, The Vicar of Wrynbury, is set in the late Edwardian era, and was published by Vagabondage Romance in May of 2014, and is available in print and ebook from our website or from your favorite online bookstore. 

As the Edwardian era fades into WWI, Cyril Dunstan, a man with a mysterious past, accepts the post as vicar in a small country town of Wrynbury. His benefactor and only ally, Anne Gladwyn, repeatedly attempts to assist the reticent and surly vicar with the task of reviving the dilapidated village church against all odds. Anne hopes to find some purpose to her dull and unsatisfying life as well as solve the mystery of the vicar’s history and demeanor. Their journals and accounts show the tenuous beginnings of a partnership that turns into a friendship then blossoms into a passionate emotional tie that could destroy all they have worked for. In a time when religious and social constructs would never allow the two to satisfy their desires, they must decide what to sacrifice in order to have happiness during the tumultuous early days of the 20th Century.

Interview with Tim Dankanich, author of Old Hag Syndrome

Interview with Tim Dankanich, author of Old Hag Syndrome

Tim Dankanich was born within the state of Pennsylvania, a state which happens to be (in his

opinion) the insane little sister of historical Transylvania. Without any formal training or education, he is a completely self-taught author, screenwriter, and artisan with a pathological obsession toward the dark, frightening, unexplained realms of the unknown. You can visit him online at www.timdankanich.brushd.com

His creepy horror thriller, Old Hag Syndrome, is soon to hit the big screen and was published by imprint Dark Alley Press in September 2013.

What was your inspiration for Old Hag Syndrome?

The Old Hag Syndrome was inspired by the very real and terrifying phenomenon experienced by more than half of the world's population, myself included. The Old Hag Syndrome is a mysterious and horrifying sleep disorder documented throughout almost every ancient culture and known today by its modern medical term as sleep paralysis. For this story I was first inspired to create my own explanations for this widespread and unexplained nightmare that cannot be fully rationalized by psychology, culture or medical science. Then I tried to create characters who were not only likable but worth caring about. Consequently I led these poor people through every insane and disturbing horror my mind could imagine.

Twins and the psychic connection some seem to have is critical to your novel?

“Critical” is a very interesting word choice to use in that question. That particular adjective contains different meanings, yet looks exactly the same. Much like identical twins themselves, which are statically the only sets of twins to sometimes share acute psychic abilities between each other. But I honestly think the only critical aspect of such a connection would be that the novel itself would have looked very differently had I not mentally given birth to identical twins as important characters, when I first started to compose the skeletal structure of the story itself.

Are you a twin? If so do you have this connection with your twin? Could you give us some examples?

Sadly no, I do not have a psychic twin. It’s rather depressing to think of how quickly and efficiently the writing process would be if I had such a twin finishing my thoughts and typing them out for me while I had other things to do.

If not, where does your fascination with twins and this connection come from?

Honestly, I’m not exactly sure where my fascination with biological nonconformity and the entire spectrum of the paranormal originates from. I wish I knew. Although I do remember when I was younger (about the age of 9) a friend’s mother took her and I to see a psychic, who only told me very vague and incomplete thoughts during my reading. After my friend and her mother had their readings and we all left, her mother told me that the psychic refunded the money she had paid for my reading. When she asked why, the psychic told her that I had frightened the poor fortuneteller because no matter how hard they tried, I could not be read psychically. Or it could have something to do with being born five days after Halloween.

The story mentions many different sleep disorders. Is this something you’ve experienced yourself? If not, what drew you to delve into this topic?

I think the basic biological need for sleep has always disturbed me in some way. Not only do we spend more than half our entire lives asleep, but modern science is still searching for the exact reason behind why we as a species need to sleep and dream in the first place, and why it’s a necessity in order for us to stay alive. I myself have always been nocturnal by nature, as well as being able to stay awake for several days at a time. I think I may have experienced almost every sleep disorder at least once or twice in my life, including the Old Hag Syndrome. But it wasn’t until a friend of mine confessed to suffering through Hag Attacks on an almost nightly basis that this phenomenon first became the larval stage of a nightmare that I set out to explore artistically. It was an attempt to better understand exactly what I had experienced, and why so many others throughout human history were also afraid of falling asleep in fear of it happening again. The most frightening aspect of this experience is the widespread, dramatic, realistic, and bizarre elements of this phenomenon that cannot be fully explained as being nothing more than a sleep disorder.

What sort of research did you do for this book?

At the risk of sounding pretentious, I honestly did extensive research online, at libraries, in bookstores as well as contacting a university professor said to be an expert on the subject, (but he never wrote me back). However I think the most interesting and insightful research I did was when friends, strangers, or second hand acquaintances would ask me what I was writing about. Once I told them about the Old Hag Syndrome, I was shocked to learn just how many people I knew or happened to meet that had experienced it firsthand. Some of which never even knew there was a term used for what had happened to them. Some of those people had never even told anyone about their encounters before, or were even aware that other people have had the same thing happen to them.

Is there any part of you in Annette?

I think Annette is comprised of a lot of people I used to know, as well as me. In the most compassionately simplistic terms, Annette Chambers is a beautiful mess. Despite everything she’s ever been through she retains her self-taught independence. She prides herself on never asking for anyone’s help. She is careful with the little money she has managed to save. But she still eats poorly, dresses poorly, and cares very little about what people think of her. She understands that exterior beauty and inner strength are nothing more than psychological projections upon strangers. She knows the power of a single action, and the influence of a nice smile. She has also helped more people than she knows by being able to distinguish between the two. One thing Annette perfected during her abandoned education in psychology was how to compartmentalize all her flawed human emotions. She is able to place all of her fear, anxiety and sadness into large formaldehyde filled jars within her mind and seal them shut in order to function properly and efficiently as a person. She places these jars in her psychological basement storage facility, amongst all of her other deformed, well preserved, and euthanized emotions. She already knows that storing so many cognitive containers behind walls of repression is in itself a dangerously detrimental defense mechanism, which could potentially possess severe and long lasting consequences. But she is also fully prepared to one day go through every imaginary jar from the past and thoroughly dissect and study every saved specimen, in order to one day better understand herself and the f**ked up world around her.

What was the toughest part of this story to write?

As an avid horror fan I would have to say the hardest part was trying to frighten myself as I wrote. I would rewrite and rewrite rewrites until what I wrote scared me enough to never write it again.

What is it about Annette that you think will draw readers to her?

I suspect readers will be drawn to the challenges which test the character and resolve of Annette that happen to be a series of inescapable psychological horrors. I think the readers may establish immediate sympathy for Annette through her relatable and understandable struggle of just barely scraping by in life, while walking that thin line between things going from success to failure at any given moment. But no matter how bad they think her life seems, they could never even imagine the nightmare that awaits her at the bottom of the downward spiral of being forced to not only question the foundation of reality but also surpass the boundaries beyond all known fear and insanity. 

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

The realization was a very slow process starting at a very young age after I first started drawing and before having the ability to read. It was through comic books that I first noticed the exquisite craft of connecting written text with visual art to create a captivating story. Prior to being old enough to even spell simple words correctly, I was illustrating and writing the stories for my own childish comic books. I remember it frustrated me to the point of tears that I couldn’t draw what I saw clearly in my imagination, so I would just rip up the paper and start all over again. This process led me to focus more on practicing and perfecting my visual art throughout high school. I would always have a notebook on hand to write down ideas, stories, or any interesting conversations I had that day. I soon noticed I was subconsciously adding more and more words, random text and cryptic storytelling into my artwork. That was around the time when I alternated my complete attention from a canvas and paintbrush to a notebook and pen.

Why do you write?

I write as a personal artistic challenge, as an attempt to fine tune, document, and expand upon my overactive imagination. With my writing I aspire to show and share everything I see in my mind by using only words. I write because I came to the conclusion that every form of art contains its own deadline for someone to formulate their own negative or positive opinion of it. With visual art, personal opinions are immediate. You like what you see, or you don’t. Music on the other hand takes a little more time to listen closely and decide how it makes you feel. But reading a book from cover to cover, that takes time. That is a commitment. But sometimes you gain more from art than just an opinion of it.

Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be?

Honestly, I’m at a loss for words. *insert comedic drum roll here*

What do you think makes a good story?

Well established believability, especially towards the unbelievable aspects of the story, and a mutual trust between the author and the reader.

What's your favorite genre to read?

I love horror, including all of its varied subgenres, especially non-fiction books on the paranormal, supernatural, and the unexplained. 

Who is your favorite author or poet?

I respect and admire so many authors, each to their own credit. However my top three would be: William S. Burroughs, H.P. Lovecraft, and Hunter S. Thompson. As for pure poetry, nothing beats a case of beer and something by Bukowski.

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?

Stalking Is a Contact Sport, by (a brilliant bastard and friend) Fred Seton. As well as the author’s entire unpublished works.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person?

The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allen Poe. This was read to me and my fellow first-grade classmates by a sweet old librarian during story time. It all spiraled downward from there.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration?

I find the most inspiration from imperfections, mistakes, and the unknown, easily found both in myself and the world around me.

What does your family think of your writing?

I assume they think the same thing as they thought about my visual art; if I’m not getting paid every time I do it, it’s not a job.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

…I’ll answer that question as soon as I have or find the time.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?

Not that I’m consciously aware of…

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

The middle and endings are always a challenge. Starting anything is easy.

What are your current projects?

I’m currently composing several horror movie spec screenplays, while continuing to raise and be responsible for an abandoned baby squirrel that I rescued from the hands of death earlier this summer, a squirrel which is now a happy and healthy blur of chaos and destruction.

What are you planning for future projects?

I really hate to plan anything too far ahead so I’ll just cryptically say, “It’s a surprise.”

Do you have any advice for other writers?

My only advice is; adopt a monkey. Or if you live in a place where monkeys are readily available, invite one to stay inside your home… because if you are able to continue writing while a temperamental primate screams and destroys your house, you will obtain discipline and focus. A monkey will also teach you the proper way to handle discouragement and rejection by learning to wipe it all away and move on. Just like all the feces the monkey will throw at you… and yes, you will be repeatedly hit with monkey excrement… monkey excrement that smells of humiliation and shame… just wipe it away, and move on.

Where else can we find your work?

Some of my artwork and prose can be found in Migraine Expressions, a beautiful book of powerful migraine poetry, prose, art, and photography promoting awareness and understanding of migraine and the need for further research, understanding, and treatments.

That and I sometimes vandalize roadside billboards with profound anti-consumerism truths. Or you may find one of my notebooks filled with strange drawings and written madness that I am compelled to purposely loose in random public places whenever I travel. www.timdankanich.brushd.com

Tim's chilling supernatural novel, Old Hag Syndrome can be purchased from our website or from your favorite online bookstore in print or ebook format.

           

For the last twenty years, Annette Chambers has been haunted by the same recurring nightmare of her beloved twin sister’s death.

When a cryptic stranger warns Annette that she is in danger of being murdered -- just like her sister -- by an ancient evil that dwells between dreams and reality, Annette initially dismisses the idea until she is attacked in her sleep by an unseen entity.

Annette soon learns what she experienced is known throughout history as Old Hag Syndrome, a horrifying affliction that causes victims to awake, paralyzed, unable to scream while they are tormented by hallucinations.

Soon Annette realizes the Old Hag she faces is real and has been killing off her friends and family. Her nightmare becomes a frightening reality where the only hope of survival lies somewhere between death and madness.