Please welcome Peter Giglio.
  
 Pushcart Prize nominee and an active member of the Horror Writers Association, Peter Giglio is the author of four novels, three novellas, and he edits a successful line of books for Evil Jester Press. His works of short fiction can be found in a number of notable volumes, including two comprehensive genre anthologies edited by New York Times Bestselling author John Skipp. With Scott Bradley, Peter wrote the author-approved screen adaptation of Joe R. Lansdale's "The Night They Missed the Horror Show," and an established screenwriting team in Los Angeles holds the film option on Giglio's Sunfall Manor. He resides in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he stays out of trouble.

Website: www.petergiglio.com. Blog: http://petergiglioauthor.blogspot.com/.

And please stay tuned for a much more in-depth interview with Peter.  

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

A Pushcart Prize nominee and an active member of the Horror Writers Association, Peter Giglio is the author of five novels, three novellas, and he edits a successful line of books for Evil Jester Press. His works of short fiction can be found in a number of notable volumes, including two comprehensive genre anthologies edited by New York Times Bestselling author John Skipp. With Scott Bradley, Peter wrote the author-approved screen adaptation of Joe R. Lansdale's "The Night They Missed the Horror Show," and an established screenwriting team in Los Angeles holds the film option on Giglio's novella Sunfall Manor. He resides in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he stays out of trouble.

Do you prefer the term Horror, Weird Fiction or Dark Fiction?

When genre labels aren’t limiting the potential audience of a work, they tend to create an unfair expectation with certain readers. I’m concerned when readers are locked into one type of storytelling, because my range as a writer, I like to think, is broad. I guess I prefer the “Dark Fiction” brand. Everything I write is dark, but not everything fits easily into the current definition of “Horror.”   

Who are some of your favourite authors?

Philip K. Dick, William Goldman, Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, John Farris, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub.

What are you reading now?

I’m rereading Little Brothers by Rick Hautala, preparing a pitch for a production company. Fingers and toes crossed that I can get a studio interested so that Scott Bradley (my frequent writing partner) and I can write the screenplay. I’ve owned the film option for a little over a year.

Also, I just finished reading NOS4A2 by Joe Hill and was blown away, and Snow by Ronald Malfi, which is a really tasty horror novel that I highly recommend.

 Which book do you wish you had written?

The book I envy the most is Ubik by Philip K. Dick.

If you could use any other author’s creation in your own work, who or what would you use?

That’s a tough question. Some of my works have been influenced by other writers—my forthcoming novel from DarkFuse, Lesser Creatures, was certainly inspired by Philip K. Dick. But I didn’t use any of his creations in the book, nor did I want to. If I could be hired to write any kind of a tie-in to an existing franchise, I wouldn’t mind writing a Firefly novel—that’d be fun, and I would relish the job. That said, you’re not going to see any fan fiction from me. If someone wants to hire me to write a novelization, however, here I am! That’s good work if you can get it.   

Describe typical day spent writing. Do you have any unusual writing habits?

I don’t think I have any habits at all. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know. I find that every book is a different beast than the last, and so I approach each project differently. Sometimes a project is just dying to get out, causing me to wake up early and stay up late, writing my ass off for hours at a time--Lesser Creatures and Stealing Night were like that. My current project isn’t like that. Though I outlined it, I find myself constantly going in different directions, and I’m happy with where my muse is taking me, even if the process is slower this time around. I’m also a managing editor with a lot on my plate, and a screenwriter with a couple irons in the fire, so time is frequently not on my side. When I write a book, I try to block out a month in advance, clearing my schedule of anything that isn’t writing. I wasn’t able to do that with the book I’m working on now; we’ll see how that works out. As it stands, each day is new adventure, and I like that.

What piece of your own work are you most proud of?

I’d say it’s a tie between Stealing Night and Lesser Creatures.

What is the hardest lesson you have learned with regards to your writing?

The hardest lessons are the ones we don’t learn.

What do you like to do to relax?

I like to read and travel.

Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?

The most recent book I completed was Lesser Creatures. It’s a dark science fiction novel that will be released in a limited edition hardcover, trade paperback, and eBook, by DarkFuse in December. This is what Joe McKinney had to say about it:

“What does it mean to be human? I thought, after reading my way through Philip K. Dick, that we had counted the ways in total. But Peter Giglio has shown me a new way, one that is closely allied with Dick’s many countings of consciousness, and yet something completely new. Part magic, part love, part fan love of everything that is great and awe-inspiring about genre fiction and rock and roll and that inner rage that just won’t die no matter how old we get, Lesser Creature Love Song is simply beautiful. I read this book with impatience, turning pages as fast as I could, yet regretting every single one that had gone by, for this is Peter Giglio at his best. This is a triumph. This is what the zombie had the promise to be all along. I loved every word of this book. It fed me when I was looking for inspiration.”

The book I’m writing now is titled When We Fall Down. It’s a paranormal coming-of-age tale set in mid-1980s that revolves around death, guilt, and Super 8 movies.   


If you like the sound of Peter's writing, and you fancy reading some of it, then please consider clicking the links below.  The small remuneration I get from these links, helps to pay for the upkeep of this site.  

Today's installment of % Minutes With... features Trent Zelazny.  Trent   is an American author of crime and horror fiction. His work includes To Sleep Gently, Fractal Despondency,Shadowboxer, the short story collection The Day the Leash Gave Way and Other Stories, the novel Destination Unknown, and A Crack in Melancholy Time. His short story "The House of Happy Mayhem" received an honorable mention in Best Horror of the Year 2009. His novella Butterfly Potion will soon be released by Nightscape Press

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

I grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I’m living here again. I’m a suicide survivor, surviving my own attempt after my fiancé successfully took her own life in 2010. I was a serious alcoholic for quite a while, been sober a little over two and a half years now, with no plans to return to that life. I’ve written several books, a surprising amount of short fiction when I look back at the list, a couple of short plays and some screenplay work.  I have a deep love of NBA basketball, a love which can’t be explained simply, but it runs deeper than the mere love of the game. I have a sixteen-year-old son named Corwin, who totally rocks.

Do you prefer the term Horror, Weird Fiction or Dark Fiction?

 

I know we do need—to some extent—to label fiction, but I’ve never been super comfortable with any of them. Maybe because, while I’m close, I still haven’t been placed into a specific category. But if I had to pick one of ones mentioned, I’d go with Dark Fiction. It can encompass the other two or neither of them. It simply feels broader to me.

Who are some of your favourite authors?

So many. I’m gonna go with the folks that come immediately to mind. Joe Lansdale, David Goodis, Jonathan Craig, Dean Koontz, Cornell Woolrich, Robert Bloch, Donald Westlake and Lawrence Block. Those are the guys, I think, for the most part, who really helped shape my writing, for better or worse.

What are you reading now?

A few things. I just started Balance by Peter Giglio. I love Pete, both as a writer and a person, so I know I’m in for a good time with it. Also reading Criss-Cross by Don Tracy, from 1934, which they made into the cool Noir film with Burt Lancaster and Yvonne De Carlo. Also reading the Bayou Trilogy by Daniel Woodrell.

Which book do you wish you had written?


For the most part, I’m happy with what I have written, even if I’m not especially fond of some of them. I’m sure there are times when I read something and think that thought, “Man! I wish I wrote that!” But if I’d written it, I wouldn’t get that same reaction that evokes so much in my mind and heart (or at least it would be in a different way). Back in high school, I, like so many other kids, played music. One kid I jammed with opened me up creatively one day while we were driving around and I had Paul McCartney on the stereo. I said, “I wanna cover this song,” or something to that effect. My friend said something like, “Why cover it? Just let it influence you, maybe write something with a similar feel.” I love that, though sometimes I let myself be too influenced, I think.

If you could use any other author’s creation in your own work, who or what would you use?

Though I’ve never been there, I would probably want to use Philadelphia in the 1940s or 50s, where most of David Goodis’ books took place. It conjures a dark but pleasant magic in my mind.

Describe typical day spent writing. Do you have any unusual writing habits?

I’m pretty loose about it, though I work every day, for the most part. I write better in the early morning. If I get a good start early in the morning, sometimes I don’t realize I’ve skipped breakfast lunch and dinner. I used to bounce a tennis ball, but that seems to have kind of stopped. I keep myself surrounded by books of all kinds. Turning my head just a little to the right, I see a stack of books that include my father, Kierkegaard, Leigh M. Lane, Louis L’Amour, Cornell Woolrich and Sylvia Plath. I also usually need a lot of coffee.

What piece of your own work are you most proud of?

It’s always the work in progress, but out of my catalogue that’s available, I think I might, overall, go with Butterfly Potion. I like it because writing that one in particular really helped bring hope back into my life—something I’d been lacking for a couple of years.

What is the hardest lesson you have learned with regards to your writing?

I’m not my father, nor do I much write like him.

What do you like to do to relax?

Watch NBA basketball. On occasion try to play basketball. I love movies and certain Television shows. And of course, I love to read.

Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?

The last book I wrote is called Too Late to Call Texas, a book heavily influenced by crime, westerns, and existential philosophy. I think it’s pretty damn entertaining. If you want action and so forth, I think it’s there; if you want it to speak to you on a deeper level, I think (or at least hope) that that’s there too.

Then I’m currently working on two novels simultaneously, one with no title but I’m really having fun with, and another tentatively called Voiceless, which I think includes some of the best prose I’ve ever written. Hopefully I’ll get those done before too long.

It's been a while since I conducted a in depth interview, not sure why I fell of the horse, however it's been good getting back into the swing of things.  So it gives me great pleasure to have Rena Mason over a chat.  Rena Mason graduated from college with a SUNY nursing license, started her career in oncology, did some home healthcare work for Visiting Nurses, and then went on to work in the operating room for over twelve years in Denver, Colorado.

A longtime fan of horror, sci-fi, science,  history, historical fiction, mysteries, and thrillers, she began writing to mash up those genres. 

She is a member of the Horror Writer's Association, Pacific Northwest Writer's Association, and International Thriller Writers. She writes a column for the HWA Monthly Newsletter, "Recently Born of Horrific Minds" and writes occasional articles. She is also a volunteer for the Bram Stoker Awards® awards committee.

An avid SCUBA diver since 1988, she has traveled the world and enjoys incorporating the experiences into her stories. 

Hello folks, and welcome to the second  of what I hope will be a regular feature of this blog, the  Publisher Spotlight. The aim of this feature is to spotlight the work of some of the best Small Press publishers working in the genre today.   Today Peter Coleborn's Alchemy Press is under the spotlight.
   
The history of The Alchemy Press comes in two parts. Part the first:

I had long been associated with the British Fantasy Society (secretary, treasurer, chair, convention organiser, editor) and by the late 1990s I decided it was time to branch out a little, do something outside the society. The BFS had taken up so much of my “fantasy time” that I needed to do something for myself. Thus, with the aid of a National Lottery grant (see, your pounds do – or did – go to some good causes) I created The Alchemy Press. I wanted to take things slowly at first so I persuaded Mike Chinn to supply a handful of Damian Paladin short stories – and The Paladin Mandates was launched in 1998. Bob Covington supplied both the cover and interior artwork – I have some of it hanging on my walls as I type. The Paladin Mandates was described as having “generous dollops of The Scorpion, The Shadow and Dominic Fortune ... old airplanes ... [and] a taste for '30s detective fiction.” And a decade or more later, Mike Chinn’s taste for pulp noir resurfaced with The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes.

The main aim of my blog has always been one of lending support to the Small and Independent Presses.  With the rise in recent times of Amazon it has become an ever increasing task to find the real gems of the genre.  

From what I have read so far Anachron Press, is one of those gems, and it is a great honour and a pleasure to offer Colin F. Barnes a chance to talk about why he set up his press, it's aims and where he hopes to take it. 

Award-winning author and graduate of Northwestern University, ROBERT W. WALKER created his highly acclaimed INSTINCT and EDGE SERIES between 1982 and 2005. Rob since then has penned his award-winning historical series featuring Inspector Alastair Ransom with CITY FOR RANSOM (2006), SHADOWS IN THE WHITE CITY (2007), and CITY OF THE ABSENT (2008), and most recently placed Ransom on board the Titanic in a hyrid historical/science fiction epic entitled Titanic 2012 – Curse of RMS Titanic. 

The original Ransom trilogy straddles the Chicago World’s Fair circa 1893, and has had enthusiastic reviews from Chicago historians and the Chicago Tribune, which likened “the witticism to Mark Twain, the social consciousness to Dickens, and the ghoulish atmosphere to Poe!”  

Rob has since published DEAD ON, a PI’s tale of revenge as a reason to live—a noir set in modern day Atlanta,  followed more recently by Bismarck 2013, an historical horror title, The Edge of Instinct, the 12th Instinct Series, and a short story collection entitled Party of Eight – the one that got away.