Fresh from recent critical successes with novellas Jedi Summer and Detritus In Love (co-written with Bram Stoker award winning author Mercedes Murdock Yardley), we thought it was high time we got caught up with author (and Gingernuts contributor) John Boden to find out more about his recent output, writing process, and upcoming projects.
 
 
Gingernuts of Horror: We’ll get to the new and upcoming releases, but I’d like to catch up w ith you first about Jedi Summer, if that’s cool. Because that was my novella of last year, and the wider critical response seems to have been very good. How have you found the release?
 
John Boden: I'm thrilled that it's done well and people like it. It's no secret that I was a bit worried about it initially. I wrote it as a present for my little brother. I hadn't originally sought to publish it. It was sent to a publisher who held interest and then it sat idle for a year before I sent it to Eric at Post Mortem.  He liked it and took it and I still worried. This thing is not a traditional story, has very little action or linear narrative and runs mainly on the cool breeze of emotional nostalgia. All that said, it's been quite humbling to see it so well-liked and hearing so many people say that it really brought them back to their childhoods-good and bad.
 
GNoH: I also have to ask - I know it was largely autobiographical - how did it feel putting so much of yourself out there in that way?
 
JB:  It felt both freeing and bit like I was being an asshole. I mean, we tend to feel that everything that we experience is solely ours and while it is, it also isn't. I worried that I put too much out there.  Most of my family are pretty private people, a lot of friends too. There are also people and events that really happened that I very barely camouflaged.  Since no one has punched me in the face or harassed my family, I guess I worried for nothing.
 
GNoH: Do you find a similar thing with your fiction? I’ve found people almost never recognize themselves in a book, even when it feels blatant to me as a writer…
 
JB: I'm not sure, I really don't have all that much out there yet. I make no secret that I often staff my work with friends. nearly every character being based in some way on a friend or family member.  Hell, often times I don't even change names.
 
GNoH: How was the process of writing Jedi? Did you find yourself struggling to remember parts, or did it flow very naturally? And how did you decide what to tell and what to leave out?
 
JB:  It was originally written as a short story, called "The Magnetic Kid", this flash piece ended up as a chapter in Jedi Summer, but once I started going and the memories started flowing it went really smoothly. There were things I left out and there were many liberties taken with those I didn't. It's like that Adam Sandler movie, The Wedding Singer.  That movie was set in 1985 or 86, but they crammed a million references to all manner of 80's shit in there.  I did the same sort of thing.  I like having people try to guess what was true and what was not. I could put other things in there. Maybe one day I will expand it or collect some more material in another thing. It only recently struck me that my story, "Possessed By A Broken Window" [which appeared in Lamplight Magazine, Volume III- Issue III-- is actually a "Johnny & Roscoe" story.  So I could probably do it.  Speaking of that story, Jacob Haddon and Apokrupha Press are plotting to bring a "radio treatment" of "Possessed By A Broken Window" to the masses sometime in the future.
 
GNoH: A Jedi sequel would be amazing! Or would it be a prequel? The Phantom Summer? :D
 
JB: I'm not sure if it would be a sequel or prequel. Possibly just an expansion with further recollections and such. I'll wait a while and see what happens. I can say that Jedi Summer is being translated for a German edition at the moment. that's a pretty nifty thing to have happen. 
 
GNoH: Your writing has a lyrical quality - poetic, yet grounded and unpretentious. Where do you think that voice comes from? Who do you think of as your prime influences?
 
JB: I can't say where the style came from, I mean a lot of places.  I began writing in school, after being inspired by Stephen King, Bradbury and Louis L'Amour. I started writing and wrote pretty pathetic Stephen King fan fiction or terrible pulp stories. King was one of the first writers that I read, you know "adult-type" material. And I loved it. I will still claim his importance. No one writes characters like he does. I always loved his simpler work (his middle years stuff is pretty bloated and hard-to-take at times), but those first dozen or so novels I recall vividly, and I've not read them in decades.  So yeah, I stopped writing after graduating and didn't actively start again until Shock Totem started, almost 20 years later.  Now, during that time, I read a lot. Discovering and devouring anything from Joe Lansdale or Robert McCammon, while also taking in William Burroughs, James Havoc and Th. Metzger.  I also owe as much influence to music as anything - it was always playing - my parents, though split, both loved music and I got a steady diet of classic hard rock, early metal, folk and country music. I always paid close attention to lyrics and used to read album liner notes like most kids read Highlights. I almost think that stuff -- all of that stuff--sort of got stuck in my "creative craw" and waited for me to decide to write again because when I came back to it, I found myself writing in a simple and clear voice but with an (I've been told) unique sense of description. It's just how I write.
 
GNoH: The songwriting influence is very interesting to me. Who do you think of as master storytellers in terms of lyricists? And what about that form of storytelling appeals to you?
 
JB:  Alice Cooper always told great stories, I'm well aware that a lot of those songs were co-written by others or by outside writers, but I loved them. Rolling Stones have some great songs...any song can be a story if you listen right.  I grew up loving old story song country--"Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town," "Psycho," "Phantom 309."  So many...The Drive-By Truckers and a band called I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House are both fantastic at gritty and seedy everyday dark dramas.  I can't put a finger on what exactly appeals to me other than I tend to like concise. I like to eat fast and not have to chew much.

GNoH: moving on to Detritus In Love , can you recall how that project came about?
 
JB: Way back, when Mercedes Yardley worked with me at Shock Totem, I had written a flash piece called "The Thief, She Cried." I asked her to read it as we always sent each other our stuff to scope. She liked it and I told her I was thinking of expanding it somehow.  I asked if she wanted to do it with me and she said of course.  We decided outright on no strict timeline or hard deadlines. We'd write when we could, as much as we could. So three years and some change later, we had a very dark almost fablesque tale of a strange boy, his ghost pals and a dark enemy approaching. It's title was originally "Loving The Girl With X's For Eyes" but Laird Barron put out a book around the same time and we decided to change it, so Detritus In Love it became.  One of the best comments we get is that people can't distinguish our voices--it reads seamless.  We're pretty proud of it and have talked a tiny bit about possibly going back one day.
 
GNoH: I’d agree with that, it really did feel like one voice. What did you enjoy about the collaborative process? What did it teach you about your own writing?
 
JB: I really enjoyed the lack of anchor. I liked that it almost felt like, remember being a kid when you wrote to a pen pal or a friend (like wrote a letter, stamped it and chucked it in the post) and you'd wait but then forget or become distracted by life and then it a response would arrive and it was like a magical interruption to the daily hum-drummery?  It was like that. I'd write a bit and send it off and a week or three would float by before she sent back something or vice versa.  I think it taught me how to pick up cues, intended or otherwise as we went with no clear plot plan or outline, just wrote our way out of it. 
 
GNoH: I’d also like to touch on your recent Double Barrel Horror release - two very dark tales. ‘There Will Be Angels’ is both horrifying and heartbreaking - can you recall now what sparked the central premise of this story?
 
JB:  That one came from  the old Shock Totem Saturday night flash challenge. I believe the picture was a black and white still of girls on a wall. It was surreal and creepy and this is what I wrote during the given hour. It's strange and sad.
 
GNoH: It seems like that flash fiction challenge spawned a lot of interesting work! Do you have any other stories that came from that challenge? Is it ongoing, and if not are there any plans to revive it?
 
JB:  The monthly story challenge saw a lot of good new writers (many who have gone on to much acclaim) as winners. The bi-weekly flash contest saw a lot of stories go on as well.  I can't remember but I think my story "Down By The Ocean" (Splatterpunk #5) started as one of these. The challenge is no more I think.  It was held on the ST forum and I had turned over moderating privileges to others long ago.
 
GNoH: As for ‘Marlene The Magnificent’ - wow! Do you have any ‘red lines’ - areas you won’t write about in fiction - or do you think any subject is fair game?
 
JB:  Heh.  I don't usually write sex, graphic or otherwise in my stuff. Not that I'm a prude, I just don't get there in the way I tell my tales. Marlene was different. A co-worker once remarked that she'd had to have her children via c-section because "her vagina wasn't magic," and so the rest of that work day I found myself thinking about what it might be like were a woman to have a magic vagina...and of course, that went to a weird place and this is what happened. It's probably the closest to bizarro that I've gotten outside of some micro-flash I have.  It's not at all like most of what I've done.  As for any subject being fair game, why not? I mean if it happens for real we can talk about it--write about it, right?  Shit isn't going to go away if we pretend it doesn't happen. That line of reasoning has been a time-tested failure.
 
GNoH: I’ve enjoyed your short fiction work a great deal - Night Games in Blight Digest springs to mind as a brilliant slice of dark nasty - are there any plans for a short fiction collection at some point?
 
JB: One day maybe.  I'd definitely need to write more stories. Most of what I have that hasn't been published is flash fiction.  So I guess the short answer is yes, at some point.
 
GNoH: And I understand we’ve got another novella release coming up soon. What can you tell us about Spungunion?
 
JB: Spungunion is coming out 31st October  I am extremely proud of it and the folks who've read it in beta stages or to possibly give me a blurb for it have all dug it.  Spungunion is set in the early 80's and revolves around a trucker named Deke. His wife was murdered and he's spent the last year allowing his grief and anger devour him. He is finally offered a little help by his boss who puts him in touch with another trucker named Tiny. Tiny holds a special job description which allows him to call some very...um...otherworldy contacts out for favors.  As Deke meets with bizarre beings and begins to assemble perceived clues as to the killer of his wife, he finds that most of the time what we seek to find and what we are really looking for are rarely the same.  I wrote this from a very personal place concerning grief and its weight but also as a tribute to Joe R. Lansdale. He's been a huge influence and I have always enjoyed his wild characters and uniquely strange settings.
 
GNoH: As one of those lucky beta readers, I’d say that for me one of the huge strengths of this story is how it plays in the liminal spaces between reality and dark fantasy. How do you approach works with a more supernatural element to them? Do you find writing that kind of story affects your style or process?
 
JB: Honestly, I don't really think much about it. I just write what I write and however it goes, it goes.  That's probably a shitty answer but it's the truth.  Sometimes, most times, it begins around a scene or a character and then spreads from there. I just start and stop and see what it looks like when I decide it's time to stop for real. I'm a very undisciplined writer. I don't have a routine or set schedule. I've been trying harder to adopt one of those but my day job schedule is kind of terrible and I've found that if I try and force creativity when I'm brain tired or just plain old tired, the outcome is less than favorable.
 
GNoH: Thanks so much for your time, man. In closing, what do you have in the pipeline after Spungunion drops? What do the rest of 2017 and beyond hold for John Boden?
 
JB: I'm somewhere past the midpoint on a quietly odd western called Walk The Darkness Down.  I have the second "not-really-for-children" children's book written and am working with artist Chris Enterline on the illustrations. This one is about a haunted house.  Chris is amazing. He and I have recently started a series of one panel things called "Quick & Dirty" which is a single panel drawing that pairs with a micro-flash story of mine.  Those will be fun.  I have several other collaborative projects looming. None I really want to call out yet as it's way too early.  There's a German edition of Jedi Summer coming soon from Phrenetic Press.  I think it'll be titled Sommerland.  A couple of stories in forthcoming anthos. And you're most welcome. thank you for asking me to babble.

Spungunion: (pronounced: Spun-Gun-Yun) noun; 1.) a dish made from rotting road kill, usually a skunk or a opossum. The more fragrant or maggoty, the better. 2.) Something that's been on the road for a long and unfortunate time...
This is the story of Deke Larch, a widowed trucker who has lost everything and is struggling to find his place in a world and the person who took it from him. That journey puts him in touch with strange characters and bizarre places. Deke had always felt like he operated on the fringe of society, but he really had no idea...his journey will teach him that monsters are interpretive and sometimes what we think we want is not what we seek at all.
Spungunion is a story about grief and loss, about lonely roads and lost souls, about failure to let go and falling when you finally do. It's about livin' and dyin' and how sometimes the difference between is very slight.
“This trucker’s tale of bloody revenge and harrowing self-illumination takes place in the deepest, strangest veins of the Twilight Zone’s midnight highways. Boden rolls his supernatural mystery down the blacktop surface of the road to Hell, and you’re gonna love the journey into the fire.” – Philip Fracassi, author of Behold the Void, Fragile Dreams and Altar.

                                               PURCHASE  A COPY FROM DYNATOX MINISTRIES 

Suitably labelled “The Queen of Filth”, extremist author Dani Brown’s style of dark and twisted writing and deeply disturbing stories has amassed a worrying sized cult following featuring horrifying tales such as “My Lovely Wife”, “Toenails” and the hugely popular “Night of the Penguins”. Merging eroticism with horror, torture and other areas that most authors wouldn’t dare, each of Dani’s titles will crawl under your skin, burrow inside you, and make you question why you are coming back for more.

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

There isn’t much to say about me. I always thought I was boring. I play with my cats and help my son with his homework. But I can also write really sick stuff, which I guess people find fascinating.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

When I’m not writing I enjoy knitting and sometimes downing pints of gin at parties (or doing something equally as stupid). I enjoy drawing. - I’ve been trying to recover my drawing skills.

Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
Other than horror there’s been a few different influences. I’m one of those writers that constantly has music on, even when writing. That plays a role. I’ve been trying to be a bit more open about how dreadful my music tastes truly are over at facebook.com/danibrownbooks. In terms of reading, sci-fi has played a role. I used to read a lot of it, mainly because my father made me. My son loves going through my old sci-fi books and finding something he likes (it isn’t hoarding if its books). The vast amount of fantasy I read plays a part too.

The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations.  What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?
 
I don’t often come out of my bubble so I’m typically sheltered from the negative associations with horror. When I did come out of my bubble briefly to try the tinder thing, I wouldn’t tell most of my matches what exactly it was that I wrote. Unfortunately, being guarded seemed to drive off the best looking of the lot of them! I do find as a woman writer, I’m treated with a lot of negativity and disbelief to begin with, even without saying what I write. I get a bit jealous when I see men talking about their self-doubts during the writing process as I don’t feel like I can do that. If I did, I would be verbally jumped upon and told it is time to grow up and get a real job.

A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years?
 
In terms of horror and the way the world is going, I’m curious to see Trump’s personality traits appear in horror, but subtly so it isn’t obviously him. That’s a few years away though, I think, when he isn’t so fresh.

What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?

There’s so many I can’t name. My early favourites were The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Reading something young, it kind of sticks. Anything by Stephen King. There was a Lovecraft influence in my writing long before I read any myself because of Stephen King. And The Story of the Eye (which I didn’t read until my third year of university). Still one of my favourite books, it isn’t just relevant when writing sexy things, but played a major role in creating characters such as the husband in “My Lovely Wife”.

What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?

Dav Crabes. “Trafficking and Sexual December”. You really need to experience it for yourself.

How would you describe your writing style
I wouldn’t really know how to describe my writing style. Sometimes what I write is good and I surprise myself. Other times it is dreadful. I write in different tenses from different points of view, not typically in the same piece but I have been told off by editors for it. I tend to be rather descriptive, which is purely down to reading Lord of the Rings more than once.

Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?

I like it when I make people feel sick or cry. It means my job was well done. If someone draws my attention to a review, I will sometimes take a screen shot and post it on my website. I simply don’t have the time to go looking for them myself.
My attention has been drawn to positive reviews of my nice things too. I like those reviews but it only seems to apply to short stories.

What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?

I get really frustrated if I have the images in my head for a story but cannot put it in words when I sit down to write it. Working on more than one thing at once helps this.

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?

I wouldn’t rule out any subject. I’m not fond of writing about dead children or animals, but I do it. I’m working on something now with a dead child.

How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?

With the exception of Xanthe and the characters in “Ketamine Addicted Pandas” (to be published), I randomly select names, typically from a book of baby names, or the huge name dictionary sitting on my shelf. Xanthe was special because I needed a name starting with X. I named her after the story was written. With Cody, Corey and Casey (Ketamine Addicted Pandas), I did select their names based on those names being popular when I was growing up. But for the most part, it is random selection. I’m not going to waste time thinking of a name. Sometimes the meaning of the name will shape the character and one time it shaped the title of a book (Middle Age Rae of Fucking Sunshine).
 
Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? 

I write a lot more than I used to. I no longer obsess over brutal scenes and have become pretty desensitized towards what is extreme and what isn’t. For the most part, my confidence has grown, although it still suffers from being knocked back. I’m also willing to put things down on paper no matter how bad the writing is, knowing I can go and fix it during edits.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?       
  
A vast music library and something to play it on that gets you away from the computer. A pack of pens and a stack of blank notebooks. And post it notes. Those are very important for jotting random notes and fragments on.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?

I’ve received a lot of advice over the years but I think the best is, just write. Write it down, no matter how bad the words sound together. And employ a good editor.

Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject?

I’ve recently hosted my first ever launch party. It was a real life one. That was fun and I sold a few books. What I’ve been doing lately is being a lot more open with what I’m listening to or watching. People seem to enjoy how that impacts my writing. It isn’t any good posting endless links and nothing else. There are links on my facebook page and on my website. I will repost stuff on occasion and when something is first published, I’ll post it a few times. That seems to be enough. People can find it. They want to know me. Sometimes I’ll post a selfie or a picture of a record I bought. Every now and again, I’ll talk about what I’m writing at that time.

To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favourite child, and who is your least  favourite to write for and why?

I have a character called Seth who is my favourite child. I celebrate his birthday every year. The piece hasn’t been finished yet – I’ve been writing it for ten years!. All the characters I’ve created after him have a little piece of Seth inside. I look forward to getting back to him once my to-do list is complete.

And are there any that you would like to forget about?

I would most like to forget about Rae. Readers like her. I don’t. She started off alright but then people and their eyebrows or bizarre sexual fantasies decided to attach themselves to me and they were difficult to get rid of.  Seriously, while trying to write Rae, I received countless facebook messages from a woman with a child in the same class as mine about her eyebrows. I offered her tweezers! What more could I have done? And while that was going on, I was given increasingly graphic descriptions of what some people would like to do to me. Totally not cool. All this stuff in my personal life changed the character. I don’t like being reminded of it. I have another character who is similar. I’ll finish that story off once “Seth” is done and in the stages of being published.

For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why?

I think Night of the Penguins would be the best place to start. It covers the extreme. It covers weird. It covers horror. There’s some graphic sexual content. It really has a bit of everything.

Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?

The first paragraph of Night of the Penguins
Carla spent the breakfast hour gathering snails in her garden. Even if she dreamt the entire thing, Spores deserved to have snails chucked at him.

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

My last book to be published was “Broccoli”. It was also my first attempt at self-publishing, a long-time dream of mine. Written in second person, present tense. It starts when you wake up. It contains something to offend everyone. It made a reviewer vomit. There isn’t much I can say about it. You are delirious, or aren’t you?

I have some short stories due to be published soon. There’s stories in “Sparks” (to read the stories that were too extreme for Burdizzo, and the rejection letters from The Reverend Burdizzo and The Black Nun, visit my website danibrownqueenoffilth.weebly.com). There are stories in “Vs X” and “Strange Behaviors”. There’s probably a few more due to be released over the upcoming 12 months. I also have a Dual Depravity with David Owain Hughes coming soon from JEA. The first of the “Stef and Tucker” series should be released eventually (it’s a series that started off as slash-fiction about my boyfriend and a band he really likes – just to weird him out!).

In terms of what I’m working on, this time around on my to-do list, there’s mainly novels and novellas. There’s “Sparky the Spunky Robot”. I’m a bit fed up of people loving my nice pleasant short stories but only ever buying my extreme and disgusting books so I’ve combined the two with a cute robot powered by cum. There’s another containing lethal chupacabra spunk. Spunk seems to be a bit of a theme, but the next one has the Mer-people of Europa. And there’s a body horror somewhere in there, cum-free.
 
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?

I’m not really sure what cliché I would erase. It would be nice to change people’s opinion of horror writers and writers in general.

What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?

Mayan Blue by Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason sticks out the most as a great book I’ve recently read (I’m a bit behind). Anything with Mayan in the title is going to appeal to me. At the time I bought a copy, I was just finishing up Night of the Penguin which had a scene based on Aztec ritual (written many years ago), which made it appeal even more (Aztec and Mayan have similar themes). One day, I’ll have the time to re-read it. I haven’t taken a chance on a book in a long time. I don’t get much time for reading, so I tend to go with books that seem as if I’d like them.

What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do?  And what would be the answer
 
Interviewer: Would you like me to buy you burritos and give you free bottles of gin and absinthe plus any mixers you desire?
 
Me: Why, yes, that would be nice. 

Sparks is the new charity anthology from Burdizzo books and to help support and spread word of it Ginger Nuts of Horror has been running a series on interviews and articles with the contributing authors today The man behind the book, Matty-Bob, or to use his Sunday name Matthew Cash takes the spotlight in today's "A Spark of genius" 

Matthew Cash has been a avid reader since however old he was when he learnt to read. He still remembers standing alongside the teacher's desk in his first ever primary school class and reading sentences out and learning to pause when he came to a dot. He has been releasing stuff for over two years, through numerous publishers and his own label Burdizzo Books.

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

I'm Matty-Bob, I'm a father of two, a full time carer, and I love to read.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Read. Haha. Entertainment wise I am spread between three favourite pastimes, reading, listening to music and watching the occasional film. I'm a fan of walking and getting out socialising but unfortunately it's not something I can do as regularly as I want to.
I love spending time with my family, days out with the kids (when they're not being unruly) and thinking about writing.

Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?

Earthbound science fiction, the likes of H. G. Wells and John Wyndham. I like the weirdness of Haruki Murakami and Neil Gaiman.

The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations.  What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?

Being a fan means it obviously conjures up excitement, floor to ceiling walls covered in VHS tapes in the video rental shops of my youth, boldly stepping around the back of the children's section and into the darker horror one. Going into bookshops and heading straight for that section.
 
I don't think we can break past the assumptions that the term ‘horror’ brings. It's a genre that's been about for a long time and it has many different guises. Where scares are concerned there's not really a lot that beats stuff happening in the world everyday. I think the sub-genres need to be clearly labelled as it is a broad spectrum. Horror can be so many different things, and I think people need to see it's not just about monsters, slashers and murderous possessed dolls.

A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years?

I think it will stray away from the usual tropes and focus on real life horrors as in my experience they are the most effective.

What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?

James Herbert's Fog, Shrine and Moon.
Stephen King's It, The Stand, and Pet Semetary.
Stephen Laws’ Ghost Train and The Frighteners.
The original Amityville Horror film, the Halloween franchise, The Wicker Man and all the old Hammer Horror films.

What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?

Jonathan Butcher. Em Dehaney. G. H. Finn. Pippa Bailey. And anyone else in our anthologies.

How would you describe your writing style?

I wouldn't.

Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?

Not as such but I always try and get something constructive from the reviews that are left. I'm eager to learn and always wanting to better myself.

What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?

Finding the bloody time to do it.
 
Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?

Not really. I go with what ever subject is talking to me. If a subject is taboo to me then I will either avoid writing it or write at a level I'm comfortable with.

How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?

They've never been too much of a priority for me, mostly I use the first names that pop into my head, unless it's something daft.
 
Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? 

I have listened to my peers. A long time ago Graeme Reynolds told me that writing was like a muscle and it needs regular exercise. It's true, to be a writer means you have to write as frequently as you can, about whatever you can. I've learnt to not worry about word counts, to write the story that needs to be written.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?     
    
Notebooks or similar apps on your phone. You never know when you're going to get sudden inspiration, or even ten minutes to jot something down. I've lost count of the amount of times I've whipped my phone out whilst waiting for the kids to finish school because I've had an idea, or phrase that needs recording.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?

As above, Graeme ‘High Moor’ Reynolds. Writing is like a muscle, use it or lose it.

Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject?

By knuckling down and trying to produce the best stuff I can, and surrounding myself with people who I can trust to tell me if something isn't working.

To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favourite child, and who is your least  favourite to write for and why?

My favourite has to be Diddy Dave Diamond, my scandalous celebrity comedian gone Jigsaw on people. The endless cheesy jokes and his fearlessness.

And are there any that you would like to forget about?

No, they all have their places.

For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why?

Pinprick - as I'm not just about the offensive and gore. I like good writing, and good storylines. I would rather have a book full of weirdness with one or two horribly graphic scenes than one chock-a-block with blood and guts.

Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
 
“The blackbirds swirled in the sky like a ebony hurricane, blotting out the bright sun.
John turned to his parents who too were raising their arms in herald to the coming of their God.” ‘Morning Has Broken’- The Reverend Burdizzo’s Hymn Book

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

My last solo release was Krackerjack2. I'm still working on finishing the first draft of my next novel FUR, I've started what might become a children's story, and I have the second part of a collaboration with Jonathan Butcher to continue.
 
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?

Where people split up for various reasons.

What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?

Tip Of The Iceberg by Ash Hartwell. And as for disappointment Rivers Of London by Ben Aaronvitch.

What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do?  And what would be the answer

This one, and the question would be the answer. 

To help promote the new charity anthology Sparks an electric themed anthology to raise money for Resources for Autism, Ginger Nuts of Horror is bringing you a series of interview with the authors involved in the anthology.  Today it is the turn of Ash Hartwell to feature in the spotlight.  

Ash Hartwell was born in Maine in New England but lives in Old England. His stories have appeared in numerous anthologies including Rejected For Content, The Black Room Manuscripts and Monsters v Zombies. He had a collection of his own stories Zombies, Vamps and Fiends published in 2015 by JEA. 2017 saw Stitched Smile Publications (where he is a VIP Author) publish his debut novel Tip Of The Iceberg. He is currently writing his second novel and putting the finishing touches to a short novella which he hopes will be published early 2019.

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?
 
I didn’t start writing until I’d turned forty so came into it later in life although it had long been a dream of mine. I spent the previous years working in the retail sector then as a nurse, working in a busy ICU. I’m married to Nicki, who is my muse but always sleeps with one eye open, and we have four children, although they are nearly all grown up (or should that be “all nearly grown up). We share our house with many cats and a lot of dogs.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?
 
Reading, obviously, and films. I also enjoy watching several different sports and generally spending time with the family.

Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
 
My grandmother encouraged me to read when I was young and she appeared to enjoy the more fantastical element in literature so I think it was instilled in me at an early age. My father enjoyed Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories and several people had spotted his influence in my stories. My novel is set in 1912 and falls very much into the later Holmes era.
I also think my time in health care had an influence in twisting my creative side into something darker than it once was, there is nothing like a bloody trauma to corrupt the soul.

The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations.  What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?
 
I think people associate the term horror with the more extreme end of the genre. They expect blood and gore liberally spread throughout the book regardless of its relevance to the story. I think for that reason many ‘horror’ authors find themselves shoehorned into a different label ie ‘thriller’ or ‘paranormal thriller’ as opposed to ‘horror-paranormal’ or ‘horror-supernatural’. Most traditional book shops view horror as Stephen King with a dash of James Herbert and Neil Gaiman. Others such as Adam Nevill and Shaun Hutson are edging in but the limited horror space is still filled with safe anthologies featuring Shelly, James, Poe and Lovecraft.

How do we change it? Simple. Get people reading horror books from horror authors and shouting about it. Go and ask for horror titles from your local bookshop. They can order them. The success of the film IT should help refocus the public’s interest plus Sarah Pinborough topping the Sunday Times best sellers list gives us an opening to force our twisted beliefs right down the reader’s throats. (smiley face)
 
A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years?
 
Apocalyptic fear or a search for a dystopian new world order. Look at American Horror Story; cult.  Zombies will feature but I think other fears will also surface, think Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane.

What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?
 
The one book that started my love of the genre was James Herbert’s The Rats. Him and Richard Laymon dominated my reading list for twenty years – and I still pop back and revisit them occasionally. I love the old Hammer films, and The Exorcist and Omen. So many films over the years have had an effect it’s hard to narrow it down.

What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?
 
Adam Nevill, although I think it fair to say he’s already arrived.  Duncan Bradshaw, JR Park and Sparks own David Court are all under-appreciated so search them out. Gary Mcmahon, AJ Brown, CC Adams Daniel Marc Chant and many others I haven’t got space for. Oh…and me, obviously! lol

How would you describe your writing style?
 
Erm… Well edited! Lol I hate these types of questions because I think others are better placed to define my style. I write how I feel I want to write. I like to think it’s literal and unrestricted. Not sure how to define it really. I’ll settle for – brilliant!

Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?

Yes. Being compared to Conan Doyle was humbling. JR Park also waxed lyrical about Tip Of The Iceberg which left me speechless when I read it. I think when a writer you admire acknowledges your work it means so much more.

What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?
 
Spooling and gamma. Lol. Really – letting the work go to an editor.

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
 
Probably more than one but it depends on the angle you take on a subject. Will I use a subject for shock value alone? No.

How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?
 
In Tip Of The Iceberg which is set on the Titanic many of the names are real people who were there. Other names I looked at passenger lists to make sure they were time period correct. Some names I use in stories have specific meaning some are just right for the character. You know when you hit on the right name. Think Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind or Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird.

Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years?
 
More economical with those horrible filler words. I listened to every piece of advice I was given and listened to every editor – especially those that rejected stories. If you want to improve these are the people to ask for advice. Many are surprisingly helpful if you ask nicely.  I have always tried to keep moving upwards in my submissions – it’s easy to pick low hanging fruit but It won’t help you develop.  

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?
 
Thesaurus. Patience. Thick skin.          

What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?
 
Take your time. When you finish a story put it away for a while and look at it with fresh eyes.

Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject?
 
I’m really bad at this. Facebook, web page, readings and book signings. I also did a panel at Edge-Lit which was terrifying but fun. I’m looking in to things like Thunderclap etc so maybe you should ask me again in a few months.

To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favourite child, and who is your least  favourite to write for and why?
 
My favourite is always the one I’m writing at the time – as is the least favourite. I liked a character in my novel so much I think they may get a second outing but I won’t say who as it will spoil the book (which you are all downloading now, I hope 😊)

And are there any that you would like to forget about?
 
No – because each is a part of my development as a writer and so important in some way to me.

For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why?
 
Tip Of The Iceberg (my only novel) But I think the story I wrote for The Black Room Manuscripts vol 3 is a little special.

Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
 
Not really ever thought about it. Here’s one I like. The speaker is an old sailor giving advice to a young man out to make his fortune. They are playing cards. “Take my advice lad, travel through life like it’s a game of cards. Hold ‘em or fold ‘em, but do it with belief, not fear.”
 

Can you tell us about what you are working on next?
 
 I’ve just finished a novella about a paramedic who arrives at a call out, then sits back and lets them die. Taunting them as they slip away. But he encounters the daughter of one of his victims when she starts work as a student paramedic at his ambulance station. Who knows the truth of what happened the day her father died?

If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?
 
The predictability of the order of death in slasher movies.

What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
 
Rich Hawkins The Last Plague was great. If a book disappoints me I don’t ever tell.
 
What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do?  And what would be the answer
 
Do you want this pallet full of bundled up cash?
 
Yes.

As part of Ginger Nuts of Horror's support of the Kickstarter for Tales From The Shadow Booth, we have teamed up with some of the contributors for a series of exclusive interviews.  Today Ginger Nuts of Horror welcomes Stephen Hargadon. Born in London, Stephen Hargadon now lives and works in the north of England.
​

• Shortlisted for the 2017 Observer/Anthony Burgess prize for Arts Journalism
• Runner-up 2016 Irish Post Short Story Competition

His short stories have been published in a number of places, including Black Static, Structo and Popshot magazines, the Irish Post, and on the LossLit website. His non-fiction has appeared on Litro.co.uk (including a well-received article on the joys of secondhand bookshops).

He has recently finished a novel.

To support this wonderful Kickstarter click here for the full details 

 Hello Stephen, Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?


I’ve had stories published in a number of places, online and in print. But Black Static is where my work has appeared most often – they’ve published nine of my stories, the most recent being ‘Langwell Sorrow’ and the first being ‘World of Trevor’ back in 2014. In fact ‘World of Trevor’ was my first story to be published anywhere – so, in terms of writing, I’m something of a newcomer, a stripling, although my face and hair suggest otherwise. I have an MA in Creative Writing from Manchester Metropolitan University. have yet to publish a book. I was born in Ilford, Essex, and now live in the north of England. I’ve done a variety of jobs over the years, most of them with ‘assistant’ in the title. I’ve recently finished writing a novel.

You have a very interesting viewpoint with regards to your fiction, “the finished thing, the completed text, is not as interesting as the act, the process of writing, the way in which words spark more words. Once it’s done, it’s time to move on” from this would it be fair to say that you write because you have to write, is writing something that you have to do? 
 
I’d like to say I write because I have to write. That’s what most writers say. And certainly the process of writing, of being led by the words, of trying to harness them into something new and unique, something true, well, it’s a peculiarly absorbing task, occasionally rewarding, often frustrating. It’s a kind of involved daydream – which makes it sound easy, as if it’s a question of waiting for the words to arrive. Of course it is not easy at all. You hunt for the words. Sometimes they want to be found. Do I have to write? Probably not. The truth is that I spent much of my adult life not writing. Hours, days, weeks went by without a word being written on paper. I seemed to get by. I muddled through. I got drunk. I always wanted to write. But who doesn’t? There were plenty of words and stories in my head. Tomorrow I’ll write. Tomorrow I’ll be a different person. The urge or need to write – if indeed it was truly there at the time – came out in other forms – in booze, mostly. (Or rather drink thwarted or perverted the impulse. That’s another story, one I’m going to write.) The pubs are full of mumblers. I was a mumbler. Now, I suppose, I mumble on paper. If I stop writing I know I will not die. It’s not like breathing or eating or sleeping. But I know that if I stop writing something bad will happen.

With this in mind, if you don’t have  any particular favourites, how would you go about selecting stories for a career spanning collection of your own work? 
 
I don’t tend to read my stories once they’re finished. I don’t re-read the ones that are published. There’s always something I want to change. But I suppose I do have favourites. And others that I am not so keen on (it’d be rude of me to name them). As for a career-spanning collection – I wish. Although I’m silver-haired, and no longer lean, I’m still in my infancy when it comes to writing. But I have enough stories for a decent collection. Perhaps a collection of weird or dark tales. A lot of my stories seem to go down that route.

You have been shortlisted for a number of prestigious awards do you think these awards once they have been announced have any lasting impact on an author? 
 
Well, I was shortlisted for the Observer / Anthony Burgess prize for arts journalism earlier this year. That was a treat. Burgess is one of my favourite writers. I never made it to the prize giving. Storm Doris was on the rampage, up-ending dustbins from Maidstone to Morecombe. All the trains to London were cancelled. I went home and watched a film instead as Doris ransacked the back garden. So I didn’t even get to see myself lose. In 2016 I was a runner-up in the Irish Post writing competition, another surprise. The Irish Post is a paper I remember from childhood. I suppose such things boost one’s confidence. They have a certain utilitarian value. I’m not sure about lasting impact. You write a story. Someone thinks it’s good. Someone else gives it an award. Someone else thinks it is rubbish. The story itself remains the same.

Your stories have been described as ‘strange beasts: wise, witty, and wonderfully dark. Each one is a thing entirely of its own kind, capable of surprising as much in the first reading as in the second and third.’ Do you always set out to write a story that ticks these boxes, or have you ever been tempted to write a more basic point A to point B type of story? 
 
I’m always tempted to write a nice, simple story, full of good clean fun. I don’t know what happens. I don’t set out to write ‘weird’ or ‘strange’ stories at all. That quote is from Helen Marshall, who taught me briefly while I was studying at Manchester Metropolitan University. We had a couple of good chats about writing. When I start a story, I’m not always sure where it’s going to go. I start with a line of dialogue, perhaps. Or a situation, a voice. Perhaps I have an idea of how it’ll end. But the journey can change everything. Sometimes, as I get deeper into a story, there’s a click, a moment of recognition, and I know how it all comes together. Then it is almost a race to get the thing finished, before the arrival of boredom, before the thing goes flat. That click can be a moment of danger. If you suddenly realise what you’re writing about – ah, this story is all about this or that – well, that’s the point at which all the magic, all the ambiguity can be written out of the story.

You wrote a fascinating article for Litro on the joy of second hand book shops, where did your lover for them come from? 
 
I’m not sure, really. There was a secondhand bookshop in Ilford, where I grew up. Edward Terry. The E in Edward, I seem to remember, was missing from the sign above the door. But I didn’t visit it as a child. I suppose a love of secondhand bookshops goes with a love of reading. It springs from the same place. In a new town or strange place, my head is always turned by the sight of a dusty old bookshop. Once upon a time I used to ogle pubs in the same way. You never quite know what you’re going to find in a secondhand bookshop. I do like them, even if they’re disappointing.

And what has been your most prized discovery from a second hand  bookshop?
 
I was thrilled in my early twenties to find BS Johnson’s Christy Malry’s Own Double Entry in Edward Terry. It wasn’t a particularly rare edition, a King Penguin. I’d heard of this writer. He written a novel in a box (and that was the book I really wanted to find, forgotten and unappreciated in a bargain bin). I was always on the look-out for his stuff. This was in the days before the web. You couldn’t click a button and order a copy. Finding books was often a matter of chance. Collections were built slowly. You read what you could find. Or afford. I think it was a Saturday afternoon when I found Christy Malry. I went to Valentine’s Park with a couple of beers and read most of it in a sitting. Asian lads played cricket on the grass. The internet has changed how I browse in secondhand bookshops. I no longer hunt for favourite authors with the zeal I once had. I’m jaded, I suppose. Or lazy. I know it’s all there on the internet. I was in Whitby recently and there’s a little bookshop down one of the twisting side streets. I found a book called The Romance of Essex Inns, generously annotated in pencil by a previous owner, a good find. That’s the sort of thing I look out for these days.
 
There is a move from the more literary side of the writing world into writing about the weird, traditionally this has been the domain of the lowly genre writer.  Why do you think they are doing this? 
 
It’s not something, I must admit, that I’ve been aware of. I don’t really see much value in being wilfully or deliberately ‘weird’. I don’t tend to think of writing – or my writing at any rate – in terms of genre. I suppose my imagination tends towards what could be called the ‘weird’. I recently read a story by Krzhizhanovsky, ‘Quadraturin’. A man lives in a poky room or bedsit. He is sold a tin of paint, ‘an agent for biggerizing rooms’. He coats his room with the substance. His room grows and grows … He becomes lost within this expanding room … It’s a great story. Weird, phantasmagoric, absurd. But somehow true and believable, mundane, real. Life is weird. Thoughts are strange. It is inevitable that words arrange themselves into weird or strange stories.

One of your stories has been selected to appear in Shadow Booth, how did you come to appear in the anthology?
 
Dan Coxon invited me to submit a story. I didn’t know him, I hadn’t met him. It was nice to be invited. I think he knows my work from my stories in Black Static. It came out of the blue. I was happy to contribute.

Can you tell us about some of the themes of the story? 
 
It’s set in an office. Spreadsheets feature strongly. Being glib, I could call it a story about a haunted spreadsheet. Stare into the spreadsheet for long enough and the spreadsheet will stare into you. I suppose it touches on the strangeness of office life. The strangeness of exchanging one’s time, one’s life, for money. The conversations, the routines. The politics, the petty ambitions, the loneliness, the fear, the daydreams, the boredom. It’s a kind of chunnering but inescapable horror.
 
What  has been a major influence on your writing?
 
That’s hard to say. I really don’t know. I have authors I admire, authors I like to read. But I don’t know if they’ve influenced me. Influences come from many directions.

The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations.  What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?
 
I suppose most people think of films when they think of “horror”. They think of monsters, ghouls, Dracula, zombies, psychopaths, buckets of blood and glossy guts, screaming women and flashing knives. In terms of fiction, “horror” is perhaps associated, rightly or wrongly, with a kind of cheap thrill, with producing a shock or a jolt. I don’t think labels are particularly helpful. If something’s good, it’s good. I wrote a story called ‘The Visitors’, which appeared in Black Static. I think it was my third story they bought. I read a review online, on a horror site, which said something like, ‘it’s well written but I don’t know what this has to do with horror’. I took that as a compliment. I knew I must doing something right.

What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?
 
There’s so many favourite books and films. I don’t know if they define me though. The list changes. Here’s a few, in no particular order, off the top of my head, as a new day, full of softness and melting blue, fills the window in front of me. A Matter of Life and Death. ‘The Nose’. ‘The Overcoat’. ‘Interference’ by LP Hartley. The short stories of VS Pritchett and Elspeth Davie. Casque D’Or. Rear Window. Amicus. Halloween. The Baby. Bad Timing. Anthony Burgess. Down Among the Meths Men. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The London Nobody Knows. Iris Murdoch. Prelude to a Certain Midnight. Repulsion. The Servant. ‘The Daemon Lover’ by Shirley Jackson. Keats … I could go on and on …

What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?
 
Naomi Hamill. How to be a Kosovan Bride has just been published by Salt. Dan Coxon’s anthology contains plenty of upcoming talent while Black Static has a great track record of encouraging new writers. There’s plenty of interesting, fresh writing to be found in so many small magazines, from Gorse to Popshot. Such publications deserve our support.

How would you describe your writing style?

I find it hard to describe my own writing. But this from Anthony Burgess strikes me as pertinent: ‘Language exists less to record the actual than to liberate the imagination.’

What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?

Editing or excising a cherished scene or a carefully worked passage is always difficult. And sometimes the words just don’t seem to flow. Or the mind is sluggish. Or tired. That’s when it’s difficult.

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?

It’s not really something I think about. The subject is bound up with style. I never sit down and think: I’ll write a story about this topic or that topic. It’s more vague. I start with an image. Or a line. A character. A face. A situation. It goes from there. I usually know if a story is going to be dark. That’s about it.
 
Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? 

I’ve not been writing for very long. My face is old but my words are young. I’m not sure how I’ve developed since ‘World of Trevor’ was published in Black Static back in 2014. I’m probably more inclined, these days, to attempt stories that do not have an overtly weird or supernatural element. But often they end up being weird anyway.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?         

Nose, eyes, ears, shears.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?
 
Turn down the volume.

Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject?

You just have to keep at it. There’s no secret. It’s difficult. When I wrote ‘World of Trevor’, it was just a story to me, a pub tale, a Mancunian pub tale. I didn’t think of it as a ‘weird tale’, although it had dark themes. It got rejected by a few literary mags. So I sent it to Black Static, not sure if they’d like it. They did. Andy Cox has published quite a few of my stories now. You build up slowly. I know there’s a few people out there who rate my stuff, who like what I write. The next step is to get a collection published. And to get my novel out there, too. Rejection and indifference – that comes with the territory.

To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favourite child, and who is your least  favourite to write for and why?
 
I don’t really see my characters as children. I’m a bad parent in that respect. I often forget their names.

What piece of your own work are you most proud of?
 
That’s difficult. At the moment I guess it’s ‘Langwell Sorrow’ in Black Static 60.

And are there any that you would like to forget about?

I’m more or less satisfied with everything that’s found its way into the real world of readers. There are probably some unpublished things that I am happy to let rot.

For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your  books do you think best represents your work and why?

My name has yet to appear on a spine. The stories in various issues of Black Static represent my darker imaginings. ‘The Bury Line’, ‘The Toilet’, ‘McMara’s Rock, ‘Mittens’, and so on. There’s ‘Through the Flowers’, too, which appeared in Popshot Magazine (illustrated with macabre invention by Kate O’Hara).

Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
 
Sometimes I read a line and can’t remember coming up with it. Did I write that? But I don’t have a favourite. I do enjoy some of things my characters say. I like to eavesdrop.

What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
 
I’ve just finished The Sea by John Banville, which is very good. I loved Zero K by DeLillo. I read a short story not long ago by Angela Readman. The narrator cuts her boyfriend in two. (It’s in the collection Don’t Try This At Home.) On one level, it’s a fairy story, a ‘weird tale’ – preposterous, flirting with whimsicality – but it conveys some very real and sad truths about the relationships between men and women, about loneliness, about performing a role in life, about disillusionment. At the start of the year I read LJ Davis’s blistering A Meaningful Life. Very funny. I was disappointed by Thomas Tyron’s The Other, which I’d been looking forward to. Some wonderful writing but it just didn’t excite me. Or frighten me. I remember it as a long, hazy, sunny dream. Perhaps that’s not such a bad thing. Perhaps I should give it another go.

What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do?  And what would be the answer?
 
I don’t know. But the answer is silence.

To help promote the new charity anthology Sparks an electric themed anthology to raise money for Resources for Autism,Burdizzo Publishing.  Ginger Nuts of Horror is bringing you a series of interview with the authors involved in the anthology.  Today it is the turn of Lex H Jones  to feature in the spotlight.  

Lex H Jones is a British cross-genre author, horror fan and rock music enthusiast who lives in Sheffield, North England.

He has written articles for websites the Gingernuts of Horror and the Horrifically Horrifying Horror Blog on various subjects covering books, films, videogames and music. Lex’s first published novel is titled “Nick and Abe”, and he also has several short horror stories published in anthologies. When not working on his own writing Lex also contributes to the proofing and editing process for other authors.
You can find out more aboutr Lex and his work from the following links  

His official Facebook page is: Lex  H Jones , Amazon author page, Twitter


Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

I was born and educated in Sheffied, where I still live at the time of writing this. I have more cats than I ever chose to adopt, as they just seem to find their way to my home. I also own three chinchillas, which are only moderately less annoying than the cats.
 
I’ve been doing writing as a serious thing (rather than purely for my own amusement) for about eight years now. I got my first novel, ‘Nick and Abe’ published at the start of 2016, and since then I’ve had quite a few short stories published in various horror anthologies. My current project is a series of 3 ‘weird fiction’ children’s books, for which I’ve also commissioned an artist to do the illustrations.
 

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Whilst it’s probably a fairly standard answer for a writer, I like to read a lot. Not just books, but I’m also a big comic book fan too. I also love a good comedy podcast, it completely transforms a long journey. It’s probably fair to say I’m also very social, I love to have random daytrips with friends to obscure places, or have a games night, and I also spend an awful lot of time watching films.

Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
 
Sacrilegious as it may be to say so here, I’m not actually a horror writer. I do write horror stuff sometimes, but I’m as likely to write crime, fantasy, or a children’s book. So my writing is influenced by a wide spectrum of things depending which genre I’m currently focusing on!



The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations.  What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?
 
I think there is a very negative opinion that horror is somehow lesser than other genres. It’s seen by some writer-types as almost like a sub-genre. There’s a snobbery against it that something like crime or science fiction doesn’t seem to get. Personally I think that is massively unfair. Some of the most talented people putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) right now are in the horror genre, and people might see that if they were able to look past their own preconceptions.
 
As for what I think of as ‘horror’, it is a wonderfully wide term. Personally I love the supernatural. My favourite horror stories always include it in some way, subtle or otherwise. I think that’s probably because I’m very much a rationalist atheist in real life. I have no problem walking through a graveyard or dark wood because I am under no delusion that anything monstrous is lurking there (random perverts aside). However in a book where the supernatural is real, I’m transported to a world where there’s suddenly a lot more to be afraid of, and in the bizarre way that the human mind works, I find that appealing.

A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years?

I think there’s going to be increasing focus on the horror of abused authority. You only have to turn on the news to see the dangers of the ‘wrong’ people being given power, and it’s a form of horror all its own. The helplessness that comes from it is chilling. Two men with daft haircuts, neither of whom should be anywhere near a seat of power, could start a nuclear war tomorrow, something that either ends or completely ruins the lives of millions of people, and there’s nothing we can do about it. I think a lot of people will be feeling that, and I’ve already seen themed anthologies, films and TV series starting to take on a similar tone to reflect this. The idea of a ghost in your house suddenly seems less scary when there’s a mental Oompa Loompa having a row with what could basically be 1960s Thunderbirds Oriental stereotype villain, and they both have nuclear weapons.

What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?

The first horror stories I remember reading and truly digesting, that weren’t aimed at children, were short ghost stories by M.R James. A little later I came to Poe, and Lovecraft and Machen. The greatest compliments I’ve had about my work have referenced the clear influence of one of those names, and whilst I would never use that comparison myself, it’s nice that other people thought to mention it.
 
What I love about M.R James’ ghost stories is that, more often than not, they’re very subtle. There’s often no witness to the terrifying thing that just happened, which makes it all the scarier. Imagine being the victim of a terrifying haunting, only to find you had no evidence with which to convince anybody of the reality of it? That’d probably drive you mad. It’s a bit different to typical American ghost story where the entire house turns into a giant face or something, which surely the entire street must notice. I’d like to think my work carries some of that same subtlety, but then again I’ll probably do a big House Face at some point.

What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?

I don’t know how “new and upcoming” these folks are because they’re pretty well established, but Rich Hawkins, Kit Power and Adam Neville immediately spring to mind.
 
How would you describe your writing style?

When I’m doing horror, as mentioned above I like to try and keep it subtle. That’s not always possible depending on the story, but where possible, I like to aim for it. I have no problem with gore, and I admire those who can write it so effectively that it can make the reader feel ill. There’s an art to that, and I defy anyone who says it’s cheap or easy to do. But it’s not what I like to write myself, so if you’re a fan of really brutal hard-core stuff, then my stories may not be really be for you.
 
Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?

My favourite review of Nick and Abe, my novel, was somebody who emailed me to say that it made them go and call their mother, with whom they’d not spoken in a year. I won’t give away too much of the book, but the plot is strongly focussed on the idea of repairing broken relationships whilst you still can. So to hear from somebody for whom it had inspired a real-life version of that was heart-warming.

What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?
 
Starting a new book or story. I always have all the ideas running around in my head, but when it comes to making a start, I just stare at a blank page. Once the story gets running then I get into a flow and it all just pours out. But that first chapter, first page, first paragraph even, is always hard.
 
Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?

I’m very lucky in that I’ve had a relatively nice life up to now. Yes, I’ve had some issues with mental health and some experiences I’d rather not have, and made some mistakes I wish I could take back (who hasn’t?). But I’ve never been the victim of any serious abuse or trauma. As a result, I wouldn’t feel right writing about such things. For people who have sadly suffered such events, I understand the cathartic benefit of writing it down and making people aware, I really do. Getting stuff out of your head is often a good thing. But because I haven’t gone through that, it’s not an area in which I want to place my head.
 
How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?
 
This one really does vary an awful lot. Some characters pop into my head with their name attached so strongly that they couldn’t possibly be called anything else. Some get a name halfway through my writing the book. Others are named a particular thing for particular reason. In my novel, for instance, Nick is called Nick because he’s the Devil, and an old name for the Devil is ‘Ol’Nick’.

Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? 
 
I plan things out a lot more now. I’ll have reams of notes and sketches and random scribbles before I start a story. I’ve found that’s become useful as time’s gone on, both to remind me of those little bits that pop into the mind during a shower or just before falling asleep, but also as it clears my mind to focus on other stuff. I do have a day job and a life beyond writing, so I am unfortunately forced to spend a lot of my time in the real world, meaning my head space is often required for far more boring things than ghost or monster stories.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?         

Someone to talk to about it. Not necessarily the process itself, but about your ideas. Even if it’s just someone to tell you something is crap. That’s often important to hear.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?

Don’t stop doing it. It’s such a clichéd thing to say isn’t it, but it’s so valuable because it’s so tempting to ignore each time it gets hard. But if you stop, you’ll never get further than you are now. So just keep writing.

Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject?

I’ve been lucky enough to be given opportunities to talk about my writing, particularly on this site where Jim has frequently been very gracious in that regard. I’ve also built up a good network of reviewers, bloggers and other writers, which has given me the chance to feature in anthologies alongside authors who are far, far better at all this than I am.

To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favourite child, and who is your least  favourite to write for and why?

My favourite character to write is one who the public at large haven’t even been properly introduced to yet. My largest project, which is constantly on-again off-again, is a series that focuses on a character called Harkins. He’s essentially a Victorian detective with the sixth sense, except that he’s more Danny Dyer than he is Sherlock Holmes. I love writing him, I’ve spent so long doing it that it often feels like he writes his own dialogue. At some point I’ll approach a publisher with this series.
 
My least favourite was actually the character of Oolu, which is the name given to Cthulhu in the first of my children’s books, ‘The Old One and The Sea’ (the Foreword for which was written by this site’s own Mr Mcleod.) Because Oolu doesn’t speak (I made that decision early on and stuck to it, for my sins) having him communicate with anyone else in the book was, frankly, a massive pain in the arse. I found ways round it, and I’ve been told by both my editor and subsequent readers that it worked well, which was a huge relief.

And are there any that you would like to forget about?

Same answer. If I ever have Oolu in another book I’m having him buy one of those little voice boxes that Stephen Hawking has. Stay silent now, you massive green prick.


For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why?
 
At the time of writing this, I only have one full length novel out there and several short horror stories. If you’re a horror fan, which would make sense given the website this interview is on, than I’d recommend any of the horror anthologies I’m lucky enough to have been featured in. I always make sure to add these to my author page on amazon, so you can find them all there if needed. However if you’re not strictly a horror reader, then I would suggest my novel ‘Nick and Abe’ as a good introduction to my work.

Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
 
I’m going to say ‘no’ to that one, because I worry that sort of thing never really works out of context. There may be particular scenes or dialogue I was proud of, rightly or wrongly, but pasted here without the context I’m not sure how well any of them would come across.

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 was ‘The Old One and The Sea’, a children’s book re-telling the origin of the Cthulhu mythos in a different way. I’ve not sent it to any potential publishers yet, I’m just waiting on completion of some artwork. However it’s been read by a fair few people now, with several other authors providing blurb comments and such, and the response has been great. I can’t wait to get this one out there, as the thought of it possibly being the first ‘horror’ book a child reads is very exciting to me.
 
My next one is the second book in my children’s trilogy. They’re not linked in terms of character or narrative, but there’s thematic links and some subtle suggestion that they might be set in the same world. This one is called ‘Time and Frozen Tide’, and follows a young penguin (bear with me) who finds a T-Rex egg when some permafrost thaws. The cast of characters includes two human ghosts (a Victorian explorer and a WW2 fighter pilot), and there’s a whole mythology around the Southern Lights, time travel, the spirit world and all sorts of stuff. I am aware of how crazy it sounds so you’ll just have to trust me that it all flows together.
 
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?

The “not finishing someone” off thing. You’ve stabbed him in the leg, he’s fallen, so you just assume that’s the end of it. No, take that knife whilst he’s prone and push it through his throat. It’s not worth the risk, you know he’ll just get up and chase you in a minute if you don’t.

What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
 
I just read Night Music by John Connolly, and really enjoyed it. It’s a great collection of stories. Before that I read a bunch of graphic novels and the one that stands out as disappointing me was a massive Marvel Comics event called Secret Wars (not to be confused with the 1980s story of the same name.) It’s a good premise, lots of good characters….and it just goes nowhere. In true Marvel fashion, anything of significance gets magically undone, there’s no real consequence to anything, and you just come away feeling like you wasted your time. DC are much better at doing stories that have lasting impact.
 
What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do?  And what would be the answer

This one. And my answer would be “this one”. That just messed your head up, didn’t it?
 
But seriously, I’ve always liked the question ‘if you could go back to any point in history when would it be and what would you do?’ The answer isn’t dinosaurs or the Victorian era or anything like that, I’d just like to go back and meet my grandad when he was a young man. I was very close with him, but obviously I only ever knew him as a man in his late sixties onwards. I’d love to have met him when he was about my age (early-mid thirties). Perhaps I’d walk into the local pub where he went after work (he was an ambulance driver for a steelworks) and strike up a conversation with him. Maybe we’d get on. Maybe we wouldn’t, and without the Teflon coating of “he’s my grandson” he’d think I was some Goth twat who talked too much. Actually he wouldn’t, he didn’t have a judgemental bone in his body. Who knows, but it’d be nice to find out, and to get that opportunity to see him in his prime.
 
One final thought, Emma Dehaney is the loveliest person I’ve ever worked with and her editing skills are top notch. Was….was that OK? Can I have my cat back now please? Preferably with all its feet attached.

As part of Ginger Nuts of Horror's support of the Kickstarter for Tales From The Shadow Booth, we have teamed up with some of the contributors for a series of exclusive interviews.  Today Ginger Nuts of Horror welcomes Joseph Sale. 

Joseph Sale is a novelist, writing coach, editor, graphic designer, artist, critic and gamer. His first novel, The Darkest Touch, was published by Dark Hall Press in 2014. Since, he has authored Seven Dark Stars, Across the Bitter Sea, Orifice, The Meaning of the Dark, Nekyia and more. Under the pseudonym Alan Robson (his grandfather's name), he won third place in Storgy's Exit Earth anthology competition, judged by Diane Cook.

He is the creator of †3 Dark, a unique publishing project born in 2017 showcasing the work of 13 writers including Richard Thomas and Moira Katson; each story is accompanied by original concept art from Shawn Langley and with cover art by Grand Failure.

He contributes feature-pieces, film, TV, and book reviews. and fiction, to Storgy Magazine. He also writes for GameSpew, and has an enduring love of video-games.

His short fiction has appeared in Silver Blade, Fiction Vortex, Nonbinary Review, Edgar Allan Poet and Storgy Magazine, as well as in anthologies such as Dark Hall Press's Technological Horror and Storgy's Exit Earth. In 2014 he was nominated for the Sundress Award for Literary Excellence.
​
In his spare time he plays badminton, watches Two Best Friends Play and puts on his DM hat, concocting fiendish dungeons for his friends to battle through.

 
Hello Joseph, Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

Hi! I’m Joseph Sale and I’m a Brit obsessed with all things dark and weird. I grew up on the coast and have an enduring love of the sea. I write I guess what you could call horror but I’m also interested in fantasy and science fiction so I regularly cross them all over. I’m mainly writing novels, as that seems to be the medium I most connect with – the extended story with a longer running time and more room to play with the characters. I’ve published six over the last three years. Recently I’ve started to fall in love with the short story, after going on Richard Thomas’ Advanced Creative Writing Course in May of this year. That was a real eye-opener, and inspired me to write a whole lot of short stories, one of which is appearing in Shadow Booth. My short story ‘When The Tide Comes In’, entered under the pseudonym Alan Robson, won third prize in STORGY Magazine’s Exit Earth anthology competition. I’ve been writing professionally for eight years now and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
 
You quit your job in February of this year to focus on writing full time, how is it going seven months after you made that momentous decision? 

Very kind of you to ask! That moment of stepping away from work was so amazing, so liberating, I honestly was tearful the first few days. However, life is yin and yang, a sine-wave curve going up and then dipping, and it didn’t last forever. 13Dark, my publishing project and the primary reason for my stepping away – was such an amazing project but I think I over-estimated my ability to fully convey what it was going to be to people. I’m introducing a bunch of new writers no one has ever heard of – it’s a big risk for people to take that chance and I didn’t account for that. So although we did get funded, we didn’t get enough to make it into a fully-fledged business. And although I earn from my writing and coaching, it’s not enough, especially near London, so I am now back at work – a different job – doing 40 to 45 hours a week and fitting everything else in around that. It’s exhausting, but no worse than what most people in the UK have to do to survive. And at least I have a job, which is something in this economy. Summoning the energy to write is very difficult and draining at times, but luckily I’ve always erred towards a disciplined writing practice.

You completed a degree in creative writing, was your degree path deliberately chosen with an aim to hone your writing skills? 

Absolutely! I almost didn’t go to University, because of some misguided sense that it would mean forever conforming to some kind of aristocracy... Thankfully my mother talked me into sense and found this course. It was one of the best experiences of my life and I’ll never forget it. Quite apart from working with some of the best lecturers I could possibly have asked for: Richard Thomas (author of The Kills), Luke Kennard (author of The Transition), Elsa Braekkan-Payne, Philippa Semper, Hugh Adlington, so many more I don’t have time to name drop here. Quite apart from working with them, I also became friends with amazing fellow students, many of which I have not only enduring friendships with to this day but also writing partnerships. We still send each other work to feedback on and bounce ideas off each other. I’m currently co-writing something very exciting with one of my coursemates – but it must remain a secret for now.

On what side of the divide do you stand with regards to anyone and everyone can write, or there has to be an innate germ of talent there that needs to be nurtured? 

I honestly think that anyone can learn to write and that writing is a very healing experience. I don’t think everyone is a prophet or a poet – not everyone can become a defining voice that is remembered for all time – but certainly everyone can be taught how to write and make a contribution. I think it’s the same for any skill. Anyone can learn how to swim, but a certain few people, whether through God or through genes, whichever your preference, are born to swim. They glide through the water like a dolphin, it comes naturally to them. For writers like Stephen King, this is clearly the case. Yes, he had to learn the practical skills and build up that knowledge over a number of years, but it was always innate, natural to him. So I guess I’m cheating and saying that both can be true!

You published your first novel through Dark Hall Press, can you tell us of the experience you had submitting the novel, and the subsequent publishing process with Dark Hall? 

That was a really magical experience, one that gave me the confidence to keep writing. I was at university at the time and I’d had this idea for this novel about comicbook supervillains, but making them into real, three-dimensional, and also slightly pathetic characters. I wanted their superpowers to be next-to-nothing – the smallest of small advantages. I submitted to Dark Hall after a string of rejections and waited. They said if I didn’t hear back in three weeks, it was a rejection. On the 21st day I found an email in my inbox! I couldn’t believe it. And you know, all those TV shows where people get good news and jump up and down like lunatics completely have it wrong. I just sat there at my desk brain-dead. It was like my circuits had been fried. I eventually staggered to my feet, went to the local Tesco Express and bought a single beer and a chocolate bar. I sat in the kitchen, drinking that beer and eating that chocolate bar. That was my celebration. I couldn’t stop thinking about this quote from Homer’s Odyssey when Odysseus finally has come home and slaughtered the suitors. He sees the maid dancing on the corpses of the suitors, overjoyed at how her oppressors have been overthrown. Odysseus brings her up on it: “It is wrong to exalt over the slain. Gloat in silence.” I sat there and I gloated in silence and it was glorious. Later, my friends very kindly threw a surprise party for me to “properly” celebrate it – it was one of the sweetest things that’s ever been done for me.
 
The subsequent publishing process was pretty rapid. William Reneham, the Editor at Dark Hall, was very enthusiastic about the work and encouraging. He made some great suggestions, but all pretty minor. Then we released it out into the world. It wasn’t as successful as I hoped, I think possibly because there was a small problem with the release and ISBNs getting mixed up – not Dark Hall’s fault but the printer’s. Even so, at one point it did come #6 in the Kindle charts for Horror! I think that whole experience was a big learning curve. Getting published doesn’t mean an instant 50,000 copies sold and a film deal. Those are things you have to work towards over a long, long time.
 
I’m still in touch with Dark Hall. At one point we were going to work on another project together but for various reasons it didn’t pan out. You should check out their other books like Shane Stadler’s Exoskeleton, that’s a killer novel. William Reneham’s own novella Night Harbor is also definitely worth a read.

With a view to being as diplomatic as you can, in your role as a writing coach have you ever encountered a writer where you just wanted to say please stop, this isn’t for you? 

You know what, never. All of the writers I’ve worked with have been so talented. It’s pretty humbling when they’re coming to you for advice.

And on a more positive note have you coached someone who you felt, “wow this person is going to go places”?

Almost every time I think that. It’s so exciting, especially when you send them feedback and see how it’s implemented, and that the story is now able to shine. You have to scrape the muck away sometimes – the confused sentences, the personal intrusive writerly thoughts, the baggage – the stuff that’s getting in the way of the story, to see what lies beneath is really this beautiful artifact. To talk about some writers specifically I’ve coached – you really want to check out Tice Cin, Jamie Parry-Bruce and Matthew Blackwell. Tice is published in the first issue of 13Dark, called Dead Voices. Her story Under Soil is one of the most sensual and terrifying pieces I’ve read in a while. Her storytelling is really unique. Jamie is doing loads of amazing things – including an audio-book series called Out of the Wild that you can find on YouTube, read by a professional voice-actor. Matthew Blackwell is another one to watch. His writing is again quite different because his influences are mostly screenplay, Lynch, that kind of dark, weird stuff, so you never know what he’s going to do next. He has an amazing short story published up at STORGY magazine called After The End – which you can read for free – it was the winner of a short story competition I hosted a while back and is featured in the special hardback edition of my collection Seven Dark Stars: Blackness Absolute.

Your collection Nekyia, is themed around the four horsemen of the apocalypse, what made you decide to write a collection of stories based around them. 

Nekyia evolved over a long, long period of time. I started writing a novella called The Contained which was partly inspired by the video-game SCP: Containment Breach. It revolved around a scientist, Fred Lazarus, trapped in an underground facility with all of nature’s abhorrent anomalies – things that needed containing – and another scientist who’d caused the facility to go into meltdown: Dr Monaghan. Dr Monaghan was the first of the horsemen, although I didn’t know it at the time.
 
I’ve always been fascinated by the horsemen and the Book of Revelations. I think the imagery in that book – regardless of what you think about its content – is just mind-blowing. Surreal, disturbing, and yet so apt for so many situations. Whether we create the meaning ourselves or there is implicit meaning, the result is the same, there is something about this text that speaks to us. I’ve always enjoyed modern renderings of ancient ideas. I loved Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and the late master Terry Pratchett. That was funny but also beautiful and dark and moving. The four horseman in that are brilliant. I wanted to go even further away from source, but despite the massive difference in tone, Good Omens was a reference for me.
 
 
It took me a long while to work out what I was doing. I was kind of writing these four horsemen unconsciously. I came to write a novella called City of Illusion and in that story found my second horseman, Yin. Dr Monaghan was War – only nowadays wars are fought by people in labcoats pushing buttons. Yin was Pestilence, only his kind of plague was one of the mind – after all, we’re far more scared of mental health deterioration. We’ll take the disintegration of our bodies – actively encourage it in fact – but speak the word dementia and it’ll put the fear of God in anyone.
 
I ended up writing four novellas – despite being continually told that novellas couldn’t sell – and each one was about a different horseman. Only after I’d completed all four did I see that they were a set and came together. So I started to edit them all again to bring them into line. After I put them together, this was only half of what would become Nekyia. At the end of the fourth novella, I had kind of drawn all the characters to the same place, but the story wasn’t finished. I had to tell the final story about what happened when they got there. This became a novel called The Fifth Horseman. The four horseman combined with this novel came to 170,000 words. There was talk of serialising it, but in the end, I thought it worked better as one (long) reading experience. I wanted people to get a similar vibe to The Stand. King’s work was a big influence for Nekyia. I was trying to go for a little bit more of a poetic style, but in essence, I wanted to emulate King’s multi-verse full of twisted villains. The Stand is one of my favourite novels of all time – it’s so mind-blowingly epic in how it deals with the concept of good and evil on a modern stage – and that was another reference point for me. In terms of the multi-verse aspect, there are allusions to most of my books in Nekyia including The Darkest Touch (one of the horsemen is a returning character from that).
 
Nekyia was nominated for the Guardian’s “Not The Booker” Prize. Sadly, it didn’t get anywhere. But it was lovely of so many people to put it forward. 

And if you could be one of the horsemen, which one would you be, and why, and what would you name your horse?

Ah man that’s so tough. Probably I’d be Death, because then at least that’s without suffering. I’d get to be the merciful one, swooping in and taking souls in the night. War is going to bludgeon you to death. Pestilence will rot you away like a Nurgle Plaguebearer. Famine is going to make you waste away. Death is the merciful one, one swift chik of his scythe and you’re done. But having said that, Dr Monaghan was so much fun to write. I mean it was just an absolute joy to get inside his fucked-up head. So, being him for a day would be fun too.
 
As to my horse, I would try and resist the temptation to name it something too cool – because it’s never as cool out loud as it is in your head. The horse would probably be black as I’d be Death, so “Crow Bag” would be a good name for a horse, I think. “Crow Bag” is a derogatory term for an incompetent soldier in the military. The “Crow” stands for Combat Recruit of War. It’s kind of affectionate in a bizarre way, and it gets in a reference to crows, which are black. Maybe I’m over thinking it!

There is a move from the more literary side of the writing world into writing about the weird, traditionally this has been the domain of the lowly genre writer.  Why do you think they are doing this? 

Because the average literary fiction writer sells 263 copies of their book a year! I’m being cruel, but I think people are starting to see that people want to read stories, not exercises in style. Style is great when it comes hand in hand with a great tale, but on its own, it’s just masturbation really. A dash of the supernatural is a great way to turn a scene from mundane to interesting and to introduce a necessary dimension of plot without having to work too hard. Of course, I also think for a lot of writers it’s a genuine shift of consciousness because of the times we live in. “May you live in interesting times,” so the Chinese saying goes, and boy are we. That naturally has an affect on us. We must also consider the move towards the Weird in TV: Game of Thrones, True Detective (primarily season 1), Twin Peaks, these shows are such masterpieces and they demonstrate that genre fiction can be deep, insightful, true to human nature. The weirdness of those shows is a big part of what makes them great.

One of your stories has been selected to appear in Shadow Booth, how did you come to appear in the anthology? 

I was very lucky. Dan Coxon reached out to me out of the blue. I think he had read a couple of my stories up at STORGY magazine. I then placed third in that Exit Earth competition – and a lot of people were surprised because I’d done it under a pseudonym, even creating a fake email and PayPal account as a front. So that ironically did the reverse of what I intended and when it came out it was me, drew a lot of attention. At that point he emailed me and asked if I wanted to be part of his new journal, Shadow Booth, alongside Richard Thomas, Paul Tremblay and Gary Budden. I mean, it was an instant yes! I couldn’t believe it. He said he wanted longer short stories which was right up my street. I sent him something, but it wasn’t really what he was looking for, more dark fantasy than weird, uncanny, eerie, which is what the Shadow Booth is going to be all about. He very graciously said I could have another shot. There was this story I’d been working on for a while, a really short 2,000 word one, and I thought it might be a good fit, so I edited it and sent it off. Dan came back five minutes later with a yes – it was a much better fit.

Can you tell us about some of the themes of the story? 

The story is called City of the Nightwatchers, and is really a tale about voyeurism and our increasing move in society towards watching rather than doing. Studies have shown that we’re actually having less sex than people in the 1920s. It seems crazy given our modern values and being less uptight about the topic, but the fact is, back in the day, if you wanted sex you had to just go out and get it. Now, we watch porn. I’ve heard stories from single friends that they’ve been midway through the act and realised their partner is filming them without their permission. Even when we’re actually doing it, we’re still in the mindset of watching ourselves doing it. It’s madness. In City of the Nightwatchers, I tried to show it as a physical change as well as a mental one. I drew a lot from the film Nightcrawler, which is really a neo-noir masterpiece, and tackles similar themes.
 
What has been a major influence on your writing?

All sorts of things can pull into a writer’s work but perhaps a more unusual influence for me are video-games. The work of Hideo Kojima and Hidetaka Miyazaki is particularly inspiring to me. With the Metal Gear Solid series, Kojima told an unprecedented story. It really is an epic of our time, dealing with all the major themes of existence but in such quirky and unique ways. In creating Solid Snake, he has created an archetypal hero of our age. It’s amazing he got the opportunity to tell that story with virtually no inhibitions on his vision.

The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations.  What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?

You’re right. There are a lot of negative associations with horror: cheap and nasty, shallow and thrill-driven. In reality, it’s like any other genre in that there are good and bad examples of it. Good horror is deeply rooted in empathy as Stephen King once observed, and hence we actually have to have three-dimensional characters, real plots, real human issues and drama, as well as weird or disturbing elements. I actually think a lot is happening already to break past these assumptions. The success of the new It film and, as I mentioned earlier, TV that draws on horror elements, is really bringing horror back to the forefront of people’s minds and showing what it can do when it’s well done. I think the 80s were a real renaissance for the horror movie genre with films like The Thing and many other classics, but hopefully we can get back to that. Television is especially promising these days as the writers seem to have more control as opposed to producers and conglomerates.

What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?

Wow, this is such a hard question as there are so many important films and books that’ve influenced me. The Lord of the Rings will always be an enduring influence on me. The power of that story and prose, the sheer grandeur and beauty of it, that will be in my heart forever. The Stand was another turning point for me that helped me see what modern literature, particularly the modern novel, could do. Game of Thrones, or A Song of Ice and Fire as the book series is called, is similarly a major influence. The complexity of its characters, the three-dimensional morality, all of this is something I’d love to emulate in my own work.

What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?

I’ve mentioned a few already, but let me mention a few more. Grady Hendrix, whilst now he’s becoming more well known in the horror field, is still relatively unknown. His book My Best Friend’s Exorcism is one of the best books I’ve read in years. It’s a work of sublimity, for sure. All of the writers I’m publishing at 13Dark are a must too: Eden Royce, Veronica Magenta Nero, Christa Wojciechowski, Moira Katson, Tomek Dzido, Anthony Self, Ross Jeffery, Samuel Parr and Andy Cashmore. They are all incredible and most have short stories you can check out online.

How would you describe your writing style?

My writing has changed a lot since I first started and is still changing. I used to write very much in imitation of King. I was going for that direct style that really pulls you in. I’ve realised now that’s not really me. I’m more tangential as a person. I come to things the wrong – or just a different way – and I needed to let my writing reflect that. I also have synesthesia which means my senses are very intermixed, so I focus a lot on very intense imagery when I write. That’s kind of my signature, if you will, and the thing that hasn’t really changed from day one of writing. Really out-there similes and metaphors. It doesn’t always work, nothing does, but I like to think that at least I’ve tried to be original in some way.

What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?

Once, it was dialogue. But things change. After writing The Meaning of the Dark, dialogue became one of my favourite aspects of narrative. That novel is almost entirely dialogue because it’s a transcript of an audio recording, so it tested me to my limits with what I could do and how authentic I could make it sound. Now, I think the thing I find hardest is actually the plotting. I never have problems with characters and settings, or even character arcs and subplots, but the central arc is the challenge, getting it just right. I guess that’s what writing is all about!

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?

This is a tricky one! I guess as a horror writer there’s a lot that’s not off limits and that’s why I like horror. I’ve always been drawn to darker literature and felt inhibited when I first started writing because I couldn’t write about the things I was interested in: addiction, psychological disturbance, acts of extreme violence, the darkest versions of ourselves. Horror allowed me to open up and write about those things. I like to think empathy is also an important part of writing too – understanding what it’s like to be someone else – but of course without falling into the trap of cultural appropriation. There are some things which have happened to me which I feel unable to write about. I’m not sure I ever will. Not until I break my pen, perhaps. And even then, only by the grace of God.
 
Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? 

I think the main thing that’s changed in me is how I approach emotion in writing. My early novels have the hallmarks of a young madman – a monodimensional lunatic writing about one thing with maniacal zest. I didn’t want to write about the everyday. I wanted every scene to be as weird and off-the-wall as possible. I couldn’t stand any form of sentiment. Even in just a few years, I’ve mellowed. I’m now much more interested in the interiors of my characters, and those everyday conversations, and those long relationship histories. From this connection to reality and real people comes a little bit more of a catharsis. I also think this means I’m putting a lot more of myself in my work. My own doubts and fears and feelings and personality – I’m opening up. I was so determined that my writing would not be therapy, would not be just somebody downloading about ‘personal issues’, that I think I choked myself up. Hence my books were really like books written by someone else, some cold impersonal author. Now I’ve let go a little, people are noticing and saying there’s a lot more of an emotional kick waiting at the end of my books. I think what happened was I was forced to confront a lot of my prejudices and faults as a person and this in turn affected the writing at a deep level. I also just read more, practiced more, got deeper into the craft. I see the merit in things now which I never would have acknowledged before.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?         

I guess this question can be answered on a number of levels, both literal and practical, and emotional. On the practical side, the ideas notepad is a must. Always take it with you. Always take a pen. Be ready to jot down a spark of inspiration at any time. On a more technical side, I recommend the project management tool Trello for mood-boarding and plotting your novels. You can attach pictures (I use images of actors and concept art from films) for your characters and places, write descriptions. It can really be as deep as you want. The whole program is free and works like a digital post-it note board. Genius. On an emotional level, observation is a key tool. To observe not just what someone is doing but why. Only then can you do the same for your characters.
 
What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?

I’ve received lots of generous and helpful advice over the years, and I’m grateful for every word it. I’ve had some wonderful teachers. The best piece, something I come back to over and over, is probably something I read in a book by Tristine Rainer: Your Life As Story. She posits that the climax of a book should be: ‘Something lost so something is gained’. That’s one of the things I talk about a lot when coaching writers. It’s one of the best ways to get your ending to that place where it hits like a hammer.

Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject?

Man, it’s almost impossible, or it can feel it, but literally my tactic has been keep going and make friends. At the end of the day, if you keep looking to the future where one day you’ll be recognised and it’ll solve all your problems, you’ll grow bitter and resent the now. I’ve learned this the hard way.  Love what you do and be as original as possible. Don’t write what you think will sell. It brings temporary fruits, granted, but never long term. People only started noticing me when I said: ‘Fuck it, I’m just going to do my own thing and write weirdly intense novels and awkward-length novellas’. As soon as I gave up trying to write a best-seller, people saw what I was doing and took notice. Albeit, my following is still pretty minimal, but it’s climbing every day. One of the things that’s boosted others’ awareness of me is the fact I’m boosting awareness of others – paradoxical, I know!
 
I realised that lots of people feel very, very lost. They’re looking for something new but they’re not sure what. I help them find great writers and artists by recommending them. I don’t do it for money or anything, just because I love introducing people to cool stuff. There are writers out there of such immense talent they should be getting all the book deals and film and series deals, but they remain obscure. I love nothing more than showing people the way to their work. As a result, lots of people start following me to get at these other writers and artists I’m promoting. They also follow for free writing advice. I’ve become known as someone who makes good recommendations, in short. If they also see one of my books while they stop by, then that’s an added bonus!


To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favourite child, and who is your least  favourite to write for and why?

This is so, so true. But as Stephen King said: “Kill your darlings!”. My favourite “child” by far is Michael Banner. He is a recurring character in my fiction. Currently he’s appeared in three novels and a short story. In brief, he is a mad one-eyed prophet – the cause of nuclear holocaust on multiple worlds – an incarnation of all that is antithesis. Exactly what he is remains to be seen but there are hints. His nickname is ‘The Prince’, but it’s not what you think. He is really a dark and deep part of myself, I think. I had this terrible demon in me and the only way I could deal with it was by putting him on the page. I just didn’t count on him coming to life and taking over! Post-Nekyia I feel very at peace with this alter ego however. I think I learned to assimilate and understand him. As I said, writing can be very healing in that way.
 
The least favourite is really hard because generally I try to create characters who at least I love! Haha. Sarah in City of Illusion is definitely a candidate. She was so highly strung I felt myself getting wound up writing in her head.

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

This is hard. My partner insists that The Meaning of the Dark is my best work. Quite a lot of people agree. I think, though, I’m most proud of Nekyia. Perhaps because it took 5 years to come together. Perhaps because it is just so big. Also I’m contrary.

And are there any that you would like to forget about?

Oh yes! Lots. Many don’t even get to print or even beta-readers! And there are novels I would re-write now. Like Who’s Afraid of the Slenderman? I’d probably write very differently now. I was very young and inexperienced. The Door In The Mountain too. That was something I wrote as an online fantasy series when I was 17. People really seemed to enjoy it actually. I guess it had a B-movie feel to it, and they can be quite charming precisely because of their imperfections. But were I to write a fantasy novel like that now, or more accurately a Sword & Sorcery novel, I’d do virtually everything different. Still. I don’t think I want to take it down. If people read it and leave a bad review, I’ll consider it late-learning!


For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your  books do you think best represents your work and why?

I think The Meaning of the Dark is very much what I’m about. It’s about loneliness and despair and technological isolation, but also this strange, fragile hope that people have even in the most dire of all situations. Pilot 93, the protagonist, is pushed to the very limits of human endurance and I pushed myself to the limit to write those 30,000 words. At the time I was working 60 hours a week, had no real time to write properly, and felt like my life had lost all meaning. Everything was falling apart, even the things I thought were most solid, like my relationship with friends, family and my partner. But even in that absolute dark, virtually near suicide, I found there was this strange flicker of something that kept me going. I couldn’t end it all. There was something drawing me on. I came out the other side of that book a very different person. And I like to think that’s reflected in the reading experience.

Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?

Ah, you are far too kind. Here is an extract from my story Night Drive. I hope you like it:
 
But there is nothing: no station, no hope. The cassette continues its dark litany as my rearview turns opaque, no longer reflecting anything, the road both before and after becoming invisible.
A blackness arrives which makes tree and road and car indivisible from one another. My breathing is an interruption of the hissing noise which reigns like a god. The blackness fits into every space, closes around the car like a blanket falling over it, or the walls of a tunnel. I pop my seatbelt and lie back, for a moment feeling the shadow of another long embrace in the dark, for a moment remembering that children’s tears wash the shrine of Dahaka.
The cassette cuts out and I feel a presence in the back of the car, a person. The darkness deepens and deepens until it is agony to even hold open one’s eyes.
I whisper her name, a fleeting string of syllables the night swallows.
She answers with my own, as we share a final communion.


What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?

100 Best Video Games (That Never Existed) by Nate Crowley was the last book I read that blew me away. Man, that guy can write. He’s witty and so knowledgeable about not only the genre of video games but human nature too. It’s basically a post-truth book detailing 100 groundbreaking, iconic video games – none of which are real. There’s a kind of hidden narrative through the whole thing. I was lucky enough to interview him for STORGY magazine about that book. It’s a genius work.
 
In terms of disappointment, I think The Hidden People by Alison Littlewood. There were some sterling passages in there but it didn’t carry the ending for me. I also felt there were a lot of places the narrative was twisted to suit an agenda. I guess, at the end of the day, I’m a believer – the supernatural is my jam. I felt like The Hidden People was kind of making fun of people like me, and Gothic, rather than pastiching it in a celebratory way. Of course that may not have been Alison’s intent, but it’s how I felt. Contrast this with Nate Crowley’s 100 Best Video Games which satirizes gamers, games and the gaming industry at every level whilst also clearly displaying an unbounded passion, love and respect for it.

What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do?  And what would be the answer?
​
This is a very hard question to answer indeed! I’d love to be asked about certain specific scenes in my books – particularly in Nekyia. Because the weirdest parts of it are the most real. I know that’s a cliché, but I’m being serious. It’s been a wild ride. Long may it continue. Praise the Sun!

To help promote the new charity anthology Sparks an electric themed anthology to raise money for Resources for Autism, Burdizzo Publishing.  Ginger Nuts of Horror is bringing you a series of interview with the authors involved in the anthology.  Today it is Mark Cassell's turn to feature in the spotlight.  

Mark Cassell lives in a rural part of the UK where he often dreams of dystopian futures, peculiar creatures, and flitting shadows. Primarily a horror writer, his steampunk, dark fantasy, and SF stories have featured in many reputable anthologies and zines.
 
His best-selling debut novel THE SHADOW FABRIC (2014) started what has now become an expanding mythos of demons, devices, and deceit. Other published work includes SINISTER STITCHES (2015), CHAOS HALO 1.0 (2016), HELL CAT OF THE HOLT (2017), and most recently IN THE COMPANY OF FALSE GODS (2017).
 
To snatch up Mark's free stories, go to www.markcassell.com or visit the website www.theshadowfabric.co.uk.
 

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

Every school report said something along the lines of, “If Mark would spend more time on his work rather than entertaining his class mates, he would accomplish so much.” And that, my friends, sums me up a quarter of a century later.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Throwing weights around in the gym, sleeping, and… um… yeah, sleeping.

Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?

Steampunk and sci-fi. However, even when I write in both those genres, I will still sprinkle some horror into the mix. Just to make it glisten, you know?

The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations.  What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?

There are varying levels of horror. My novella, Hell Cat of the Holt, begins with a car crash, which in itself is horrific, right? The story then follows a lady who’s lost her cat. Again, this is horror to anyone whose pet goes missing. The horror levels then escalate. Big time.
 
So, for the horror genre, how about having a child go missing? That’s pretty damn horrific. Okay, so let’s drop it down a few notches: what about your winning lottery ticket, and discovering you’ve lost it? Imagine your frantic search around the house. And through the rush of blood in your ears, you realise that far-away humming sound is the washing machine on the final spin…
 
A story does not need gratuitous gore to be labelled horror, it doesn’t need a gun and a headshot, nor does it require frayed rope digging into a character’s wrists as an unseen captor lurks in the shadows. Every story needs emotion, and us as horror writers have chosen our genre. So we make certain our readers feel precisely that.

We will never break the taboo when it comes to horror, and quite frankly, it is that which makes me proud to stand among the ranks of horror entertainers.

A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years?

Every time I turn on the news, there’s horror. I don’t know whether the world is getting worse, or the media slaps it across our faces so much it seems that way.
 
Regardless of whether the shelves in Waterstones are tagged with Horror, or those books are hidden in the Science Fiction and Fantasy section, our beloved genre is here to stay.

What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?

The book that I can say was the catalyst is James Herbert’s Magic Cottage. As for a film, it would have to be Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, whose written work inspired me as much as Herbert’s. Another author who massively influenced me was Shaun Hutson. I can add here – and I’m still jumping around with excitement – that I’ll soon share pages in an anthology with him and several other of my literary heroes from the 80s and 90s. In fact, I’ve managed to nab a movie role in which Mr. Hutson is the script consultant, but that’s a whole other story.

What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice of?

This list could be endless. But I’m going to choose a guy whose work I’ve recently been getting into: Duncan Ralston. I’ve not long finished reading his Salvage. Such a brilliant, haunting story.

How would you describe your writing style?

Creepy, scary, and intelligent. This last is how I’ve been labelled, so please don’t think I’m riding the arrogance wagon. My work can be complex, like one big puzzle, and is perhaps why that particular word was used when referring to my work.

Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?

Yeah, my debut novel, The Shadow Fabric, received a three-star review which simply said, “Not read yet.” However, I guess it evens out all the others which are four and five-stars (yay!), but I find it incredible someone would think it’s okay to write such a thing as a review and to give it a star rating.

What aspects of writing do you find the most difficult?

When that procrastination demon leaps on my shoulders and refuses to let go.
 
Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?

Only one? I have several: child abuse, animal abuse, gore for the sake of gore. Oh, and weak females who trip over while fleeing from a bloke with an axe.

How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?"

I hate choosing names for my characters. I have no idea why, but I find this the second most difficult aspect in writing. Typically, I snatch up a name and go with it, then later in the story as the character’s trait shines through, I’ll rename them to suit.
 
Writing is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? 

My first stuff was shit, I read so many how-to books I went cross-eyed, and then my stuff started to get published. However, I am still learning. And that is something I believe every writer, at whichever stage in their career, must remember it’s so important to keep learning, keep developing the gameplay.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?       
  
Dedication to a project. It’s way too easy to get excited by a shiny new idea and lose momentum with your current project. So, if dedication was a tool that could be kept on the desk, then I’d constantly polish the damn thing.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?

“Re-write that, it’s shit.” This is something we all need to recognise, because every one of us is capable of writing complete shite, no matter how many years we’ve been in the game.

Getting your work noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject?

Be sure to entertain with not only your words, but as a human. And be nice. Don’t be a dick.

To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favourite child, and who is your least favourite to write for and why?

The main character in The Shadow Fabric, who’s also the guy from several short stories in the expanding mythos, is Leo and has always been a favourite of mine. He’s a confused character, yet strong, fun, and down to earth even when the crazy shit is going down.
 
My least favourite? As a writer, if we have a least favourite character, then we should sculpt them into one who strives to be the favourite. Each and every character cannot be weak, no matter how incidental.

And are there any that you would like to forget about?

Again, if I want to forget about any of my characters, then I’m not writing them well. Think about it, the readers will forget about them… and that is not good wordsmithing. At all.
 
Does this all make me sound like I’m hard on myself? Perhaps I am. That’s got me thinking now…

For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why?

Each of my books are standalone stories, however, my supernatural work is all in the Shadow Fabric mythos. The one which perhaps represents that mythos as a whole, would be Hell Cat of the Holt because it explores demons, ghosts, and a black cat legend. Plus, it has a healthy balance of horror on a human level, as well as an other-worldly level.

Do you have a favourite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?

From Hell Cat of the Holt:
 
More to myself than to him, I said: “Where are their heads?” Again, bile rose in my throat. Somehow, I managed to swallow it down, the bitterness snatching me from my daze. In the space of twenty-four hours – had it been that long? – I had seen the Black Cat for myself, a ghost, and now this Frankenstein horror.
 
The woven skin and bone, of jean material and T-shirt and shirts, was like a patchwork quilt. But it was the stitches, they … they somehow twitched as though with a life of their own. I remembered how Leo had mentioned the darkness was sentient, a veil between worlds, he’d said. Those stitches were indeed a part of the Shadow Fabric. If I’d ever needed proof, then here it was.
 
On the floor below this nightmare, a heap of crimson muck had soaked into the carpet. What I assumed had been the thumps we’d heard were fleshy sacks of muscle and offal that quivered amid barbed vines – similar to the one I’d stepped over in Pippa’s garden. The vines snaked and twitched, flexing upwards as though trying to reach for the appendages above.
 
“Leo …” I whispered.

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

I’ve just released In the Company of False Gods, a Lovecraftian steampunk horror. Its tagline: “He had no idea his creation would take him to the threshold between worlds.” It jumped to #4 on Amazon’s fantasy and steampunk charts.
 
I am currently juggling three projects: a larger piece in the Shadow Fabric mythos puzzle, another story in my steampunk world, and also a random short story.
 
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?

The hooded man on a book cover. Seriously, lose the hood, dammit. It’s like chiseled abs on an erotic romance cover.

What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?

I’ve just finished Lydian Faust’s Forest Underground, and gave it a five-star review. Seriously, for a debut, that is one fine book. The one that disappointed me was, sadly, James Herbert’s Shrine. I just could not get into it and actually gave up halfway through.

What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do?  And what would be the answer?

Generous Person: “No catch, would you like a million pounds?”
Mark Cassell: “Too right, I would. Yes please.”