CUTTING THE BONES AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR Reneé S. DeCamillis

CUTTING THE BONES AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR RENEÉ S. DECAMILLIS​

Renee S. DeCamillis is a dark fiction writer & editor, an Editorial Intern at Crystal Lake Publishing, an “on-hiatus” horror movie reviewer, a lyricist and poet, a hard rock/blues rhythm guitarist and singer, and a member of the Horror Writers Association. Her debut book, The Bone Cutters, is set for release on September 1, 2019 through Eraserhead Press, AND it is available for pre-order on Amazon-- (https://www.amazon.com/Bone-Cutters-Renee-S-Decamillis/dp/1621052931 )  Renee’s short fiction has been published in Deadman’s Tome: The Conspiracy Issue, Sirens Call eZine Issue 37 The Sixth Annual Women In Horror Month Edition, on The Other Stories Podcast—along with an interview. Her poetry appears in the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. IV. Her horror movie reviews have been published on AllHorror.net and Horror-Movie-Reviews.com, as well as on her websites:  reneesdecamillis.com and   http://phantom1333.wixsite.com/renee-young-decamillis/horror-movie-reviews. She has also been a podcast guest twice on Deadman’s Tome Podcast, where she discusses her views and research about the mysterious death of rock legend Chris Cornell. You can find that work and research on her website reneesdecamillis.com .
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     Renee earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the Stonecoast Graduate Program, she has her BA in psychology, and she attended Berklee College of Music as a music business major with guitar as her principle instrument. Music has been a huge part of Renee's life ever since she was a young child. She has been in a number of bands where she took on various roles, including hand percussionist. Renee is also a former model, school rock band teacher, creative writing teacher, private guitar instructor, A&R rep for an indie record label, therapeutic mentor, psychological technician, and pre-school teacher. (Yes, she loves to wear many hats; she is known to have worn thirteen hats all at once—literally.) She is also a former gravedigger; she can get rid of a body fast without leaving a trace, and she is not afraid of getting her hands dirty. Renee lives in the woods of southern Maine with her husband, their son, and a house full of ghosts.

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Social media links & website: 
website: reneesdecamillis.com
Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/ReneeDeCamillis/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReneeDeCamillis
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renee_s._decamillis/?hl=en

 Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

I’m a dark fiction writer with my debut book--The Bone Cutters--set for release on September 1st through Eraserhead Press. It’s classified as bizarro horror, but, overall, I like to describe my work as dark fiction, though there is a lot of horror within, and often some sprinkles of weird. (It’s tough for me to classify my work; it doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre-box. I don’t like boxes—they feel like cages.)   I’m also an Editorial Intern at Crystal Lake Publishing, a lifelong musician, a mother, a wife, a friend, and a nature lover. (Yes, I’m a tree-hugger, and I talk to them and thank them often.) You can often find me drumming in the middle of the woods, staring off into another dimension. I’m a hippie at heart, with a sort of sharp metal edge. My husband calls me “an enigma wrapped in a riddle.”  (Yes, he borrowed and tweaked that quote; he’s a quote machine.)

I earned my MFA in Popular Fiction Writing at the Stonecoast Graduate Program. That was a life-changing experience. I also have a B.A. in psychology (or should I say BS?). I was lucky enough to attend my dream college—Berklee College of Music.  That was an amazing experience that taught me a hell of a lot about music and music business. It also made me NOT want to get into the music business—which was my major, with guitar as my principle instrument. (The music industry: don’t even get me started on all that’s wrong there—such a beat-you-down world.) I now just play music for the pure love of it.

I’ve got some short story work out there floating around in the void: “Sunshower Death”—inspired by the mysterious death of rock legend Chris Cornell—appears in Deadman’s Tome: The Conspiracy Issue. I was also a 2x-guest on Deadman’s Tome Podcast, discussing my views and extensive research on the whole case of Chris Cornell’s death.  For anyone interested, much of that work & research appears on my website reneesdecamillis.com. “The Unemployed Neighbor” is another short story I wrote, and I read that one on The Other Stories Podcast. That piece is best, I think, read aloud. So much more of the creepy vibe comes through when it’s heard. You can hear it here. “The Unemployed Neighbor” also appears in Sirens Call eZine Issue 37 The Sixth Annual Women In Horror Month Edition.

Well, that’s more than just a little about me. Moving on . . .

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

I absolutely love spending time with my husband and our young son. Playing with our Little Dude is the best, and it creates a great spark for my imagination. If we’re lucky, my husband and I try to take in a horror or comedy movie one night a week, or watch a couple episodes of a good horror series. I also like to spend as much time in nature as possible, and I dabble with gardening. The musician in me screams & fights for scraps of time to do something, anything, musical: belt out some tunes, strum sweet melodies, bang out funky rhythms on any one of my multiple hand drums. Music always lights a fire under my ass and makes me feel great—just like nature.  I read with as much alone-time as I can steal, though it never feels like I get enough.  My “want to read” list grows much faster than my “already read” list. Honestly, there really just isn’t enough time to do all that makes me happy.

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

I have a great love for thrillers, especially psychological thrillers. I have a background in psychology, and I find abnormal psychology very intriguing. I’ve dealt with many psychos & sociopaths & criminally-minded people in my life—and not just from working in the psych. field—so stories about these types of real life characters spark my inspiration a lot. Dark and quirky satirical stories, as well as some sci-fi, also have an impact on my writing. I’m a snarky & sarcastic person by nature, and I love to work in dark humor when I can. I greatly admire Kurt Vonnegut’s & Chuck Palahniuk’s works, and if I could ever write anything remotely as dark and humorous as those two satirical geniuses I would count myself blessed and very happy.

And, of course, music is a huge influence for me. Much of what I listen to is heavy rock & metal (as well as those classics), though I do love rhythm & blues, funk, & reggae as well.  (Well, I really enjoy all sorts of different music—just absolutely no country or pop.) The moods and stories in the songs I love often find their way into my writing. And as much as I can, I like to form rhythm with my words; after all, my first creative writing started with poetry and song lyrics.  

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 Mainer, any time I tell someone I’m a horror writer they immediately ask me about Stephen King, and they think I’m striving to be some rock star horror writer like King. And, of course, with those assumptions they kind of laugh and look at me like I’m a starry-eyed kid saying, “I want to be a rock star when I grow up.” Yes, I do love King, but King is not the be-all-end-all of what a horror writer is and can be.  (As I said above, now I call myself a dark fiction writer.) Plus, many, if not most, writers will never reach King’s level of fame. At the end of the day, fame is not what writing is or should be all about.

I also find that many people think of horror as an inferior form of storytelling.  A quick flashback to my college days: as an undergrad English major/Creative Writing minor students were not allowed to write a genre of any kind, especially not horror or anything with weapons or graphic violence or monsters/demons. In one fiction writing class I took, the professor actually gave the class a long list of things we could not have in our stories—a knife or a gun or a supernatural monster were at the top of the list. WTF is that?! Also, when I was looking into which MFA program I wanted to attend, it was hard to find a school that was not completely focused on literary fiction—with no place for genre writing. I’ve got to give a BIG shout out to the Stonecoast MFA Program—where I attended—for offering a Popular Fiction focus. That saved me as a writer.

My feelings about breaking past the assumptions about horror: I see that “The Times They are a-Changin’”, and people are starting to look at horror through different eyes, sort of speak.  The assumptions are already getting broken. Look at King, who is bigger than he ever was—if that’s even possible. And his son Joe Hill is hitting great heights as well. Plus, we’ve got big publishers picking up more horror writers, or should I say “literary horror” writers--whatever that means. (There are so many sub-genres—if that’s even the correct term here—it’s hard to keep it all straight.) Look at Victor LaValle and Paul Tremblay—Great stuff and great successes right there! And then there are films like Get Out that have received more respect than previously expected in the horror world. And look at the success of the horror series Supernatural, which has been huge for quite a few years now—and my absolute favorite, and the Netflix original series Stranger Things. And that’s only a snippet; there are so many others to add to this list. I keep seeing new horror titles popping up everywhere. It’s fucking great! I’ve also noticed a ton of horror merchandise everywhere lately. I think these are some exciting times for horror, and I am very excited to now be a part of that, even if I’m only a small part at this point in my career. 

Plus, just look at the state of the world—horror: it’s everywhere, not just in fiction.  So, of course, more and more people are going to identify with and come to appreciate horror fiction even more in these times.

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?

Our current state of affairs in the U.S., with Trump and his cronies, is a big horror story of the day. What is going on, especially at the border (though there are many other examples), is nothing but horror. And don’t even get me started on the sex trafficking going on, well, everywhere—all over the world. Horror! But back to thinking of Trump in office, well, that’s where some dark humor also gets sprinkled in.

Before this whole border issue, I saw Trump as POTUS as a fucking joke. He has made [my] country the laughing stock of the world. He gives us Americans an even worse rep. than we had prior to him. (Well, that excludes the days of slavery, where there’s no room for laughter of any kind. Holy Hell! Can’t the U.S. ever get it right?) With Trump getting in office, I feel it really shows how much the U.S. people value entertainment. (Well, then again, we did have Reagan, but I was so young then that I had no idea what was going on in politics.) If nothing else, Trump is entertaining and good for a few laughs—he makes no sense whatsoever. Ridiculousness! He gives comedians and shows like Saturday Night Live a lot to work with—(though SNL has been lacking in the humor as of lately). I can’t help but laugh at Trump; just listen to the ignorance he spews on a daily basis. And he uses Twitter as his sounding board. What a joke of a president! Finding the many bits of humor, as dark as it is, is the only thing that helps me maintain any kind of sanity with all of this. It’s all a sad, sick & twisted joke.  And there is so much horror mixed with that humor. These are very scary times.

Then there’s the whole white supremacists getting compliments from Trump, and rising in the ranks of people’s opinions and acceptance. WTF?! (Horror!) There are too many social issues going on right now, with inequality everywhere, and not just the U.S.  It’s downright horrific the way various people get treated as inferiors—whether it’s due to the color of their skin (I purposefully don’t use the word “race” for a reason. I don’t believe in “race”. Race is an ideology, an illusion, created by man and his many fears and confusion, (Or, to quote Ziggy Marley, “What divides us is an illusion, made up by men in their confusion.”) or their sexual orientation, or their gender, etc. The list goes on.  Too many people are afraid of the many varied differences among people. (I find that our many differences make the world much more interesting.)Their fears take over and create the horrific social issues going on all over the place. (Personally, the way women are STILL treated as inferiors, and as objects, angers me more than I know how to express. And if you’re a woman of color, the treatment . . . holy shit, that pisses me off!) And all of this is finding its way into horror fiction. There’s no better genre for it than horror. Again, look at the success of the horror film Get Out. BOOM! There it is—Horror at its finest. (Can you tell I absolutely love that film?)

Okay, that was a scattered answer. Moving on . . .

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

Going back to the beginning of my horror movie consumption, the original versions of The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Hellraiser are all big influences. These are movies that have greatly shaped me as a writer, and as a devoted horror fan.  And then there’s Alfred Hitchcock— I love every story I’ve consumed by him! More recently, Rob Zombie’s horror films also greatly influence me. I absolutely love The Devil’s Rejects, and Halloween I & II. (I’m psyched to see 3 From Hell!) And Get Out is big on my list. (Yes, I said it again.)

As for books, I’d have to say that my first complete collection of Poe stories, passed down to me from my Nana Jo, was my first influence as a horror fiction and dark fiction writer when I was pretty young.  But that was just the beginning of my dark path.  Then came Stephen King, of course. I also love Gothic horror and Victorian ghost stories and supernatural tales from such authors as—Henry James, J. Sheridan LeFanu, Edith Nesbit, Margaret Oliphant, H.G. Wells, Mary Shelley, Nathanial Hawthorn, Bram Stoker, Algernon Blackwood . . . the list goes on.

My current favorite writers of dark fiction and horror are Elizabeth Hand, Joe Hill, Victor Lavalle, and Paul Tremblay. Work by all four of them fed my inspiration when writing The Bone Cutters, especially LaValle’s The Devil in Silver and Hill’s NOS4A2.

As I mentioned in a previous question, I also love the dark satirical work of Kurt Vonnegut and Chuck Palahniuk. When done right, humor allows the reader a place to breathe when immersed in dark, heavy material.

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

Julie C. Day—Author of the short story collection Uncommon Miracles. She also has a novella coming out on October 1, 2019 called Rampant. I haven’t had a chance to read that one yet, but Victor LaValle, one of my favorite authors, blurbed it so you know it’s great. Julie has a unique voice and writes creatively weird prose. Check her out!

David Simms—Author of the horror novel Fear the Reaper. He has another horror novel for middle-grade –Dark Muse--on the publishing train as well. This next one is all about music and the Crossroads, so I’m extra-psyched to check that out! Dave and I have many similar interests, so his work really clicks with me. It just works out perfectly that he’s also a great horror writer.

Damian Angelica Walters, definitely.  She’s not quite so new-new, but I do love her work!

Chad Lutzke—He’s new to me, though looking at his long list of publications, he doesn’t seem quite as new in the field as I’d first thought.  I read a recent novella of his titled The Pale White, yet to come out through Crystal Lake Publishing,  that is a superb example of writing more with less. I now think of that work as I’m writing my own work. It’s an excellent piece of writing! I really need to read more of his work, and soon.

How would you describe your writing style?

I don’t really know how to answer that.

I try to say more with less. I used to, and sometimes still do, have a problem with writing too much, then needing to trim the fat, sort of speak. Now I try my best to go at it the opposite way, (“Try” is the key word here.) though I do find that cutting the excess is easier than adding in more of what’s needed. So now my different writing projects are a bit of a mixed bag—some lean and some not so lean.

     I write what I feel and what I see and observe, and then I spin it with my imagination—like putting it all into a blender.  (I was going to say, like a weaver, but that’s too cliché, and it sounds too pretty.) Many ideas come to me from nightmares, as is the case with the main idea of The Bone Cutters. I’ve lived through many horrors, and dealt with many horrible people, and this all finds its way into my work. I also have a bit of an obsession with serial killers and sociopaths/psychopaths, and those types of characters often end up in my work. Many of the villains I like to create don’t see themselves as villains at all; they often see themselves as the “good guys” and see others as “the evil ones”. 

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

     So far I only have two reviews of my upcoming release, my debut book (though, I hear another is in the works). One review is on Kendall Reviews and one is on here—GNOH, so, of course they have both stayed with me. The fact that my book isn’t even out yet, I feel quite happy to have two reviews, and they’re pretty good ones. I have no complaints. (But I know you can’t please everyone, so I’m sure some bad reviews will pop up at some point in the future.)

     What sticks out for me with the two reviews:  “It’s actually refreshing to be able to enjoy a book so much that you were miffed when it was over…As the debut novella from Renee S. DeCamillis it’s a fantastic beginning to what could prove to be a career to watch…I’m giving this a solid 4 out of 5…considering that I’ve never read anything which rated a 5 I think The Bone Cutters is doing just fine.” ~~~from GNOH’s Joe X Young

And from Miranda Crites on Kendall Reviews: “I immediately fell in love with Dory, the writing style, the story…This is a terribly heart-wrenching story…I didn’t want to put this book down.”
 
What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?

     Finding the time to write is the hardest. As a stay-at-home mom with a young son, & having a part-time work-from-home Fiction Editor job, I barely have time to take a deep breath and take a shower let alone write. And then throw in the promotion aspect of being a new writer—it seems like I spend more time finding ways to promote my work/my debut book than I do writing new stuff and working on my works-in-progress. But with that lack of time I find that it is also a constant test of my dedication to my craft, and a test of my creativity—how creative I can get with finding snippets of time for my writing and creating. You can count on finding many notebooks and scraps of paper all over my house and car with story ideas, character sketches, cool lines of dialogue, setting descriptions, etc. Any second I can find to write anything, I take it—Even if that means I’m driving down the road with a notebook and pen in my hand, swerving all over the place while I write down that next idea—anything to keep the ideas and work flowing. (No, I don’t ever do this with my son in the car.) If I didn’t carve out these little pockets of time for my writing, I’d surely go mad. 

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

     Myself: There is no memoir in my future, though, because of the crazy shit I’ve lived through, many people have told me that I should write a memoir. But I don’t want my dirty laundry out for the world to scrutinize. (I already have quite a bit of experience with my “stuff” getting used against me in some very evil and twisted ways. I don’t want to inadvertently invite anymore of that to happen.) You can count on autobiographical info. woven into my fiction, even if it’s heavily masked. It’s in there, always lurking in the shadows.

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

     Sometimes names are random, popping out from whatever is going on in my life at the time—maybe a cartoon I’ve recently watched with my son, or a movie that pops to mind because of what I’m writing, or a song that I just can’t get out of my head, or maybe something in my real life influences it. But there are other times when the names do have meanings. It varies a lot. There are many times that I have no idea where the name(s) came from until well after the story has been created. Then it can hit me like an epiphany, and I’m like, “Oh shit! Now I see why I named that character that way.” Hindsight and all that.

Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years?
     I used to sometimes try too hard to create story ideas, but then those stories, once on paper, would sound forced.  I have now learned to just live life and get inspiration from everywhere and everyone. I listen very closely and watch everything going on around me. Watch out what you say and do around a writer—it will end up in a story.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?  
  
A pen and a notebook. No pencils. No erasers. Even what you cross out might end up getting used.

I also like to use the voice memo on my phone. It’s always a good idea to hear your writing out loud.

My Bible: A Writer’s Reference by Diane Hacker. (Know how to write a fucking grammatically correct sentence! Don’t rely on editors to do it for you. )

 I also often refer to Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need by Blake Snyder. This is an excellent book! I think all writers should read it.

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

I can’t choose just one.

“Rules were made to be broken.” Well, really, that’s the best piece of advice that I’ve ever been given for life in general. 

Many writing teachers I’ve had have told me many times, “You need to know the rules before you break the rules.” I understand that. But I’ve always broken rules before I even knew there were any rules to begin with. Fuck the rules! Just write!

Another piece of advice that I cherish and give to others: “Be yourself, don’t censor yourself, and always find your voice and use it.” That’s another piece of life-advice as well. It’s advice that has also helped me as a singer and musician. It’s perfect for most everything!

But maybe the best advice for fiction writing is—Don’t force the story in any specific direction; let the story lead you where it needs to go.

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

I approach it with a Cheshire smile (the cat, not the cheese), Einstein hair, and a constant banging of my head against the wall.

     It’s maddening how much time it takes to try to promote myself and my work. And holy shit!—don’t even get me started on all the time I have to spend on social media. Ugh!!! If it wasn’t for being a writer, and a newbie in the field, I probably wouldn’t be on social media at all, or at least not on as many sites as I am right now. And a website—I’m technologically challenged as it is. That shit is hard! And it’s a huge time-suck, sucking away all my writing time! And hire someone to do it all for me? With what money?

     This social media and online stuff—it’s so impersonal, and hugely deceiving.  It’s really hard, I find, to be myself online. People don’t get me through the impersonal aspects of computers and social media. There’s no body language to convey my messages. (After all, body language makes up over 90% of all communication.) I’m a hugely sarcastic person, with a big dark humor edge, but online that comes across as—I’m a big insensitive & inconsiderate asshole. (But I’m really not anything like that all. I’m probably one of the most empathetic people you’ll ever meet—if you could meet me in person and know me in the real world.) So, I often find myself censoring what I put online to avoid getting attacked, though I still get attacked a lot. (I hate arguing, and I avoid it as much as possible, but what’s funny about that--My mother often told me I should’ve been a lawyer because of my arguing abilities—I stick to the facts, and I stay at it until I prove my side. But I always told her, “A lawyer? Hell no! I don’t want to be hated by everyone! And I’d rather not end up on the edge of a roof wanting to jump.”)  I don’t like censorship at all. So, all this social media activity is very tough for me to manage. And I can’t help but see it as another huge time-suck.

It’s just maddening, all of it! Is there somewhere I can buy some more time? Oh, wait—I’m a writer and I’m broke. Never mind.
 
To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favorite child, and who is your least favorite to write for and why?

     I really love Dory in The Bone Cutters, but I think the main character in my current novel-in-progress is my favorite. His name is simply—The Dude. (There’s a reason for no name, but that’s hard to explain. Just read the book when it comes out.) He’s a fighter and stands up for what he believes in. He’s not afraid of anything—especially speaking his mind and fighting to expose the truth.

     My least favorite child to write for is in a story that I have not found a home for quite yet.  She is a mean and nasty bitch who thinks everyone else is evil and out to get her. And she is capable of horrendous acts. (Her character-type is actually inspired by a family member that I simply refer to as Satan.) Though I do love writing bad guys, this one is the toughest. She’s an unreliable narrator, and, well, that’s a tough one to handle, though I do love the challenge.

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

I’m very proud of my debut book--The Bone Cutters. I think it’s a really good example of my voice.

But then there is my current novel-in-progress, though I’m not quite finished with the first draft. The title is not set in stone yet, but right now it’s called i Is All that Matters. The story is very strong, and I feel it’s a unique take on its subject matter. (I know many writers think their story is unique, but I dare say this about mine mainly because other writers and avid readers of horror who have read drafts of this novel have told me this as well.) That’s the main reason I’m very proud of it. Plus, as I said above, the main character—The Dude—is my favorite character I’ve created so far. Now I just need to get to the final draft and get it out into the world. Oh, wait, I still have that promoting thing to do. FUCK!

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

Well, I’ve only got the one so far on the publishing train, set for release on September 1st.  The Bone Cutters—buy it. It’s even available for pre-order on Amazon. Go click. Now!  And, yes, this is a great representation of my work, and a great example of my voice.
My short story “The Unemployed Neighbor” is also a good representation of my work. It’s a good example of how I try to write more with less. But, like I said, I think it’s creepier to hear me read it. (http://www.theotherstories.org/episodes/episode-143-unemployed-neighbor-renee-s-decamillis/  Go have a listen.)

As for other books: As I said above—I do have a new novel-in-progress, so there will be more to come, and I’m hoping that’ll be soon. And to let you in on a secret—though not so secret now—I’m also planning a sequel to The Bone Cutters. So keep your eye out for more of my work in the near future.

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

That’s a tough one. But one passage that sticks out in my mind, one I try to live by, is from The Bone Cutters:

 “Never judge. I don’t know where they’ve traveled. Their shoes don’t fit me.”
 
 
Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?

     My debut book, The Bone Cutters:  It’s about a young woman who wakes up in the padded room of a psychiatric hospital and soon finds out she’s been Blue-Papered—involuntarily committed. She gets sent to the wrong counseling group and discovers a whole new world of psychiatric patients she’d never known existed. At first she just thinks they’re cutters, all marked by similar scars, but then she finds out that those scars are from carving into their own bodies where they chisel and scrape their bones. What they’re after is the bone dust—it’s highly coveted and sought after. When they find out she’s never been “dusted”, she becomes their target. She desperately tries to prove to the psych. hospital staff that she’s not delusional about these particular patients, but they don’t believe her.  They all think she’s crazy. She ends up on the run, trying to avoid getting “dusted” by The Bone Cutters.

     What I’m working on next: I already mentioned my current novel-in-progress, but here’s more about it:  The working title: i Is All That Matters. It’s about the evil intentions behind the invention of the iPhone. The story follows The Dude, a mindreading music engineer and musician on a mission to finish the work of his murdered father and to get justice for his death. He vows to find a way to reveal to the masses the brainwashing tactics at work with the use of Smartphones and iPhones. With a team of like minded individuals—The Old Hippie, The Shaman, and The Amazon—The Dude ends up fighting forces  much bigger and much more powerful than he’d ever imagined, and he uncovers a master plan much more sinister than he’d originally thought possible.  Inspired by George Orwell’s prophetic novel 1984, as well as real life experiences and observations, i Is All that Matters will make you think twice before turning on your phone.

If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?

Hot and sexy vampires—get rid of them.  Definitely.

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

As I mentioned already, there’s a book I’ve recently read by Chad Lutzke, The Pale White—Holy shit! That is some great writing! I believe it may be available come September through Crystal Lake Publishing.

I guess I should share a book I love that you can read now--The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle. I read this a while back, but I sure do love that book, and everything I’ve read from LaValle!

Disappointing:  I Wish I Was Like You by S.P. Miskowski –I did enjoy this book overall, but there is a character that conveniently shows up out of the blue in the middle of the book that unrealistically pushes the plot forward, and that part feels forced and too convenient/coincidental for my taste. But I mean no disrespect toward this book or the author; like I said, I do like the book overall and did enjoy it.
 
 
What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do?  And what would be the answer?

I’m not sure about what I wish people would ask me, but I do know what I don’t want to hear or get asked anymore. If I hear it one more time, this is how it’s going to go:
Question: “You’re a horror writer from Maine—Do you know Stephen King?”
My answer: “Nope. Never heard of him.” Then I’ll turn and walk away. 

The Bone Cutters by Reneé S. DeCamillis 

Dory wakes up in the padded room of a psychiatric hospital with no recollection of how she wound up there. She soon finds out she’s been Blued-Papered—involuntarily committed. When she is sent to the wrong counseling group, she discovers a whole new world of drug addicts she’d never known existed. When she learns that those grotesque scars they all have are from cutting into their own bodies, it makes her skin itch. Why do they do it?—They get high off bone dust.  They carve down to the bone, then chisel and scrape until they get that free drug. When they realize Dory’s never been “dusted”, she becomes their target. After all, dust from a “Freshie” is the most intense high, and pain free—for the carver. 
     By the end of that first meeting Dory is running scared, afraid of being “dusted”, though the psych. hospital staff doesn’t believe a word she says.  She’s delusional—at least that’s what they tell her.  They end up sending her to that same counseling group every day, though Dory knows that all those junkie cutters want is what’s inside of her, and they won’t give up until they get what they’re after.
     Like Girl Interrupted and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, The Bone Cutters is one woman’s dark and surreal experience with a madness that is not necessarily her own.

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