For your enjoyment…

an interview with Mark Allan Gunnells. He’s a promising talent on the rise. His stories are well-written, dark, and have a playful quality that can easily trick you into thinking maybe everything will work out all right. Mark has various things coming out soon from Sideshow Press and Apex’s imprint The Zombie Feed. It’s wonderful to see him off and running, and I hope that everyone gives his work a chance. He’s a pleasant and gifted host.

Lee: How did you come to love reading and writing, Mark? Were they a soft whisper that coaxed you into the dark, or a deafening roar that compelled you to set yourself apart?

Mark: I fell in love with reading at a young age, with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Something about that story just really captured my imagination and I began reading a lot. However, I fell away from reading as I got older and didn't find my way back to it until high school, with the help of one Mr. Stephen King. As for writing, that also began at an early age, with me penning these little one-page Twilight Zone knock-offs. Hopefully I've improved some since then.

Lee: People love your work. You’ve improved. Do you have a process when composing stories?

Mark: I'm very lucky in that I get to write at work. I'm a security guard, and have pockets of downtime throughout the day. I have trained myself to write in those pockets. It isn't ideal for some, the constant stop-and-start method, but I've managed to make it work. I don't put pressure on myself by aiming for a certain number of words or pages per day. My aim is just to write.

Lee: And knowing how much you’ve written I’d say it’s working very well for you! Who are some of your greatest influences?

Mark: Well, there are many writers I love. King is wonderful at characters and just seems to exude a passion for storytelling; Lansdale is awe-inspiring and has taught me how sometimes simplicity in style can expose great depths; Barker is just a master of the short form. That said, I don't know if I'd call them "influences" in that I do try not to emulate but write with my own voice.

Lee: Who’s Lansdale and Barker? (Hehe. I kid.) What are your favorite types of stories? And does your work naturally fall into this camp or that?

Mark: I like different types of stories, but horror is my first love, and perhaps my truest love. I've always found them to be thrilling and exciting. And because it's what I love to read, naturally it's what I love to write as well.

Lee: You have several stories which will be available soon through Sideshow Press with other talented writers like Sam W. Anderson, Erik Williams, James A. Moore, and Kurt Newton. What are your stories there about? What is unique about this press and why does your work fit so well among their catalog?

Mark: My upcoming projects include WHISONANT, which contains two novellas. "Whisonant", which is a ghost story of sorts set on a college campus, and "Creatures of the Light" which is a post-apocalyptic creature feature. Also, Sideshow will be releasing TALES FROM THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT VOL. I, my first full short story collection, which I'm most excited about. Sideshow is a wonderful press run by Tom and Billie Moran. They have a true love for the genre and for books in general, and they bring their passion to their company. I am very fortunate they were willing to take a risk on me.


Lee: What do you want to accomplish? What is your ultimate goal?

Mark: Some may call it simplistic, but my ultimate goal is just to entertain. Not that I don't sometimes have deeper themes and meanings, but to me the most important thing is entertaining. I want to be entertained by what I write and entertain those who read what I write.

Lee: That’s a great goal. People love to be entertained! (I'm a great pointer out of the obvious.) What do you have in the works now?

Mark: Right now I'm working on "The Summer of Winters", a coming-of-age novella.


Lee: You have a novella coming out through Apex's imprint The Zombie Feed. What's the title? How long did it take you to write? What's it about?

Mark: It's called ASYLUM, and it's a zombie story that takes place in a gay club. I sometimes jokingly say it's like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD only in a gay club instead of a farmhouse. There are zombie attacks and flesh-eating goodies, but it's also more of a character study of the people trapped inside the club.

I actually started a version of this story--then called NIGHT OWLS--in college when I first got the idea, but I wrote only the first few paragraphs (including one of my favorite opening lines: "When the dead arose, Jimmy was going down on the balding accountant.") before putting it aside. After college, I went through a dark period where I stopped writing altogether, but when I finally came back to it (came to my senses more like it) I looked at those paragraphs and decided I wanted to try again. NIGHT OWLS became ASYLUM (because I liked the dual meaning of the name) and I started. I got halfway through then for whatever reason felt it wasn't working and put it aside again. A little over a year later I looked at what I had written, really liked it and couldn't remember why it wasn't working for me at the time. Maybe all I needed was a little distance. So I went back to it and finally finished the thing up.

Had a hard time finding a home for this one, for various reasons. For some, the explicit gay themes was a problem. For others, it wasn't zombie intensive enough. I am very happy that The Zombie Feed is taking a chance on it.


Lee: Neat! Any advice for aspiring writers?

Mark: If you love to write, write. Plain and simple. Yes, you should strive to learn all you can and improve your craft. Definitely seek publication. But above all else, just sit down and write. And have fun with it. In my opinion, if writing isn't a joyful experience, you're not doing something right.

Thanks for sharing some time with me and these intelligent gents and ladies who read my blog! I’m sure we’ll see a lot more quality work coming from your golden pen, Mr. Gunnells. Looking forward to it!

Mark’s story “Dancing in the Dark” from Darkside Digital is a good first taste of his fiction. Support a great writer and a great publisher. And it’s cheap! Buy it HERE! (<--Right there)

Here’s a sneak peek of his novella coming out through Apex’s Zombie Feed imprint: Clickie.

Here’s a free story up on Sideshow Press’s website. (Click ME)

Mark's novella just went up for pre-order! The details are here: Asylum

Interview: Steve Clark/Tasmaniac Publications

***Steve Clark is an awesome dude—witty, and funny, and kind—as well as a great publisher. Tasmaniac’s limited edition novellas are beautiful and the stories gripping. I first stumbled onto them when Steve released Tom Piccirilli’s The Nobody and Mr. Clark hooked me up with a special deal (I know, I’m lucky.) Since then we’ve exchanged a lot of emails and I signed up to receive #12 of each book he puts together. They are a steal and some of my favorites to curl up with.

LT: When did you realize you wanted to publish some of the best authors in the business?

SC: I’d been wondering what it would be like to be a small press publisher ever since I started collecting small press titles some ten years ago, thinking it must be a wonderful endeavor to commission a piece from an author you admire, have it illustrated, bound and released to the public in the hope that they appreciate their talent too. The beginning of 2007 became a turning point, when I realized the only thing stopping me living out this dream was myself. Life’s too short to dwell and ponder so I went for it!

LT: What was your first title?

SC:
That would be Paul Kane’s THE LAZARUS CONDITION. A very different take on the zombie theme that was unlike anything I’d read before. I was asked to review Paul’s SIGNS OF LIFE, a year before Tasmaniac was established, and loved it. I was also a sub-editor on DARK ANIMUS issue 10/11 and pushed for Paul to offer a story, he came back with DIG THIS, and the rest is history.

THE LAZARUS CONDITION was such a special project. Wonderful illustrations from Dion Hammill with an introduction from US director Mick Garris (The Stand, The Shining). Paul also wrote the bonus short story, DEAD TIME, which later became adapted by Steve (30 Days of Night) Niles as NEW YEAR’S DAY, an episode for the US series FEAR ITSELF. With blurbs from Simon Clark, Tim Lebbon and Christopher Golden I just couldn’t of asked for a better launch.


LT: How long have you been involved in this nitty gritty biz?

SC: Woops! Kinda answered this in question one but yeah, 2007 was when I put my serious head on and pulled my finger out.

LT: What titles/authors can we look forward to in the future?

SC: What? And give away all the surprises in one hit! 
Next up is Tom Piccirilli’s THE LAST DEEP BREATH, our second Pic release following THE NOBODY. If you like fiction to grab a hold of you and threaten a swift kick to the gut then give this man a try, his noirellas take some beating.

We have our second FESTIVE FEAR anthology due out Christmas along withBrett McBean’s CONCRETE JUNGLE – the first of three novellas based on Brett’s Jungle mythos. There are going to be a couple of guest writers (one established, one new blood) offering their own take on this apocalyptic vision with each release. I’ve recently seen the cover from Steve Crisp (renowned for his UK Headline / Laymon series) and it’s excellent. Steve will be doing all three covers with Keith Minnion providing all the internal illustrations.
Next year will see our first all-hard cover release, BONE MARROW STEW by Tim Curran. A massive collection of Tim’s work heavily illustrated throughout by Keith Minnion. Beyond that my lips are sealed!


LT: Who’d win in a fight- You or Chuck Norris?

SC: The Good Guys Wear Black Norris would kick my ass quite easily thank you. The Walker, Texas Ranger Norris would also kick my ass with those terrible one-liners.

LT: Why did you specialize in novellas?

SC: Simply put, I personally enjoy reading them. Kinda nice to take a break, stretch out and read a substantial story in one sitting. I think for as long as Tasmaniac is around novellas will always be our main focus, but that isn’t to say there won’t be a different kind of project thrown into the mix from time to time.

LT: What interest do you have outside the publishing world?

SC: No prizes for guessing reading is high on the list! Always seem to have a book close at hand. Used to have a hobby farm and enjoyed breeding pigs (Large Whites) but my wife and I sold that property and bought a general store & post office, which pretty much takes up our time. My bulldog, Bubba, is getting on in years now and I enjoy spending as much time as I can with my constant companion. I enjoy watching cricket and the occasional box set on DVD. I also enjoy putting a smile on my wife’s face.


LT: What do you think of the growing digital formats? Will you incorporate any more e-packages like the great Simon Clark bundle you offer now (I bought and read it, and it’s a steal at 99 cents)

SC: Digital is here to stay, offering the publisher a cheaper option to distribute titles, whether they are novels, novellas or short stories. It also makes the decision easier for a publisher to give new authors some exposure, which is good for the genre. The Simon Clark e-package, THE CALLING & OTHER WRAITHS, was released in 2008 (before the digital hoopla boom) and was an exciting project for the author and myself. Incorporating the story, THE CALLING, being an accompanying piece to the novella, STONE COLD CALLING, a non- fiction piece where Simon offered writing tips to the budding scribe in us all and a short video shot by Simon, it was a fresh extension to the novella release.

Having said that I have no desire to release titles through the digital format. Better publishers than myself are doing it, and to be honest I don’t enjoy the experience. I much prefer a physical page to turn; as it stands I spend too many hours in front of the computer screen. A book in my hand equates to leisure time and is a million miles from anything work related.

LT: Real quick: Three favorite horror movies?

SC: Jaws - will always be my number one choice. Parents took me to the cinema to see this when I was seven and I’ve never been that scared since. I can watch it again and again.

Session 9 – because the last line freaked me out!

Angel Heart – great book, Mickey Rourke was at the top of his game, Robert De Niro, Courtney Pine on the soundtrack. Just perfect.

LT: What three books have moved you the most?

SC: Will There Really be a Morning? - Frances Farmer (autobiography)

Factotum – Charles Bukowski

Tooth Fairy – Graham Joyce


Touch Tasmaniac links: Killer Novellas at Tasmaniac


LT: Thanks a bunch for giving us your time, Steve!

SC: My pleasure Lee! Currently reading your novel NURSERY RHYMES 4 DEAD CHILDREN and it’s a wonderful page-turner. Keep it up!

LT: Hey, you’re not supposed to give me a shout out. LOL. Thanks again. You rock, man!

Interview: Shaun Jeffrey

***
I first met Shaun Jeffrey while learning the craft of writing on Editred. He was well ahead of most people there, but he took the time to help others. I always appreciated and admired that about him. His work bears a sharp edge—a tough mixture of crime and Horror. When it comes to his characters: you like some things about them and hate other attributes, there isn’t a lot of gloss on them. They’re real. His plots are tightly woven, fast paced and entertaining. Shaun is a star on the rise. I highly suggest picking up his story collections and novels.

LT: Hey, Shaun. What’s the latest news in your career? Did I hear something about The Kult being optioned for the movies? How did it come about? Is it already in production?

SJ: Hi Lee. Yes, The Kult was optioned towards the end of last year by Gharial Productions. The deal was secured by the publisher. At the moment, the director, Kip Shelton is doing the casting, and shooting is scheduled for September. I’m hoping I will be able to make it out to the US to see some of the filming so that I can get a look behind the scenes.

LT: Having read your work I know how ferocious it is. How long have you been writing? How do you manage to build such believable characters and thrust them into such dire circumstances?

SJ: I’ve been writing on and off for about 20 years – nearly half my life! My early work was a lot more graphic, but I guess I’ve actually mellowed with age. As for building believable characters, I just try to give them human foibles. Of course I then want to make things difficult for them, creating conflict. Without conflict, there’s no story.

LT: What’s the premise (and what was your favorite part to write) of your new novel DeadFall? Where can we buy it and your other works?

SJ: Well the synopsis is as follows:

"Kill them or convert them – either way we win."

A team of mercenaries race to an abandoned mining village to rescue two children held hostage by rogue ex-soldiers. But the kidnappers are a ruse, the real threat more terrifying than any of them could imagine.

Aided by a couple of unsuspecting eco-warriors, mercenary team leader Amber Redgrave must fight to survive against foes that don’t sleep and don’t feel pain.

Now as the body count rises, so do the stakes, and when the dead won’t stay dead, there’s going to be hell to pay.
***
My favourite part to write is the end, as that means that I’ve managed to finish what I started. It’s easy to start writing something. The difficulty is continuing with it for the long haul. People can purchase my work from most online venues, and there’s purchasing details for all of them on my website: http://www.shaunjeffrey.com

LT: Is your collection Voyeurs of Death still free to read? (Side note: A few of those stories still haunt me!)

SJ: Yes, I made my previously published collection free to download to try to allow more people to sample my work without having to splash the cash. Anyone interested can check it out here:
Voyeurs of Death I think it gives a pretty good idea of my style and the kind of warped things that inhabit my imagination.

LT: Let’s backtrack a bit. When did you first know you wanted to write? Have you always had a fascination for the darker side of fiction/human nature?

SJ: I don’t think it was a conscious decision to start writing, but I guess one day I just started putting pen to paper or finger to key. And as I’d always read horror, then I suppose it was only natural that I wrote horror. Add to that the fact that I grew up in a house in a cemetery and it’s probably fair to deduce that I wasn’t going to be vying for shelf space with Barbara Cartland.

LT: What short stories do you have forthcoming? Where can we read them?

SJ: As I’ve been concentrating more on novels, the only short story I have forthcoming is In Darkness which is going to appear in Cemetery Dance.

LT: What’s next for Shaun Jeffrey?

SJ: Well I’m working on another novel featuring the protagonist from The Kult, Prosper Snow. I also have a few other ideas bubbling, and I’m also working on a zombie screenplay with Daniel Kahaeku who wrote the screenplay for The Kult. But as my crystal ball isn’t working too well, I can’t say for certain what will happen. I just hope it’s good.

LT: Anything else you would like to add?

SJ: I’d just like to say thanks to anyone who’s ever read my work. A bigger thank you if you enjoyed it. And an enormous thank you to anyone who’s actually put their hand in their pocket or purse and bought it. I just hope it doesn’t disappoint, as at the end of the day, I want to entertain, and for a brief moment, I want to take you by the hand and lead you into a world of my imagination. A world of dreams, shocks, laughs and terror.

Kiss Shaun Jeffrey links:

Blog
Facebook
Myspace
Website

Thanks so much for your time, Shaun! Looking forward to many more of your twisted stories!


***

Interview: Steve Lowe

*****
I met Steve Lowe in 2009 while work shopping stories on American Zoetrope. He’s helped me with a few of mine and he has a fine eye for details (probably stems from his journalistic background and from being a perfectionist—both noble endeavors.) I’ve also read some of Steve’s fiction and here’s my opinion: It’s clean and sharp and gutsy. He spins some weird yarn that is easy to get caught in. But you should read some of his stories and form your own opinions.

1. Tell us your background. Have you always scribbled nasty letters? What shoved you toward the dark side? Movies? Books? Ex-girlfriends?

SL: I’ve scribbled for a long time, but it’s only been nasty for a short while. I’ve been writing about sports in my fair hometown of South Bend, Indiana since 1999 and I hadn’t written any fiction for about six years before I got back to it again in late 2008. My wife had one of those cheesy werewolf romance novels with a burly, long-haired dude on the cover. I read the first chapter and knew I could do better, so I wrote a short story mostly on a lark. The lark was not happy about it, let me tell you, so I switched to writing it on a computer and it went much better. That story (after transcribing what I could from the lark) is now a novella called WOLVES DRESSED AS MEN and will be released in November of this year. We had to put the lark down. It was both a happy and sad day.

2. How would you label your fiction? (For example, mine is “Goth/Hillbilly” but you can go into further detail with yours and mention some writers you adore/stalk)

SL: I don’t know how I would label it because it continues to change all the time, though I will admit I’m enjoying writing the weird stuff right now. I like minimalism and getting right to the point (a product of sports writing and newspaper journalism in general) but I’m not really focused on one style or genre. I’m still in that stage where I write what comes to mind based on what mood I’m in, how annoying my children are being at any given moment. I’m all about capturing what I’m feeling in the moment. If I start writing homo-erotica, then I’ll know it’s probably time to stop hanging out at the YMCA.

3. Tell us about your two novellas (Who bought them? What are they about? When can we buy them?)

SL: The first one is more of a novelette. It’s called MUSCLE MEMORY and it’s somewhat low-brow comedy about body-switching in rural Pennsylvania. Eraserhead Press is publishing it in October as part of their New Bizarro Author Series, which is sort of a proving ground for authors who want to become real, grown-up bizarro authors and no longer be forced to sit at the kiddie table at Thanksgiving. Basically, if my book sells 200 or more copies in a year’s time, I could get a five-book deal from Eraserhead and be forever labeled an official bizarro.

The other novella is the aforementioned WOLVES, and it’s being published by Eternal Press as an eBook first, then will be offered in print a month later. I wrote this one almost a year ago, and like I said, as my writing has evolved since then, I don’t know if I would write this story today. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the story or the style, just that it’s not what I’m writing now. The story is about a werewolf loose in a crumbling Detroit-like slum, but there’s very little focus on the beast and more about the men fighting it, very dark and brooding stuff. I must have been all dark and broody at the time.

4. Where can we find your short stories?

SL: Oh, here and there. I had one in the most recent issue of Liquid Imagination, I had one in the first Dead Bait anthology, a couple on The New Flesh: Crowd parted for great lucchesi
Ambling Along as I'm Wont to Do Knobby) and I’ve got some forthcoming in Three Crow Press and Esteban’s House of Bizarro. Probably my favorite story that’s been published so far was made into a podcast on Drabblecast: Varmints!) It’s entitled VARMITS! and it’s about a paranoid guy who think raccoons are out to get him.

5. What’s the deal with your brain always stroking off over “Two Minutes,” and who is this Bogey character that’s sending you death threats disguised as lingerie?

SL: If you mention “stroking” and “Bogey” in the same sentence, you’ll never hear the end of it from her, the auto-erotic little minx that she is. As for the 2-Minute Drill, it just sort of happened. When this year began, I was shopping my novellas around and thinking I would need a website, or at least a blog, if I ever happened to sell one or both of them. Once I got the blog up, I didn’t have much of interest to post and I really didn’t want to do another normal author’s blog. Not that there’s anything wrong with that obviously, but if I was going to do it, it had to be different. I wasn’t going to just write about stuff that popped in my head, because I’m really not that interesting or insightful. I wanted to use it for entertainment, or at least post goofy, funny stuff. That’s when I thought of doing author interviews, but making them a little more unique. See, I get bored easy, so I thought five short questions, five short answers, totally off the wall shit, while also attempting to push the authors’ books and wares to the readers, and maybe it would work. I had AJ Brown do the first one and the next day I had a list of about 20 writers and artists wanting to do their own 2-Minute Drill. And they’re fun as hell because I get to make up just about whatever I want.

6. What is your proudest moment as a writer? As a man?

SL: As a man is easy, it was the day the paternity results came back. Didn’t have much of an argument left after that day, but I digress… As a writer, that’s tougher. I suppose that first acceptance and first payment. That was a good feeling, to know that I was cunning enough to fool someone into giving me money for my fiction. (Insert maniacal laugh here…)

7. What does the future hold for Steve Lowe?

SL: Pain. No, just kidding. Hopefully, a novel, which will probably be painful for anyone who tries to read it. After writing for newspapers for so long, you get conditioned to keeping it short and sticking with only the most important stuff. But fiction is such a different animal. I’ve always wanted to write novels, but I didn’t think I could manage something that long. Once I got to the 20,000-word mark on WOLVES, I started to figure it out. At some point, I’ll knock out a full-length novel. I have 18,000 words of something I may or may not finish, but before then I’m working on another novella, then I’ve got two more ideas started that I want to flesh out and see where I can take them. They may not be novel-length, but I haven’t really focused on them yet so we’ll see. And of course, more 2-Minute Drills. At some point, I’ll convince another big-time author to come on. I had Jeremy C. Shipp do one in early March and he was great.

8. Anything I forgot?

SL: Did you pick up your dry cleaning yesterday?

9. Befriend/Worship Steve Lowe links: (Facebook, etc.)

Twitter
Facebook
Blog

Thanks, Steve!

Upcoming interviews

Coming soon: Interviews!

Lined up first is R.J. Cavender, writer/editor/reviewer for the Stoker-nominated Horror Library anthology series/Dark Recesses magazine/Cutting Block Press.

Right now he's working on Vol. 4 and it is going to be the best yet. I'm really looking forward to it.

Thanks,

Lee