#BadMoonRising: Demon’s Blood by Shari Sakurai #horror #LGBT

On By Teri PolenIn Bad Moon Rising28 Comments

Happy Hump Day!  Shari Sakurai isn’t quite sure if she worked with a ghost or a human at a previous job, and feels a cat is a must-have for writers.  Sounds like she’s my kind of people.  Welcome Shari!

You’re in a horror movie. Are you the final person, the first to die, the comic relief, the skeptic, the smart one, or the killer?

I have pretty good survival instincts so I’ll say I’d be the final person. I do also have a wicked sense of humour so I would provide some comic relief too!

Creepiest thing that’s ever happened while you were alone?

I used to work in an old Georgian building which had a basement that went under the entire city and used to be part of the city’s jail. When I was working there it was used to store documents and files. Once I had to go down there to put some files away and there was an old man down there doing some filing. He said he used to work here and that he came back on a voluntary basis to help out. We chatted for a few minutes and then I went back upstairs. As I went by reception I told the receptionists about him. They looked a bit alarmed and said that he had been dead for years! To this day I don’t know whether they were messing with me or whether I actually spoke to a ghost!

If you were paid to spend the night in a haunted house, would you do it?

Absolutely! In fact I’d probably do it for free! I love being scared and staying in a haunted house would be an amazingly terrifying experience!

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

Laptop, music, an endless supply of Dr Pepper and a cat. Why a cat? They make great muses and writing companions. My cat Tash often sleeps on my laptop case and when I need a break she’s always wanting to be petted or play with one of her toys!

What’s your work schedule like when you’re writing?

It varies depending on what I am working on. I try to write something every day even if it is just a paragraph, but much of my writing schedule focuses on the weekends when I have more free time. At the moment the schedule is quite light. I’ve got my current work in progress and a little side project I’m working on. In a few months’ time I expect it to be heavier again as I’m also going to be starting the next novel in my Perfect World series.

What are you working on now?

I’m currently working on the sequel to my vampire novel Demon’s Blood. Determined to save his lover from the demon Kurai’s possession, Thane returns to Japan and begins his search for Takata Koji; Taku’s sire and the only vampire who has the knowledge to save him.

Immortal blood is precious and Kokawa Taku’s makes him especially unique.

After vampire hunters force them to flee Tokyo, Taku and his lover, Thane, try to make a new life for themselves in England. But three months later Thane is still tormented by nightmares of the fire that almost cost them their lives. This leads to carelessness and the discovery of one of his victims.

When faced with threats from all sides Taku tries his best to protect them although his actions are met with disapproval and anger from Thane. Unknown to his lover, Taku is also struggling to keep hidden the truth of what really happened three months ago.

However, it is only a matter of time before Taku’s past and bloodline catches up with him.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I11W9FE

Author Bio

Shari Sakurai is a British author of paranormal, horror, science fiction and fantasy novels that almost always feature a LGBT protagonist and/or antagonist. She has always loved to write and it is her escape from the sometimes stressful modern life!

Aside from writing, Shari enjoys reading, watching movies, listening to (loud!) music, going to rock concerts and learning more about other societies and cultures. Japanese culture is of particular interest to her and she often incorporates Japanese themes and influences into her work.

Shari loves a challenge and has taken part and won the National Novel Writing Month ten times!

Website: http://www.sharisakurai.com

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sharisakurai

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharisakurai/

 

#BadMoonRising: Ostrich Mentality by T.A. Henry #thriller #alternativehistory #TuesdayBookBlog

On By Teri PolenIn Bad Moon Rising18 Comments

Today’s author shares her alternative history thriller with a biological weapon angle – a topic that’s sure to send some chills down your spine.  I love her ‘take charge’ attitude when faced with a creepy situation at home – I’d probably do the same thing in her situation.  Welcome T.A. Henry!

You’re in a horror movie.  Are you the final person, the first to die, the comic relief, the skeptic, the smart one, or the killer?

This actually just came up at a party and without a doubt I am Samuel L. Jackson from Deep Blue Sea. I have a plan. I’ve been through shit before. And if you all would just listen to me before the shark eats me, we’ll be fine. But no. I’m the one who gets eaten halfway through explaining our survival plan.

Creepiest thing that’s ever happened while you were alone?

We had just moved to the PNW. My hubs is back in Cali on personal business. I am home with the kiddo, who is upstairs in bed sleeping. I am watching a movie with headphones on so I don’t wake up the kiddo. I get up for a beverage refill and the door to the laundry room is open. Could have sworn I closed that but maybe not. I close it. Go back to the movie. Get up to recycle said beverage and the laundry room door is open. I grabbed a butcher knife from the counter and start prowling the house, turning on every light, checking in every closet, under every bed. I even check the kiddos room with a flashlight, just in case. Then I come back downstairs, shut the laundry room door, again and sit down in a chair in front of it to wait. LOL

In a zombie apocalypse, what is your weapon of choice?
A boat to escape the hoards? LOL

How do you develop your plots and characters?

I don’t. They spring my head fully formed like Athena. Ok, fine, I lie. But if you think about it, that’s what being an author is, lying convincingly in writing. Often an idea comes to me through the ethos. I know I should plot it out and work out whether it has legs, but really, I don’t. I just start writing on it. And if more comes to me, it becomes something, and if not, it dies a slow death. One of these days I should learn to properly vet my ideas. I’ve read several books on it.

What is the hardest part of writing?

Getting people to read it. LOL.

What’s your work schedule like when you’re writing?

Any spare minute I can. I also teach part time at a small co-op school and home school my child.

What are you working on now?

Currently, I am writing the sequel to my police procedural, The Body in the Pool, as well as a story that came along and insisted it needed my time.

It’s November 1990, the Cold War is all but over. The weapons coming out of the disintegrating USSR have never been hotter. Twenty tons of weaponized Smallpox have gone missing. Enter Galatea, a Mossad assassin with single-minded devotion to her country – until this assignment makes her question which side of the line she wants to live on. Throw in an eclectic group of operatives with shifting loyalties and an analyst who thinks he runs the world – what’s to worry?
It’s just the population of the world hanging in the balance.
Where history meets speculative fiction.

Purchase Link:  Amazon

Author Bio

Transplanted from the monochromatic weather of the Silicon Valley with her hubby and kiddo, T.A. Henry now thrives in the rain and thunder of the Pacific Northwest. While a degree in History did not provide a lucrative career, it did teach this author how to research with the best of them. She reads non-fiction constantly and likes to use everything she absorbs as fodder for another novel.

Social Media

Facebook T.A. Henry
https://tahenryauthoress.wordpress.com/

#BadMoonRising: Absolute Darkness by Tina O’Hailey #thriller #BlackRoseWriting

On By Teri PolenIn Bad Moon Rising32 Comments

Today’s author drew on her own experience as a caver for her new release, Absolute Darkness.  Read on to see why a singing fish was the cause of her most creepiest experience (bet that’s something you didn’t expect to read today).  Welcome Tina O’Hailey!

You’re in a horror movie.  Are you the final person, the first to die, the comic relief, the skeptic, the smart one, or the killer?

The skeptic/scientist.

Vampires, ghosts, werewolves, or zombies – which would you least want to meet in a dark alley?

Depends, if we’re talking running zombie or ambulatory challenged. I don’t want to meet a running zombie – I would definitely lose that race. It would be a tough choice between a running zombie and a werewolf: neither are great conversationalists. Vampire or ghost, on the other hand, maybe they would be up for a chat and I could learn something about them. Sit down or float near a chair, as the case may be, and discuss their history, their goals, where they see themselves in 100 years.

Creepiest thing that’s ever happened while you were alone?

I wasn’t completely alone. The babies were asleep. I was checking on the oldest child, as mothers do – making sure they are breathing and such, when the singing bass (you know the ones that hang on the wall and are motion activated) started singing to me. Trick was, I knew it was unplugged and had no batteries as I had rendered it such earlier that day while scavenging batteries for the TV remote and had left that robot-bass unplugged and battery-less on the floor. Yet, it sung to me.  “Here’s a little song I wrote…” It did not stop singing when I picked it up. “You might want to sing it note for note….” I chucked that thing out into the back yard.  I swear it kept singing, “don’t worry; be happy.”

I stood in the hallway and before I could consider what to do next the alarm clock in the youngest kid’s room started going off. We never turned that alarm on. That child was 6 months old and needed no such thing as an alarm. The clock was blinking “9:06” as if the power had gone out with the alarm shrieking away.  I unplugged it and thankfully it shut off unlike that singing bass.  The alarm button was NOT on.  It joined the fish in the back yard. I came up with a theory about time moving in waves and ghosts only being able to communicate at certain points in time being locked into their time of death– sketched a story concept in a sketchbook and threw that fish and alarm clock away after the sun rose the next day. The fish had stopped singing by morning.

What is the hardest part of writing?

The hardest part is sticking with one idea. I have to write down the other lovely ideas that start to take shape and promise to get back to them later. I think my most successful moments are when I have a steady novel or textbook with a monthly quota in production and a side short story to twiddle with here and there.  That way I can try different voices and tones in a short form that generally get trashed or filed away with wistful promises of tomorrow.

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

It’s been a risky year for me, but I’ve changed my career to support both my writing and my not-writing life more.  Check back with me in a year and see if it worked. My goal is to cave more, play more, and enjoy the outdoors more. I love caving, riding motorcycles along side of my hubby, hiking in the woods, learning nerdy things for my professor job and binge watching great TV on rainy days. I also love baking but my metabolism does not agree with it.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a prequel/sequel to Absolute Darkness.  (Time travel – so it also takes place in the center of Absolute Darkness too.)  I also have a short story in the works for a friend’s anthology that I need to finish before this gets posted. Ask me how that short story is going when you read this.  It better be done and free on my blog. In this un-named short story my favorite characters, Brandy and Susan, are visiting a numinous valley occupied by a half-crazed hermit and his full-crazed pet rat.

A thrill ride through time that will make you hold your breath.

Sitting by the campfire, Brandy admitted a secret to her friends. She swore she saw a ghost when exiting a cave earlier that day. Was she seeing things? Did they believe her? The next day, breaking a cardinal rule, she snuck back to the cave alone. No one knew where she was. What if she fell or was trapped? There would be no rescue. 

For ten thousand years Alexander had kept the time streams of this universe safe from an eternal destructive force that continually threatened to tamper and destroy all. Locked in an unremitting battle, the two foes become sidetracked by an unexpected visitor. An entangled journey begins with chilling twists and turns until becoming locked into an inescapable death in a submerged cave.

Who will come out of the watery depths alive?

Author Bio:

Tina O’Hailey is a professor in animation and game programming, caver and occasional mapper of grim, wet, twisty caves (if she owes a friend a favor or loses a bet), whose passion is to be secluded on a mountain and to write whilst surrounded by small, furry dogs and hot coffee. Tina was once struck by lightning.

 

Social Media:

Blog: https://coffeediem.wordpress.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/AbsoluteDarknessBook/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tohailey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tohailey/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4067985.Tina_O_Hailey
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/tina-o-hailey

Buy Links:

#BadMoonRising: Broken Shells by Michael Patrick Hicks #horror #occult

On By Teri PolenIn Bad Moon Rising13 Comments

If you’re in the mood for a quick, spine-tingling read guaranteed to raise the hairs on the back of your neck and have you squirming in your seat, I highly recommend this author’s featured novella.  I’m a bit claustrophobic and found myself short of breath while reading Broken Shells.  Give it a try – I dare you.  Welcome Michael Patrick Hicks!

You’re in a horror movie.  Are you the final person, the first to die, the comic relief, the skeptic, the smart one, or the killer?

I’d probably be the skeptic who’s the first to die!

Creepiest thing that’s ever happened while you were alone?

I was standing alone in the kitchen, looking for something to eat in the refrigerator when I felt the warm tap of a finger on my neck. The hairs there and on my arms stood on end and I could feel a presence, but when I turned around nobody was there. I was still alone, but it sure as hell didn’t feel like it. I was creeped out for a good while after that one.

If you were paid to spend the night in a haunted house, would you do it?

If the price is right, yeah! Despite the creepy experience above, I actually don’t believe in ghosts or the supernatural or stuff like that, but I am still curious and open to the possibility. Especially if I’m getting paid!

What is the hardest part of writing?

These days, the hardest part is finding the time to actually write. Having two very young children at home, one of whom just entered his terrible threes, and working a full-time office job really eats up a lot of hours in the day. By the time I could conceivably write, I’m brain-dead and ready for bed!

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

I am a voracious reader, so when I’m not writing books of my own, I’m consuming plenty of other author’s works. Books are my life, and I am constantly reading or trying to squeeze in some listening time for whatever audiobook is on my Audible app.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on finishing the final book in a trilogy of historical horror stories that are set in the early days of America, post-Revolutionary War. The first two books are novella-sized installments, and over the course of writing this third book it’s ballooned into a full-fledged novel that’s taking me quite a while to write and research. I’m hoping to have all three titles ready for launch in 2019, and should be able to release them in pretty quick succession once everything gets all nailed down. Stay tuned!

About BROKEN SHELLS

“A fun and nasty little novella…If you’re a big creature-feature fan (digging on works like Adam Cesare’s VIDEO NIGHT or Hunter Shea’s THEY RISE) you’re going to love this book.” – Glenn Rolfe, author of Becoming and Blood and Rain

“An adrenaline-fueled, no punches pulled, onslaught of gruesome action! Highly recommended!” – Horror After Dark

“Lightning fast…high octane fun.” – Unnerving Magazine

Antoine DeWitt is a man down on his luck. Broke and recently fired, he knows the winning Money Carlo ticket that has landed in his mailbox from a car dealership is nothing more than a scam. The promise of five thousand dollars, though, is too tantalizing to ignore.

Jon Dangle is a keeper of secrets, many of which are buried deep beneath his dealership. He works hard to keep them hidden, but occasionally sacrifices are required, sacrifices who are penniless, desperate, and who will not be missed. Sacrifices exactly like DeWitt.

When Antoine steps foot on Dangle’s car lot, it is with the hope of easy money. Instead, he finds himself trapped in a deep, dark hole, buried alive. If he is going to survive the nightmare ahead of him, if he has any chance of seeing his wife and child again, Antoine will have to do more than merely hope. He will have to fight his way back to the surface, and pray that Jon Dangle’s secrets do not kill him first.

Purchase links

Amazon: http://mybook.to/BrokenShells

iBooks: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/broken-shells/id1344210353?mt=11&at=1010ly9R

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/broken-shells-michael-patrick-hicks/1127746858?ean=2940158726231

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/broken-shells-2

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Michael_Patrick_Hicks_Broken_Shells?id=KEBKDwAAQBAJ

Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Broken-Shells-A-Subterranean-Horror-Novella-Audiobook/B07CJWGBBS

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/broken-shells-a-subterranean-horror-novella-unabridged/id1375757606

Author Bio

Michael Patrick Hicks is the author of Broken Shells: A Subterranean Horror Novella, Mass Hysteria, an Audiobook Listeners Choice Awards Horror Finalist, and Convergence, an Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Finalist. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association and the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers.

In addition to his own works of original fiction, he has written for the online publications Audiobook Reviewer and Graphic Novel Reporter, and has previously worked as a freelance journalist and news photographer in Metro Detroit.

Michael lives in Michigan with his wife and two children. In between compulsively buying books and adding titles that he does not have time for to his Netflix queue, he is hard at work on his next story.

Social Media

Website: http://www.michaelpatrickhicks.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormichaelpatrickhicks/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeH5856

#BadMoonRising: The Contract by John W. Howell and Gwen M. Plano #thriller #supernatural

On By Teri PolenIn Bad Moon Rising68 Comments

Today’s featured author is a familiar face in the blogosphere.  Many of us drop by his blog several times a week to read his top ten lists, see pictures of his community, read his Wednesday story updates, and visit with Lucy, Bailey, and Twiggy, his adorable fur babies.  Below, he’s listed the top ten things not to do in a horror movie.  Take note, friends – you never know when Jason, Freddie, or Michael Myers might come calling.  Welcome John W. Howell!

You’re in a horror movie.  Are you the final person, the first to die, the comic relief, the skeptic, the smart one, or the killer?

In a horror movie, I am the comic relief. I’m the one who seems to know what the audience is thinking about what is going on. I say out loud the top ten things not to do in a horror movie. When the characters do them in the movie, the audience can say “See he told them so.” Here they are:

10 Do not go through a doorway while looking back.

9 Do not go into the cellar alone

8 Do not call “Who’s there?” at the first noise.

7 Do not suggest a beer blast in a cemetery

6 Do not go to a creepy cabin in the woods.

5 Do not tell someone you know what they did last summer.

4 Do not lure your boy or girlfriend outside to make out.

3 Do not suggest telling ghost stories.

2 Do not play with an Ouija board

1 Do not pick up and examine the massive blood covered knife on the kitchen table.

Vampires, ghosts, werewolves, or zombies – which would you least want to meet in a dark alley?

In a dark alley, I would hate to meet a zombie. The reason is pretty apparent. I don’t want my brains eaten. Everything I have heard zombies are tough to kill as well. So, if I met one, I wouldn’t know how to defend myself, and I would face the possibility of being rendered brainless. The actuality of that would not be so sad if it were not for all the story ideas I have floating in my brain. This would beg the question, “Like marijuana baked into a brownie continues to provide the benefit, can stories continue to survive if a zombie eats the brain in which they are stored?” A corollary question could be, “Will the said zombie be able to tell the stories or importantly write them down?” Nope. Don’t want to meet a zombie in a dark alley.

You’re home alone, but you hear footsteps in your house–what do you do?

The first thing I don’t do is yell, “Who’s there?” That is just asking for it. No, I would lay low and try to find an object that can be used as a weapon. The last time this happened I was stuck with a Swiffer. I figured I could do some real damage with the dusty end. After all who would want that in their face? The next thing I would do is try to find whoever is making the noise. I know it might be smarter to stay hidden but if it turns out like last time and is the dog’s plastic ball being pushed along the floor by the ceiling fan, remaining hidden for a long time might be a problem. If it turned out to be a stranger in my house, I would probably scream hoping the person will realize it might be easier to go somewhere else. Of course, as I think about it, I could explain I’m a writer, and the person will go somewhere else.

How do you develop your plots and characters?

I have a basic story idea which is in my head. The character development takes place as the story unfolds. The plot is pretty much character driven, so it too tends to follow the leads of the characters. The one thing I do to help myself is to write down the last three lines of the story. This gives me some overall direction for the destination of the journey.

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

The tools I consider must-haves for a writer are simple really. The first is a dedicated workspace. I find it very hard to do a sustained quality job without a place to work. I think it is also essential to have the area be single purpose and not part of the family use space. The second is a long and varied playlist of songs that can serve as background noise. I find music to be an effective way to stay focused on the writing. The music tends to fade into white noise while the creative process is underway. I use Spotify for this purpose.  The third is an excellent grammar and spelling checker. No matter how many English courses we take, an author needs to have a program that is partial and thorough. I have to say there is not a program available that can take the place of an editor to buy a good spell checker and grammar program will go a long way in your relationship with your editor.

What are you working on now?

Gwen Plano and I are working on the sequel to The Contract. It is a story that continues where The Contract left off.  Some questions were raised in The Contract around just how significant was the threat to the world? Who was ultimately behind the plot was another piece of the puzzle. Gwen and I are working to answer these and other questions. The book should be ready by the first quarter.

The earth is under the threat of a catastrophic political event which could result in international warfare and destroy all life on the planet. In heaven, a divine council decides that extraordinary measures are essential. They call for an intervention that involves two souls returning to earth. The chosen two sign a contract that they will work to avert the disaster.

Brad Channing, a Navy SEAL, and Sarah O’Brien, a teacher, become heaven’s representatives on earth. The story follows them as they individually and then together face overwhelming obstacles and eventually end up on a strategic Air Force base in California. It is there that they discover a conspiracy to assassinate the President of the United States. The terrorists have a plan for global dominance, and they are determined to complete their mission. Although military leadership appears to have the President’s best interests at heart, it is not clear who can be trusted and who should be feared. The action is rough and tumble as Brad and Sarah try to figure out the culprits of the plot that will turn into a worldwide conflagration unless stopped. 

If you enjoy thrillers, this is one with enough twists and adventure to keep you riveted and guessing. If you like your thriller along with a good romance, Brad and Sarah’s initial attraction and eventual love will sustain you as they live out their heavenly and earthly desires.

Amazon

Author Bios

John W. Howell began his writing as a full-time occupation after an extensive business career. His specialty is thriller fiction novels, but John also writes poetry and short stories.  His first book, My GRL, introduces the exciting adventures of the book’s central character, John J. Cannon. The second Cannon novel, His Revenge, continues the story, while the final book in the trilogy, Our Justice, launched in September 2016. John’s fourth book, Circumstances of Childhood, is a fictionalized memoir and published in October 2017.  The latest, THE CONTRACT, is written in collaboration with award-winning author Gwen M. Plano. It launched in June 2018. All books are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. John lives in Port Aransas, Texas with his wife and their spoiled rescue pets.

Gwendolyn M. Plano, aka Gwen M. Plano, grew up in Southern California and spent most of her professional life in higher education. Recently retired, she now lives in the Midwest, where she enjoys writing and travel with her husband. Gwen’s first book is an award-winning memoir. Alternately heart-wrenching and joyful, Letting Go into Perfect Love is a powerful story of triumph over adversity. Gwen’s second book, THE CONTRACT between heaven and earth, is a thriller fiction novel, co-authored by acclaimed writer John W. Howell.

Social Media

Blog Fiction Favorites, http://johnwhowell.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/john.howell.98229241

Twitter –https://www.twitter.com/HowellWave

Authors db –http://www.authorsdb.com/authors-directory/6604-john-w-howell

LinkedIn –http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-w-howell/48/b59/462/

Google +https://plus.google.com/+JohnHowellAuthor/

Goodreads –https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7751796.John_W_Howell

Amazon Author’s page –https://www.amazon.com/author/johnwhowell

 

#BadMoonRising: The Hat by C.S. Boyack #paranormal #superheros

On By Teri PolenIn Bad Moon Rising46 Comments

Happy Friday!  This has been an incredibly busy week, but why don’t you take a few minutes to sit back and enjoy today’s Bad Moon Rising author.  If you’re not familiar with C.S. Boyack’s work, now’s the time to get acquainted.  He’s crafted some wildly imaginative stories, and today’s is one of my personal favorites.  He also might be the guy to hang with during a zombie apocalypse.  Read below to find out why.

Thanks for having me back this year, Teri. I always enjoy this event, and tried to send other authors your way.

In the Halloween spirit, I’m here to talk about my novella, The Hat.  This one is kind of a paranormal/superhero mashup, set to a blues and rockabilly soundtrack.

Lizzie St. Laurent is dealing with many of the struggles of young life. She lost her grandmother, and her living arrangements. Her new roommate abandoned her, and she’s working multiple jobs just to keep her head above water.

She inherits an old hat from her grandmother’s estate, but it belonged to her grandfather. This is no ordinary hat, but a being from an alternate dimension. One with special powers.

Lizzie and the hat don’t exactly hit it off right away, but when her best friend’s newborn is kidnapped by a ring of baby traffickers, Lizzie turns to the hat for help. This leads her deep into her family history and a world she’s never known.

Lizzie gives up everything to rescue the babies. She loses her jobs, and may wind up in jail before it’s over. Along the way, she and the hat may have a new way of making ends meet.

Humorous and fun, The Hat is novella length. Wonderful escapism for an afternoon.

***

Time for me to get on with the interview questions. Here we go:

In a zombie apocalypse, what is your weapon of choice?

Good question. I own this lovely little Remington Coach Gun. It’s a side by side twelve gauge shotgun. It was designed for cowboy action shooters, so it looks authentic to the old west. Has exposed hammers, a short barrel, and everything. A shotgun is hard to miss with, and twelve gauge ammo would be relatively easy to scrounge. (At least in Idaho, where I live.)

What is the hardest part of writing?

This one varies by the day. I’ve been at this a while, and to be honest it’s plots. I’m good at characters, situations, and some of that. It’s the big picture that really strains my mind. To write a novel, we have to have a big issue that drives the story. To that end, a friend recommended a book called The Seven Basic Plots. I’m going to be digging into it in the next few weeks.

If you were paid to spend the night in a haunted house, would you do it?

I mean, how much money are we talking here, Teri? I may have my price. Can I take a notepad for story ideas? Can I take my Remington Coach Gun? You didn’t say I had to stay there alone. Can I take Lizzie St. Laurent and her hat along?

What’s your work schedule like when you’re writing?

I’m a weekend warrior for sure. I hold a full time job, so writing has to fit in the cracks somehow. My problem is different than others, in that I require silence to be productive. Sometimes this means setting an alarm for 4:00 so I can get in a few hours before everyone else wakes up. I’ve also been known to use my vacation time to get in some writing time.

Creepiest thing that’s ever happened while you were alone?

I actually wrote about this on my blog a few months back. We have hard surface floors in the house. There is a breakfast bar against the kitchen with three tall stools. On the day this happened, there was a box on one of the stools.

I turned on the morning news and was dealing with blog comments. My two bulldogs were eating, then they usually go back to sleep that early in the day. The combination of bulldogs and hard flooring is noisy.

There wasn’t a sound made. I went to refill my coffee, and the stool with the box had been slid away from the counter, turned around backward, and placed in the path so that nobody could have gotten by without moving it. It blocked the bedroom door, and access to the kitchen where it was placed. I’m only about fifteen feet away, and would have heard it if the dogs had bumped into it.

What are you working on now?

It just so happens that I’m filling this out the day after I completed the draft of Voyage of the Lanternfish. This one is a pirate fantasy adventure, complete with black magic, monsters, and bad weather.

I’ll be writing blog tour posts, in anticipation of publishing, making my editing passes, then seeking beta readers. I’m also commissioning some posters of my spokes model, Lisa Burton, in various pirate themed settings to promote the story with.

Speaking of Lisa, and trying to bring this full circle. The Hat is permanently priced at 99¢, and since it’s a novella you can read it in a day. It’s my most successful story to date, and it has the most favorable reviews. To whet your appetite, here is one of the posters I commissioned for Lisa to promote The Hat with.

Purchase Link: http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=B078YYCNSF

Author Bio

I was born in a town called Elko, Nevada. I like to tell everyone I was born in a small town in the 1940s. I’m not quite that old, but Elko has always been a little behind the times. This gives me a unique perspective of earlier times, and other ways of getting by. Some of this bleeds through into my fiction.

I moved to Idaho right after the turn of the century, and never looked back. My writing career was born here, with access to other writers and critique groups I jumped in with both feet.

I like to write about things that have something unusual. My works are in the realm of science fiction, paranormal, and fantasy. The goal is to entertain you for a few hours. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Craig

You can catch up with me at the following locations:

Blog My Novels  Twitter Goodreads Facebook Pinterest BookBub

#BadMoonRising: Track 9 by Sue Rovens #thriller #suspense #horror

On By Teri PolenIn Bad Moon Rising35 Comments

Today we welcome Sue Rovens and her thriller, Bad Fish!  Read on to discover how a nasty hotel became the inspiration for her book, and how she feels about Ouija boards (I’ve decided no one has had a good experience with them).

Have you ever played with a Ouija board?

Yes, but I think they’re evil. I know…it’s just an old parlor game. But there is a deep-seeded belief in me that tells me playing with one opens the door to evil. I think it stems from growing up in the late 60’s and early 70’s and watching scary movies by myself.

Are you superstitious?

I think it depends on the circumstance. I don’t particularly seek out going against superstitions. For example, I won’t open an umbrella in the house on purpose or walk under a ladder, but if I knock over the salt shaker, I will toss some grains over my shoulder. I certainly don’t think black cats are bad luck – Noodle (my 5.5 year old kitty) is a great ball of purr! I also don’t consider Friday the 13th especially bad – although it does mean that my paycheck will be smaller on account of how we get paid at the university.

If you were paid to spend the night in a haunted house, would you do it?

Under certain conditions. 1. How much am I being paid? ($100? Forget it. $50,000? Maybe) 2. Am I allowed to bring other people? 3. What kind of haunting?

So. Many. Questions.

 How do you develop your plots and characters?

I listen. I watch. I notice. I read. Most of my plots and characters are pulled from nuggets of real life. In Badfish (my first novel), I based the motel on a place where I ALMOST stayed (it was too nasty – which is where I got the idea for the story). In Track 9 (my second novel), I based it off of the train station I saw in Munich back in 1996. For the new book, Buried, I combined two ideas – one, from an episode of Hoarders, and two, from a story I read awhile back about a funeral home NOT burying the bodies and reusing materials.

For characters, most of them are VERY loosely based on people I’ve met, known, or seen (probably similar to most other authors).

Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?

Good writing is certainly an influence – Stephen King, Jack Ketchum, and more recently, Benjamin Percy to an extent, are three examples. However, the more I write, the more I find my own style.

I prefer to write to the story and the characters. I don’t necessarily write in “pretty prose” or in an esoteric literary style. That’s fine for some, but it’s not for me. That’s why I love Jack Ketchum’s way around a sentence/page/paragraph – it’s all about moving the story forward and understanding the characters and not so much about the minutiae. If a writer takes four pages to describe the weather, I check out.

What are you working on now?

Right now (2018), I am working on my third novel, Buried.

Blurb:   Priscilla Wyatt is a hoarder who lives next to a funeral home and cemetery in Foote, Indiana. When Weenie, her dachshund, comes home with a ghastly find from a grave, Pris’s desire for a new collection spirals out of control and plummets headfirst into the macabre.

Gerald Zenith, proprietor of Sommerville Funeral Home, could care less about the dead. Between running scams, bilking families in mourning, and keeping a necrophiliac-leaning subordinate in check, Gerald’s hands are full enough. He doesn’t have time to concern himself with a middle-aged woman who pokes around the cemetery during the wee hours of the mornings.

By the time Pris unearths someone she knows, hell has already broken loose within the walls of Sommerville. Some secrets are too big to stay buried.   

This novel will be put under the suspense genre, though there are bits of horror. It’s actually very character-driven; much more than straight horror books tend to be.

After a catastrophic railway accident leaves a trail of carnage and devastation in its wake, the small train station in Rain, Germany is shuttered.

Six months later, Gary and Grace Wolf, returning home after their belated honeymoon, find themselves trapped inside the now defunct terminal. What they discover within its walls leads them to make harrowing decisions. What they learn about each other pushes them to the brink of disaster.

Back in Bloomington, Illinois, their best friends, Mike and Sarah Waverly, await their return. A few hours before the plane is scheduled to land, Mike becomes tormented by troubling premonitions concerning Gary and Grace. Driven to find out the truth, Mike finds himself battling mysterious and inexplicable obstacles that plunge him into his own personal hell.

Everyone’s fate hangs in a precarious balance as the clock runs out.

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Track-9-Sue-Rovens/dp/1544012292

Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review for Track 9: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-5440-1229-2

My Blog: http://suerovens.com (follow me! I interview authors of ALL genres!)

Author Bio

I am an indie suspense writer who has written two novels and two anthologies of short horror stories. My third suspense novel, Buried, is currently being read by beta readers. The plan is to have it available for the public sometime in 2019. All my books are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats.

I wish I could say that I write full-time (for a living), but no. I work at Illinois State University as the Stacks Maintenance Manager in Milner Library. I’ve been with ISU for 27 years (in various positions throughout the library).

I have a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology and Recreation and a Bachelor’s in Speech Communication from ISU. Long ago, I held an EMT-B certification.

When I’m not writing, I’m either running, watching weird movies, lifting weights, herding Noodle (our 5½  year old enormous black cat who weighs about 18 pounds) and our year old kitten, Monkey, around the house or hanging out with Charlie, my “partner in crime”.