Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Luna’s Children Author Interview with James C. Simpson


Luna’s Children Author Interview with James C. Simpson

 
Fear the Moonlight!

For countless centuries, mankind has watched as the sun goes down knowing that Luna will rise in its place, to rain her brilliant shards of light upon the Earth. But for the cursed and afflicted, that silvery orb brings horror and death.

In celebration of the release of the two Luna's Children werewolf anthologies from Dark Oak Press, I'll be interviewing some of the collection's authors.

Today's victim ... lucky recipient is James C. Simpson


What sparked your interest in werewolves?

I watched The Wolf Man(1941) with Lon Chaney Jr. when I was younger and always found the plight of the character pitiable. It put him on par with characters like Frankenstein's Monster and the Phantom of the Opera. The concept was intriguing and I sought out several werewolf films and any of the (limited) literary selection there is. Guy Endore's The Werewolf Of Paris and James Blish's There Shall Be No Darkness were among the best I read.

 

What spawned the idea for your story?

The idea was one bred from my fascination with the Second World War, particularly the war in Europe. I have always wondered what the Third Reich would have done had they been able to conjure the powers of the supernatural. They studied the occult and had strange practices, going back to some pagan roots in Germanic lore, so that inspired me. I thought of how the war was concurring with all of these monsters existing and may perhaps build something more from that in the future. There's references in the story to this. The werewolf being used as a weapon of war or in this case, a sadistic means of execution and extermination, was something different. Toward the end of the war, Hitler even had a group of particularly vicious soldiers that he dubbed "werewolves," so there's that.

 

Are you a Pantser or Plotter?

I suppose I am a "pantser." I do plot these things, writing down key pieces of dialogue and other bits that interest me. I have a bare skeleton and just start writing and hope it sticks. The last second reveal was not planned and was off the cuff.

 

Is there a soundtrack to this story? (A song you think fits... or something you had on while you were writing?)

I remember listening to the more atmospheric and darker bits of Pink Floyd's The Wall during the writing of this, as well as selections of heavy metal, particularly New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. There was this one song that stood out by a band called "Wolf," of all things and it was called "Shock Treatment." That was in rotation, as were songs by Black Sabbath, Angel Witch, Motorhead and Judas Priest etc.

 

Is this a familiar genre for you... or did you try something new?

I write a lot of Gothic based horror. My preferred prose is that archaic type that the writers of the 19th century enjoyed so well. This was slightly different in that respect, as it was a bit more "modern," and certainly with a larger dose of action involved. I was wary of the werewolf concept, if only because I feel there were only so many ways to approach it. Either you have the guy who is infected and rejects the notion, much like Larry Talbot in the Universal Wolf Man films. Or you have someone who embraces it, a more modern theme. Or you have a "who is the werewolf?" and you begin that Agatha Christie trajectory where each character is bumped off until we know which one is howling at the moon. Yet, I feel that the werewolf is so less anthologized than vampires or ghosts that I had to try my own hand at the mythology and hope for the best.

 

What is your next project?

I have contemplated a novel for some time and even an expansion of the universe suggested in my story, "Another Solution." I have just finished a short story related to Lovecraft's "From Beyond" and am contemplating a quiet ghost story next.

 
Thanks for taking some time to chat with us.
Look for James’s story, Another Solution in Luna’s Children.

 

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Luna’s Children Author Interview with Zorknot Robinson


Luna’s Children Author Interview with Zorknot Robinson

 


Fear the Moonlight!

For countless centuries, mankind has watched as the sun goes down knowing that Luna will rise in its place, to rain her brilliant shards of light upon the Earth. But for the cursed and afflicted, that silvery orb brings horror and death.

In celebration of the release of the two Luna's Children werewolf anthologies from Dark Oak Press, I'll be interviewing some of the collection's authors.

Today's victim ... lucky recipient is Zorknot Robinson
 




What spawned the idea for your story?
Many werewolf stories deal with a character being tempted into immorality by their curse. I wanted to write about the opposite happening. What if a character completely without moral compunctions was tempted to be a good person? In many ways "Always Hungry" is a mirror image of the usual werewolf story. Also one of my favorite takes on the werewolf genre is the movie "An American Werewolf in London". So I tried to use the same tone in this story. 

 

Are you a Pantser or Plotter?
I'm mostly a pantser with a little plotter mixed in. I used to be strictly a pantser, but if I don't write down a brief sentence or two on where I want the story to go, it doesn't go anywhere. I outline, if you can call it that, as I write though, just to keep track of the ideas I get while I write a scene. I don't plan everything out ahead of time. Whenever I try to do that, I end up losing all interest in actually writing the story.

 

Is there a soundtrack to this story? (A song you think fits… or something you had on while you were writing?)
I would say the soundtrack to "Always Hungry" is something with a fast tempo at the beginning and end, with a country song in the middle. Like Hank Williams played in the middle of a Skrillex concert.

 

Is this a familiar genre for you or did you try something new?
Speculative fiction is my genre. There are differences between horror, fantasy, and science fiction, but if people actually paid attention to these differences at least half the books in a bookstore would have to be reshelved. I'm sure my differences would be different from other people's differences anyway. 

 

What is your next project?
My next project is a near future science fiction novel that I've been kicking around for a decade or so. I figure it’s time to get it written before the idea gets hopelessly out of date. I've got a lot of stories in different genres that just need a bit of polishing too.

 

Where can readers keep up with you?

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Luna's Children Author Interview with Melinda LaFevers




Luna's Children Author Interview with Melinda LaFevers


Fear the full Moon!



For countless centuries, mankind has watched as the sun goes down knowing that Luna will rise in its place, to rain her brilliant shards of light upon the Earth. But for the cursed and afflicted, that silvery orb brings horror and death.
In celebration of the release of the two Luna's Children werewolf anthologies from Dark Oak Press, I'll be interviewing some of the collection's authors.
Today's victim ... lucky recipient is Arlansas’s own, Melinda LaFevers
      
 
What sparked your interest in werewolves?
I have a reference book on the history of vampires.  (Did you know that there is an Island in Greece where around 50% of the inhabitants claim to be vampires?)  Anyway, this book stated that one of the theories of where werewolves came from was a vampire that had been killed, but not destroyed properly.  I am also a storyteller, and some of the traditional stories, especially Nordic sagas, feature bersarks and shape changers.
 
What spawned the idea for your story?
A friend of mine is writing a vampire story, and he wanted one of the charactors to be a wolf who turned to human on the full moon.  He was talking about it, and asked the question "How could a wolf catch the disease of lycanthropy?"  So I wrote it.
 
Are you a Pantser or Plotter?
Most of the time I'm a Pantser, but sometimes I have a plan.
 
Is there a soundtrack to this story? (A song you think fits... or something you had on while you were writing?)
Nope - but if you want, I can write one.
 
Is this a familiar genre for you... or did you try something new?
Something new - this is my first werewolf story, but I hope to write more about her.
 
What is your next project?
Finish up one of the three fantasy/science fiction novels that I have started, find another anthology to submit a story too, start submitting one of my children's picture books that I have finished...Oh, and continue to declutter my house!
 
Where can our readers find you??
      http://melindalafevers.wordpress.com/
 

 
 

Luna's Children Author Interview with Ray Deen

 
 
Luna's Children Author Interview with Ray Deen
 

Fear the full Moon!


For countless centuries, mankind has watched as the sun goes down knowing that Luna will rise in its place, to rain her brilliant shards of light upon the Earth. But for the cursed and afflicted, that silvery orb brings horror and death.
In celebration of the release of the two Luna's Children werewolf anthologies from Dark Oak Press, I'll be interviewing some of the collection's authors.
Today's victim ... lucky recipient is Hawaii's steampunk/pulp writing guru, Ray Deen.
 

 
What sparked your interest in werewolves?    
      What's not to love. Dark nights, fulls moons, a howl cuts through the heart pounding silence... yeah, it's all good.  All fun until someone gets their entrails ripped out and dirty in the glen, hmm?
 
What spawned the idea for your story?
      I've had an idea for a Western Paranormal novel for a while, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to dig in deep and play in the sand. Had a blast and want to go back for more.
 
Are you a Pantser or Plotter?
      Both... somewhat of a hybrid. I tend to start most of my projects in Pantser mode... jumping into the deep end and flailing about until I figure out how deep the water is... then it's Plotter mode. How do I get back to shore.. or at least somewhere dry? That's where the plotting comes in.
 
Is there a soundtrack to this story?
      I have quite a collection of Western Soundtrack Music... cowboy songs, Native American music. It all gets thrown into shuffle when its needed. Good stuff...
 
Is this a familiar genre for you... or did you try something new?
      Westerns aren't new to me, I've been writing them for years... mostly for my own enjoyment and for friends. But this is a combination of genres that makes me smile. I love it.
 
What is your next project?
      I have a number of shorts that I'm working on and two novel length WIP that I have in my plotter stage... filling in the blanks and making sure I have things well in hand.
 
Where can readers find you?
      http://www.raydean.net/