Fall semester starts tomorrow, and although I was thinking I could catch up on all kinds of things while I was off for three weeks, I underestimated my need for sleep and relaxation and a balanced life. I used to joke about people who talked about balance… but then, I got older, and not wiser necessarily, but just more prone to getting tired and worn out. You learn to conserve your energies when you find you absolutely must.
During that period of time where I was out with my fiance and my friends and family, seeking aforementioned balance, author interview preliminaries have been stacking up. So, I am going to list all of the authors I plan to interview over the next month, along with a bio and a blurb about their books. I hope to be able to get one of these in the blog per week. I will be interviewing these people but not necessarily in this order.
Ron Houston, Author of “The Rogue Prophet”
The Author
When Cincinnati resident, Ron Houston, first entertained the notion of writing
Ronald Houston
he was a mixologist in one of the city’s most notable nightclubs. “There I was standing behind the bar. At a point when every customer had been served, I developed an observing eye, I saw what was really going on in the club and started to really hear the conversations. I thought, somebody ought to write a book about this stuff. After a few moments more, a light came on in my head and in realized, ‘Why don’t I write it?’ (oh, did I mention, I’m kinda slow?). I studied writing technique for three years then produced my first collection of short stories, Tales From the Satellite. In one month it became a local bestseller.” Educated in Organic Chemistry and working full time as a lab technician, this licensed certified mixologist, was now an author and owner of GorillaWorks Publishing. Next he wrote the shock novel, The Devastation of Mr. Drake, and gain strong book club support. As an
The Rogue Prophet
experienced radio talk show guest, Ron Houston has been heard frequently on 1230 WDBZ the Buzz of Cincinnati, 1480 WCIN and 1230 KCOH in Houston, Texas. He’s an articulate, humorous media guest and is known locally as, “ The Mixologist.”
The Book
Lawrence Garnier, a loser with a real but limited gift of foresight, is convinced that his talent is a curse. After he joins the ministry of Bishop Ezekiel Barnes, he realizes his talent is only the tip of a horrific iceberg between good and evil. At a time when faith is the only thing left to cling to,this novel dares its reader to question everything. Just when you thought it was safe to believe.
Hollis Jay, Author of “The Ever”
The Author
Hollis Jay is an up and coming author focusing primarily on both the gothic and horror genres. She also loves to work within the realms of both poetry and nonfiction as well. Having seen John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) at the age of five, she became infatuated with the horror genre watching films such as The Uninvited (1944) and The House on Haunted Hill (1958) and reading such outstanding authors such as Richard Matheson, Shirley Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, Peter Straub, Clive Barker, Stephen King, and of course H.P. Lovecraft. She graduated with both her BA in English and American Literature and her MFA in Creative Writing specializing in fiction. She is continuing with her educational goals and is currently working on her MA in English focusing in the gothic. She plans on also eventually receiving her PhD specializing in Gothic Literature. She is working as an intern for Magic Cat Press and plans on releasing her first edited anthology focusing on the horror genre.
Traveling her whole life, Hollis not only takes on a different point of view and walks a different path due to her exposure to new cultures but she also uses those experiences within her writing to illicit reactions-both good and bad- and bring about discussion within her readers. Visiting and living amongst historical locations gave her not only an understanding of loss, but an appreciation of the sanctity of life. Raised in an unconventional and abusive
family, she turned these negative fixtures in her life around towards a positive goal and used these elements to help her to dictate not only the emotions of her characters but she also used these traumatic events as an inspiration to her and as an advantage throughout her work.
The Book
Her first novella, The Ever is the classic story of a haunted house turned inward and personalized towards its victims. Set throughout various sections of life, the Mark’s house becomes a representation of the minds of its occupants engulfing them in not only their own nightmares but haunting them in every aspect of their lives. In her writing, she believes in the reader completing the story for themselves and that the writer does not always have to present the back story in order for the readers to understand the complexities of the characters and the issues at hand. She presents an honest story without formalities and without presuming that there will always be a happy ending.
Hollis lives with her family and her dogs in Arizona. When she’s not writing, she enjoys photography, helping animals, being with her significant other, and of course reading or watching a good scary story.
Ben Barrett, Author of ‘Raisin”
The Author
Raisin (Cover for Kindle)
Ben Barrett was born in Arkansas but has lived in a lot of places since then, from Pennsylvania to the Florida Keys. He’s never been published in a magazine before and has never received any awards from his writing, but he does have a loyal fan following on the internet which he considers to be reward enough. Ben has been writing since he was very young, when he saw an episode of FAMILY MATTERS in which Steve Urkel wrote a detective story. The writing bug bit him and he’s been penning short stories ever since. His first book, RAISIN, was published by Amazon in 2012. His favorite writer is Stephen King, from whom he has learned a great deal about the craft of writing. He considers a good time to be a good book, a bottle of Coke, and some Jimmy Buffett tunes.
The Book
Pamela K. Kinney, aka Sapphire Phelan
The Author
Sapphire Phelan
Pamela K. Kinney is a published author of horror, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, and nonfiction ghost books published by Schiffer Publishing. Two of her nonfiction ghost books, Haunted Richmond, Virginia and Haunted Virginia: Legends, Myths and True Tales, have been nominated in the past for Library of Virginia Literary Awards. The others from Schiffer Publishing are her 2012 release, Haunted Richmond II, plus from 2011, Virginia’s Haunted Historic Triangle: Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, and Other Haunted Locations. Also just released are two short horror stories, “Donating” in Inhuman Magazine, Issue 5 December 2011 and “Bottled Spirits” in BuzzyMag.com in June 2012, plus “Azathoth is Here” was reprinted in by Innsmouth Press in Innsmouth Magazine: Collected Issues 1-4 in Kindle and ePub formats. And of course, she has her horror and dark fantasy tales collected in one book, Spectre Nightmares and Visitations, published by Under the Moon.
Under the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, she has published erotic and sweet paranormal/fantasy/science fiction romance along with a couple of erotic horror stories. Her erotic urban fantasy, Being Familiar With a Witch is a Prism 2010 Awards winner and a Epic Awards 2010 finalist. The sequel to Being Familiar With a Witch, A Familiar Tangle With Hell was released June 2011 from Phaze Books. Both eBooks were combined into one print book, The Witch and the Familiar, released April 24, 2012. She also has done acting on stage and in films. And is a Master Costumer, costuming since 1972. She even does paranormal investigating. She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house, husband, and even the cats sometimes suffer for it!
M.R. Gott, Author of “Where The Dead Fear To Tread”
M.R. Gott
The Author:
M.R. Gott is the author of Where the Dead fear to Tread and the forthcoming sequel Where the Damned Fear Redemption. You can visit M.R. at his website Cutis Anserina. M.R. lives contentedly in central New Hampshire with his wife, and their two cats and dog. Aside from writingM.R. enjoys dark coffee, dark beer, red wine, and fading light.
The Book:
A police officer and a serial killer search separately for a missing
Where the Dead Fear to Tread
child while running a malevolent labyrinth populated by creatures they
never knew existed. Former prosecutor William Chandler, disgusted with his past inaction, spills the blood of those who victimize children to correct the ills
he sees in the world. A self-admitted serial killer and uncomfortable
with his actions, Chandler attends the funerals of those whose lives
he has taken in an effort to retain a true understanding of the nature
of violence. The carnage left in his wake is investigated by Detective Kate
Broadband, who becomes progressively more comfortable with the corpses
left by Chandler. Envying the power she sees in him, she pursues
Chandler as each search for Maria Verde, a missing eight-year-old
girl. As Chandler and Broadband draw closer to discovering what happened to
Maria they are forced to confront The Devourer, an unnatural being
trafficking in stolen children. Where the Dead Fear to Tread is a tale of hard-boiled macabre, bridging numerous genres to reveal a story of horror, crime and revenge.
Sumiko Saulson 