Author Jon Michael Kelley

For this author spotlight, I have an awesome friend from my homeland. He's a gentlemen, a brilliant scribe, and one heck of an author. His very talented daughter, Brandy Kelley, even did the artwork for his latest novel (as a father of a little girl this tickles me to no end). For a great new voice in horror, I give you, Jon Michael Kelley.


JON'S INTERVIEW:

Hi, Dale! Thanks for having me!

What inspired me to write?

Funny story, really...

My humble beginnings can be traced back twenty years to a small music publisher in New York City, DSM Producers. More a music "library" really. Their bread and butter was supplying background music for late night talk shows, stuff like that, but they managed a few up-and-coming artists, as well.

You see, I was going to be the next Bernie Taupin to someone's Elton John. Anyway, I sent them a song portfolio and they signed me, and soon after had me collaborating with an in-house musician. One day, I was on the phone to my producer and she asked me if I did any "literary" writing. I lied, and said that I wrote short stories. "Well, send me one. I'm right here on 'Publisher's Row', and would love to shop it for you!" After my palm print faded from my forehead, I quickly set to work on my first short story. That effort eventually found me in the "Featured Author" spotlight (no thanks to my producer, bless her kind heart) in a strikingly obscure magazine called Heart Attack. I've been writing ever since.

Obviously, my dreams of gracing the inside linings of album covers and hanging out backstage with a bunch of stoned, short-skirted groupies never materialized. And that's probably for the best.


Why horror?

My imagination abhors a leash. I very much appreciate a venue devoid of boundaries, and try not to piss in the same redundant spots. I just don't want anyone following behind me with a plastic bag.


What author's inspire me?

Lucious Shepard, Arthur Machen, Robert E. Howard, Thomas Ligotti... Especially Ligotti. Man's a fucking genius. So is Peter Straub. Oh, don't get me wrong. I've also read and absolutely loved just about everything Messers King and Koontz have published. I just have an affinity for the former named.

　
What inspired me to write Seraphim?

Oh, I remember it clearly: I was walking through Dillard's Department Store one sunny afternoon, and bumped into an assorted display of silver picture frames on a aisle table. My very pregnant wife was with me, and I noticed a remarkably pretty young female staring back at me from one of those frames (such things are always graced with exceptionally nice looking individuals or families, as if we all can relate, having the same good fortune). Anyway, it suddenly struck me: what if I were to buy this frame, take it home and forget about it; then, ten years later, run across it in a box of forgotten paraphernalia -- and find that the adolescent in the prop photo is the spitting image of my now ten-year-old daughter?

I just ran with it from there.


Future endeavors?

I'm presently concentrating on a most ambitious collection of short stories, each one related to the other, yet individual enough to stand alone should I feel the need to parcel it out. Which, I admit, I've already begun doing. One is forthcoming in Tales of Terror and Mayhem from Deep within the Box (Evil Jester Press), another already having seen print in Storylandia Magazine, and yet another to be released this coming November in Chiral Mad (Written Backwards Press).

Again, thanks so much for having me! It's been a real pleasure, Dale!

(looking around). You gotta a pretty nice place here. Real nice.

Jon's very talented daughter, Brandy Kelley,
Is the amazing artist!

Duncan McNeil is staring mistrustfully at a photograph of his daughter, Amy. She appears to be at or near her present age of ten, but the studio's dated stamp on the back indicates that the photo was taken nearly a year before her birth. More alarming, however, is the beautiful woman standing beside Amy, a woman with whom he had an affair in the periphery of his new marriage, during the time when Amy was conceived. And the fact that this photograph has been in his wife's possession for more than a decade is perhaps the most disturbing element of all.

Duncan's wife Rachel doesn't know about his affair with this woman, but he will soon tell her. And upon that revelation, they will begin a journey that will take them clear across the continent, from California to Massachusetts, then ultimately into the boundless, uncharted territory of the human collective. There, a devil is waiting; the penultimate personification of evil. And he goes by the name of Mr. Gamble.

BUY A COPY HERE!

Advance Praise for Seraphim

"Apocalyptic in the truest sense of the word, Jon Michael Kelley's Seraphim is a stunning thriller with the very fate of the world at stake. Beautifully written, with prose as lush as it is chilling, Kelley is part poet, part prophet, but a true master of fear, through and through. This is top notch stuff of highest caliber!"

~Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Flesh Eaters and Inheritance

"Seraphim is a beautifully wrought tale of angels and demons that starts out strong and just gets better and better. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Jon Michael Kelley proves to be a mature, intelligent new voice in horror right out of the gate."

~Craig Saunders, author of The Love of the Dead and A Stranger's Grave

"Written with the finesse of a pro, Seraphim is one hell of a frightening horror novel. With bits of dark fantasy and humor mixed in, this one has it all! Hard to believe this is Jon Michael Kelley's first novel."

~David Bernstein, author of Amongst the Dead and Tears of No Return

Jon's Bio

My fiction has appeared in various zines and anthologies, such as HEART ATTACK, HELIOCENTRIC NET, CROSSROADS, GATHERING DARKNESS, England's FICTION FURNACE, REDCAT, NEXT PHASE, BAD GUYS FINISH FIRST, YEAR 1: A TIME OF CHANGE, NIGHT TERRORS, DRAGON DREAMING, MINDMARES, DREAD, Canada's HORIZONS SCIENCE FICTION, BEST OF MILLENNIUM SCI FI & FANTASY MAGAZINE, CALLIOPE, BLACK PETALS, MAD SCIENTIST, NEW GENRE II, WIRED HARD III, TIME CAPSULE, EVIL IN FLIGHT, TALES OF SALT AND SORROW, WEIRD CITY I, IT LIVES!, SPIRIT LEGENDS: OF GHOSTS AND GODS, ALTERNATE DIMENSIONS, MONSTER BEHIND THE MASK, MIDNIGHT TRAIN, FATHER GRIM'S STORYBOOK, TALES OF TERROR AND MAYHEM FROM DEEP WITHIN THE BOX, CHIRAL MAD...and more.

　Jon's Facebook Profile