Thirty years after graduating high school in Sagebrook, New York, Bob Armstrong calls five friends home for a long overdue reunion. None have had any contact with each other since graduation and the horrible events that transpired when they took on the child-murdering entity they came to call the Woodsman.
As soon as they arrive, death stalks the six once more. They band together again, forced to relive the terrifying trials of their past while they battle resurgent dangers in the present. But thirty years have taken a physical and mental toll of them. Can they overcome their psychic scars and keep the children of Sagebrook safe? What will each of them have to sacrifice to once again keep the Woodsman at bay?
THE INTERVIEW:
When did you first want to write for a living?
I thought writing for a living would be cool ever since I got a short story published in my junior high newsletter. I just thought it was about as likely as walking on the moon. After I realized I was pretty good at writing technical manuals, I thought that writing fiction might be a reasonable possibility. Years of classes, coaching, and awful writing later, here I am.
What made you decide on horror/Sci-Fi/Thriller?
All my writing falls into those three genres. Growing up on diet of Stephen King, Twilight Zone, Star Trek and Star Wars might have made the selection inevitable. I guess I like to write what entertains me.
How long have you been writing?
I began treating fiction writing seriously in 2002.
What kind of inspirations do you have?
Each story has a different genesis. My just released novel, Sacrifice, was inspired by a thirty year reunion I had with a bunch of my friends from high school. We had a blast. But I started thinking, what if it was a grudging reunion, where no one wanted to come home? Why would they do it? What event could make them so afraid to return? That train of thought became the novel.
I have a third novel coming, Black Magic. I was walking in St. Augustine, Florida and passed a store front. In the window, individual letters on 8X10 paper pages spelled out "magic shop". The place was empty, but the sign in the door said "Back in 15 minutes". Well, that whole setup gave me the creeps. And the seeds of a book.
Favorite authors/or books?
Stephen King rules the horror roost. I'd read his shopping lists. The horror line with my publisher, Samhain, is a startup and I've been reading a lot of those. Our editor, Don D'Auria has high standards. The books there are good to the point where they make me worried that I'll be able to keep literary pace with the pack.
What can we expect to see from you in the near future?
Sacrifice is out now as an ebook. It will be available in paperback in November. My third novel, Black Magic, is slated for mid-2013. Right now I am working n a sequel to my first novel, Dark Inspiration. My spec-fic short story Touch and Go will be podcast at Tales of Old in October. I am also editing a sci-fi anthology called Out of Time which should be out as an ebook in January or February.
BIO:
After a tour flying helicopters with the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, he became a technical writer by day and spins twisted tales by night.
His wife reads what he writes, rolls her eyes, and says “There is something seriously wrong with you.”
He has published the paranormal thriller Dark Inspiration in 2011 and Sacrifice in 2012 with Samhain. His third novel Black Magic will be published in 2013. His short stories appeared at Tales of Old, Encounters and Dark Gothic Resurrected magazines. He is a founding member of the Minnows Literary Group.
He and his wife share their home in sunny Florida with two cats.
Russell's Webpage
Email: rrj@russellrjames.com
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Sacrifice was amazing! I read most of it on my iPhone Kindle App in the dark after hubby was asleep, which made a perfect atmosphere for reading horror. I can't wait for Black Magic to come out!
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