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

Author Adam Millard

Today, one of the coolest authors in the field, one of the best editors to work for, and all around one cool cat, Adam Millard joins me! This man, can write, edit, design amazing covers, with the help of his gorgeous half, Zoe, run a press, and have family time. The Millard Clan are amazing people, and I am honored to have Adam here today! 

THE INTERVIEW:

As always, I love having you on my blog, tell us about your book, The Susceptibles.

The Susceptibles is a good, old-fashioned ghost story set in the present. A group of people – about a third of the population of a city – fall unconscious, and when they come round, it becomes apparent that they can see things, ghosts that had always been there but had remained unseen. There are four interlinking storylines, and lots of chills and surprises along the way. I really just wanted to write something other than zombies, and this book was a great way to do that.

Tells us about your book. Deathdealers.

Ahhh, Deathdealers is the first book in a series involving Alex Winterbone, a private investigator with terrible luck and a strange magnetism towards uncanny cases. Alex is recently divorced, a recovering alcoholic, and severely pissed off at the world for the hand he's been dealt. He would have been military if he didn't suffer terrible asthma, so he opted for a life investigating cheating spouses and tracking down missing pets. Things change, however, when a woman arrives at his office and asks for his help investigating the mysterious death of her sister. I love Alex Winterbone simply because he's not a nice person, and yet he has to help people in order to get paid.


What led you to write horror?

I've always loved the genre. As a young boy I would read Shaun Hutson, Richard Laymon and Stephen King. Everyone else my age was prattling on about Teenage Mutant Fucking Turtles or WWF Wrestling, and I was digging into IT or The Woods Are Dark. I knew that I was going to write when I was older, though at that point I wanted to be a film-critic. When I was thirteen, my mom gave me an Olympia typewriter – you remember? One font, and only black or red to choose from? - and I would sit up in my room and clack away for hours, writing silly space-operas and fan-fiction. I used to write it in a way that I could pull the paper out, staple it and fold it so it looked like a real book, and then I'd draw a cover, which would be terrible. I don't know what ever happened to those little pamphlets, but I would love to see one now.


How did Crowded Quarantine Publications come to be?

My wife and I decided to start CQP in early 2011, and we knew exactly the kind of thing we wanted to do. I had decided to put together and edit a few anthologies, and the best way for us to do that was by starting a company. Then we decided to open up for novel and novellas, and we started receiving some great work; too good to pass on. And so CQP was born, and it's going from strength-to-strength thanks to the awesome authors sending us great stuff.


Crowded Quarantine Publications is really coming along quite nicely. What kind of awesome titles can we look forward too from CQP?

We have Tales For The Toilet, which is an unthemed anthology, coming out in October. “Lust”, a novella by Douglas Vance Castagna is released on 10th September. Craig Saunders' novella, “The Walls Of Madness” is released on 15th October, and then moving into 2013 we have Ty Schwamberger's “Last Night Out”, Val Muller's novel “Faulkner's Apprentice”, Aurelio Rico Lopez III's second novella through us, “Cry Wolf”, and of course your wonderful Zombies-On-Everest novella “Smell Of The Dead.” And we have a few others we are just waiting on contracts from, which will be announced accordingly. It's been a very busy year, and next year promises to be even bigger and better.


Thank you, Adam for being here today!

Thanks for having me, Dale

Adam's Bio:

Life for Adam revolves around writing. If he isn't writing, then he is usually found with a book in his hand. He is also a true Metal-head who loves to play the guitar and has an overwhelming collection of music that make his wife’s ears bleed. He is a self-professed connoisseur of all films but with a disturbing enthusiasm for everything horror under his skin, quite literally, thanks to his other passion of tattoos and tattooing. Adam’s body boasts over 50 tattoos (some of which were inked by himself) with his back being a showcase for all the modern classic horror characters thanks to his brother, Clint’s, tattoo skills.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Author Spotlight: Craig Saunders

Dale Eldon

Today I interview Craig Saunders. He is another author form EJP, among other presses. He will be appearing in several anthologies which I will be promoting on here as well. He has sold a couple of novels that will soon be out to buy.

Craig Saunders

I live in Norfolk, England, with my wife and three children, who I pretend to listen to while I make up stories in my head.

I started out writing fantasy, followed by science fiction, then humour. It took eight novels before I figured out I was a horror writer, but I haven’t wasted any time since, with more than two dozen published shorts. My first novel will soon be published by the Library of Horror Press, and my first novella was recently published by Blood Bound Books.

The Interview:

When did you first want to write for a living?

I don’t. I always wanted to be a lumberjack.

Nah, not really.

I’m not sure there was any kind of thunder and lightning moment. I used to write poetry as a youngster, and I wrote my first novel when I was around 22-23 years old. It was rubbish. I lost it. I think I started writing semi-seriously when I was around 30...I’m now around 40. Around 40’s close enough. No, you don’t need to know which side...

I love writing. Love making up stories, learning...everything to do with it. I even like submitting now. Might be something to do with people finally saying ‘Yes’ though!


What made you decide on horror/Sci-Fi/Thriller?

I think I write horror, for the most part, because that’s where my head takes me. My writing suits horror, my morbid fascination with insanity, in particular, lends itself to horror. Much of my horror is about the human mind, the characters. I’m rubbish at quoting people, but I read G.R.R. Martin’s Rretrospective a while back, and he wrote about horror being more about the characters and their humanity than the monsters. I find that idea intriguing – not in a kind of Hollywood jokey way, but to explore what motivates the people, to see how they fare in such extreme situations, and to bring those situations above and beyond the everyday, and keep them credible...that’s a trick. I like pulling it off.
That said, I also write humour, fantasy, mystery, literary fiction (ug) and I’ve dabbled with science fiction. By and large, if it comes into my head, I write it. I just write whatever I have an idea for. Most of the time it turns out alright. Not for the characters, but for me.


What kind of inspirations do you have? 

It’s a really boring answer, but I don’t, really. I think of things and put them down on paper. If I can’t think of anything, then I start writing until I do. I approach it as a job. If you’re a brain surgeon and you don’t feel like working, you can’t just down tools halfway through a job. I approach it the same way. The story’s there, somewhere in the page, like an open brain pan...you’ve got to get the tumour out. A gross metaphor, maybe, but in some ways a story is a tumour...it’ll grow in your head, and if you don’t get it out it’ll keep growing, growing...


Favorite authors/or books?

As for the big guys, I really, really like Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, and Lee Child. I think they’re all masters in their respective fields. I’ve learned a lot from reading and re-reading their work. I like plenty of other authors, too, though I’m the world’s most impatient reader – if it doesn’t grab me in the first few chapters, I won’t finish it. Life’s too short to read crap books. I tend to read a lot of short fiction, which I prefer, overall, to long fiction. See above – lazy reader. But then I’ll read a whole anthology in one sitting where I’d put a book down, even if it was good. I recently discovered Joe Hill and I really like his work. I’ll read most genres if the book grabs me. I love Joe Abercrombie, too, and Masterton, Reynolds, Banks, Martin, Lansdale, D’Lacey – plus a ton of YA authors – I like a lot of YA fiction.

For those writers newly risen or on the rise, She’s not a massive star yet, but I love Tonia Brown’s work, specifically her rolling serial, Railroad! I think she’s on the rise. I’ve had the pleasure of reading a lot of Gregory L. Norris’ work, too, and I’d go as far to put him right up with the big guys for favourites. Both of these guys have talent to spare.

On the short fiction front, there’s just too many to name. I love reading the new Stephen Jones ‘Year’s Best’ anthologies...it’s a good spur for any horror writer, to see who’s hitting the high notes and what’s selling big.


What can we expect to see from you in the near future?

I’ve sold two novels this year. One to Twisted Library Press, a novel called ‘Rain’. I’ve sold another, subject to contract. I also have out a novella with Robert Essig, another of my favourite writers. The novella, Scarecrow (released as a double-feature with Essig’s ‘The Madness’) is available from Amazon right now. This time next year my Amazon Author’s page will look a hell of a lot healthier as I’ve had over a dozen short stories accepted this year.

Thanks Dale!

Summary of Scarecrow and The Madness

SCARECROW - It’s holiday weekend in the English Fens, the long weekend. The Gypsies are passing through and setting up camp in the nearby fields. Madge can’t understand all the fuss, can’t understand that gypsies are their own kind of people; people are just people. But Madge and her husband, Bernie, are about to learn something about people when they meet the Mulrones, and if they aren’t careful, it just might become the longest weekend of their lives.

PLUS

All Tony wanted was to get out of Colorado, or even just to his house, before the storm hit. All Dan wanted was to quiet that little tickle in the back of his brain—the one he couldn’t quite itch without the help of a bottle—and keep things the way they were with his family. But when the biggest snow storm since the blizzard of 2003 brings these men together, nobody’s going to get what they want. And before the storm blows over, both men will be in a struggle for their lives, and sanity. Who will survive THE MADNESS?

Amazon Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Scarecrow-Madness-Craig-Saunders/dp/0984540873/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316111712&sr=8-1

Amazon Author's Page:

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003TYAKFO (US)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B003TYAKFO(UK)
For more on my work, please visit: http://www.petrifiedtank.blogspot.com/or visit http://www.petrifiedtank.weebly.com/