Meet Jeremiah Coe....

I met Jeremiah Coe in the Masters of Horror Facebook group (you're all surprised, right?). He asked me if I wanted to review his e-novella, Vampire's Retribution. Well I love vampires. And I love free books so it was a win/win for me. I put up a review of Vampire's Retribution today at See Spot Read. You can head over there to see what I had to say about the book. But of course, over here, we're all about the author. So without further ado, the interview...

1.) How long have you been writing novels?  I have been writing since I was five years old.  I've always had quite an imagination and was always making up stories, when I was 5 my mom started writing them down for me.  As far as novels are concerned, I wrote The Dead of Space Books One and Two in 2005.  Those were my first actual novels I wrote.

2.) Do you write full time or do you have a day job? What is it?  I would love to say I am a full time writer, but if I did, I'd be lying, even though there are weeks I put in full time hours at my computer.  My day job, even though I don't work during the day ha ha, is at a plastics factory in the finishing department.  I'm not sure how much I can say without getting myself into trouble, so I'll leave it at this, I work on the assembly line building the center console for a really popular line of cars and if you happen to have one of these cars, it is safe to assume my hands built your arm rest.

3.) Is this your fist published work?  Vampire's Retribution is my first published work with Netbound Publishing but it is not the first work I've had published.  My first short story was published in 2007 and my first novels, both The Dead of Space books, were both published in 2010.  There were several short stories published in between my first one getting published and my first novel.  There was also a third novel called Here Comes Santa between the second The Dead of Space book and Vampire's Retribution.

4.) What made you decide to go the Indie route? When I was trying to find a home for The Dead of Space, I sent it to both indie presses and the major publishing houses.  An indie press was the first to bite.

5.) Vampires Retribution is about vampires and is set in the Civil War era. What made you choose that time frame for the setting?  There were a couple of reasons for this actually.  First, I'm kind of a history geek and the Civil War era is one of my favorites because it was a very pivotal time in American history, anything could have happened and American history could have been very different had just a few things happened just slightly differently than they did.  Second, I'm not a cookie cutter writer.  I like to write what hasn't been written before and I'm not aware of any vampire stories that occur during this time period.  My fourth novel, Uncivil Dead, which is being released by Netbound Publishing within the next couple of weeks is a zombie story that occurs during the Civil War.

6.) What scares you personally? Do you have any silly phobias?  I use to be really afraid of needles, very afraid.  When I was a little kid it took a lot of adults to hold me down for a blood test because as far as I was concerned, they weren't sticking that needle in me and I would fight to stop it ha ha.  I got over this fear while studying Medical Assisting.  Where I went to school made us practice on each other and not fake arms for injections and blood draws.  I figured that was as good of time as any to get over my fear of needles and volunteered to get poked as much as I could.  Now, it's no big deal.

7.) What is your writing routine? I don't really have a routine, but I do most of my writing at night when the world is silent and it can just be me and my story.  I can pretend that nothing else exists.

8.) Have you always been a fan of the horror genre? Oh yeah.  I've been hooked on horror ever since I was a little kid and saw Return of the Living Dead for the first time.  Hey, I was young so that was a scary movie back then lol.

9.) What other authors inspire you?  There are really too many authors in too many genres for me to give this question the kind of answer I'd like too.  As strange as it may sound for a horror author to say, my all time favorite author is the historical ficiton writer John Jakes.  My favorite horror author would be the late Richard Laymon.

10.) What advice would you give to newbie writers out there?  Write what you like.  Too many authors sell out and try to copy whatever is currently popular, which right now is Twilight and Tru Blood.  Don't do what everyone else is doing, those are fads.  Try to pioneer new trails for readers to enjoy, write what hasn't been written.

BIO:

Jeremiah Coe is thirty-five years old and lives in Portage, Michigan.  He has been writing since he was five years old and would tell his stories to his mother who would write them down for him.

Jeremiah has written three novels that are currently available.  The Dead of Space Book One: Brave New World and The Dead of Space Book Two: Journey’s End are sci-fi horror novels. His third novel, Here Comes Santa, is about a serial killer that believes he is Santa Claus. All three of his novels can be ordered from Amazon in both, paperback and Kindle formats. His fourth novel, Uncivil Dead, will be available within the next two weeks. 

He also has an e-book novella, Vampire’s Retribution, which is available for the Kindle on Amazon, Smashwords and the Nook at Barnes and Noble.

He is also the author of several short stories that have been published in various magazines and anthologies.

You can find Jeremiah online at his Facebook page and Facebook Author Page.

Check him out!
♥Stacey

Meet Carole Gill

I ment Carole Gill in the Masters of Horror Group. She posts a lot of interesting links and everyone was talking about her new book, The House on Blackstone Moor. When the opportunity came to get the book for free through Vamplit's summer reading program- I jumped at my chance! You can read my review of her book over at See Spot Read.

The Interview~

1.)How long have you been writing novels?

I would say I got really serious about my writing (and novels) four years ago. Although The House on Blackstone Moor is my first published novel it is actually the third novel I wrote. It takes that long to get your novel writing skills up to where they should be I think. The first two I wrote I’ll say, yup better not published! The third though was sci fi and actually I still like it so who knows?!

2.)Do you write full time or do you have a day job?

I do write full time now because my husband gave me my shot. He suggested a few years ago to do it full time and go for it. It was very hard financially but we survived and I am so grateful to him. I don’t know how I could possibly write as much as I do if I had to work.

3.)Is this your fist published novel?

Yes, it is!

4.)What made you decide to go the Small Press route?

Well truthfully I preferred not to self-publish. I was considering agents but then I came across Vamplit and am I glad I did. Vamplit is a small press, but I have learned so much from Gaynor Stenson who is Vamplit. She is a brilliant editor and is encouraging to me, she lets me be me and I love that. I’m very happy with Vamplit and not only looking forward to the sequel being published but the third novel as well which will follow it.

5.)In "The House on Blackstone Moor" the lead character, Rose, is raped on several occasions. Were these scenes hard to write? Why did you feel they were necessary to the story?

Well Rose is a victim of child abuse and it is that abuse that leads her to everything else that follows. She poses the question throughout, asking if that evil let in other evil. As the child abuse is not depicted I didn’t have to write about it.

The rape that was depicted is toward the end and no, I felt I was choosing my own way to present it and I was comfortable doing it. Also the rapist was a demonic creature so that further permitted me the comfort of a safety zone as in ‘there really aren’t demonic creatures that rape or don’t rape!’

6.)What scares you personally? Do you have any silly phobias?

Evil people frighten me, the real monsters that dwell among us. Maniacs like Ed Gein, Albert Fish, Manson, Bundy. They embody the real horror that exists.

The fact that Ted Bundy sat answering phones on a rape hotline also scares me. Monsters that don’t look like monsters frighten the life out of me.

Phobias: I guess creepy crawlies, sometimes great heights! That’s about it.

7.)What is your writing routine?

My writing day starts around 9 after dog walking. I write until about 1 pm, have lunch then pick up again until 4 sometimes. I read and do research around that. Generally I only watch a couple of hours of t.v.

My husband and I generally both conk out watching t.v. at night with our dogs! what a picture!

8.)Have you always been a fan of horror?

Yes, my parents were both sci fi fans, fanatics really! The earliest things I can remember seeing were sci fi movies. Somehow though horror appealed and I started to write really morose poetry. I was a goth 100 years before anyone else was!

I wrote my first sci fi story at 8, but then by 11, 12, I was well into my horror stories. I also was a big fan of horror films: Hammer a huge favourite!

9.)What other authors inspire you?

Well I would say the Brontes, Daphne DuMaurier, Ann Rice and Stephen King with a dash of Poe! Mix them all up and well, that’s what I love!

For a long work of fiction I love writing in the gothic horror/romance genre, however for short fiction I love to gore it up and write all things horror from zombies to demonic dolls to evil vampires. I would like to also add my fiction is character driven not plot driven. But that’s me!

10.) What advice would you give to newbie writers out there?

Write whatever you want to write, what you feel, what’s important to you.
Keep writing too. The more you write the better you will write. Send out work you’re proud of. There are no guarantees; writing toward publication is a learning experience, so learn from everything!

Rejection happens to everyone, Stephen King tossed ‘Carrie’ into the waste bin but his wife fished it out. J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected by 13 different publishers.

There are great writers who have had 100’s of rejections.

Just go for it it, I’d say!

BIO
In 2000 Carole was selected by North West Playwrights of England for further development. It was an invaluable experience but Carole found she prefers to write fiction.

She loves to scare herself and others with her horror fiction and is widely published in horror and sci-fi anthologies.

Currently, Masters of Horror Anthology, MOH Damned If You Don't, Sonar's Ladies and Gentlemen of Horror, Bonded By Blood3 Languish In Lament, Whitechapel Anthology, Rymfire's Undead Tales and Zombie Winter.

Although she loves writing sci-fi her true love is dark gothic horror.

Her gothic horror novel, The House on Blackstone Moor published in 2010 by Vamplit is her first novel.

The sequel, Unholy Testament will be published by Vamplit later this year.

Website

Facebook Author Page


Blurb, The House on Blackstone Moor:

This is a tale of vampirism, madness, obsession and devil worship as Rose Baines, only survivor of her family's carnage, tells her story. Fragile, damaged by the tragedy, fate sends her to a desolate house on the haunted moors where demons dwell. The house and the moors have hideous secrets, yet there is love too; deep, abiding, eternal, but it comes with a price, her soul.

♥Stacey

Meet Author A.P. Fuchs

I met A.P. Fuchs via email when he sent me a review request. Well you know me, I will definitely work for free books! I also like to check out all of the authors whose books I'm reading, it makes me feel more connected to the work. And there was a lot to find out about A.P.! He started from the bottom up and has grown a great little publishing company (and I don't mean "little" in a derogatory way, I mean "little" as in he still knows everyone he works with/publishes) and put out a lot of books. I only read the first in the Blood of my World trilogy, Discovery of Death, but I will be reading the others. And also more of his work. Read my review at See Spot Read. And then come back to meet the man:


1.) How long have you been writing?

About eleven years, though I flirted with it prior to then but nothing you would call serious.

2.) Do you write full time or do you have another job?

I write and publish full time and have been doing so since March of 2009. My “day job” is now running my own publishing company, Coscom Entertainment, and its imprint, Torn Veil Books. (see http://www.coscomentertainment.com and http://www.tornveilbooks.com respectively)

3.) What was your first published work?

If you’re talking non-self-published stuff, then I think it was a short story I did called Rag Man published by a place called Quasar Realm Studios. Actually, I don’t know if it was ever published, but I’m 99% sure it was something I got paid for and was my first sale. The story has since been revised and re-released in my short story collection, Magic Man Plus 15 Tales of Terror.

In terms of books, I subsidy-published—very naively, I might add—my first novel, A Stranger Dead, but my first Coscom Entertainment print publication was my B-horror novel, A Red Dark Night (now out-of-print but on the schedule for a revised edition for this year).

4.) What made you decide to go the Indie route?

Stupidity and naivety.

Let me explain:

Originally, Coscom Entertainment was meant to be a publishing house for comics, but when that career path didn’t pan out, and I got involved with writing, I got suckered into vanity publishing and paid over two grand for a book that I’m not proud of. Correction: a book with a story I’ll stand by until the day I die, but with writing that could use a good polish.

The whole procedure of going from manuscript to print with them was a nightmare and a half. It was a money pit. I was taken advantage of. It just plain sucked. However, ironically through it all I fell in love with the book publishing process and being the entrepreneurial-minded person that I am, I officially launched Coscom Entertainment in 2004—though it was already a registered company since 2001—and A Red Dark Night was its debut horror paperback.

The plan was for the company to publish my own stuff and that’s it. However, my friend and colleague, horror author Keith Gouveia—who you should be reading if you’re not already; his stuff is really good—asked me if I was interested in publishing a benefit anthology for the late Charles Grant called Small Bites. I did, and it was then that Coscom Entertainment changed from a house that published just my work to a house that published other folks. Things just kind of grew from there.

5.) This trilogy of YA novellas center around a vampire and the love of his life, who happens to be from a family of vampire slayers. Have you always written about vampires?

No. This is my first outing, actually. I have written love stories before under the pen name Peter Fox (April; My Angel and Me), but no vampire tales. I really enjoy writing love stories because it’s a genre that’s really dear to me for personal reasons and, since I write horror and superhero stuff as A.P. Fuchs, I thought it was about time in my career to combine the two genres and do a vampire love story. I guess you can say Peter Fox has an uncredited byline in the Blood of my World series.

6.) What scares you personally? Do you have any silly phobias?

Forests at night. Dark basements. The idea of that invisible evil that could be lurking around the next corner. But out of those three, dark basements get me every time. Blair Witch scared me so bad I haven’t seen it since it first came out as they incorporated the top two things that terrify me the most in that film.

7.) What is your writing routine?

These days, I do Coscom Entertainment and Torn Veil Books stuff during the day, and work on my own personal material at night.

My old routine was to pull up the story on the computer, see where I left off, go make coffee, then head outside and smoke a cigarette while I formulated what would happen next. I’d come inside and basically just write down what I saw in my head.

Now, though, I pretty much just decide, “Okay, I’m going to write,” and take the laptop to bed, get comfy, put the computer on my lap and just go.

8.) Have you always been a fan of horror?

Growing up, I was never allowed to watch it. I actually only ventured into it once I was living on my own when I was 18. At the time, the dark stuff happening on the screen really matched what was going on internally, so it seemed a perfect fit and something I ended up carrying into my writing.

9.) What other authors inspire you?

The top three are Stephen King, Alan Moore, and Terry Goodkind.

10.) What advice would you give to newbie writers out there?

I just recently wrote for another blog the following:

Two main things:

First,  stop talking about the book you’re trying to write and just write the thing.

I meet too many “aspiring writers” or even artists who talk about creating but never do it because they’re too busy with other stuff. If your art isn’t important enough to make the time for it, why even bother doing it? You’re better off spending time do that which means a lot to you instead.

Second, if you are indeed serious about this business, sit down and decide what your goals are. Do you want to write full time? Part time? Hobby? Each of those requires different roads to get to where you want to be. Usually, if you want to write full time, you get an agent and try and sell the book for at least enough money to cover your expenses for a year. Part time? Mid to small press is good, and you don’t need an agent for those. Hobby? Self-publishing can be an option.

I also strongly suggest not to buy into all this eBook hype that’s been going around. The reality is a big part of this business is chance. Sad but true. Some books hit it big, others don’t. No one knows why and if someone says they do, they’re lying (or got lucky). If publishers knew what would hit, they’d produce those books every time, right?

But in the end, actually write your book and decide what you’re going to do with it after that, and be specific because “getting it published” can mean just about anything these days.

Thanks for having me. It was fun.

About the Author:

A.P. Fuchs is the author of many novels and short stories, most of which have been published. His most recent books are Possession of the Dead, Magic Man Plus 15 Tales of Terror and Zombie Fight Night: Battles of the Dead, in which zombies fight such classic monsters as werewolves, vampires, Bigfoot, and even go up against awesome foes like pirates, ninjas, and . . . Bruce Lee.

A.P. Fuchs is also known for his superhero series, The Axiom-man Saga, and the author of the shoot ’em up zombie trilogy, Undead World. He also edited the zombie anthologies Dead Science and Vicious Verses and Reanimated Rhymes: Zany Zombie Poetry for the Undead Head.

Fuchs lives and writes in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Visit his corner of the Web at www.canisterx.com

He can also be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ap_fuchs

Happy Tuesday,
♥Spot

Beware the Subway...

I belong to the website indiehorror. It's a great place to meet other authors, have interesting conversations and sometimes exercise your creative muscles. One of the posters decided we should all do an exercise. She posted a beyond horrible piece of writing (I mean seriously, the OCD editor part of me was mentally covering it in red pencil). The exercise was to rewrite the piece, obviously using better grammar, better imagery, just well, better. You couldn't change the setting, characters or basic storyline. Here was my entry:

Gertrude sighed and looked up from the novel she was reading to glance about the subway car. It was surprisingly empty. She shared it with only one other passenger, a young woman in a tiny black dress. Gertrude was sure the dress was in fashion but it contained far too little material for her tastes. She believed firmly in leaving something to the imagination. Of course, at her age, a woman had to be a bit more discerning.

She kept watching the girl, noticing that she was trying to chew something off of her wrist. It looked like some kind of hospital ID. Didn’t she know how bad that was for her teeth? Yellowed stains on both her teeth and fingertips spoke of habitual nicotine use. Killing herself slowly. Gertrude sighed again. Youth was definitely wasted on the young. Someone should advise her to take better care of herself. She started to open her mouth, and then thought better of it. No use getting involved, you never knew what you were getting yourself into nowadays. That girl could be a junkie hyped up on drugs, or a serial killer or contagious. She was wearing a hospital bracelet after all!

Gertrude picked up her novel and chuckled silently to herself. She was being silly, of course. The girl was probably just some poor kid with a cold who’d been to the ER for medicine. She started to offer to cut the bracelet off her wrist but the girl shot her a look of such pure venom that she averted her gaze back to her book. Well! The nerve of some people. Trying to scare a little old lady. That was just plain rude. 

The car slowed and rattled its way to a stop. Gertrude gathered her novel and her purse and proceeded to the door. The glass of the door frosted over as she approached and the doors didn’t open as they should. Gert gave them a feeble push. From right behind her she heard an impatient sigh and the girl pushed her a bit. Gertrude knew she was in trouble. The girl pushed her again and she whirled on her.

“Now look here little lady…” Gert began. But she never got past those words. As she looked into the girls bloodshot eyes, the girl exhaled impatiently again. Her hot breath carried not only the hint of alcohol but the scent of blood from where she’d bitten her lip while trying to gnaw off that damn bracelet. Gert was lost. She grabbed the girl by the shoulders and slammed her back against the closest seat. She held her immobile while she sunk her fangs deep into the other woman’s neck. There she drank her fill while the girl’s protests became weaker and weaker. She let the body sag to the floor as she fumbled in her bag. Taking a dainty handkerchief out, she dabbed at the drops of blood that clung to her lips.

“Just look what you’ve done!” she said to the dead girl. “Your rudeness has cost us both. You’ve lost what pathetic life you had and I’ve ruined my appetite. Hildi will be furious! We were supposed to eat French tonight.”

Delicately stepping over the body, she proceeded to the door which opened with a swish at her approach. She disembarked without a backward glance.

Leave me a comment, let me know what you think.



♥Spot