Book Talk / Author Q&A

By Sara Halleman

WritersNewsWeekly had the pleasure of speaking with horror fiction author Robert Freese this week. We discuss his two releases this month and why he is so drawn to the genre.

WNW How long have you been writing?
Freese I’ve been writing since I was a kid, putting together my little stories like books with tape and staples. I used to draw my own comics too. It seems like I’ve always been writing something. The first time I was actually published and paid for what I wrote was the Fall 1994 issue of Femme Fatales, a sister publication of Cinefantastique. I was given the opportunity to interview guys like Fred Olen Ray and Jim Wynorski and it was a blast. My first fiction sale soon followed.

WNWWere you always interested in horror fiction?
Freese Yes, absolutely. I grew up during a great time in the 80s when there were a lot of horror movies and a lot of horror novels. I consumed every flick I could see and every book I could get my hands on. As I pursued writing I gravitated toward horror immediately. I wanted to scare people.

WNWWho is your favorite horror fiction writer?
Freese Wow. There are so many. The guy who absolutely knocked me out and who made me want to write scary tales was Robert Bloch. His novel Psycho II was the first book I had ever read that I couldn’t put down. I literally stayed up all night reading and finished it in the morning. It blew me away. Bloch wrote much more than just horror but his horror thrillers really clicked with me. There are other guys too whose work has been very influential- Joe Lansdale, John Russo, Ray Bradbury, Gary Brandner, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Richard Laymon, to name a few.

WNWHow do you find inspiration for your scary tales?
Freese Just out of every day life. Something might strike me as creepy or weird so it sits in my head for a while until I can use it. Or I see something and kind of twist it around into something scary. My wife helps a great deal too. I bounce ideas off her all the time. We can talk and she’ll make a suggestion that just totally knocks me over. She’s had a huge influence on my work, directly and indirectly. She may suggest something that ignites another idea that I would not have had otherwise. Inspiration can come from anywhere at any moment. Writers have to pay attention to the world around them.

WNWWhat types of horror stories scare you?
Freese All kinds of horror stories scare me. Some ghost stories and haunted house stories, when they’re done right, really get to me. James Herbert did one a number of years ago called Haunted that really did a number on me. Joe Lansdale writes some of the best psycho thrillers. He does the most horrible things to his characters sometimes that you literally feel like he’s punched you in the stomach it’s so shocking. Bloch’s Night World and American Gothic also come to mind as gripping and disturbing tales.

WNWYou recently released Paranormal Journeys, a book about real life paranormal investigations. Was there anything that really freaked you out when you were doing your research?
Freese Oh, yeah. All of it freaked me out to a certain degree, but if I was working on it and my wife was home I was okay. If I heard any little noise or strange sound, I just wrote it off as her. One rainy afternoon I was alone and working on the chapter about this place known as Corpsewood Manor. It was the site of a brutal double murder, just really grim, gruesome stuff. Between being in the mind frame of writing about this tragic place and the raging storm with the howling wind and all that, I had to walk away from it for a little while. It got to me. I had this overwhelming feeling that someone was watching me. That’s the best way to describe it. Some of that stuff is just so disturbing. I wrote the book with Paul Cagle, who is a paranormal investigator, and none of it bothers him. I think he’s used to it because he’s been investigating for so long, but I’ve already heard from readers who started the book alone in their house and they had to put it down because it was getting under their skin. They couldn’t handle it.

WNWYou have a second book, Bijou of the Dead, that will be released on Halloween. Tell us about that book.
Freese Bijou of the Dead is my first novel. Basically, it is a revenge tale involving living dead voodoo zombies attacking a rundown movie theater during a horror movie double feature. I actually wrote it and self-published it in 2007. I am very proud that it was picked up by StoneGarden.net Publishing. I am referring to the StoneGarden.net release as its “official” release. It’s a fun book, especially for people who like bloody zombie novels. I love movies so it takes place in a one-screen bijou, which is a word most people no longer use but I found it appropriate for the tone I set for the story. It’s not your typical “shoot ‘em in the brains” undead romp. I went with a different set of rules and people seem to enjoy it. My wife was not fond of the idea at first but fell in love with it after reading it. It’s won over a lot of staunch zombie fans who were reluctant to give it a chance. The zombies have an agenda- they have a reason for coming out of their graves. They use power tools. It’s a fast moving horror adventure with guts. Lots of guts. Guts everywhere.

WNWWhat do you think makes a great horror novel?
Freese Compelling characters. As long as I believe in the characters on the page I’ll accept anything you throw at them. It doesn’t matter if the menace of the story is a vampire, a serial killer or rabid dust bunnies. As long as the reader can relate and believe in them, the writer can create real horror. It is essential for the reader to care about what happens to the characters in a horror story. If not, the author has no chance of creating any real suspense.

WNWHave you ever thought of stepping out of horror and into other genres?
Freese Well, when you write horror, you have the opportunity to write in a lot of different genres. Horror can take place in any place or time, so some horror tales have a flavor of fantasy, science fiction or even a western. Romance can find its way into a horror story as can humor. I think humor can really help some types of horror work better. So even though you are working in horror, you can work in these other genres too. Now, I have worked in a number of different genres. When I was starting out, I found a website that published horror, science fiction, romance and fantasy stories. I wrote stories for all four genres every two months for a couple years. It was great training, learning different techniques, trying different ideas. Some of those stories I would never show people today, but many of them were essential in my growth. I would like to work more in other genres, but something tells me a little horror will no doubt work its way into the story somewhere.

WNWAre there any future projects in the works?
Freese I’m always working on something. I’ve just talked to my partner on the paranormal book. Our publisher seems interested in a follow up book, so we’re kicking around a couple ideas. I have a number of short stories appearing in upcoming anthologies like The Undead that Saved Christmas, Strange Tales of Horror and Daily Bites of Flesh: 2011. Earlier in the year I had a post-apocalyptic, action, sci-fi story published entitled “2017: Frankenstein and the Warriors of the Lost City.” It was my homage to all those great Italian rip-off movies made after Mad Max and Escape from New York. I’ve got an idea of expanding that story into novel length. I also have a werewolf western I’m working on. In addition, I write for a number of different magazines. One is Videoscope, which I contribute movie reviews and interviews. I’ve been approached by a publisher to collect some of the interviews that I’ve done in a book, so I’d like to get to work on that soon.

To find out more about Robert Freese check out his website at www.robertfreese.com , which will soon be updated with his recent projects. His books can be found through bookstores and various online book dealers as well as his publishers at www.stonegarden.net and http://etreasurespublishing.blogspot.com/

By Sara Halleman

WritersNewsWeekly had the pleasure of chatting with Fictionwise #1 Best-Selling and Eppie nominated author, Howard Hopkins. Based in Maine, Hopkins writes horror fiction, westerns, pulp fiction, comic books and graphic novels. Read more to learn about why horror intrigues Hopkins.

WNW How long have you been writing?
Hopkins I started writing articles for fanzines in the early ‘80s, then fiction about the mid-‘80s. I did roughly 50 short stories before switching to horror and western novels.

WNW What makes a great horror novel?
Hopkins Basically, real characters caught in horrendous situations, persevering against that unspeakable terror. I tend to favor the “things you can’t see” approach, as opposed to splattering lots of blood and body parts. Not that I don’t get graphic at times, but I think the mind can conjure way more terrible images than an author can describe in words. The shock stuff wears thin pretty fast, too. One reason classic horror books and movies still scare. I strive for that with my horror heroine, Chloe Everson, in my paranormal mystery/horror series The Chloe Files. Chloe, though she has a rather “exotic’ job, is a real woman facing unreal situations. She is frightened but courageous, and faces everything thrown at her with humor and courage.

WNW What draws you to the horror genre?
Hopkins I have always loved the spooky stuff. As a kid I devoured the gothic soap Dark Shadows, and Marvel Comics monster titles, CBS Radio Mystery Theater—anything creepy. I love the fact that the scary things can be “contained”. When you shut off the movie or close the book…the bad stuff goes away. You have “control” over it, unlike the horrors of the real world. It’s the perfect escape and power trip! If only we could do the same in our real lives to those terrible situations.

WNW What authors inspire you?
Hopkins I was always very inspired by Lester Dent, writer of the majority of the Doc Savage pulp series, for his incredible gift of bringing characters to life and fast-paced quirky prose. I owe him much. I am also a big Poe fan. He was the master of the macbre. A tragic dark soul who had inimitable talent.

WNW You write both adult horror and children horror. Do you find it difficult to switch between the two?
Hopkins Not at all. It’s automatic, really, and I am still a big kid at heart.

WNW Which do you find more challenging?
Hopkins They both come with their own challenges, I guess, so neither is more so than the other. Adult horror is more graphic, more in-depth as far as what you can portray. With children’s, I think the writer has a bigger responsibility to his audience and their parents in presenting decent role models and handling situations age appropriately.

WNW What scares you?
Hopkins Politicians! Snakes…or is that the same thing? Not a lot, otherwise. I fear flying after being in a near miss landing accident, and the normal human fears of losing the people precious to us.

WNW What are you currently working on/future projects?
Hopkins I’m currently working on a number of “pulpy” things. I’ve recently had the honor of creating my own pulp heroine comic book character for Moonstone called The Veil, who will make her debut in a special comic book I’ve written with Wicked author Nancy Holder, and I am writing the adventures of The Golden Amazon for them as well. Also doing a number of other projects pulp related for them, such as The Spider widescreen novel adaptations, various short stories for anthologies like The Green Hornet Chronicles and Captain Midnight Chronicles, and I am co-editing The Avenger Chronicles anthologies and a Sherlock Holmes original short story anthology for them too. Also working hard on promoting my adult paranormal mystery series The Chloe Files and my Children’s horror series The Nightmare Club for Halloween.

I invite folks interested to check out my webpage at www.howardhopkins.com for more info on these series, my horror, pulp and westerns writings. You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yingko2 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/howardhopkins too.

By Sara Halleman

This week WritersNewsWeekly talked with Carlo J. Vella, author of historical fiction novels. Vella was born in Australia and is currently teaching English in Barcelona, Spain. When he is not teaching, he is writing and working on his trilogy about an ancient mystery. The first book of the trilogy, The Book of Secrets, was released this past January. Read as he answers questions about his books and writing about rich cultures filled with mystery.

WNW Have you always been an avid writer?
Carlo J Vella Not Always. In my earlier days I wrote quite a lot and wrote my first book. I gave up hope when I kept getting rejection letters from publishers and decided to stop writing. Now, I can’t get enough of it.

WNW What authors inspire you?
Carlo J Vella There are many authors that inspire me but the ones that I call muses would be Paul Coelho, Julia Novarro to name just a couple.

WNW You teach English in Barcelona, Spain. What is more difficult; teaching or writing?
Carlo J Vella Writing would be more difficult than teaching. When you teach there is a set method which you follow unlike writing, for me anyway. Because of the different plots, characters etc, one must ensure that you keep the flow and not take a wrong turn anywhere and disrupt the story. A bit of concentration is required.

WNW Does living in a historical city, like Barcelona, help you in writing your genre historical fiction?
Carlo J Vella Definitely! You asked about who inspires me? Well, what inspires me is this wonderful country, the history it holds and stories one hears about the “old” days. For me it is not just wondrous but also magical.

WNW What draws you to this genre (historical fiction) ?
Carlo J Vella I have always been intrigued and interested about the way people lived in the past; the way of life, the architectures and so on. It is an educational journey and I think we can learn a lot from the past. Writing about historical events not only thrills me as I venture into a time where life was not an easy task: bloodshed, wars and evil in human form, religion and politics together in power to conquer civilizations. Has it changed from all those years to how we live now? Unfortunately not much has changed. Religion and Politics still rule and always will .I like to change these historical events and join the past and the present to conform one entity, as really, we are no different from societies that grouped together hundreds and thousands of years ago.

WNW Tell us about your novel The Book of Secrets and its follow-up.
Carlo J Vella The Book of Secrets is about one man’s journey to locate a tome supposedly written by Angels and the secrets it holds to man’s destiny. It is one of many treasures The Templar Knights carried with them and a treasure a few people want for themselves; this includes the Vatican and a secret society that deals with paranormal activity. To read more about the story you can visit: http://carlobookofsecrets.blogspot.com

The follow up is called The 13 Tortures which is based entirely in Barcelona and tells the story of Barcelona’s patron saint Santa Eulalia in the 1st century. It also deals with witchcraft. Though the second book doesn’t have much to do with the first story, the characters are the same and it does deal a little with Angelic beings.

WNW Are there more books to be added to the series?
Carlo J Vella It will be a trilogy. The third book will end in Malta. I go there on a yearly basis and study the archeological findings and history of the island. The Book of Secrets will conclude with the story of Saint Peter and the Knights of Malta.

WNW Any other projects in the works?
Carlo J Vella I am looking at collating short stories from other writers who have not been published. I have read a few and they are great stories. Excellent talent out there but unfortunately their writing is not being recognized.

To read more about Carlo J Vella visit his website www.carlojvella.com. His novel The Book of Secrets can be purchased at http://www.amazon.com/Book-Secrets-Carlo-J-Vella/dp/0557172756

By Sara Halleman

I first came across Marybeth Smith’s blog through the twitter world and found a remarkable story. Marybeth is an aspiring author who just finished her novel Taming the Crazies. She also works in web design, editing, and social media. Marybeth is also an advocate for bipolar disorder and runs the website Askabipolar.com, a place where people who suffer from the disorder can feel comfortable getting advice from people like them. It’s amazing that Marybeth can do so much, while still dealing with her own internal issues. This week WritersNewsWeekly chatted with Marybeth about her life ambitions and her latest work.

WNW When did you start writing?
Marybeth Smith I pretty much started to write as soon as the stories started pouring out from my head and through my crayons onto paper. I'd literally glue pieces of paper back to back to make my books look "real". I let it go to the wayside while in high school and after having kids, then a couple years ago my life took some drastic turns and I felt compelled to pick it up again.

WNW How has writing helped you cope with being Bipolar?
Marybeth Smith Writing has always been one of my greatest tools when it comes to dealing with depression and Bipolar. Though I may not have been writing stories during high school, I was dedicated to my journals. It was the only way I could express what I felt. When I picked my writing back up, I used my story as a tool to release some of the feelings I'd been experiencing, and though that book may never get published, I'll always feel an attachment to it.

WNW Being bipolar must have some effect on your writing, what has been the most challenging part?
Marybeth Smith Sometimes my moods make it difficult to stay motivated. If I'm working through a depressive episode, I may just put my writing down until I'm over it. Other times, when I'm on an upswing, I'm simply obsessive about my work. I just can't stop. Last year I participated in NaNoWriMo and completed my 50K words in just over 20 days. Though both of those can be challenging, the worst part would have to be dealing with rejection and criticism. It's hard enough to stay positive when your brain is hard wired as a pessimist. It was especially difficult while writing and querying my first novel. It hurt to hear from crit partners and agents that my writing just wasn't what it needed to be. I basically had to remind myself daily that it takes time, learning and patience to become a great author.

WNW What do you hope other people suffering from a bipolar disorder will gain from your work?
Marybeth Smith When I first learned that I was Bipolar, I about flipped. Deep down, I'd known it for years, but I'd been in such denial that I'd even convinced the doctors it wasn't a possibility. I was ashamed to be given such a drastic title. Bipolar = Crazy doesn't it? Well no, actually, it doesn't. It's just an illness. Just like diabetes or heart disease or even asthma. There is no shame in having a disorder that millions of other people out there have. I want other people to know that they should never feel ashamed about who they are. And I want people to know that there are others out there just like them who totally understand what it's like to feel this way.

WNW Your resume ranges from writing, editing, web design and blogging, what has been your favorite to do?
Marybeth Smith Writing is by far my favorite. There is a beauty that comes with putting words on paper. Being able to articulate one's feelings with a simple word or two is amazing. And to know that people are listening to what I have to say and taking something with them merely through my words, whether it is advice or even just a laugh, gives me a sense of accomplishment that not many jobs can offer. Though I love the other talents I've been given, writing is the one thing that I'm absolutely unwilling to give up.

WNW What authors do you admire and why?
Marybeth Smith If you'd asked me this question 3 years ago, I'd have had a very short list. It wasn't until I began studying the craft and learning every tiny thing I could about writing that I actually started to journey outside the realms of J.K. Rowling and (GASP) Stephanie Meyer. And though I enjoyed those stories (and J.K. Rowling can tell an amazing story!) I've grown infatuated with so many other authors out there. One of my favorites right now is Ellen Hopkins. Her stories are raw and abrasive, yet they grip you from the first page on. You know you're not reading a load of crap. You're reading about something oh so very real. After reading her latest book "Fallout", I felt inspired and confident about my newest novel. I'm also a huge fan of John Green and Susan Collins, both of which tell one heck of a story.

WNW What draws you to Young Adult Fiction?
Marybeth Smith I am a teenager at heart. I can't help it. Maybe it's that I look like I'm 15 still, or maybe it's that I still hang out with the same friends from high school and still have slumber parties for our birthdays. Maybe it's my fear of getting old. Whatever it is, I'm captivated by the voice in YA books. I'm drawn to the stories of first love and angsty romance. I love the bonds of friendship and remembering the silly things we fought over and how now, we can't help but laugh at it all. Thus, I read and write all YA and I'm pretty sure I'll never grow out of it ;)

WNW You just completed your first novel "Taming the Crazies," about a bipolar teenage girl. How much of this story relates to your own life story?
Marybeth Smith Well it's actually my third novel. This one just kind of interrupted all that I was doing with the others. Sure, someday I'll go back to them, but my soul has been poured into this one, so the others can wait! There are many similarities to my own story in Taming the Crazies, yet there are many differences. Many of the characters are based around my friends and family. Though my story ended quite different, I drew off many of the moments I experienced at Annabelle's age. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that I love swing sets!

WNW Your website Askabipolar.com is a great advice website for people suffering from bipolar disorder. Do you ever think about writing a self-help book or pursuing a career in psychology?
Marybeth Smith Funny you should say that actually. I recently started toying with the idea of going into psychology at the suggestion of my PDoc. I'd never thought about it before, but I'm so drawn to it now that I've become so involved. I'm not so sure about a self-help book, though I'm not completely ruling it out either. But I have considered writing a memoir.

WNW What are your dreams/aspirations?
Marybeth Smith My biggest dream is to become a published author who tops the NY Times best sellers list, but isn't that all authors' dream? And if we're talking about big dreams, I'd also like askabipolar.com to become a nationwide resource; a place where everyone can come and ask all those burning questions. But if you were to ask me for life in general, it would be centered on my son. I want to give him all the knowledge I didn't have growing up and I want to do everything I can to help him become a success story. One he can be proud of.

To learn more about Marybeth Smith and her upcoming projects visit her website www.Marybethsmith.com. Also check out her website www.askabipolar.com.

By Sara Halleman

This week WritersNewsWeekly chatted with Bobby Nash, an artist/writer of comics, novels, and short stories. He has done such works as Evil Ways, Fantastix, Lance Star: Sky Ranger, Domino Lady, Sentinels: Alternate Visions, Full Throttle Space Tales: Space Sirens, and A Fistful Of Legends. His comic books and graphic novels include Life In The Faster Lane, Fuzzy Bunnies From Hell, Demonslayer, Fantastix, Yin Yang, I Am Googol: The Great Invasion, and Lance Star: Sky Ranger, among others. Read more about his works, passion, and career in this week’s interview.

WNW When did you start writing comics and stories?
Nash I started writing comic book stories when I was in middle school, which seems like such a long, long time ago, but most of those stories are best left forgotten. After school I wrote stories for a few friends and for small press publishers for awhile until I started scripting Demonslayer for Avatar Press back in 2000. My first story was rejected, but I was given a second chance and my first published issue was Demonslayer: Vengeance #1 in 2001. After that I picked up work wherever I could, which is pretty much what I do today as well. I love writing and I’m always looking for publishers interested in hiring me.

WNW You work with all types of writing such as novels, short stories, and comics. Do you find it difficult to transition from one type to another?
Nash Not really. I usually have no trouble transitioning from one to the other as writing comics and writing prose both use slightly different creative muscles. I find it refreshing to be able to jump back and forth between comics and prose.

WNW Is there one type of work you enjoy writing more than the rest?
Nash With novels, I tend to like writing thrillers the best and using the short stories to scratch certain creative itches. Of course, if I get a science fiction or western novel idea then I’ll probably work them into my schedule as well. With comics I don’t really have a favorite. I just enjoy collaborating with artists on the stories and seeing what we come up with as a team. I’ve been very fortunate to work with some terrific artists.

WNW Out of all the writings you’ve done (novels, comics, short stories) which are you most proud of?
Nash While I’m generally proud of them all, the debut of my first published novel, Evil Ways is definitely a proud moment for me. I couldn’t stop smiling the first week or two after I received my comp copies. Of course, then it was right back to work.
On the comics side, I’m very proud of the Yin Yang graphic novel, which hits stores on September 29th, 2010. It has taken some time to get from me writing it to the shelves so I’ll be a proud boy when it hits shelves. It’s a fun story and the art is beautiful.
For short stories, Lance Star: Sky Ranger tops the list. Not only was this the book that kick started my short story writing career, but it has opened doors for me as well. And there are more Lance Star: Sky Rangers short stories, novels, and comics coming so that’s exciting too.

WNW How would you describe your genre?
Nash I don’t generally think in terms of genre when I write a story, which sometimes results in my mixing a few genres together. For me, I tell the story and hope it fits. Sometimes, I take on freelance writing assignments so in those cases I write the genre that the publisher or editor hires me to write. I rarely start a project by wondering in what genre I’m going to set the story.

WNW Who are some of your favorite authors (comic book and/or novel)?
Nash Such a long list. I read a lot, but a few of my favorite writers (comics and prose) include Darwyn Cooke, Chuck Dixon, Beau Smith, Michael Connelly, Ed Brubaker, Beverly Connor, Alex Kava, Stephen J. Cannell, Jonathon Hickman, Gail Simone, Jimmy Palmiotti, Roy Thomas, James Reasoner, Marv Wolfman, Sean Taylor, Mike Grell, Van Allen Plexico, Peter David, Kyle Mills, Howard Hopkins, Nancy Holder, Steve Alten, Christoper Golden, and plenty more.

WNW What were some of your favorite comics growing up?
Nash I was a huge Spider-man fan growing up. It was reruns of the 60’s Spider-man cartoon that got me hooked and my Mom bought me a three pack of comics at a supermarket once that had Amazing Spider-man issues 192, 193, and 194 inside with stories by Marv Wolfman with art by Keith Pollard and Jim Mooney. I was hooked.
After that I started reading and whatever else I could get my hands on. In high school I met other readers and we swapped books. I started reading X-Men, Fantastic Four, Thor, Avengers, New Teen Titans, JLA. It was great.
I like to tell people that it was Spider-man that got me into comics, but it was The Fantastic Four that made me stay.

WNW Tell us about your upcoming novel Earthstrike Agenda.
Nash Earthstrike Agenda was the first novel I wrote so it needed some work. A lot of work. A couple years ago I started reworking the story and finally got it into shape and was happy with it. It was my first attempt at science fiction prose and I learned a lot along the way. I’ve since written several science fiction short stories. I’m currently shopping the novel around and hope to have it out sooner or later. I have toyed with the idea of changing the title to Operation Earthstrike. Still toying with both title ideas.

WNW Are there any other future projects in the works?
Nash There are several things on the horizon.
Comics: The Yin Yang graphic novel from Arcana Comics comes out on September 29th. The I Am Googol: The Great Invasion graphic novel (Book 1) from Point G Comics will be available in November. A second Lance Star: Sky Ranger comic book is in production as well as a few others I can’t mention quite yet.
Prose: I have stories in a few anthologies that will be out in the coming months including Lance Star: Sky Ranger Vol. 3, Secret Agent X Vol. 4, and Ravenwood: Stepson of Mystery Vol. 1, Aym Geronimo And The Postmodern Pioneers: Tall Tales, Tales From The Zero Hour Vol. 4: Weird Tales, Green Hornet Casefiles, and Frontier, which collects several of my sci fi shorts). I also have a Lance Star: Sky Ranger novel in the works as well as Games!, Blood Shot, and Evil Intent (sequel to Evil Ways) in production as well.

For more information on Bobby Nash please visit him at www.bobbynash.com, http://bobby-nash-news.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/bobbyenash, www.twitter.com/bobbynash, and www.lance-star.com, among other places across the web.

By Sara Halleman

This week WritersNewsWeekly interviewed Seth David Chernoff, a two-time cancer survivor and author of the award-winning book Manual For Living: Reality, A User’s Guide to the Meaning of Life.

WNW Tell us what inspired you to write Manual For Living: Reality, A User’s Guide to the Meaning of Life.
Chernoff From as far back as I can remember, understanding the meaning of life has been a core tenant of my life. I spent over 20 years contemplating the realities of existence, reading voraciously, and paying close attention to life – the ups and downs, challenges, pain, and opportunities. When I was diagnosed with cancer the first time, I made the decision to start formally writing, even though I didn’t exactly know what the outcome would be. I would write wherever and whenever possible – in the evenings after my kids went to sleep, on the weekend, at lunch, etc. I wrote for five years, all while working multiple jobs, raising my kids, and living my life. The finished book ended up at around 700 pages, and due to its magnitude, we decided to break it into three books. This is book one in the series and its called REALITY.

WNW What sets your book apart from other self-help books?
Chernoff The Manual For Living is probably like no other book you have seen or experienced, given its format and its content. When we start a book, we often feel this obligation to finish it. This book is never finished, and is not actually designed to be read from cover to cover, but instead picked up intermittently when you desire guidance along your path, and even then you randomly open the book to a page of your choice, and quite often you receive exactly the guidance you seek. There is also very little within the book that you have not already heard, but the context in which it is presented provides a tremendous opportunity for growth and understanding. We will all face tremendous obstacles, challenges and trauma in our life – that is inevitable. It is who we choose to be and how we respond to such opportunities that determines the quality of our existence.

WNW What do you hope this book will accomplish for your readers?
Chernoff True happiness and lasting fulfillment are available to all of us, but it is not one little thing that makes all the difference, but a little effort and guidance in every area of our life. The Manual For Living covers every aspect of our lives, from life to death, time, balance, illness, happiness, peace, etc. As we make subtle improvements in every area of our life, for example how we approach our work, to how we connect with our children, to how we listen to our truth – we become happier and more fulfilled in the process.

WNW Did you have any fears when writing such a powerful book?
Chernoff We all have fear, although it tends to be unique for each and every one of us. Our greatest opportunity is to find strength in the face of fear, whether being inspired by the prospect of our path and purpose in life, or perhaps even by fear of impending death. For me, writing the Manual was the easy part, but then I spent another five years editing, adjusting, tweaking the content, and constantly wondering if the book was complete and ready for distribution. I eventually realized that every time edited it, I was re-writing the book not necessarily because I needed, but because I was a different person. I also realized that at the rate I was going, the book was never going to be published. One day I made the decision that it was time; people needed to read it, and so I published it and have never looked back.

WNW What would you say is the number one thing in today’s society that is standing in our way to happiness?
Chernoff I would say it’s a million little things that get in the way of happiness; from the way we approach finances, to how we manage time. It involves our level of balance, our health, how we sleep, how we breathe, and overall how we approach our life. However, the core tenants of a life of happiness revolve around taking responsibility for everything that is within our control, letting go of everything that is outside of our control, expressing our kindness, our gratitude, and being of service.

WNW What advice would you give to a person suffering with cancer?
Chernoff Cancer, like many traumatic illnesses, challenges you physically, emotionally, mentally, and if you so allow it to – spiritually. For those suffering with cancer or with illness, I would remind you to be kind to yourself, and to those around you - realize that it’s probably harder on those who love you the most. Remember to look forward in life and not backward. Try to move beyond the “why me” and into the opportunity of the moment. Death is imminent for all of us, but illness brings it right to the forefront, but try not to be afraid, there is nothing to fear. Be strong, open your heart, and make sure that the choices you make are in alignment with your reason for being. Lastly, laugh, laugh and laugh. Find any excuse to laugh. Rent funny movies, read funny books – and just laugh. None of us know how much life we have left to live, so lets make sure that we are living for the right reasons and making the right choices.

WNW How were you able to turn something as negative as cancer into a positive such as your book?
Chernoff We can learn from illness just as we learn from every obstacle and challenge. Life can be so painful at times if we choose to see it that way, but it also can be amazing, inspiring, and transformational. We have full control over how we choose to see and experience our life, and that is the greatest opportunity before us. We can be petty and mediocre in our life, or we can be gracious, empowering and inspirational – the choice is ours.

WNW Did expect the book to be such a huge success?
Chernoff I have always expected the Manual For Living book series to be tremendously successful, but not necessarily in the number of books sold, but in the number of lives affected. This book has a very important message, and it is my job to make sure the book gets in front of the people who need and want to read it. This book is a labor of love, and as such it is with incredible pleasure that I get to write about it, speak about it, and connect with such amazing people around it; wherever and whenever possible.

WNW What is next for you, as an author?
Chernoff This is book one in the Manual For Living series. The second book is called CONNECTION and the third is called PURPOSE, and I look forward to releasing those in the coming months and years. I am very excited to continue building a community around the Manual, to lecture, and to continue sharing the stories that have shaped my life and all of the lessons I have learned along the way. In the process, perhaps those who read the book won’t have to suffer as I have, or possibly won’t make the same mistakes I made. Even more, maybe we can all step forward into our greatness and be better stewards of our communities, and find greater levels of happiness through the choices that we make.

Additional note from the author:
We should all remember that the obstacles and challenges we face, and the associated, are unique to each and every one of us. We need to stop comparing ourselves to those around us, and instead look within for the guidance we desire. The Manual is designed to help you find clarity and guides you to your inner truth. We each have a unique path and purpose in life and it is our responsibility not only to discover that purpose, but to fulfill it. It doesn’t matter the color of our skin, how much money we have in the bank, our religion or our blood type – we don’t know how much time we have left. Death is inevitable, but living life is not. We have an incredible opportunity to experience the greatness of this life and to be of service to those around us.

Information on purchasing Manual For Living: Reality, A User’s Guide to the Meaning of Life by Seth David Chernoff can be found at http://tinyurl.com/2c4k6hh .

By Sara Halleman

WritersNewsWeekly recently interviewed poet Rolli about his book, Plum Stuff, a collection of original poetry and drawings.

WNWYour poems seem to cover all walks of life. Where do you find the most inspiration?
RolliCoffee. Far more so than life itself, I find coffee intensely inspiring. When I wrote Plum Stuff, I was drinking between 22 and 26 cups of coffee a day, though I’ve since cut down to 10 or 12. My creative process is this: I wake up, drink a large amount of strong, hot coffee, and begin to write. The ideas, the poems themselves, arise spontaneously. But without coffee, nothing happens.

WNWAre there any poets/authors that you admire?
RolliPoets? Heaps of ‘em, though I do like the dead ones best. Eliot, Coleridge, Poe. They were all critics, too, which is interesting. “Type A” poets. Lewis Carroll. Keats. And my favorite, Shakespeare – a poet who happened to writes plays. Prose-wise, I still like Dickens best. Roald Dahl. Sam Johnson. Stevenson – the best of all stylists. The Brontë sisters. Ray Bradbury (there’s one who’s still kicking). And my extremely guilty pleasure, Dame Agatha Christie. I’ve been reading her a lot of late.

WNWWhat are some of your favorite poems (yours included)?
Rolli“Ulalume,” by Poe, has always been a favorite. Eliot’s “Four Quartets” and “The Hollow Men” (the last is the best thing he ever did). I like the songs and sonnets of Shakespeare better than all his plays together. Hard to decide about my own stuff, though there’s one, “The Glutton’s” (from Plum Stuff) that’s a very exact description of a dream I once had, about a professor who was eating poems, and bleeding books from his pores. It was disgusting.

WNWHow would you describe your overall poetic style?
RolliStingy. Miserly, even. I’m a man of few words, so I choose them carefully. I’m an organized poet, and more concerned with sound and arrangement than’s probably healthy.

WNWYou mentioned that you write for both children and adults. Which one do you find the most challenging?
RolliAs far as the actual writing goes, both come pretty naturally, I find. From a market vantage, though, children’s writing is a much tougher sell, these days. I started out as a children’s writer, contributing to mags like Highlights, Spider, Ladybug, and others, but found myself completely unable to sell any book-length manuscripts. I won’t call the world of “serious” adult literature a cakewalk, either, but I’ve had more success there by far. I’ve only recently begun sticking my toes into kids lit again. I have an agent (Kendra Marcus of Bookstop Literary Agency), and she’s working very hard to sell my unpublished manuscripts. I wake up every morning with my fingers crossed.

WNWWhat comes first: your illustrations or your writings?
RolliWritings, generally; though I do on occasion doodle something that triggers a poem or story. “Kelley’s,” from Plum Stuff, arose out of a drawing of a woman with a crooked neck. I wrote “Pomes” after sketching the moose that was eating my saskatoons. There was no saskatoon pie that year, alas.

WNWThere are a several occasions throughout your poetry were you use the French language. Any reason why?
RolliThe trouble with English is that it’s a terribly ugly language, and sounds just awful. There’s a handful of languages, only – French, and Latin, Italian – that sound beautiful no matter what you’re talking about. The only poet who ever succeeded in making English sound as good as French or Latin was Shakespeare. Sometimes, when writing, I find that there’s just not a suitable English word to give me the sound or the rhyme or the effect I’m looking for, so I try French instead. So it’s more for sound than, say, cosmopolitan flair.

WNWWhat do you find is the most difficult part of putting together a collection of poems?
RolliNot so much the writing, but the arrangement, afterwards. The grouping and sequencing of poems into meaningful units has always been a preoccupation of mine. It’s time-consuming.

WNWIs there a particular section of your nine-part collection that you are most proud of?
RolliI like the “Things Desisted, Egyptian” section, if only because it contains a poem about a mummified cat. I’m the proud owner of a mummified cat which was a gift from a Cairene anthropologist. I call him “Snuggles.”

WNWTell us about your upcoming gothic novel-in-poems Mavor’s Bones.
RolliMavor’s Bones is my second book of poetry, though it was written first. I call it a “novel-in-poems” because it has a full cast of characters – including a duke, an orang-utan, and the late Charles Chaplin - a loose plot and, like Plum Stuff, is divided into sections, or chapters. It’ll be published by Vox Humana this fall – a perfect time of year, because the book has such a sombre, autumnal feel. If Plum Stuff is very bright, and sprightly, Mavor’s Bones (though there’s some dark humor in it) is in comparison pretty dark stuff – the depressive to Plum Stuff’s manic, as I tell people.

By Elizabeth Milo and Meghan Morrow

WNW recently spoke with author J.E. Browning about her book Homequest: Liberation, the first in the Tales of Roumanhi series.

WNW: Which was harder: planning the series or writing it?

Browning: Homequest: Liberation wasn’t really planned in terms of plot and characterisation. I had a few ideas in which direction I wanted Liberation to go; a few strands of plot, but little more and the story just happened. This did lead to some tricky moments trying to work out how T’skya, Cail and Hollam could get out of the scrapes they had put themselves into, but I enjoyed it so it didn’t feel hard to write. I also knew that I wanted the sequel, Homequest: Decimation, to be darker and incorporate more fantasy, but I couldn’t leave the story there. I needed to reflect the impact; the trauma and stresses, and Separation was born. I am slowly working on the fourth, which is complicated as I have stepped outside the land of Roumanhi. It’s been the hardest one to write so far, especially as ideas for a fifth are also floating around my brain!

WNW: Do you feel that your knowledge of the martial arts has helped you in writing realistic and exciting fight scenes?

Browning: Yes, most certainly. I believe hand to hand combat is compelling and honourable. It requires great skill, courage and dedication. You have to face your enemy, look them in the eye, and then outsmart them mentally and physically. Fighting also hurts and I’ve tried to reflect a more realistic approach than you see in most movies. My characters get hurt and sometimes lose their lives. I’d better clarify, however, that all the Taekwondo and Kickboxing students are alive and well and I don’t experiment on them to work out my fight scenes!

WNW: What was it like for you to create a new language? How in-depth did you go?

Browning:Although I can sing along to Lord of the Rings in Elvish, I am not a linguist like Tolkien, but I was a teacher of English as a Foreign Language for a few years, so I understand how my own language is structured. I wanted the Roumanhis to speak a beautiful working language and so I took my time establishing a proper grammatical structure, including rules on pronunciation for their everyday speech. It was challenging, but I really enjoyed working on it, although I don’t claim to be fluent myself…yet! You can learn more about the Roumanhi language on my website.

WNW:You’ve create a new world in the Tales of Roumanhi - do you ever find yourself wishing to be a part of that world?

Browning: People came from the cinema after watching Avatar feeling depressed because they didn’t live in a world like Pandora. I came out feeling depressed that we live on an equally stunning and miraculous planet yet don’t really appreciate it or do enough to protect it. I wish we had half the passion the Roumanhis have for their world and often wish I was there; especially to meet Hollam. I wouldn’t, however, want to live under Santovin’s oppressive rule and would miss chocolate!

WNW: Names seem to be significant to both individual characters and groups; do they have other hidden meanings?

Browning: The Roumanhis and Kalkassians have birth names which are sacred to them and well guarded. Only those in positions of authority or given leave to use them may do so, and then only as a sign of respect. It is offensive to take the name lightly. This becomes more evident in Decimation. The birth names can reflect family ancestry, status or virtues held most dear. Sometimes the name is so important to the family that elements of it are used for the common Clan name, which is why Hollam and Cail are not named after plants, animals or features like Briar, Tarn and Badger. Kházakha names carry no hidden meaning, although the women use abbreviated forms until they have earned their full titles, hence T’skya’s real name is Talaskya.

WNW: Are any of the characters autobiographical?

Browning: There are elements of me in most of the main characters, but no single character purely reflects me. The Roumanhis certainly share my passion for nature, and their emotions and experiences sometimes mirror my own, but I’m not letting on which. Many of the virtues, especially of the forest dwellers, are ones I value highly, but the darker side of my personality is probably best reflected in Raven. I certainly believe people will understand me better once they’ve read Liberation.

WNW: You mentioned that Tolkien and Stephen Donaldson were very inspirational to you; what other authors have influenced you?

Browning: I love the worlds Tolkien and Donaldson created and their style of writing. I especially enjoy epics and also wanted to write a story that wasn’t full of modern day swearing, explicit sex and gore, yet could still evoke strong emotions. Bronte with the dark and brooding Heathcliff; Thomas Hardy with his evocative countryside; Anne MCaffrey and her fantastic dragons, Asimov with his robots and many others have been influential, but the biggest influence has been life itself.

WNW: How many books are going to be in the series, and how much do you already have mapped out?

Browning: I haven’t made an executive decision on when to end this particular series. The second and third novels are now fairly polished drafts, the fourth is half a rough draft and the fifth is only an idea at the moment. The possibilities for more are endless; I could also do side stories about times past, or develop minor characters in a companion series etc. Writing the Tales of Roumanhi, Homequest series is a compulsion. If I don’t write about T’skya, Cail, Hollam, etc. and continue their tale, it’s as if I’m cutting their lives short. I will write until I die, but whether I publish them all is up to the fans. Due to enthusiastic demand, however, I’m hoping to publish Decimation sometime next year.
Caelcáladrim dakrit louis.

For more information about J.E. Browning and her book, Homequest: Liberation, please visit her website; www.homequest-liberation.com

By Christopher Stokum and Elizabeth Milo

WNW recently spoke with author Bobby Devito about his book Burned, an autobiography about his life as a rock guitarist in the 80s and 90s.

WNW: Why did you decide to write a tell-all autobiography? What do you hope to accomplish by sharing the stories you do in Burned?
Devito BURNED was not something I "decided" to write, it was something I HAD to write. I was playing fulltime as a musician in Key West, and being a sober person in Key West can be an incredibly lonely existence. I only worked about 20 hours per week, and had the rest of my time to myself, which was lovely. I spent a great deal of time at the Hemingway House, and the literary past of Key West really soaked into my being. I had already written a few chapters when my sound engineer called me as he was recording demos for a female singer/songwriter who was married to author Randy Wayne White. I met Randy, and he really wanted to read my stuff, which I initially resisted doing...but then relented, going to Kinko's and having a bound manuscript made for him. He came to one of my shows and sat for two hours reading my manuscript, never looking up during my show. Afterward, Randy encouraged me to finish the book, and gave me the "literary balls" to think that I might actually be a “writer.”
I do not know what I hope to accomplish by sharing these stories, other than I hope that people enjoy them and possibly learn from them and not make the same mistakes I have. And hopefully these stories might give hope and faith to others in the same sort of predicaments I found myself stuck in.

WNW: You discuss drug abuse and addiction a number of times in your book. Why did you choose to include these parts of your life?
Devito The issues of alcoholism and addiction form a thread throughout my entire life, starting with my grandfather. And a great deal of my life was spent using or abusing various substances. I do not wish to glorify these experiences, and I honestly think that my book shows a much less glamorous look at what a potential "rock star’s" life looks like from the inside. As a child, I grew up idolizing many musicians who were my heroes, and several of them were notorious addicts or alcoholics. There seems to a meme that to be creative and successful, one must indulge in drugs or alcohol.

WNW: It seems that some of these sections might be directed toward drug addicts. Do you hope to send them a certain message?
Devito I hope that ALL of the book is directed to EVERYONE. My hope is that other addicts or alcoholics might recognize patterns of behavior and learn from my mistakes instead of learning it the hard way, like I have. I want them to see that even the worst cases can change. And that support from others is essential, and you can never escape your consequences.

WNW: Why is it so important to you that certain names not be changed in your story?
Devito Well, it would be quite easy to identify many of the people in my past anyhow, through public record searches and other services. And there are others in my story who have been quite public about their issues, including one character who just spent an entire year on Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab Show on VH1. So does that person REALLY have any expectation of privacy regarding his drug use? I am not naming names of the countless celebrities that I have encountered at recovery meetings in LA, which would really surprise many people. There are FAR more people in my history that I am not "naming", and the few that are named in my book are essential to my story.

WNW: You worked hard to self-promote your music in the past. How has promoting Burned compared to that?
Devito It's just as hard, whether you are promoting a book or an album. I always point to LVX Nova as an example of how an unknown artist can become successful through hard work and effort. It's a great album musically, but since it is not "pop" music, it was a long road to getting a major label deal for that project. I spent a year working college radio, alternative press, non-mainstream retail, and the internet to make that album gain traction. I think that promoting BURNED will be just as arduous, but this book has the potential to reach a much greater audience that anything else I have created, so I will do whatever it takes to help it be successful.

WNW: Love, drugs, and music have run your life up until this point-- do you see writing becoming a new driving force for you?
Devito Well, I am currently married to wife #5, and she has been a great source of stability for me, as well as someone who has "double digit sobriety." I have the "love" part taken care of, finally. The alcohol and drugs part of my life finally ended back before I wrote the book, and I continue to maintain and "prune" my sobriety on a daily basis. I am very active in the musical instrument manufacturing community, with several endorsements and a lot of video demos of guitar gear on YouTube. Writing is kind of "new" to me, although I did have some articles published in the statewide Florida Music Magazine JAM in the 90s, and I also wrote a pretty extensive thesis on ambient music in order to graduate from New College in Florida back in 1996.
But I do find myself very interested in writing, although watching a real professional like Randy Wayne White work is daunting. He gets up at 4 am and works until noon or later EVERY DAY when he is writing a book. Writing is as much craft as it is art to me, and I am still learning. My coursework at New College with Professor Maureen Harkin really opened my eyes as far as literary theory, cultural studies, and how literature is interpreted and deconstructed. Her classes really opened up huge new worlds to me about what literature is and can be. I have two new books currently in the works—one is a proper novel that is set in Key West, and the other is a non-fiction history of a man named John W Ek, one of the most famous military knifemakers in the world, an ex-CIA operative, and trainer of the 2506 Brigade for the Bay of Pigs Invasion. John's son Gary is one of my best friends, and he has given me the entire Ek family archives and photos to work with, so that book will be quite unique.

WNW: How have the accusations of libel affected you personally?
Devito To be honest, it really threw me for a loop at first. There is no libel whatsoever in my book, and the only person who seems to be getting slandered is myself. I am certainly not a "hero" in BURNED, although I do emerge for the better at the end of the book. However, there were indeed a couple of "tweaks" to my story that have been made to protect the guilty. In the final analysis, I don' think that I made anyone look worse or better than they are in real life. My third ex-wife just read the book, and while she does not agree with all of it, she is a writer herself and understood that this book is MY truth, my perspective of what was happening around me and to me during these times. As Bob Uzzo used to tell me over and over "IT IS WHAT IT IS". And that's BURNED in a nutshell!

For more information about Robert Devito and his book, Burned, please visit his Twitter page or Smashwords page.

By Elizabeth Milo and Sarah Schiavoni
(image credit: Dominique Signoret)

Cthulhurotica - n. (kə-THoo-loo-rot-i-kuh) – an anthology of Lovecraft-inspired erotica; a new branch of “weird erotica.”

WritersNewsWeekly recently spoke to Carrie Cuinn, the woman behind Cthulhurotica, “An Anthology of Lovecraftian Lust.” As an emerging new genre of weird erotica—erotica based in science fiction and fantasy—Cthulhurotica has received some raised eyebrows about its choice of inspiration. Will too many tentacles keep readers from enjoying the stories? Creator Carrie Cuinn stands by her decision to pull together an anthology all about the sexual encounters of these Lovecraftian characters: “For us, Cthulhurotica is the logical extension of the works of H.P. Lovecraft, who often mentioned female characters that he never explored.” Cuinn views this anthology as an opportunity for writers to explore the lives of minor characters in the Cthulhu tales and expand on Lovecraft’s stories. Cuinn is also quick to clarify that this is erotic fiction, not porn. The submission guidelines call for stories that “entice, flirt, and tease,” not stories that are violent or demeaning. Cuinn says, “there is a difference between sex, and sexy.” Although when people hear a name that includes “erotica,” they may assume that these stories are going to be hard-core, but the anthology is attempting to veer away from just that. Cthulhurotica is going to bring a new quality to Lovecraft’s works and characters and explore the vast world of the Cthulhu mythos. This anthology is trying to branch out from what is expected and bring a little love back into these Lovecraftian tales.

WNW: We’ve heard of Star Trek Slash fiction, Harry Potter fan fiction, and countless anime spin-offs created by fans, but why Cthulhu and the stories of H.P. Lovecraft?
Cuinn: Until this question, I had never considered whether what we’re doing with Cthulhurotica could be “fan fiction”. That’s like saying anyone who writes about zombies is writing George Romero fan fiction. In the United States, where we’re located, fan fiction is considered a derivative work of a currently copyrighted piece. It generally exists outside the canon of the original literature, and is rarely professionally published. H.P. Lovecraft’s works are no longer under copyright protection, and in addition there is a precedent of established writers continuing to expand the Cthulhu Mythos (most notably by August Derleth, Lovecraft’s friend, and the man who coined the term “Cthulhu Mythos”). To me, this kind of expansion is on par with Caleb Carr’s Sherlock Holmes novel, The Italian Secretary, or Seth Grahame-Smith’s addition of zombies into Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice.

WNW: In your brief explanation of the anthology, you told us you hope to expand on the stories of the female characters in Lovecraft’s tales; would you say you are trying to bring gender equality to his stories?
Cuinn: Absolutely. Whether it was a symptom of the time he lived in, or a personal choice, Lovecraft rarely included positive female characters in his stories. Asenath Waite, from “The Thing on the Doorstep” was actually an evil old man wearing a girl’s body like a suit, and his other major female character, Lavinia Whateley from “The Dunwich Horror” was merely a servant of a greater evil. Lovecraft usually limited his women to a mention that the main character had a wife, one who faded from the story a sentence or two later. To be fair, Lovecraft didn’t just limit female sexuality – none of his characters are romantic or sexual either. He simply left it out. We don’t want to only expand the role of the female in the mythos, we also want to include a spectrum of gender and sexuality models, to better reflect today’s society.

WNW: How do you see your anthology fitting into the relatively small world of Cthulhu fiction already out there? How will your anthology differ from or expand on other Cthulhu fiction?
Cuinn: Most writers who want to work in the Cthulhu mythos are drawn to it by its surreal qualities and the ability to explore madness. For Lovecraft, the moment of enlightenment in his stories usually drove his characters out of sanity and into a place both glorious and terrifying. By adding elements of sex and romance into that, we can touch on those places where lust and madness meet. Humans are often attracted to what they know is bad for them, and how much worse can you get than dark gods and slithering monsters?

WNW: How would you define “written porn” versus “erotica”? How explicit will the stories that you accept be, compared to, say, romance novels?

Cuinn: Pornography exists to show us sex. It’s graphic, and it rarely involves a plot more detailed than a broken sink or a pizza delivery. The point of porn is to get to the sex. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s in a different category. Erotica includes sex as part of a larger story that has to have a theme, a plot, and character development. When you read a story where two characters kiss and then retire behind a closed door, you know what they’re doing in the bedroom, the writer’s just choosing not to share it with you. In erotica, the writer leaves the door open a crack, and you get to glimpse the best moments.
As far as what we’re planning to accept – that’s going to be open until all of the submissions are in. The level of sex we’re comfortable with is just past “romance novel” but not all the way to “porn”. In other words, what could you get away with doing and still be able to say, “We didn’t have sex,” with a straight face? It’s possible we’ll accept stories on the condition that they tone down the sex a bit before publication, but it’s unlikely we’ll accept anything that needs major revisions (or additions) of plot.

WNW: Do you expect more humanoid on humanoid stories, or humanoid on tentacle romance?
Cuinn: I hope it’s a good mix of both!

WNW: Do you expect Cthulhu to become a Zeus-type character -- coming down to Earth for copulation?
Cuinn: So far none of the submissions we’ve received have actually featured Cthulhu, though it’s always possible. Cthulhu is more of an icon, the symbol of a mythos that includes a wide variety of characters and monsters. And, technically, it would be “rising up to the Earth” since current reports put him in R’lyeh, somewhere deep in the ocean.

WNW: This idea of collecting H.P. Lovecraft-inspired erotica is certainly quirky. How do you hope to garner attention for this anthology when it’s released and draw in a wide audience?
Cuinn: Because it is quirky, people are starting to take notice, and we’ll back that up by delivering an anthology full of beautifully crafted stories. I like to tease my writers that the thought process behind their submissions is, “Cthulhurotica? Oh, that’s too weird for me. Well, I can see how it would work for some people, but not me. Actually, I do have an idea…” and I’ve been told repeatedly that’s how it’s worked for them. I think that readers will approach it the same way. Once they see that it’s more than a quirky theme, that the book has great stories and helps to develop this longstanding fictional universe, they’ll read it and recommend it to others. I will continue the same level of marketing that I am currently doing (which is a combination of persistence and politeness) to keep our name on everyone’s minds.

WNW: Do you think that this Cthulhurotica anthology will draw its audience from current Cthulhu fans, or draw in new fans from other erotica fan groups?
Cuinn: I’m guessing that we’ll mostly appeal to those interested in the mythos to begin with, but also to fans of this new genre of “weird erotica” I see popping up all over.

WNW: Are you planning to tackle more anthologies in the future? Are there other mythical creatures or book series that you’d like to build upon outside of the realm of H.P. Lovecraft?
Cuinn: Along with my own writing, I do plan to edit another anthology some day. I enjoy taking a vision, releasing it onto the population, and waiting to see what comes back to me. Since I create mainly speculative fiction in my own writing, it will probably be on a similar theme, something I’m already invested in. My current loves are space, zombies, mad science, post-apocalyptic stories, and alternate history, which give me a lot of room to run wild.

Want to learn more about this project and its creator? Interested in submitting a story for consideration for the anthology? Visit the Cthulhurotica website for information and submission guidelines. Cthulhurotica is currently accepting submissions, but the submission period ends September 15th.