Terrifying Tuesday: Interview with Horror Writer J. Gunn

Welcome to Keira’s Corner, where there is always chocolate, and lots and lots of coffee.

Keira: You have a story out, a self-published project entitled Devil's in the Details. What is that about?

Jen: This is a compilation of two years of short horror tales derived to give the horror lovers out there something to enjoy this fall into winter. If you like blood and gore you're going to love it. 

Keira: What do you wear, to write?

Jen: I would say nothing but you all know that's not true, usually my jammies.

Keira: Is writing your only talent?

Jen: No just my favorite one, I also have learned a lot of formats for books, I love to draw, I used to sing in the choir, anything artist usually strikes a chord with me and I try to learn it. I'm a fast learner.

Keira: Why are you a writer?

Jen: Because when I think about not writing, I can't breathe. After almost 20 years it's like water in a river, without it I think I would just about dry up and fade away.

Keira: What time of day, do you write best?

Jen: The nighttime is my favorite time to write, it's quiet. The vampire tunes inspire and it flows better when the sun isn't shining in my eyes.

Keira: Do you use one or more pen names?

Jen: Yes, currently I guess I have two, picked up another a few months back for another project I'm working on with a friend. They are J. Gunn and Aziraphale the Angel of Death.

Keira: Are you currently running any contests? What are they?

Jen: No, I'm currently not but give it time I may think up a few.

Keira: What advice would you give to an unpublished writer?

Jen: Keep going, do not give up or give in no matter how depressing it feels at times. You WILL eventually find a method that works for you if you want it bad enough. Never stop learning and growing.

 

Let’s get personal…

Keira: What is your guilty Pleasure?

Jen: Right now, it would be Kindle books. Usually it's other things like chocolate I can't have because it hurts my teeth.

Keira: What is your favorite Smell?

Jen: Vanilla scented anything.

Keira: Can you tell us a secret?

Jen: Well, yeah I guess I can tell you, I'm planning a few more projects. I'm working on a Children's book for my daughter to be out around Christmas and a novel about a family who lives with and deals with daily a lot of ghost issues, it's not due out really soon just might be done with the first draft pretty soon, I'm at about 33k with it right now. (Huge secret about the ghost story, I didn't start writing it until September 17^th!)

Keira: What are you reading?

Jen: At the moment, not a thing lol! I've read a lot of books by my fellow authors, which I try to review because I love my friends, but lately I've been working so much I'm behind severely so I hope they don't smack me with a book from across the country lol!

Keira: Can you share your blurb with us?

What’s more tantalizing or titillating on Halloween then bloody corpses, living nightmares, or hatchets used to cut you to pieces? Inside this anthology you will find more than one's fair share of gore, and atrophy. Don’t blame me for what enters your dreams.

 

Devil's in the Details excerpt:

Excerpt from Your Blood, Devil's in the Details, Horror Anthology by J. Gunn

The day has come to kill you. Everything about you must die because your very presence on earth is wrong. You have been here without a soul for far too long. This world deserves a chance to live on without you, you evil son of a bitch. I will hunt you and when I find you and yours, you all will die.

I finally found you one day at a place secluded from a lot of other people in the dark; I had searched for what felt like ages. But really it had only been days. I walked out there without shoes and my feet were muddy and bleeding. My white dress draped my small form, clinging to me with sweat from walking all the way into the remote locale that your warehouse fortress had to be.

I walked all the way out there with my hatchet in my hand and murder on my mind. It glistened shining in the moonlight. And I saw a light on in the top floor window of your evil factory.

Grass that crackled on the bottom of my feet crunched as I slowly make my way up to the entrance of your ‘palace.’ I see you sitting with your back to the window and the small pains of glass glow with the light from your lamps.

I decided the place would go up in flames easy enough because the building was very old and I would do that after I killed you. It would be harder to tell who killed you if the evidence was all charred or mostly gone. Fire was like water a renewal source, so when it all burned to the ground it would cleanse the earth of your evil as well.

My small hand griped the hatchet hard and my brown eyes burn with tears of hatred for you and what you’ve done. My tear stained face was filled with emotions of many women all at once living in my head. My light olive skin was dirty and parts of my body are bleeding. My white dress is dirty too; matted with filth of the days and hours it took me to get to you.

I hide now staring up at you from behind a tree closest to the window you sit by. You have no idea I’m here, and certainly no idea that anyone knows about you and what you are, too bad for you but someone found you out and now I’m here to kill you. I see also that you have another with you I think I will go after him first then you. You will be the most fun anyway and why not save the best for last.

 

Where you can find J. Gunn:

Writer J. Gunn Tales of the Scary
Fanpage
Twitter
Blog

You can find Devil's in the Details at Amazon

Hugs,

Keira Kroft

www.keirakroft66.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/keirakroft

http://twitter.com/#!/KeiraKroft66

Terrifying Tuesday: Brett Williams

 Interview between Keira Kroft and Brett Williams

Keira: You have a story coming out soon though Gallows Press entitled From Murky Depths. What is that about?

 From Murky Depths about a troubled man looking to be a Good Samaritan after massive flooding hits Southeast Missouri. David Miller trolls his boat to help people in a tiny neighboring town. There he finds houses and businesses constructed on stilts, the town unscathed, pasty-skinned denizens unfriendly. However, David befriends a local couple on the outskirts of the town, and unwittingly becomes part of an epic struggle between good and evil—a struggle that will leave him questioning his faith…if he survives.

Keira: Is writing your only talent?

Heck no. I’m a pretty good cook, too. I’m pretty mean with a George Foreman Grill.

Keira: Where in the Hell did you find time to write?

Sometimes it’s tough. You’ve got to make time. And when you can’t make time, don’t beat yourself up too bad, if it’s not that often. In fact, I’m looking forward to my upcoming schedule change at my day job. I’ll be returning to a four day, ten hour shift again. That should help.

Keira: Why are you a writer?

The more I read, the more I want to write. For me, the two go hand-in-hand. I guess I just want to put a little Brett flare on the types of stories I like reading, as well as writing the more of the kind that are hard to come by. Plus I get stories stuck in my head. Writing is the only way to get them out.

Keira: If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor?

Richard Laymon, without a doubt. That man could spin a tale. He plays with his readers, screws with them. Reading a Richard Laymon tale you know that guy was having a blast. I have fun writing my stories, and I want my readers to have just as much fun. So I suppose he has taught me a thing or two. =)

Keira: How many hours a day do you dedicate to writing?

It varies widely. The minimum I can write is an hour—and that’s pretty tough. I typically start by rereading (editing) what I wrote the day before. I believe that helps with pacing.

Keira: Do you use a particular writing method?

You want me to tell all my tricks, don’t you? Ha ha… Just kidding. Not sure if it is a bad habit or not, but I do tend to count words. I think that helps me with pacing, too. I’m dead-set against writing a character sheet. I keep reading that writers, especially new writers, should write a character sheet. Bullshit. You got a character sheet written up, the first thing you’re going to be tempted to do is info dump. Yep, you’ll take a big ole crap right in the middle of your story. You don’t need to know much more than the basics about your character until the time comes. Your character stumbles across an M16, then you decide if your character retired from the military or lost a relative in the war. Maybe her older brother taught her to shoot while on leave. Who knows? A good writer shouldn’t, in my opinion, until the time comes. Characters develop much more organically that way.

Keira: What time of day, do you write best?

When inspiration hits! Although morning is better. I believe writer’s block is just a form of stress. If you run errands, meet with your kid’s teacher, etc. before you write, you are much more likely to get things on your mind besides what you are trying to write. At least that is how it seems to work for me.

Keira: Please share a particular detail about one of characters, please.

Typically I write a sex into my stories. In From Murky Depths I didn’t really do that. In fact, the protagonist, David Miller, is on the outs with his wife. Had the flood not hit, it’s very likely they would have separated. That’s one of the reasons he goes to help the people of Clayton, to delay following his wife to St. Louis.

Keira: Are you currently running any contests? What are they?

Yes I am. Thank you for asking. From Murky Depths just came out. The first three people to post reviews on Amazon will receive a signed copy of 2011 Erotica Quarterly (Halloween edition) featuring my erotic horror story “Cambion.”

Also, everyone who posts a review is automatically entered to win a copy of my novel, Family Business, coming soon from Gallows Press.

Don’t miss out!

Keira: What advice would you give to an unpublished writer?

Keep reading, keep writing, keep improving. Cast a somewhat wide net with your submissions until you find a market that works for you. Meanwhile, network with readers. One avid fan with good connections can make a world of difference.

Let’s get personal…

Keira: What is your favorite food?

A great cheeseburger.

Keira: What is your favorite Smell?

Freshly washed hair.

Keira: If you could change one your physical feature? Would you? What would it be?

Longer legs.

Keira: What is your favorite favorite animal?

Dogs. I’m a real dog lover. That’s one of the main reasons I wrote Family Business, a novel that aspires (and does a fairly well job, if I may say so myself) to put the atrocities of puppy mills in human terms. Coming soon from Gallows Press.

Keira: Do you have pets?

Yes. A miniature schnauzer named Fritz. He turns 13 this month.

Keira: What do you consider a household staple?

Tabasco sauce.

Keira: What are you reading?

I just finished Red: My uncensored life in rock by Sammy Hagar. Amazing book. This dude shows that you’ve got to have business sense to build a career, not just talent.

Reviews for From Murky Depths

Brett Williams is a writer who hooks the reader from the first sentence and holds that interest until the last.  With Williams, you are guaranteed to be entertained.

—Mark Allan Gunnells, author of Sequel

 

You can find Brett Williams at:

Brett Williams Fiction
Brett Williams on facebook

You can find From Murky Depths at:

Amazon.com

Keira Kroft

www.keirakroft.blogspot.com