Interview With Author Craig DiLouie

Today I have a treat, presenting a terrific interview with speculative fiction author Craig DiLouie. He stops by to chat about his books, characters and the genre of speculative fiction.

Interview With Craig DiLouie

Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself?

Thanks for having me on your blog! I’m an American-Canadian writer of speculative fiction, what’s called a “hybrid” author these days as my work is published by both big traditional publishers and also self-published.


Could you tell us a bit about your latest book?

One of Us is a Southern Gothic dark fantasy about a disease that produces a generation of monsters now coming of age and wanting their place in society—something they may have to fight for. It’s a gritty misunderstood monster novel that also carries themes of prejudice and what makes a monster a monster. It’s been described as X-Men by way of William Faulkner, but it’s far darker than either. Author Claire North described it as The Girl with All the Gifts meets To Kill a Mockingbird, which is I think nails it.

The novel was published in hardcover mid-July 2018 and is available in the sci-fi section of your local bookstore, as well as online in hardcover, all eBook formats, and audiobook.

Why did you write this book? What was your inspiration?

I was fascinated with the idea of writing a Southern Gothic misunderstood monster novel. Southern Gothic is typically dark, gritty, and includes elements like the grotesque, taboo, prejudice, and a society in decay. The idea was to have monsters live among us, but they came from humanity biologically, and now the rest of humanity rejects them. We clearly sympathize with the monsters, but when they finally push back with extreme violence, our sympathies become pulled between them and the people living in the town. The result is a misunderstood monster novel that reveals itself as a larger examination of prejudice. One of Us doesn’t preach or pose any answers but instead simply asks the reader to experience the novel’s themes through empathy with the characters, and then reflect on them if they want to do so.

What did you enjoy most about writing your book?

I loved working with the characters in this book and building the world they live in, then revealing it with a style that combines a dark, modern thriller with a traditional Southern Gothic tone. The result really sang for me as the writer.



What did you find most challenging about writing your book?

I wanted to show the full spectrum of human ugliness revealed through some of the supposedly “normal” characters, which required violence but also a scene with sexual assault. This is a very sensitive subject to include in a novel these days, and it had to be handled carefully without being gratuitous.

Do you have a favourite character?

One of Us is a character-driven work and has an ensemble cast of both “monsters” and “normals” living in or near a small town in Georgia in 1984. I didn’t have a favorite but loved writing all of them equally.

On the monster side, you have Brain, his oversized head containing a supergenius intelligence he hides from the “normals”; Dog, who believes if he works hard and plays by the rules, he’ll get a fair shake; Goof, a funny kid with an upside-down face and an extraordinary capability that attracts the interest of the government; and Amy, a plague girl who is beautiful on the outside, allowing her to hide in plain sight. Readers seem to love Dog for his earnestness and hope.

On the “normal” side, the characters are more based on Southern Gothic small-town tropes, and while our story’s monsters are very human, many of these humans are very monstrous. You have Gaines, a small town loser in love with a girl half his age; Sheriff Burton, who sympathizes with the plague kids but oppresses them to preserve what he sees as the natural order; Jake, the preacher’s son who is also the small town rebel, and more.

The lives of all of these people intersect in multiple ways, sometimes with sympathy and understanding, other times with fear and violence, leading to an explosive conclusion.

Of all the books you've written, do you have a favourite?

I’d have to say One of Us, followed by Suffer the Children, a horror novel I wrote for Simon & Schuster (Gallery) back in 2014. That novel is about a plague that turns the world’s children into vampires who become dead unless given human blood, which turns him into the children they once were for a short time. The children are vampires, but the parents, willing to do anything to get blood and keep their children going, become the monsters, and they do it out of the purest love in the world. The question behind the novel is, “How far would you go for someone you love?”


What do you enjoy most about writing in the speculative fiction genre?

I love writing sci-fi, fantasy, and horror because you can take the familiar and put it in an unfamiliar situation, resulting in contrast that titillates and possibly reveals truth. I particularly love the possibility of writing original works that push boundaries and make readers reflect on a fundamental human trait.

That being said, my self-published work mostly consists of military fiction series. These books are just plain fun for me to write, and they’re quite popular on Amazon.


What’s your next project? Any upcoming book secrets you care to reveal?

Currently, I’m revising another novel for Orbit. This book is about a brother and sister forced to fight as child soldiers on opposite sides of a second American civil war. As with One of Us, I think it will be provocative and I hope inspire people to reflect. Readers can keep up with this and other projects at www.CraigDiLouie.com.

One of Us by Craig DiLouie

They call it the plague

A generation of children born with extreme genetic mutations.

They call it a home

But it's a place of neglect and forced labour.

They call him a Freak

But Dog is just a boy who wants to be treated as normal.

They call them dangerous

They might be right.

“This is not a kind book, or a gentle book, or a book that pulls its punches. But it’s a powerful book, and it will change you.” – Seanan McGuire, author of Every Heart a Doorway

Available at:

 Amazon (US)

Amazon (Canada)

Goodreads

About the Author:

Craig DiLouie is an American-Canadian writer of speculative fiction. His works have been nominated for major literary awards, translated into multiple languages, and optioned for screen adaptation. He is a member of the Imaginative Fiction Writers Association, International Thriller Writers, and Horror Writers Association. Learn more at www.CraigDiLouie.com.

Five Classic Sci-Fi Novels Worth Rediscovering

We have a guest today, writer Aniya Wells, who stops by with some recomendations for scifi reading:

5 Sci-Fi Classics Worth Rediscovering

Though my reading has been concentrated in other genres lately, science fiction was truly my first love, and I retain the same affection for it today that I had when I was a teenager. I made my way through most of the attested classics of the medium, hungrily poring through lists of the most critically adored novels, and this process set me on a journey of mind expansion that taught me how to think, how to question, and how to wonder. Here are my five personal favorites within the speculative canon:

1. Ubik by Philip K. Dick

Naturally, I could as easily have chosen any number of other Dick masterworks. A Scanner Darkly and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said are not far behind. And The Man in the High Castle may be an even better book, but I feel its alternate-history framework doesn’t fit as comfortably into the quintessential ‘sci-fi’ rubric. Ubik, on the other hand, best embodies all the queasy, paranoid, wildly imaginative glory of Dick while setting out from a recognizable sci-fi starting point. A mind-boggling and unsettling dissection of the unreality of reality, like all the master’s best, soaked with the particular kind of existential fear and sadness that made him more than a cerebral trickster.

2. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester

Again, I like this one about equally with The Stars My Destination, but The Demolished Man wins the tiebreaker with its virtuoso mystery ending. This tale of telepathy, conspiracy, and murder in an apparently crime-free society must have been dog-eared by Dick back in the 50s; it contains many of the seeds of the work discussed above.

3. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

The hype is all true. This one is simply the most fun book I’ve ever read. Stephenson employs a postmodern kitchen-sink approach, throwing in enough good, funny, crazy ideas for 10 sci-fi novels and somehow making it all work. Hiro Protagonist, hacker and pizza boy for the Mafia in a Balkanized America of corporate city-states, meets...oh, you’re just going to have to read it (or re-read it) yourself.

4. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

One of the most formally perfect novels ever written (minus the controversial and, in my opinion, regrettable final chapter). Many are scared off from reading this by the narrator’s use of an invented slang called Nadsat, but it’s all part of the total aesthetic package of the book and is music to my ears, as much as Alex’s beloved Ludwig Van is to his.

5. To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer

Unlike many sci-fi fans, I don’t go in much for series: I want a different thing every time and am always suspicious of the motivations behind stretching out a “franchise.” The point being, I haven’t read the rest of the Riverworld series but I hear they’re good. This first one certainly was. It portrays a strange kind of afterlife on another planet where people from different times on Earth wake up and try to figure out what is going on. Peculiar and intriguing...perhaps I ought to read the rest after all.

Aniya Wells is a freelance writer and blogger. In an age in which consumers have access to unprecedented amounts of information, Aniya hopes to help her readers decode this information to make better decisions about personal finance, parenting, health, and more. She can be reached at aniyawells@gmail.com.

Magical, Mystical Tour: A Look Inside A Prince from the Shadows

Today the spotlight is on the book A Prince from the Shadows by J.Curtis Mace, as he stops by as part of his Blog Tour.

He's bringing with him a post detailing the fascinating background on the magic of the world inside A Prince from the Shadows, and a giveaway of a PDF copy of his book and some digital character art to one lucky commenter :

 The Myst

The magic of Erthlynd is called the Myst. This is the force of energy that surrounds and permeates everything. It can be moved and manipulated and even seen, but only by someone with a gift for the art. True mystics can harness this energy. They and use their own energy and even cast it out from themselves. It can also be combined with elemental magic (and other ancient strengths) and moved to a greater effect.

Before the breaking of the Old World and the "coming apart of all things," this Myst was contained in core of the great earthstone and only touched the world indirectly. Still, men abused the power and everything around them to know end, until the planet destroyed itself to be free of them.

And with the breaking, the Myst was set free. 

Of course, there was no one to use (or abuse) this magic, no life left to benefit from it. The great destruction erased even the memory of living things. But the Myst is the energy of everything, and it never dies. The deepest magic remained, and eventually it brought about another change.

It took a countless age for the Myst to manifest itself again. But life was eventually given a second chance. 

On the barren surface of the stone that would later become Erthlynd, a small flame appeared. Flaring blue at first then green with it and then red, this fire was the raw manifestation of the Myst burning in its purest form. These Fyres of Creation, the Incyn Vi'Ari, were literally the spark of life and the catalyst for living things brought back into the world. 

Of course, Man tried to control this fire and its elder magic and take it for their own.

The Incyn Vi'Ari ended the First War by changing the face of Erthlynd again to protect itself from Man's lust for power. Closed off from the world by the Genesys Mountains, the power of the Myst housed beneath the base of Ilsfore's Peak, still touches the world directly, but it's protected by the surrounding stone and by the fabled few who swore oaths to protect it.

The hands of Man can no longer touch the flame and the power of the Myst within, but those with the gift can manipulate the Myst and move it at their will. 

These are mystics, and Jeodyn is one of them.

In the East, the art of mystic manipulation was lost and forgotten. Those with the gift were/are looked down on as witches and evil men. In West though, the Myst was embraced. Vallyn, Jeodyn's first forefather, brought the study of the art with him into the West, and for a long time it flourished. The Blood of Vallyn was known from its beginning as a line of mystic kings, until one king without the gift took the throne. There had been others to carry Vallyn's blood and not his passion for the Myst, but this last king's pride and insecurity got the better of him, and he banished the practice, forcing it underground. 

With the practice banned, those who studied the Myst were forced into hiding. They banned together to form the Brothers of Sodal, and they studied the Myst in secret. They were a close-knit of group of brothers who vowed to never let Vallyn's teachings die. It was always understood that one should know the Myst and study and keep it, so that they may keep it safe from those who would abuse it. This promise kept the mystic art alive in Vallynhelm. 

When my story starts, the art of mystic manipulation has been banned for generations. Jeodyn is the first of the Royal line to be accepted as one of the Brothers of Sodal. His friend Leye is a very strong mystic, who would only take their offer to join if they took him.

The Brothers have their traditions, and a young mystic's seeking is one of their oldest. Earning a beard and dreadlocks during the year alone in the wild is another, though it's now custom to shave them before coming home (Jeodyn decides to keep them as tribute to the old ways). He spent all year in seclusion studying his art and realizing his talent.

Jeodyn can move objects by focusing on the energy surrounding them, he can even break them apart. Focusing on the energy of the Myst inside him (which is very strong, the strongest since Vallyn himself, though Jeodyn doesn't know it yet), he can cast his Myst as a punch or a strike, as an extension of himself. He's learning to channel it, and he even has the opportunity to use his own strength with another magic just as powerful and just as old as the Myst.

With the new incarnation of an ancient darkness now gunning for his family, Jeodyn's gonna need every bit of the strength he possesses and then some to keep his family safe. He knows his greatest power is rooted in the royal blood he shares with his namesake (Vallyn), and he knows he must use everything he can to keep that bloodline unbroken.

A Prince from the Shadows

A reluctant prince, determined to be a better man than his father, the king, has ever been, Jeodyn spent his last year in the wild, secretly studying the banned art of manipulating the Myst. Returning home, he knows he'll have to face his king's wrath and his mother's worry. But what Jeodyn finds with his younger sister is completely unexpected: Jynn has become dark and distant of late and has committed herself to a lover whose sinister demeanor personifies her own rebellion perfectly. No one realizes just how dark Jynn's heart has turned though or how deeply she's fallen, until she disappears.
Now, everything Jeodyn has learned and everything he's ever known about himself will be tested, when he sets out to do what his father should but never will: defend their family. Convinced Jynn will only leave again if they force her back, King Thayne gives the order that no one is to follow after her. So, to keep the promise he makes to his mother, Jeodyn must leave out alone to face the creature of darkness that has taken his sister.
Noirlok was born a man of Vallynhelm, but he lost his love and his life to the throne he swore to protect. Now, he has sworn revenge. To him, Jynn is that vengeance he's wanted for so long and the face of the love he'd for so long been without, and he takes her as his own. With the dark legion of shadowmen known as Shadorym behind him and the night at his command, Noirlok is ready to use all his power to keep what is his.
When Jeodyn ventures into the darkness of the ShadowLands to face Noirlok and take Jynn back, the fight to defend what they all have at stake begins.
A Prince from the Shadows is Book One in the series, Heroes and Flame, Blood and Myst.

The book is available from Lulu.com and Apple

About the Author:

J.Curtis Mace was born in Baltimore, MD, lived in Colonial Beach, VA, then North Hartford, MD and moved to Caroline County to in the ninth grade.  He graduated from CHS, class of ’96.  He's lived in Richmond, VA ever since (except for brief stints in Abilene, TX and Venice, CA).

He's married, he and his wife Heather have three children, and a dog.  He loves writing, art, and telling stories. Sharing them with the world is a new thing for him, but he's quickly learning how much he loves that too.
 

What to Study If You Want to Write Speculative Fiction

Today we have a guest blogger, writer Lauren Bailey, who's here with some interesting advice for those geeky writers out there:

 

What to Study If You Want to Write Speculative Fiction

Judging from my own experience, and that of other sci-fi lovers I’ve met, people frequently fall in love with speculative fiction as adolescents, or perhaps in junior high. Not that you’re entirely unfamiliar with the tropes of sci-fi as a child, in our society where a whole generation of post-Star Wars blockbusters have made sci-fi-lite the hegemonic genre of entertainment. Sure, you watch TV shows with spaceships zooming around, but as a real mind-bending, life-changing literary experience it usually hooks you a little later. For me, A Wrinkle in Time was a one-off thing when I was nine, but then I remember reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and A Spell for Chameleon and the floodgates just kind of opened.

The point is, for a lot of young people, by the time they’re in high school science fiction has become a passion, and can even feel like a calling. So what do you advise a kid in that position to “do with their lives”?

This is trickier with science fiction than other artistic vocations, because, obviously, there’s that whole “science” thing. You have to know something about science to write good (hard) science fiction. Besides, people will be pressuring you to do science and engineering anyway, cause that’s where the money is. But if you really want to be a writer, you’ll need some skills beyond the lab. Here’s my college advice for aspiring LeGuins and Heinleins:

1. Take mainstream lit and creative writing classes.

Literature is a trade in itself. While it’s possible to be both a chemical engineer, say, and a novelist, you have to put time into both. The danger here is that you may feel alienated by the snobbery of most MFA-style writing workshops. There will be strong pressure to drop the speculative elements in your stories or at least do some non-speculative work. My advice: give in to that pressure. You have more to gain than to lose. You can remain loyal to nerd-dom in your heart while taking what you can from the artsy-fartsy world of creative writing.

2. Stay well-rounded.

Besides science, and fiction, there’s a whole wide world of content that goes into any novel, and no field of experience is without its use. Furthermore, the “world-building” aspects of speculative fiction require one to have a good working knowledge of history and the social sciences. A generalized appreciation for the arts is important to be able to have confidence in your judgment as a writer. Good science fiction is good fiction, which means it must appeal to anyone who might pick up your book, not just the initiated and obsessive otaku few.

3. Consider computer science.

This is my big regret as a writer. I double-majored in English and Religious Studies because I was fascinated by the world’s religions. While that’s certainly helped lend some color and flavor to my imagination, I had not anticipated just how much tech skills make a difference for even the most liberal-arts-leaning of poets today. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve always been an early adopter and I can get by just fine. But in terms of practical skills for making an artistic dream happen these days, it can’t hurt to learn computers.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Keep watching the stars!

Lauren Bailey is a freelance blogger who loves writing about education, new technology, lifestyle and health. As an education writer, she works to research and provide sound online education advice and welcomes comments and questions via email at blauren99@gmail.com.

Interview wth author Ray Wallace

Another guest today, as author Ray Wallace stops by to chat about horror, zombies and writing:

Interview with Ray Wallace

1. Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself.

I grew up in the Pittsburgh, PA area. Moved to the Tampa, FL area after my junior year in high school. Developed a passion for reading all things fantastic (fantasy, SF, horror) when I was in my early teens. Was in a few metal bands and industrial music projects throughout my twenties. And, now, here I am dedicating most of my free time to writing my crazy little dark fiction stories.


2. Can you tell us about your latest book, Escape From Zombie City?

I actually wrote a big chunk of it for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) a couple years ago. Lots of Zombies. Lots of insanity. Lots of dying. The perfect stocking stuffer, really.

3. Escape From Zombie City is written in the style of a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book. Can you tell us why you decided to write it in that format?

I really enjoyed those books when I was a kid. I think it’s always been in the back of my mind to write a CYOA book at some point. But I wanted to do something a little different with it. Thus, the One Way Out idea, where only one pathway leads to your survival. Placing the reader in the midst of a zombie outbreak just seemed like a natural fit. I really enjoyed writing it and have been developing a few other One Way Out ideas.


4. Why did you decide to write in the horror genre?

Well, of course, I enjoy the horror genre a great deal. A lot of my favorite writers are horror writers--King, Barker, Lansdale, etc. I think horror writing is the most liberating form of writing. You can do pretty much anything in a horror story. Let all those nasty little thoughts always bumping around inside your skull loose on the world. It’s a lot of fun, really. And a lot cheaper than therapy. Everyone should try it.


5. Can you tell us about your writing process? Where do your ideas originate? Do you have a certain writing routine?

Whenever I have some free time and the urge hits me, that’s usually when I get my writing done. There’s no real process or routine. I’ve always been terribly unorganized. I keep telling myself that I’ll get better at managing my time some day but I’ve been telling myself that for a long time so we’ll see. As far as where I get my ideas... I think when you read enough, write enough, immerse yourself in what you’re doing enough, the ideas just seem to happen. And it’s always cool when it does happen, when a particularly interesting idea pops into your head. That’s the magic moment of doing anything artistic.


6. What is your greatest challenge as a horror writer?

Trying to do something a little different. Trying to not fall into all the old cliches. Because there is definitely no shortage of cliches in the horror field.


7. What sort of research do you do for your books?

Any research required for my stories is usually done on the internet. And it usually involves the small things, getting the details right. If a character’s wielding a gun it means reading up on makes and models of handguns, what sorts of ammunition they use. Looking up floor plans for different types of buildings. Checking out maps of cities or towns to get a better sense of the fictional city or town in which my characters interact. That sort of thing. Haven’t had to do the levels of research it would take to write a historical thriller although I’d like to give it a whirl one day.


8. What advice would you give writers thinking of writing horror or paranormal fiction?

The usual, I suppose. Read a lot of horror fiction but also read a lot of other types of fiction. You never know where that great idea will come from or what style might influence you. And write a lot. That should go without saying.


9. Who has inspired you as an author?

Wow, there are just too many to name. King and Barker, of course. And I love Joe Lansdale’s writing. Chuck Palahniuk. Skipp and Spector. Ed Lee. Poppy Z. Brite. Charlee Jacob. I could go on and on. There are a number of sci-fi and fantasy authors who have inspired me too: China Mieville. Stephen R. Donaldson. Frank Herbert. William Gibson. It’s a terribly long list. There are a number of bizarro writers I enjoy reading too.

10. What’s next for you?

THE HELL SEASON will be released by Severed Press here in the near future. I’m also editing a collection of my short fiction which I hope to have out in the next month or two. Putting the finishing touches on a novel called A MAN POSSESSED and hopping around between a few other projects. The fun just never ends.

Ray Wallace hails from the Tampa, FL area and is the author of THE NAMELESS (Black Death Books), ESCAPE FROM ZOMBIE CITY: A ONE WAY OUT NOVEL (The Zombie Feed Press), and THE HELL SEASON (coming soon from Severed Press). More than two dozen of his short stories have appeared in such magazines and anthologies as THE ZOMBIE FEED: VOL. 1, THE BLACKEST DEATH: VOL. 1 & 2, and EROTIC FANTASY: TALES OF THE PARANORMAL. A few of his other stories have appeared at THE CHIAROSCURO website where he took first place in their second annual fiction contest. He also wrote a long running book review column for THE TWILIGHT SHOWCASE webzine and now writes reviews for CHIZINE and SFREADER.COM.

http://www.raywallacefiction.com/

www.facebook.com/raywallacefiction

http://thezombiefeed.biz/escape-from-zombie-city-by-ray-wallace/