20 Questions with B.W. Morris

Author Interviews

I was blindfolded and led to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. It wasn’t a pretty place, but it gave Bob the privacy he needed. I sat on an old wooden grate under a glaring bright light. He yanked off the blindfold, but all I could see of my interrogator was a shadowy outline. I had the feeling others were watching, listening, judging, but I wasn’t about to back down. “Give me your best,” I sneered.

But seriously… here’s a fun 20 Questions Interview I had with B. W. Morris, a fellow writer who will be finding himself on the other side of things in March just before the release of his first novel.

20 Questions with B. W. Morris

And no, we aren’t related … at least not that we know of!

 

 

Movie Review – Boggy Creek Monster (Documentary) 2016

Based on Lyle Blackburn’s 2012 book, The Beast of Boggy Creek, and produced by Small Town Monster Films, this hour-long documentary begins where The Legend of Boggy Creek ended back in 1972.

Like so many of my generation, I saw the The Legend of Boggy Creek when I was an impressionable youngster. It struck terror into the hearts of many. I’ve watched other documentaries on Bigfoot, as per my reviews HERE, and most were more than a little hokey. Not so with Boggy Creek Monster. Lyle has a serious curiosity about this legend and listens with genuine interest to the current residents of Fouke, Arkansas where it started.

You’ll learn back story that wasn’t touched on in the original movie and you’ll be brought up to date with sightings that still go on to this day. Previously unreleased audio recordings of Smokey Crabtree make their debut as well as interviews with current relatives of the Crabtrees and other families that were present during the initial filming in the early 1970s.

This documentary really makes me want return to Fouke with a little more time and a little more exploration. It’s a must-see for anyone who grew up both loving and fearing the ‘monster’ of Boggy Creek.

My only complaint … it wasn’t long enough.

4.5 out of 5.0 Ravens

Watch the trailer HERE.

 

Author Interview – Thomas S. Gunther

As part of my New Year’s Resolution to reach out to more of my fellow authors and stop being such a hermit, I will be presenting you with a monthly author interview. The majority are of the horror genre, but I’ll slip in at least one YA and one Sci-Fi author just to mix it up a little bit.

ThomasGunther

Let’s get the ball rolling with horror author, Thomas S. Gunther who specializes in short stories.

Pamela – Every writer has a story on how it began for them. When did you first begin to realize you had a knack for storytelling? Was there someone who influenced/encouraged you down the path of being a writer?
Thomas – Storytelling usually got me in trouble as a kid! But, seriously, I think it was an admiration for other storytellers that inspired me. My parents are both avid readers, and were diligent in reading to me as a kid. They introduced me to various classics. The adventurous pictures writers like Kipling and London painted engendered new stories in my own imagination. I started out as more of an artist than a writer, though, and my parents originally tried to discourage my writing–they wanted me to be a commercial artist. I wanted to draw dragons and talking animals, and hash out ideas stewing in my brain. If I had gotten serious earlier I’d have been more likely writing fantasy stuff now, which I might someday, anyway.

Pamela – It’s been said that in order to be a writer, you must be a reader.  What genre(s) do you enjoy reading and what was the last book you read that you really enjoyed?
Thomas – Because of my folks I learned to read at an early age, and read quite a bit, myself. I’ve read all kinds of stuff: the classics, science-fiction and fantasy,  horror, etc. If it hooks me from the start, I’ll usually read it all the way through, though sometimes I’ll lose interest and move on to something else. I am currently reading James Clavell’s, King Rat, and it’s fairly intriguing. But the last book I read that truly had an impact on me was Nabokov’s Lolita which was the driving inspiration behind my short story, Deviant. It’s such a taboo subject, and while it’s not one of my better stories, it was a lot of fun writing it. I’ll admit I rushed the ending, a fault I’m eternally working on, but it was an experiment of sorts, as I want to know just how far I can push the most disturbing subjects.

Pamela – Inspiration can come from anywhere at any time. In general, what aspect of a story comes to you first? Do you have a powerful image of a setting, or maybe just a title?
Thomas – Titles are tricky for me. Sometimes I like the ones I come up with, and sometimes I struggle. But, I doubt I’ve ever written a story around a title, though I tried that when I was younger. My story ideas typically come to me as abstract thoughts. They might come to me at any time, regardless of what I’m reading, watching, or doing, and they will be incredibly vivid, but without form or shape. It’s like something I just know in my gut, but can’t quite put my finger on it. I think trying to do so is what I love most about writing, especially writing horror and anything macabre. Maybe it’s a way of pinning down specific fears. I don’t know. That’s a tough question.

Pamela – I’m often asked which of my novels is my best or favorite. Which of your own stories are you most proud of, and why?
Thomas – I dream of being able to say that. I can’t imagine what it’s like to actually complete a novel. But, to answer your question, I would have to say To Catch the Tears of Darkness. It still feels very different to me then my other work, and it wasn’t an easy story to write. I hate predators that prey on children. I tried to imagine what it was like for Chloe, and I had to put myself in a dark place. How awful. People seemed to really like that story, though, and I got a 5 star review from another writer. I liked that because it was non-biased, from someone I don’t really know. That encouraged me to keep going. That story began years ago as something completely different, and it’s undergone several phases. But, I think what I am proud of, and what I think other people like, is that I think I touched on that awesome element that makes a story great.

IcarusRising_Gunther

Pamela – I know one of your short stories was recently accepted by Jason Nugent’s blog page, (Almost) Average. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? Where and when will we be able to find it?
Thomas – Yeah, that was pretty cool. He just asked me out of the blue. He said he was going to start featuring unknowns like myself on his page, and asked me if I wanted to contribute something. I thought my story, Icarus Ascending was the best fit, the best way of introducing my work. If I recall what Jason told me, it should be featured late this month, within the last week I believe.

Pamela – Where can readers find out more about you and where can your work be found?
Thomas – I have a Facebook and Twitter account. The curious are often afforded some insight into what drives me there. As far as my actual work goes, you won’t find me on Amazon at the moment, though I hem and haw about publishing there, simply because Amazon is so dominant. But I’m far more comfortable publishing on #Smashwords–I feel I have more control of my work. But, I am relegated to the adult section, and that sort of makes my stuff difficult to find. However my stuff is available on several different eReader platforms like NOOK, Kobo, and I’ve even found myself listed on iTunes. Once I found one of my stories translated into German. I never did find out if it was anyone authorized to sell my work. I figured, right now, it’s more important for me to get my name out there then worry about making any money. But, on second thought, I need money. Give me money.

Thanks a lot, Thomas. I really enjoyed learning more about you and your work and I hope 2017 proves to be a super successful year of writing for you.

Folks, if you’d like to know more about Thomas and his work, I’m sure he’d love for you to visit and like him on Facebook, give him a Follow on Twitter, and check out his books over at Smashwords. Be sure and read his short story that will be appearing over at Jason Nugent’s website later this month. If you like what you read, look into his other short stories and post a review!

Thomas Gunther on FACEBOOK
Thomas Gunther on TWITTER
Thomas Gunther on SMASHWORDS

All images provided by author Thomas Gunther and used with his permission. (c) 2017

Resolving Into The New Year

Writer's Life / Writing

The sun is slowly starting to brighten the sky on this cold, January morning. It’s a character-building 10F here in the my part of the Finger Lakes. I’ve downed half of my first cup of coffee, checked and replied to some emails, and tossed a load of laundry into the dryer.

It’s been a pretty busy week for writing. Not everything I did had to do with making progress on The Witch’s Backbone, but there’s some of that, too. My one and only New Year’s Resolution was to make more of an effort to reach out and get to know more authors. I don’t know many in-person so I decided to start with the long list of them I am connected to on Twitter. It started out by simply paying more attention to their Tweets instead of trying to be clever with my own. I started to ‘love’ more, to ‘comment’ more, and to ‘retweet’ more. I follow a good number of writers who blog, too. Again, time for me read more of their posts and learn about who they are and what they are about. And, of course, to comment if I enjoyed their posts. Both efforts have proven to be quite a nice experience and something worth continuing to do.

It wasn’t enough to just read and like and love and retweet and comment though. It was decided to do some interviews. Again, I turned to Twitter for ideas and names. I didn’t want to overwhelm myself with this endeavor and figured one interview per month would be good. That, combined with any book and movie reviews I will get out, along with my random ramblings about events and working on my own writing should keep this blog pretty active for the year. I selected the authors (most of them of the Horror variety)  who most often interact with me on Twitter and sent them private messages. The response was swift and entirely positive. The calendar filled up in less than 24 hours! Not only that, I’ve already got back filled out interview questions for those who will be featured this and next month. If you’re a published or soon-to-be published author and I didn’t approach you, don’t feel bad. The list I had was long and I just couldn’t get everyone in. I didn’t expect everyone I asked to give me such a quick and positive response, but then, we’re writers and we do love to talk about our work, don’t we?

On top of this, I’m going to be a featured blogger next month for another writer and I’m waiting on a list of ’20 Questions’ to appear in my inbox for me to answer from a second author.

As if all this weren’t enough, the website is getting a complete makeover. As much as I liked the old version, I felt it was time to make a change. I sent my ideas to my web guy (aka The Husband) and off we went. He’s been working diligently all week on it and it’s shaping up very, very nicely. It still needs a bit more, but it shouldn’t be long until it’s all said and done and he can get back to being a Computer Gamer instead of a Graphics & Web Designer. I’ve no doubt he’ll be a happy man when I can stop saying, “Honey… can you change something else on there for me?”

This first week of the New Year has been pretty darn busy now that I look back, but it hasn’t for a moment felt like work. I like that.

And now, with a second cup of coffee fresh and hot by my side and the crows fed, I think it’s time to look at what I wrote yesterday on TWB, do some quick fixes as needed, and see what today holds for my five youngsters stuck in the woods at night with something not quite human.

Write on!

 

Book Review – The Montauk Monster by Hunter Shea

So, you think you know the Montauk Monster, do you? You may want to think again. Horror author and Monster Man, Hunter Shea has a theory. Let’s hope he’s wrong.

In July 2008 a mysterious creature was found dead on a beach in Montauk, NY. Guesses of what the creature was ranged from a raccoon, a shell-less turtle, a small sheep, and a dog. But the most interesting guess was it was an experiment from the Plum Island Animal Disease Center nearby. Had this been a singular, isolated case perhaps less would have been thought of it. However, another odd-looking unidentified creature was found in March of 2011 in Northville, NY. In July 2012, a similar one appeared beneath the Brooklyn Bridge in the East River in New York City. Finally in December 2014, a forth body washed up on a beach in Santa Barbara, California.

MontaukMonster_Beach2   MontaukMonster_Beach

Enter Hunter Shea, creator of “Swamp Monster Massacre”, “The Jersey Devil”, and “Loch Ness Revenge”, horror novels where the author takes what we think we know about these legendary cryptids and twists them into blood-thirsty terrors, hell bent on destruction. “The Montauk Monster” is no exception. Where did these things come from, because believe you me, there’s more than one. Are they lab experiments or freaks of nature? Most importantly, how can they be stopped? Once you take Shea’s hand there’s no letting go. He takes off on a dead run from start to finish as one attack after another and the efforts to stop them are presented to us in all their gory Technicolor glory.

This is my fifth Hunter Shea novel and it’s become my favorite. With the others he uses a cryptid with known attributes. We know what Bigfoot looks like and, in general, their preferred habitat. The legend of the Jersey Devil has been around for hundreds of years, as have stories of Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster. We know them and in many cases, have grown to love them. Not so with the Montauk Monster. He’s new. He’s different. He’s anybody’s guess. I really enjoyed what Shea did with this one because it was so much his own creation, based less on what we know and more on our wildest, weirdest, and most terrifying speculations.

To learn more about Hunter, his monstrous menagerie, and other tales of terror check out his website: https://huntershea.com/

Five out of Five Ravens.