An Interview With Michael Knost

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Today We’re Visiting The Wild West With Michael Knost

I recently got into a western horror kick. Something about the Old West drew me. The history in and of itself is fascinating and easy to get lost in. But what’s really cool is all the what-ifs you can play with. For as much as is known about that time there is an equal (sometimes more) amount that isn’t known. That’s where authors like Michael Knost come in.

Michael Knost is known as an author, editor and columnist covering many genres including such works as Return of the Mothman, Spectres In Coal Dust and others. His latest novella, The Deadwood Deal, is appearing in Dark Tide book #18, Blood and Bullets, was released on October 25, 2024.

Jennifer Griffin: I really enjoyed “The Deadwood Deal”! What was the inspiration behind the story?

Michael Knost: I’m not sure about the inspiration, but I was fascinated with the idea of doing the story, which is historically accurate as far as the events go, and looking at it as to why Jack McCall murdered Hickok. He was known as Broke Nose Jack McCall or Crooked Nose because he’d been struck in the face with a firearm. So I thought it would be neat to do a story like this where the reader wonders if McCall is seeing things because of brain damage from the injury or is he encountering something supernatural.

JG: What is it that drew you to this collection?\

MK: James Aquilone is a good friend and brought it up and I am a HUGE Western fan.

JG:Why the western theme?

MK: As mentioned, I am a huge Western fan. In fact, I am in the process of switching over to traditional Westerns at this very moment.

JG: Do you prefer writing short stories or the length of novels? I know each has pros and cons.

MK: For me, short stories are nice for small bites whereas novels are good when you just want to get lost. I hate writing short stories. I rarely write them, and when I do it’s usually because a friend asked me if I would. But I LOVE reading short fiction. But I find that I really enjoy writing novels and longer fiction.

JG: What will pull you into a story? A character? An idea?

MK: Character. Every time. As readers we connect to the story through the characters. We live vicariously through them. But good characters have to be written with the sense of allowing the reader to experience the story, the emotions, and sensory details.

JG: Do you have a piece that scared you when writing it? If yes can you tell me about it?

MK: This story scared me, but it was because I knew who would be reading it. In science fiction, a tremendous amount of readers ship will be scientists. And if you get an element of science incorrect in your science fiction, story, those readers—scientists—will eat you alive. Likewise, in the western genre, The greater number of readers in the western field are historians. So I was terrified the whole time. I wrote this, wanting to make sure that I had everything as accurate as possible.

JG: Out of all your work, what is your favorite piece? Why? Least favorite? Why?

MK: I think my novel Return of the Mothman is my favorite because I have heard from so many people who tell me, the characters touched their lives in deeply meaningful ways. As far as my least favorite, there are too many to mention. Fortunately, those were never published. Thank God I had better sense than to try to get them published.

JG: Who or what are your writing influences?

MK: Theodore Sturgeon, Ray Bradbury, Octavia Butler, Charles Portis, Andre Norton, Louis L’Amour, Larry McMurtry, and Robert E Howard.

JG: What would you be if you weren’t a writer? I often think I’d have been an archaeologist or marine biologist.

MK: I worked in broadcasting for over 35 years. I managed radio stations and worked in television as well.

JG: What got you into writing?

MK: I suppose I’ve always been a storyteller. Working in radio, is one of those things that constantly has you creating scenarios, stories, and possibilities. I think being an avid reader since childhood helped quite a bit with my curiosity as to writing fiction.

JG: What do you think everyone needs to read once? Why?

MK: I honestly don’t believe that there is a particular book that everyone needs to read. Simply because of the fact that every person will read that book from a completely different point of view, so it will have different meanings for every reader. But a book I recommend more than any to most people, is true grit by Charles Portis. It is a book that I read around every four years or so. So many people think that the term true grit is about the John Wayne character, or the Rooster Cogburn character, But it is not. True Grit was a term that accurately described the young girl who is the point of view character of the novel.

JG: Can you tell me about your new novel coming out?

MK: This week I will be finishing up a brand new novel. It is a traditional western novel. And it revolves around a young man who was part of a gang. He lost his arm from a gun battle during a bank robbery and has to relearn everything to survive.

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