Category: Interviews

In lieu of my customary tea, I’m having my first ever Chicago-style hot dog with the illustrous author and screenwriter, Mr. Alverne Ball! Keep those eyeballs peeled for his upcoming literary appearance in Shook! A Black Horror Anthology!

Alverne Ball has a M.F.A in Fiction writing from Columbia College Chicago. He has completed studies in Columbia College’s prestigious Semester in Los Angeles program, an intensive course focused on the adaptation of material to the screen.

He has taught graphic novel writing at Noble charter High School in Chicago. He has written comic and graphic novel material for such companies as Di Bona Ventura Productions, Paramount pictures, Mcgraw-Hill, Lion forge comics, New Paradigm entertainment, Campfire graphic novels, and 133art.com.

His writing has been published in the literary magazine Annalemma, in Columbia College newspaper The Chronicle, online at Brokenfrontier.com, online for the Museum of contemporary Photography in Chicago, online for Comicbookresources.com, and an online graphic story for the literary magazine, Hypertextmag.com. His short stories of suspense have appeared in the Sin anthology by Avendia Press, Criminal Class Review as well as the (now defunct) online magazine, the Heated Forest.

Mr. Ball is the recipient of the 2019 inaugural Tin House graphic novel scholar and he is the graphic novelist of the historical nonfiction graphic novel from Abrams comic Arts on Black Wall Street, entitled, Across the Tracks: remembering Greenwood, Black Street and the Tulsa Race massacre. He is the recipient of the 2014 and 2015 Glyph rising star award for his writing on 133art’s OneNation and OneNation: Old Druids. In 2009 Mr. Ball received first place in the Union League Civic & Arts Foundation Creative Writing Competition for his graphic story, “Virgin Wolf”. He has also received Three Weisman Scholarships from Columbia for his other graphic works.

Mr. Ball has traveled to South Africa to work as a storyline writer on the hit telenovella, Uzalo. He was also a screenwriter on the South African fantasy series, Ifalahke where he received story writing credit. Mr. Ball has written and produced a short film, Crossroads, which was shot on the Warner Bros. backlot via the AT&T Shape competition in the summer of 2018. He has also written and produced the short film, Tattooed Tears, which was directed by Aaron Lewis and was chosen as a 2016 selection for the Indiewise, Sankofa, MeccaCon and Egypt film festivals.

Mr. Ball has also created and written two online comic series, When we were Kings and Zulu, both published by Afropunk.com. He is also the author of the crime thrillers, Only The Holy Remain, and Blue Religion.

All works can be found www.alvernedball.com or wherever your favorite books are sold.

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Akis Linardos: A Genre Writer Trapped in the Body of an AI Scientist 

By Angelique Fawns

Akis Linardos comes at speculative fiction from a unique angle. Many of us fear the advent of Artificial Intelligence and there is a slew of dystopian fiction to prove it. Akis embraces it, and some of his research explores how artificial intelligence can help with human health. You can find his dark musings in several pro magazines, including Apex Magazine, Maul Magazine and Abyss & Apex.

I met Akis through my Wulf Pack writing group, and I sat down with him to get into the weed about his writing and the future of AI. 

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For this interview, I’ve travelled all the way to the snowy wilds* of Northern Alberta for tea with E.B. Hunter. Join us as we plunge into the deep, dark depths . . . of terror!

E.B. Hunter (he/him) lives in a remote town in Northern Alberta, Canada with his wife and daughter, and spends his days working and his nights crafting stories for your (and let’s face it, his own) entertainment. He has built characters and stories in his head since he was a teen, carving up the landscape of his mind and sculpting fantastical and horrible things. His stories started out small, and mostly terrible, but with patience, persistence and a deep love for unchartered territory, he has improved and is now published in four anthologies that include horror, fantasy and romance genres.

He never had a penchant for horror until his wife got him watching horror films, and then he watched them all, picking up tricks that would help him get under the skin of his readers and leave them wanting more. The writing tip of ‘twist the knife’ has never been so literal. His reading also tends to stick to the shadows, with favourite recent reads including ‘Rage of Dragons’ by Evan Winter and ‘Under the Dome’ by Stephen King.

E.B. is also the founder of the online writing community known as the Fantasy & Sci-Fi Writers Alliance. The Alliance helps members with all the little things the modern author needs to know like when to query, how to get traction on social media, what to do when your book launches and so much more. He has infected others with his love of helping the little guy and the result has been an incredible group of people who are always eager to help promote and raise up their fellow authors.

In his stories, he hopes to portray people as they are, flawed humans who are capable of great and terrible things, and that you can see yourself within his stories. He strives for representation in his storytelling, and believes that everyone’s story is worth being told.

E.B. Hunter’s stories can be found on Amazon and his website.

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I’ve hopped on the train to meet up with GG Collins, where we not only have tea, but I eat my fill of red-chile-doused enchiladas!

GG Collins (she/her) loves the southwestern US where many of her stories are located. She can be found hiking through ruins of the ancient Puebloans and enjoying New Mexican cuisine. When not traipsing about, she makes up stories with great friendships, quirky characters and, oh yeah, dead bodies. In real life she shares her time with a man, several neurotic—and psychic—cats and the ongoing struggle to grow a garden.

Whether you enjoy scary paranormal mysteries or cozy cat-populated puzzles, Collins delivers. The Rachel Blackstone Paranormal Mysteries are steeped with shamans and spirit animals. Although Rachel tries to avoid becoming the headline, she often finds herself smack in the middle of the story. This series contains elements of horror, violence and the supernatural.
Review: “Collins has done her research into Native American culture and values, and it shows. I highly recommend Anasazi Medium. Trust me. You won’t be able to put it down.” — Mark Scott Piper, Reviewer

The Taylor Browning Cozy Mysteries are more traditional. Taylor, a mystery editor at a publishing house, does a little sleuthing on the side. She really should stay in the office or at home with her cats Oscar and Cheddar, but Taylor seems to find clues and bodies regardless. Although Jim, her friend and art director at the publisher, and Det. Sanchez at the Santa Fe PD try to keep her out of trouble, well … . An inconvenient truth: she can’t edit her way out of real murder.
Review: “My favorite character, hands down, has to be the cantankerous cat, Oscar.” — Marcelle Valentine, Reviewer

Both series are inspired by the American southwest, its many cultures and Native American traditions. Collins has worked at a book publisher where she learned the ins and outs of bringing books from manuscript to bookstore. Her Taylor Browning Cozy Mystery series offers an inside look at book publishing from the eyes of a mystery editor. If you enjoyed “The Magpie Murders” on PBS, you’ll fit right in to Taylor’s world.

After her stint as a publisher she went on to reporting. The Rachel Blackstone Paranormal Mysteries explore history and contemporary issues in the Southwest with a journalist who is torn between her fact-driven reporting job and the spiritual realm where she reluctantly finds herself propelled. Along with best friend Chloe, Hopi shaman friend, intuitive kitty Chile Pod and the mysterious white wolf, she solves mysteries linked to both the quick and the dead.
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Brian Rosten: Dip Your Toe into Horror with The Maul

By Angelique Fawns

As a child, I loved to be scared. I read Stephen King under the covers after stealing it from my mother’s bedside table. Tales from the Crypt was my favorite television show. Learning to love and appreciate horror is an acquired taste. How does one drive our young folk safely into the world of horror these days? Brian Rosten has created a magazine to do just that. 

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For this edition of the Spooky Six, I’m having tea with Suzanne Craig-Whytock, and, yes, I’ve made a whole plate of cookies shaped like bones!

Award-winning writer Suzanne Craig-Whytock (she/her) found her passion for writing at an early age and had her first poem published when she was eight years old. She studied English Literature at university and was a high school English teacher for almost 25 years. She is the author of three previous novels, Smile, The Dome, and The Seventh Devil, and one short story collection, Feasting Upon The Bones. She is a member of the Canadian Authors Association and the Writers’ Union of Canada. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous literary journals, and she regularly publishes essays focused on life’s absurdities under the pen name mydangblog. She’s also the editor of DarkWinter Literary Magazine, an independent online publication of poetry and short stories out of Ontario, Canada, which publishes both emerging and established authors. Her second short story collection At The End Of It All is due to be released on February 7, 2023 by Potter’s Grove Press, and the sequel to The Seventh Devil is under contract to be released in 2023 by Bookland Press. Most recently, her second novel The Dome (winner of a Canada Book Award) was translated and published in Arabic by Arab Scientific Publishers in Lebanon and has been enjoying success overseas. Suzanne lives in a small town in Ontario, in a large rambling Victorian home with an acre of property that she and her husband have spent a lot of time rejuvenating. Her favourite things are her family, her black Lab Atlas, crows, white wine, antique clocks, and writing. She is a strong advocate and ally for LGBTQ+ people and believes that everyone deserves to be happy and live their own best lives.
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Wulf Moon and his Howling Good Kickstarter!

By Angelique Fawns

I joined Wulf Moon’s Wulf Pack writing group just over a year ago. My understanding of story structure –and how to craft a saleable short story –has skyrocketed since becoming a member. Not only does Moon give personal advice to his group, but every writer in the Pack is a talented author willing to help others improve with kind, helpful critiques. You can be invited to the Wulf Pack Discord if you purchase one of Wulf Moon’s writing seminars, and they are worth every penny. Moon recently released his “Super Secrets Illustrated Volume 1” in a limited printing. (I have a signed copy and love it.) He is in the middle of his Kickstarter for his next book, “How to Write a Howling Good Story.” Read on to learn more!

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