Category: Interviews

Joining me for tea today is veteran journalist and speculative fiction writer, Ray Van Horn, Jr.!

Ray Van Horn, Jr. is a veteran journalist and photographer and author of the short story collection, Coming of Rage, released in 2022 through Raw Earth Ink. He spent 16 years covering music and film for outlets such as Blabbermouth, AMP, Pit, Dee Snider’s House of Hair, Music Dish, DVD Review, Horror News.net, Fangoria Musick, Metal Maniacs, Noisecreep, Unrestrained, Impose, Caustic Truths, Pitriff, and many others. In this time, Ray interviewed more than 300 musician, actor, and horror director personalities and he wrote more than a thousand media reviews. Ray contributed essays to Neil Daniels’ music biographies on Iron Maiden and ZZ Top. Ray’s former blog, “The Metal Minute” won Metal Hammer magazine’s “Best Personal Blog” award.

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For this interview, I’m hosting a special tea for not only writer/artist Jen of MoronicArts, but their “feline daughter” Nicki as well. And, yes, as a cat lover myself, I’ve made a special catnip tea brew for my additional guest!

Jen (they/them/theirs) is a gothic weirdo who makes up stories about fake people doing stupid things, and posts them to their blog called MoronicArts. Sometimes Jen draws strange pictures. Size matters; over 400 of these short and even shorter stories might be found at MoronicArts.com. Maybe. Jen spent five years of Hell living in Illinois before they moved back to Utica “Steamed Hams” New York where they live in a quiet neighborhood along with feline daughter Nicki.

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Welcome to the debut of Willow Croft’s “Spooky Six” author interviews! Kicking off the premiere is Victoria Audley! Come into the parlor, have a cup of tea, and get cozy while we delve into all things spooky!

 

Victoria Audley is a folklorist, museum educator, and ghost escaped from a gothic novel, currently haunting the northern English seaside. In her spare time, she befriends the local crows and plays too much D&D. You can find her at https://bio.link/vcaudley, and her books on Ko-fi and Blurb.

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Catherine Weaver: Weaving tales of magic for young and old alike.

By Angelique Fawns

 

Writing is in Catherine Weaver’s blood. From a grandmother who interviewed Amelia Earhart to a mother who taught and created poetry, Weaver continues the family tradition. She’s published several books for children and is currently focusing on winning Writers of the Future. I met this remarkable wordsmith through the DreamForge Magazine DreamCaster’s writing group and Wulf Moon’s Wulf Pack. Curious about her literary journey, I asked her a few questions.

 

AF: When did you first decide that you wanted to become a writer?  What was your inspiration?

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Bruce McAllister & his new anthology “Stealing God”

By Angelique Fawns

 

It’s rare I “hero-worship” another writer, but it when it comes to Bruce McAllister, I am definitely star-struck. McAllister is a Hugo and Nebula nominated science fiction and fantasy writer. My first taste of his genius was the imaginative telling of an alien assassin “Kin” on actor Levar Burton’s podcast Levar Burton Reads.

Issac Asimov himself says, “Bruce McAllister is one of the greatest talents working in the science fiction field today.”

He was the guest speaker at my January 9th, 2022 DreamCasters’ writing meeting and he shared the secrets of good writing with us. In my opinion, every word that dropped from his mouth was a nugget of pure gold. 

McAllister has recently released a short story collection, Stealing God and Other Stories. Each tale is touched with magic, love, and drew me in completely. 

He kindly agreed to chat with me about his anthology, writing process, and career. He even drops a few priceless pieces of advice for authors. 

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NEW BLOOD: The Rebirth of Indie Horror

Special Halloween Edition – A Conversation with Stuart Conover

by Matt Micheli

 

These interviews are intended to be very candid and conversational. There is nothing off limits.

 

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Today for the special Halloween Edition of NEW BLOOD, I felt it only fitting to bring you the founder of the very platform we are reading from this moment, The Horror Tree, which has been a big force for indie horror and speculative writers… Welcome, Mr. Stuart Conover!

Stuart, before we get into the Horror Tree and where it’s headed, I wanted to talk about something that surprised me a little… You don’t just work behind the scenes helping other indie authors; you write, too, and have over 85 stories in print, your newest publication in the newly released Lockdown Fantasy #4 by Black Hare Press. 

 

When did you write your first story? 

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