Interview with "Call Me Fuchsia" author--Jo Mitchell

 While work continues on the upcoming winter release of the third and final installment in my Old Greenesboro Trilogy, we're going to turn the spotlight on a different author today--my oldest daughter, Jo Mitchell. It may come as no surprise to you, but Jo has been writing for nearly her entire life, and I'm proud to announce her debut science fiction novel Call Me Fuchsia, out now in both print and Kindle editions. But enough of me yapping. I'll turn it over to Jo.

GM: Hey, Jo. Well, I certainly know who you are, but tell us about yourself. 

JM: Hey! I’m Jo Mitchell. I’m a science fiction author and college student from Northeast Arkansas.

GM: Tell us about the book!

JM: My new book is Call Me Fuchsia. It’s the first of a trilogy. This book is about a woman named Tanzee Clyborne and her feelings towards her best friend, Pepe Bijiola. When Pepe is given a job opportunity in a world of mechanical and corrupt politics, Tanzee becomes suspicious (and jealous), and chooses to investigate.

GM: What initially inspired you to write Call Me Fuchsia?

JM: There’s a lot of different places I took inspiration from, really. During my freshman year of high school, I was in a Civics course that watched the 2020 election. About the same time, I heard a sermon over the letter to the church of Thyatira discussed in Revelation. I took the two and melded them into a world of politics, devotion, and lies that I penned about twenty songs over before sitting down to character plan. Ultimately, the world started to get too big for music, and I realized I wanted to dedicate time to the stories I was trying to tell.

GM: Though this is your first published novel, you’ve written several stories before. What made you decide to pursue this one to publication?

JM: Honestly, a lot of it was timing. I scrapped the project twice, picked it up again, rewrote the trilogy, and prayed so many times over it. Despite hesitating dozens of times, I think the sheer amount of time I spent over it pushed me to completion. So much of my high school years were spent writing or planning the trilogy, and even though I’ll never be completely satisfied with my product, the opportunity to write it has been an honor and a privilege. As tacky as it sounds, a lot of different versions of myself worked on Call Me Fuchsia, and I think those versions deserved to see it come to fruition.

GM: What do you hope the reader gains by reading the book?

JM: We live in a world of constant digital and mechanical struggle, where so much of our time is spent debating whether or not our own advances and creations are good for us. In Call Me Fuchsia, I wanted a technology that could speak for itself without the chatter of human dictation. I wanted a robot whose rapid advancement paralleled that of our hand-held electronics. I hope, somewhere in the overwhelming and neon-lit world of my novel, readers see characters that make poor decisions that still feel guided. I won’t act as though my first novel is the perfect book or a radical, cyberpunk dialogue. It’s also just a story I wanted to tell with characters that I wanted to build. Still, as the story progresses, there is a story of constructed truth, false hope, and the sting of humanity.

GM: What’s next for you?

JM: Book two and three of the trilogy are my current priorities. Call Me Fuchsia itself is over sixty percent aligned with its first draft, which I wrote at 15. The next two books, though, are more recent and tell a story that feels truer to my abilities now. After that, I can’t promise one specific title. I’m certain it will be science fiction; the genre is easily my favorite type of writing. Whatever it is, I want it to be very different from this trilogy while still sounding like I wrote it. A lot of Call Me Fuchsia was my attempt at modernized, grandiose science fiction, and I’m sure my next project will lean more towards the media that I’m digesting now. All art is a nod to previous art.

Thanks to Jo for stopping by, and be sure to go check out Call Me Fuchsia today!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Tanzee Clyborne and Pepe Bijiola exist as two of millions in the gloomy capital of New Thyatira. The poor quality of life in the city, known for its class divisions surrounding the color purple, leads the pair to find refuge in both art and rather intimate interactions with each other. Too often, Tanzee wonders if their connection is more than physical. 

However, a unique career opportunity suddenly has Pepe whisked away to the rich neighborhoods of the East District with a woman who claims to be the next ruler in a once monarchial state. Tanzee, rightly skeptical at first, becomes obsessed with learning all she can about Pepe's new employer. With the help of her friend Atlas--a repairman in large, black sunglasses--Tanzee must decide if she is more concerned with Pepe's wellbeing or what will become of her life without him.

From breakout novelist Jo Mitchell comes "Call Me Fuchsia": a tale of love, lust, and the abyss that is the in-between.

Hangin' Out with Bob Freeman, Author of "First Born"!

Well, hello there! It's been quite awhile since I've been 'round these parts, but today I've returned to the Internet for a special occasion. My buddy Bob Freeman has got a new book out--First Born: Tales of the Liber Monstrorum--and you should know about it! To celebrate, I've invited Bob back to the blog for another palaver about his latest publication, inspirations, future projects, and anything else we have a mind to discuss. So, on with it!

Greg Mitchell: It's Bob! He's back! What have you been up to recently?

Bob Freeman: Thanks for having me, Greg. It's good to be back. I'm still hard at work being the best husband and father I can be, all the while indulging in my various and sundry eccentricities.

GM: You've got your priorities in the right place, there. Let's talk about the new Landon Connors book, First Born. This is the first book in your massive Liber Monstrorum opus, yes? What's the skinny?

BF: First Born was a chance to put most all the Landon Connors/Wolfe & Crowe stories that I've written so far under one roof. I say most because I only included those stories that take place before Descendant, which will be the second volume in Liber Monstrorum.

GM:  I have to say that, though I know you've published most of these stories in other sources, reading them all in a single volume--with the stories arranged in chronological order--really brings it to new life. You can see the sprawling occult epic like never before, and I made so many more connections between the various stories than I did when I was reading them scatter shot across various sources. 

I know you're never supposed to ask a writer this, but is there any particular story that sticks out in this collection as your favorite? Or, when putting them together, did something previously unknown to you about your story world jump out?

BF: Wyrdtails, in a lot of ways, because I think it has an interesting twist and there's a lot of truth I put down on paper. My best friend passed away less than a month after writing that story, and in some ways, I think it was prophetic. In fact, it's only now that you ask that question that I'm somewhat staggered by that revelation.

GM: I recall Wyrdtails as having a heavy feel to it. What's next for Landon Connors?

BF: Well, there's his role in the collaboration you and I are putting together, but I suppose that's as much of a tease as we should give your readers.

GM: Too true! Yeah, Bob and I are at work on something that's proving to be an exciting exercise. But that will remain secret...for now.

BF: He has a minor role in Descendant, though his influence is ever-present. He's there between the lines, in the spaces between words. His role is far more prominent in Liber Monstrorum's third volume, Born Again, and then, I will look to wrap up the series in the fourth and final book, Afterbirth.

GM: I'm so ready for those. I've read an earlier incarnation of Descendant, but I believe Born Again and Afterbirth will be fresh territory for me to explore as a reader--and I'm happy to do so!

Of course, Landon isn't the only focal point in your mythos. How are the Wolves of Cairnwood these days? You've got one final book to complete that trilogy, right? Any update on that?

BF: I have been dropping hints, here and there. A lot of questions regarding the Cairnwood Legacy will be answered in Born Again, strangely enough. If sales warrant it, Shadow of the Wolf will come along after. If not, I think Born Again could satisfy that itch.

GM: Yeah, it's only been recently after some of the stories you've published online on your site (occultdetective.com, shameless plug) and conversations we've had that I've started to figure out how the two mythologies connect--and once I hit on it, it was incredibly exciting, but also very mysterious. I'm anxious to see how it all comes together.

Okay, books on hold for a second, though: Recently you (finally) watched Stranger Things. To say I love that show is a sad, sad understatement. This is the point in the interview where I give you the mic and let you expound your love for the wonder of Stranger Things.

BF: Look, I was born and raised in rural Indiana. I was 17 years old in November of 1983. I was an avid player of Dungeons & Dragons with a insane curiosity about all things "paranormal" and considered myself a student of the occult. Stranger Things was like holding up a mirror to my childhood in a lot of ways. It really hit home. Couple that with the obvious homages to Carpenter, Spielberg, and other milestones from the era, and well, it was tailor-made for someone like me. It was me...

GM: No doubt. It tugs at me. I switch it on, and I'm transported back in time. It takes me back to when I first saw the Monster Squad and subsequently rode my bike up and down the street, hoping to find a monster to hunt. I mean, it hits on all the right notes for me, and I can't gush enough about it.

But beyond that, what other movies/comics/books/TV has got you buzzing these days? What's inspiring you lately? How are you feeling about the X-Files revival take two?

BF: The latest X-Files has seemed a little stiff, but I'm still a fan. That being said, I have always liked the idea behind the X-Files far better than the execution. 

GM: I can see that, though I have enjoyed this season considerably more than the last one.

BF: Millennium was a better show, as far as I'm concerned, and Fringe out X-Filed the X-Files by being more consistent and Twin Peaks sort of outshined it a far as revivals go by being far more edgy and, well, weird.

GM: I will admit, I ONLY RECENTLY watched the first season of Twin Peaks. Haven't made it to the second season yet. Hm... 

BF: As for being buzzed, I'm a bit of a YouTube junkie and a real gaming nerd, so I spend a fair amount of time watching "actual plays" and tutorials. I think, if backed into a corner my three favorite "shows" right now are Critical Role (professional voice actors playing Dungeons & Dragons), Schola Gladiatoria (Historical European Martial Arts enthusiast Matt Easton's Sword channel), and Curse of Oak Island on History Channel.

GM: Having said that, I feel I should point folks to your own YouTube channel where you talk about tabletop gaming and RPGs!

BF: At home we've been binge watching a lot. It's been a great chance to share things I loved with the two most important people in my life. We plowed through Star Trek (all flavors), Babylon 5, Highlander, Twin Peaks, and Stranger Things, to name just a few. We're currently waist deep into Fringe (which I mentioned earlier) and it's been a real bonding experience for us as a family. I just wish I could get them to watch Veronica Mars :)

GM: With all these muses in your head, do you ever have trouble keeping them straight? I know that, in my own mythology, it sometimes gets so big and detail-orientated that I find myself having to re-read the various books to remind myself of how it all fits together.

BF: I think I have some sort of weird mutant ability to keep all that stuff straight in my head. Sometimes, if I've been away from it for a handful of months, I'll need a refresher, but mostly it all comes rather naturally. It seems like the stories have all already happened and I'm just the guy who drew the short straw and get to write them down.

GM: I can understand that. In my own experience, there is an almost instinctive quality to it, like you're just uncovering what's already there. What's your son, Connor, up to these days? I enjoyed his first book, Jonny Spencer and the Black Lich of Ashrock Earth (what a sweet name!) and understand he's working on other projects?

BF: Thanks for asking. I am more than passingly proud of that kid. I've just finished editing his first urban fantasy novel, Word Hollow, and I'll tackle editing its follow-up in a couple of weeks. That will make three books in four years for him. Not bad for a fourteen year old.

GM: No doubt! Thank you, as always, for stopping by to hang.

BF: Thanks for having me, my friend. It's always a pleasure. I have, for as long as I can remember, been obsessed with telling stories. The medium didn't and doesn't matter, whether it was playing with action figures, writing short stories, novels, or comic books, slinging dice from behind a DM Screen, or even sitting around a campfire spinning yarns. It is what I was born to do and I feel infinitely blessed to be able to do so.

GM: Well I, for one, have enjoyed your stories and love exploring the worlds you've created. Alright, everybody, that's your cue to go buy Bob's latest book: First Born! 

ABOUT THE BOOK: From the arcane sorceries of the "Wickedest Man in the World" to the supernatural exploits of Occult Detective Landon Connors and the harrowing investigations of Agents Wolfe and Crowe, this collection of macabre tales of the black arts treads the dangerous landscape between this world and that populated by angels and demons, gods and devils, ghosts and spirits, and the legendary creatures of our darkest imaginings.

First Born is the beginning of the journey into the Liber Monstrorum, the Chronicles of those Occult Detectives who are the last line of defense against those preternatural forces that threaten to destroy a world that refuses to believe that such things exist...

"Keepers of the Dead"--An Interview with Bob Freeman

Mornin'.

Today, we've got a new interview with Bob Freeman, real-life paranormal investigator and writer of occult tales. Recently saw the release of Bob's new book from Seventh Star Press, Keepers of the Dead, the second installment in his Gothic horror Cairnwood Manor saga.

I always love having Bob stop by, so let's jump right into it:

Greg Mitchell: Bob! You’re back! And with the second novel in the Cairnwood Manor series: Keepers of the Dead. Tell us about it. 

Bob Freeman: Thanks for having me, Greg. Keepers of the Dead picks up a few months after Shadows Over Somerset and the stakes are much higher. Michael is just settling into his role as the alpha of the Cairnwood Pack when his whole world gets turned upside down and he is drawn into a conflict with a sinister cabal intent on raising a demon that’s been locked away in the belly of Rosslyn Chapel for centuries.

All the main cast is back for this one, plus, I hope, some interesting new faces.

GM: It’s funny; in preparation for the release of Book Two, I went back and re-read Shadows and kept thinking, “This is classic Bob Freeman.” You’ve got a Gothic Scottish mansion/castle in the Indiana heartland, with witches, werewolves, vampires, secret societies, occult detectivery (new word), and Conan-esque swordplay. It’s a very unique blend of a sort of “horror high fantasy” crashing into Small Town, America. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and it’s pretty exciting. In our last interview, you talked about the real-life inspiration for the kernel that became the Wolves of Cairnwood, but when it came time to start putting pen to paper, what were some of your inspirations for crafting this surreal fantasy world? 

BF: Nick Mamatas and I had a chat at a convention a few years back and he said the biggest mistake almost every first time novelist makes is dumping everything they have an interest in into that first work.

Shadows being my first, I can honestly say, guilty as charged.

Dark Shadows' vampiric patriarch Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid)

I grew up obsessed with Universal Monsters, Dark Shadows, and The Night Stalker, and I read more than my fair share of gothic paperbacks as a kid living in rural Indiana. I discovered Lovecraft and Howard at a young age, and later was really into Katherine Kurtz’ Adept series. And, obviously, I’ve always had a fascination with the occult, its practices and practitioners. I think if you tossed all of that into a blender, mixed in my love for local history and folklore, a smattering of everything from William Castle to Terence Fisher, and Dan Curtis, plus a little Highlander and the gods only know what else that my primal brain has latched onto and you get the whole insane Cairnwood Manor saga.

GM: As it was with Shadows Over Somerset, I believe this is the second edition of Keepers of the Dead. Anything new to discover inside? 

BF: Well, it had a tighter editorial hand, a couple of name tweaks here and there, and prettier packaging, but the story stayed the same.

I’ve toyed with the idea of doing a major rewrite of the whole thing, but, it really is a kind of time capsule of who I was at the time, what kind of writer I was, and to alter it too much would disrespect that.

GM: I can understand that. I went through a similar process when reworking my Rift Jump stories from the original high school days to the "real" version. Trying to change it, while also keeping it true to who you were back in the day. 

So, you’re working on the next Cairnwood Manor book at the moment, correct? Is that the final one? What can you tell us about it—or is that a secret? 

BF: Without giving anything major away, Shadow of the Wolf has time-travel, alternate realities, and what I hope are surprising guest appearances by characters from some of my other works in store.


The story takes place roughly 15 years after the events in Keepers, but also spends a fair amount of time in the 1880s. There’ll be plenty of hairy action, romance, and swordplay, with, I hope, more of a gothic atmosphere.

Oh, and more magic. And electric light...

GM: That all sounds fantastic. I'm totally on board for that ride. And what of your other projects? I know you’ve got to be working on, at least, five other things right now, ha. Are we still looking at a revival of your paranormal investigators Wolfe & Crowe? What’s your signature creation Landon Connors up to these days? 

BF: I’m working on Shadow of the Wolf, of course, plus an occult detective fantasy novel, and a weird western, but my mind is constantly drifting into Landon Connors/Wolfe & Crowe territory. I just can’t help it.

I would love to find a publisher who was as interested in Wolfe & Crowe as I am. I still consider Descendant my best work to date.

As for Dr. Connors, he’ll be appearing in a month long serial on my website, occultdetective.com, throughout February, if the gods are willing and the creek don’t rise.

You know me, Greg, I’m a storyteller at heart. The medium isn’t as important as the story itself and I’m always looking for ways to get that story told in some fashion or another.

Readers are such a small audience and I’d swear 80% of them are writers.

GM: I'd believe that.

BF: I’m always looking for some way to get my stories out there. I recently adapted Mourn Not the Sleepless Children as an audio drama being produced by Openly Gamer and I wrote an episode for one of their upcoming ‘actual plays’.

I really dig the idea of cooperative storytelling. I’ve been playing RPGs for almost forty years and I’ve tried my hand at developing occult detective themed board and roleplaying games and could really see me heading even further down that rabbit hole.

GM: I would be remiss if we didn’t talk about your son, Connor. He’s got a new book out, as well—his debut! That’s gotta be great as a father, right? Spill the details, man! 

BF: Obviously I couldn’t be more proud.

Connor is home schooled and, when he was ten, my wife Kim and I decided to add creative writing to his curriculum. Well, he up and ran with it, creating Jonny Spencer and the Black Lich of Ashrock Earth.

His new project, Word Hollow, is a sort of midwestern gothic fantasy, with demons, werewolves, monster hunters, talking birds and cats, and more.

GM: Nice!

BF:He’s a very creative kid and he and I spitball ideas every day. I really am one lucky guy.

GM: One of the things I love talking with you is inspirations. What shows, movies, books, games has got you excited these days? 

BF: There’s so much great stuff out there:

In comics there’s Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott’s Black Magick, Tim Truman and Tomas Giorello’s King Conan: Wolves Beyond the Border, and Rich Douek and Brett Barkley’s Gutter Magic to name just a few.

I’ll continue to preach my love for the Lovecraft-inspired tabletop game Elder Sign. It has two expansions, Unseen Forces and Gates of Arkham, with a third coming out soon called Omens of Ice. What’s great about it is you can play it as part of a group or all by your lonesome.

I’m digging the X-Files revival and Lucifer on Fox, Syfy’s The Magicians, and the CW's run of superhero fare is must-see-TV at our house — Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow. A friend of mine turned me on to a show out of New Zealand called The Almighty Johnsons that is absolutely absurd, but I couldn’t help but watch. It’s about these four brothers who are, it turns out, reincarnated Norse Gods.

What else? If you haven’t seen Crimson Peak, you bloody well should.

GM: I know, I know. That's on my list, when the Blu-Ray hits. I'm sorry to have missed that one in the theaters.

BF: I’ve been reading mostly bad paranormal non-fiction here lately, unfortunately. I get sent a lot of review material and most of it just isn’t up to snuff, you know.

I’m really hungry for a really great occult detective novel or a collection of short stories that goes above and beyond, something different and unexpected.

GM: Thanks, Bob, for coming out. Now I’m off to read more of Keepers of the Dead—now available in print and Kindle!

BF: Thank you, Greg. It’s always a pleasure.

New Interview at Phasmafic!

Writer and pal TW Johnson (check out his weird and creepy new ebook Othveria) has interviewed me over at his site, Phasmafic about my latest release HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder. It's a pretty intense interview, delving into my musings on horror, my relationship with self-publishing, but mostly about some of the more "controversial" elements of HITMEN (at least from a Christian perspective). I asked TW not to pull any punches and I think the dialogue that came out of the exchange is an important one to have. Not sure we came up with any answers, but it certainly produced some food for thought.

Head over there to check out the interview and, while you're at it, why don't you order a copy of HITMEN? It's available in print and on Kindle.

Blog Tour--Tag, I'm It!

So there's a blog tour going 'round these days, whereby authors answer four questions about their unique take on the craft. Last week, my buddy T.W. Johnson wrapped up his leg of the tour, as part of his promotion for his superhero/monster short story in the upcoming Metahumans vs Robots anthology by Lion's Share Press (I, too, might have news to report about that soon... :p).

As is the way with this particular blog tour, the responsibility fell on T.W. to pass the torch and keep this thing going, and he's tagged me! So here's my take on the four questions we've been posed. And away we go!

Q: What am I working on now?

This has been a busy year for me so far. Over the summer, I saw the release of my fifth novel HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder as well as the television debut of my first ever creature feature for the Syfy Channel--Snakehead Swamp. While I would love to spend the rest of the year kicked back, sipping sweet tea, and watching COPS all day, the allure of writing calls to me once again.

Right now I'm smack in the middle of work on my sequel to my 2012 multiverse sci-fi adventure novel Rift Jump. Currently sub-titled "Sara's Song", this book will (hopefully) answer all the pertinent questions from the previous book, take us to some wild and terrifying new places, and bid a fond farewell to this particular cast of characters. I've had Michael and Sara in my head since I was writing their first adventures on my Brother word processor in high school back in the mid-90s, so to finally tell their story in full and send them off into the sunset is something I look forward to, but also something I want to make sure I get just right. Even after all these years, these characters still surprise me with their choices as I learn more about them and more about myself in the process. It's an intense gig, and a crazy ride.

Q: How does my work differ from others in its genre?

That's one of those marketing questions that publishers always ask you. That's like asking for "selling points" or my "brand" or why you should buy my work instead of "the competition", but I've never been big on those kinds of questions. Perhaps I'd sell more books if I were. Really, the thing that distinguishes my work from the rest in the genre (in my case, it's horror) is that I didn't write all those other books. It's as simple--and complicated--as that. We all see the world slightly differently. Rather than comparing myself to other writers, I just want to grow from novel to novel, discovering more about myself and my own voice and saying the things that I want to say. I'll leave it up to others to judge and compare styles. I just write what I feel.

You should never write to compete with someone else. You should only ever be in competition with yourself. Look at your last work, own up to your mistakes, and do better the next time. In my life, nothing kills creativity quite like looking at my neighbor's work to see what they're up to and comparing it to my own.

Q: Why do I write what I do?

The short answer is that I write about monsters in order to stay sane.

The longer answer is that, with the advent of social media, I am constantly bombarded by the staggering amount of Evil in the world. You wake up in the morning and make a quick scroll through your newsfeed and--apart from the endless pictures of cutesy animals or people's bizarre obsession with taking snapshots of their feet (which is an evil of another kind)--you are overwhelmed by atrocities, violence, and hate from every side. And these stories are always followed by a charge--"Be outraged!"--but no one has a solution. Instead of finding a solution, we fight, curse, and kill about whose solution is the best, all while safely hiding in the anonymity that the web provides. I'm sure every generation says this, but--especially in this Internet Age--we've been exposed: we are the monsters.

So I write about monsters. That's all I know to do. Writing is the only way I know how to deal with this all-encompassing Ugliness that exists in the world and the hopelessness and helplessness that it creates in me. I am fully convinced that, apart from Christ, there's not hope for a single one of us. So, in my stories, I do my best to wrangle this massive Evil and bind It to a narrative and I fight It. I question It and my own complicity in Its existence. I struggle against It, I laugh in spite of It, and I dare to hope that we can overcome It if we stick together. This Evil takes many different forms in my writing--sometimes a demon, an alien, a vampire, or a giant man-eating fish :p--but it's always the same force. Other authors might write to explore or fantasize, but I write to fight.

Q: How does my writing process work?

I'm a very emotional and instinctive kind of guy. If I'm not "feeling" it, I don't write it. Writers better than me swear by the code that you should write x amount of words every day, but I just don't. Writing can't be mechanical like that. Editing can, but writing has got to be fluid. When I write, I've got to be able to cross over into my story and not "write" it, but just describe what I'm seeing and feeling. I've got to be living it. Many times it's music that gets me there. I almost always write to music. Sometimes when I've got a scene in my head but can't quite get there, I'll spend hours listening to music until a song clicks. Then I'll race to the computer, put that song on repeat (sometimes all day) and just write from pure emotion and discovery. I think, as a writer, I'm probably more like an actor getting into a role. I've also adopted a healthy balance of guiding a story and also letting the story go where it wants. Sometimes I feel a character pulling away from me. I might fight at first, but eventually I'll just let him/her go and follow close behind. I find that always leads somewhere fascinating and exciting that I would have never thought to go on my own. Trust your instincts--or, perhaps, your characters' instincts.

Well, that wasn't so hard, now was it :) Next Monday, follow along as graphic designer and author of the mind-bending supernatural suspense YA novel Uncanny Day (and a really cool dude) Cory Clubb takes the reigns of the tour over at his blog. Thanks for tuning in!

The 11th Demon Surfaces! Bruce Hennigan Interview!

Welcome back! We're here today with a special guest: author Bruce Hennigan--a huge monster kid as well as the author of the "Christian Horror" Jonathan Steel Chronicles. Often described as a sort of "Jason Bourne versus demons" this is a wild series that doesn't pull the punches on its creatures. Bruce and I served in the trenches at Charisma Media and he's been incredibly supportive of my work over the years. I love having him drop by and I'm super excited that this week marks the release of his new monsterpiece The 11th Demon: The Ark of Chaos!

Greg Mitchell: Bruce, welcome back! Tell us what you've been up to since our last interview!

Bruce Hennigan: I have just released my third book in the Chronicles of Jonathan Steel, “The 11th Demon: The Ark of Chaos”. It’s been just over a year since the second book came out. Since then, I’ve switched publishers and it was a real struggle to get the third book to the marketplace. But, with this new publisher came a new freedom to expand my story beyond word count limits imposed by my previous publisher. So, it gave me a freedom to write the book I would want to read, not a book that had to fit very narrow parameters.

Starting over with a new publishing venture is always difficult. You have to convince the new guys that “this ain’t my first rodeo” and, as a published author, I kind of know what to do. Still, it’s really hard work to bring a new publisher in on something that I am so passionate about. I’ve spent the past six years with my main character Jonathan Steel so I know the potential of my book series. Selling that anew to the next publisher is always a challenge.

GM: Don't I know it! :p

BH: I also have signed a contract with B&H Publishing to release an update to my book, "Conquering Depression”. My co-author, Mark Sutton and I have finished the updated manuscript and the new book will be released in the fall of 2014 as Hope Again: A 30 Day Plan for Conquering Depression. So, let’s just say I’m still working very hard on writing, publishing, marketing, editing, blogging, tweeting, and building a platform to promote the new depression book and my continuing Chronicles of Jonathan Steel all while trying to keep up with my day job as a physician in the field of radiology. And, in this day and age of Obamacare, it isn’t easy being a physician!

GM: Busy indeed! On to the new book. Jonathan Steel is back for another round with Hell's worst. What's in store for him this time around?

BH: The third book, The 11th Demon: The Ark of Chaos is the next step in Steel’s battle against the demons on the Council of Darkness. In the second book, The 12th Demon: Mark of the Wolf Dragon, Steel finds a new partner in Theophilus King and the court mandates that Steel and his mentor, Dr. Cephas Lawrence are now guardians of Cephas’ nephew, Josh Knight. The four of them go back to Louisiana only to discover that Cephas has purchased a new home for his collection of evil artifacts and that home was the house once owned by Robert Ketrick, the host for the 13th demon in my first book, The 13th Demon: Altar of the Spiral Eye.

Steel isn’t too happy about moving into Ketrick’s old house but they have no choice because it doesn’t take long for the next demon on the Council to move in on the territory of the 12th Demon, banished to hell in the second book. Soon, the 11th Demon shows up on the scene and takes on the demonic form of a chimera, a monster with the head of a goat, the head of lioness, the body of a lion, and a fire breathing serpent for a tail.

Of course, Steel’s old nemesis, Vivian Darbonne Ketrick is back searching for an artifact from Ketrick’s collection of evil torture devices known as the Ark of the Demon Rose. Steel doesn’t realize what is still hidden within the walls of Ketrick’s old house!  With the Ark, she hopes to control the Council of Darkness and force the members to give her a seat at the table. But, the 11th Demon has plans for the Ark. And soon, a new force of evil arises in competition for the Ark, a remnant of a once secret society from the time of the early church. This secret sect practices magic and misdirection and doesn’t flinch when it comes to killing off anyone who stands in its way.

Steel is soon dropped right into the middle of this mixture of evil and chaos and must confront the 11th Demon before he can open the Ark and release chaos on the world.

GM: Wow! Talk about action-packed! How has reception been on the series so far? Has that affected the direction you've taken the series?

BH: I am so blessed to have a very dedicated following. I get emails every week asking for the next book in the series. Switching to a new publisher always brings a delay of two years between books, so I have had to push very hard to release the third book within a year of the last book to please my fans. I can tell you that encouragement from my former editor, Andy Meisenheimer, and encouragement from my readers has allowed me to make my book series fresher and more scary than I ever thought I could get away with. In fact, I have taken some chances with my story line and with my characters because I feel safe with my readers.

With this new found freedom, I’ve upped the scare quotient, so to speak. No gratuitous violence or gore, but the store has more gripping and realistic elements. In a way, I’ve gained some freedom to take the series in a direction I’ve always wanted. You’ll be able to tell this in the latest book when we see the once stalwart and righteous Cephas Lawrence makes some very questionable choices near the end of the book that will come back to haunt him later on.

GM: You've spoken a bit about switching publishers and a new sense of freedom it's given you in a storytelling sense. What other changes has the changeover brought about?

BH: You know, Greg, I find it interesting that a few years back, Michael Hyatt, the former CEO of Thomas Nelson made the statement that Christian speculative fiction (CSF) was the fastest growing sub-genre. Unfortunately, this in no longer true if you look at the sales numbers and talk to authors like the two of us who have been burned on our prior contracts.

This past February, I had the good fortune of attending the PLATFORM conference and sit next to Michael. We discussed what I call the implosion of CSF at major publishers. He wasn’t too surprised. He encouraged me to go the route I’ve chosen for now, Westbow Press. His advice was to take control of the publishing process for myself as the traditional publishers just don’t seem to know how to market CSF. Be an entrepreneur, he said. Go it alone and make it work!

Let’s face it, our kind of fiction gets stuck right next to Amish Romances in the Christian fiction section. As a man, I wouldn’t darken that shelf with my presence looking for a good, scary book with “redemptive” values. I’d go back over to the horror section. But, our books are labeled Christian fiction and would never be placed where they should be placed in the book store, that is, right next to Stephen King’s works.

It’s even more frustrating in the ebook marketplace. Who is going to browse through “Christian fiction” to find a Christian worldview based book of horror or science fiction or fantasy? CSF is this animal that the readers crave to ingest and yet the online and brick and mortar bookstores don’t know how to handle these books. We get lost in the shuffle and so the traditional publishers get burned and even the good ones willing to take a chance on an entire imprint of CSF like Charisma have to make tough business decisions and stop taking on new books and new authors in that genre. It is frustrating as you are all too aware of.

That being said, as I mentioned above, being in the driving seat I can write the book I truly envision without word constraints or “reading levels”. Westbow is a self publishing entity but they are very robust in imposing some limits on language and content. That being said, I was able to “get away” with a lot more in my current book that the first two books. One of my characters has an intimate encounter in The 11th Demon and while I did not describe it graphically, I know that previous publishers would not have allowed me to have such a scene no matter how “sterile” I could make it.

GM: I understand that this is meant to be a 13-book series. I think the last time we spoke, you had it planned up to Book 5. Where are you at now? Any hints at what's to come?

BH: Under my old contract, I had already written the first four books. But, now that I am no longer limited to 75,000 words per book, I can go back and add in content I had to remove. In The 11th Demon: The Ark of Chaos, I brought back a character I took out of the first book and I was able to bring back some flashbacks cut from the first two books. 

GM: Neat!

BH: In fact, this third book is a good “settling in” type story. The reader gets to know so much more about my characters as I write each scene from a first person point of view from the POV of each of the six major characters.

That being said, I am re-editing the fourth book, The 10th Demon: Children of the Bloodstone back to its original length, almost twice the word limit of the first two books. In so doing, I am able to build the story to a climax that will spin off into a science fiction themed series called The Node of God. Trust me, very few publishers would touch that so I’m going it on my own! The first book in that series is titled, The Node of God: Darksyn Rising.

GM: So Jonathan Steel is getting a spinoff series?! I had no idea!

BH: The 10th Demon is about UFOs, extraterrestrials, and one of the coolest monsters I’ve ever created. In fact, after a pivotal scene in which Steel has to face off against this creature in a totally dark cave hundreds of feet underground, I had trouble sleeping! I love it!

The fifth book, The 9th Demon: A Wicked Numinosity is partially completed and I am glad I didn’t go ahead and finish it while under contract. I’m bringing back a major character from the first three books that is, shall we say, presumed dead and the story will culminate at Stonehenge. Lots of paganism, Wicca, alternate reality just to whet the reader’s whistle.

The sixth book, The 8th Demon: Night of the Skinwalkers is partially completed and takes Steel and company into a totally different direction exploring the creatures and monsters of our own North American Indian heritage.

Someone asked me about zombies and, yes, the seventh book will feature a zombie like creature and explores voodoo in the deep South. In fact, every book in the entire 13 book series is outlined and ready for me to settle in and write. Of course, story elements will change as I complete the individual books but my over arching story is canon. I have already written the third to last book as it reveals ALL of Steel’s lost memories and sets up the final two books.

So, you see, Greg, I have lots of stories left in the Chronicles of Jonathan Steel. The first four books will complete an over arching story that will set the stage for what I call “Phase 2”, the next four books in which we learn some very disturbing history of our main character, Jonathan Steel. The reader will NOT like where these books are going, I guarantee it! But, if they hang with me through the last books in the series, I will bring it all around to a satisfying conclusion.

Once this series is done, I am already planning Steel’s next “adventures” as a private investigator. Think of “Night Stalker” meets “Fringe”! So, no rest for the weary. 

GM: Wow, this is all really exciting. I had no idea how extensive you had this series planned.

BH: This is why I need anyone interested in these types of stories to please, please, buy OUR books! Show the industry that we have a following. Let’s shock them into reality. Unleash the monsters! Yeah!

GM: Hey, I'm all for more monster fiction :) Speaking of which: Lots of supernatural shows on TV these days! It seems that there's an explosion of horror genre television. Even the mainstream audiences are being pulled into, what is generally described as, a niche market. What do you think the draw is to the horror genre? Why can't we turn away?

BH: Greg, I am an apologist, or one who defends the truthfulness of the Christian faith, and I’ve been asked this type of question many, many times. Why are we so obsessed with the immortal evil monsters? Why is it that we refuse to believe in God, but we glut ourselves on zombies and vampires and werewolves?

It boils down to a simple need. We crave a connection with the divine, with the eternal. Our “God shaped vacuum” is there because as Paul wrote in Romans, we are without excuse for refusing to believe in God. The evidence of His existence is overwhelming. When we look at the creation we see God’s fingerprint everywhere. And yet, in our current self centered, “me” absorbed, hedonistic, narcissistic society we refuse to submit ourselves to the authority of a Creator. We have chosen to be our own gods. Again, Paul predicted this in Romans

And yet, we crave the eternal. Since we have abandoned the truth of the Scriptures and God, we must find something to fill that void. Enter the vampire; the zombie; the dark creatures of the night that eclipse the good in our souls. We find them repulsive and yet alluring. And, we try to recreate them in a lighter image — Twilight for instance. No wonder stories about these “lite” version forms of the evil creatures fail. They can never exist in the light. We can’t drag them out of the shadows without revealing their true nature. And, when we look into the face of pure evil, it serves to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt there is pure good and that comes only from God. His existence is inescapable and these lesser forms of immortality are faint echoes of the reality of God’s existence.

And thus, we are caught suspended between darkness and light refusing to accept the goodness of God and willing to embrace the darkness of the shadowy creatures of our imaginations; our vain thoughts; our arcane inner self. Sorry, I wax profound or profane, depending on how you look at it.

I think this is why CSF is SO important right now. We can write about these creatures in the context of redemption; silhouetted against the light of God. We can bring a glimmer of hope to the endless desperation around us. Press on, I say. We MUST continue to write about the dark creatures of our souls only so we can point our readers to the light of the Savior!

GM: Good insights. You and I are on the same level when it comes to our love of monsters. Seen any good monster movies lately--whether they be newer ones or older ones?

BH: The last 12 months have seen some interesting movies. I enjoyed Pacific Rim better than I had anticipated. I managed to get through RIPD and it wasn’t too terribly bad. Of course, we have the main stream Hobbit and its “monsters” and I’m looking forward to Smaug. Thor had a few monstrous creatures. World War Z was better than I’d hoped but the zombies were merely fast moving, mind herd zombies.

But, I’d say my favorite guilty pleasure so far is Sleepy Hollow.

GM: Me, too! I find myself unable to turn away, ha ha. 

BH: I love the demonic creatures, “Sulu” with his head on backwards and the Headless Horseman — yeah! What a strange show but I can’t miss an episode! The new Dracula is still up in the air for me. I like that it brings back the true evil nature of vampires and the luscious set pieces are great backdrop. I’m just not sure where the story, so bizarre, is heading. I am looking forward to Helix, the new Syfy show set in Antarctica. Shades of The Thing, I hope.

And, I am a Whovian — obsessed with Doctor Who. I and my daughter dressed up as characters for the 50th anniversary movie in our area. Doctor Who has some interesting monsters. The creature from “Hide”, the haunted house story was promising but ultimately turned out to be (spoilers, sweetie!) a spurned lover. A return to the Ice Warriors showed promise. And, of course, there are always the Daleks! Exterminate! I’m looking forward to the return of the Silence, the Cybermen, and my favorite Who “monster”, the weeping angels in the Christmas special. Geronimo!

 

GM: Time to sell some books. Where can folks pick up the new Jonathan Steel adventure?

BH: You can check out my own website, www.steelchronicles.com and order the books at a discount. I’ll ship them. Or, you can find all three books, including the newest, The 11th Demon: The Ark of Chaos at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and it’s available as an ebook through both vendors. You can get your local bookstore to order it.

Thanks for having me on your site, Greg. It’s been a pleasure.

GM: It was great to have you back, Bruce, and super informative. I can't wait to read The 11th Demon and I'm pleasantly surprised and very intrigued about the plans you have for this series. Your passion is certainly an inspiration to me in my own writing, sir :)

That's it for this one, folks. Check out Bruce's books. The man writes from the heart and a real love for his subject matter. As for me, it's back to my cave and more writing, writing, writing!

'Til next time!