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.

Out Now-- "Strange Gods"!

Earlier this year, I released Hell's Dark Riders--the first installment in the brand-new Old Greenesboro Trilogy, which serves as an Old West prequel to my classic The Coming Evil Trilogy. It was my plan to release the entire trilogy in 2025, and that work continues as, out today, is the second book in the Old Greenesboro Trilogy--Strange Gods! 

Of all three books of this new trilogy, I think this second act was the hardest to put together. If you've read The Coming Evil Trilogy (and, if you haven't, what's stopping you?) there were quite a few off-handed references to events that took place during the Winter of 1884 in Old Greenesboro. Of course, at the time I made all those references, I never really thought I would ever come back and fully flesh out that history. So, when the time came to do just that, it was a wonderful challenge to stitch together all those disparate threads into a fresh tapestry, while also including as many surprises and twists as I could. 

Therefore, I invite you to travel back to 1884, for the first Dark Hour, and witness firsthand the harrowing history that laid the foundation of The Coming Evil Trilogy. 

As always, the book is available in print and on Kindle. Order your copy today!

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Dark Hour is here.

Winter, 1884.

Five years following his defeat of Hell’s Dark Riders, a new life of peace has at last found retired demon hunter Everett Greene. Far away from the wicked influence of the infernal City, Everett has settled his young family in the fledgling community of Greenesboro, where he hopes to raise his son away from the monsters and mayhem that he, himself, once battled.

But when the quiet town of Greenesboro is visited by a stranger promising prosperity, Everett senses that perhaps the evil he sought to leave behind has followed him, after all. The wealthy newcomer John Graves begins to poison the minds of the townspeople with a twisted religion, and soon Everett realizes that he will again have to face down the darkness. 

Everett is joined in this endeavor by his friends - the young widow Virginia Hallerin and outlaw Dead Eye Reggie, among others. Each one is put to the test, challenging just how much they can stand to sacrifice and how long their faith can last against the cunning of Graves, who shows himself to be both more familiar and more terrible than any of them had expected.

Strange Gods is the middle act in an epic new tale that sets the stage for the events depicted in The Coming Evil Trilogy.

Available Now--"WHISPERWOOD: Sequel to Halloween House"

It's June. The sun is bearing down on us, the humidity in Arkansas is building. Summer is in full effect, and my heart yearns for autumn colors and cool breezes and Jack O'Lanterns smiling back at me from inviting porches. If you're like me and would love a little taste of Halloween this blistering summertime, then perhaps I have just the thing for you.

Whisperwood, my new novella collaboration with writer and occult detective Bob Freeman is now available in print and on Kindle for your macabre enjoyment. Back in 2018 (has it really been that long??) Bob and I entertained one another by composing a novella whereby we each took turns writing a chapter. There was no forethought, no planning. We only sought to surprise each other with every installment--and periodically dropping our heroes in impossible situations to gleefully muse how the other author might rescue them. The fruit of that labor was Halloween House--a story of an old manse's demonic possession. 

 As stated in my introduction to Whisperwood:  

We set Halloween House firmly in Bob’s rich Liber Monstrorum mythos that occupies the majority of his writings, featuring his iconic protagonist, Occult Detective Landon Connors. What’s more, Landon’s sidekick in that yarn was none other than “Greg Mitchell”, a character Bob named after me some years ago in his Connors’ short story “The Cabin in the Woods”.

Now, while Bob’s spent these years writing stories set in the world of Landon Connors and his colorful supporting cast of hard-boiled characters, I, too, have been developing my own fictional universe of monsters and heroes spread across a number of novels. And, to return the favor he paid me in “The Cabin in the Woods”, I named a character after Bob Freeman in my novel Night World, which introduced Blue Squad: a government-sponsored task force dedicated to combating the forces of darkness, led by skeptic ex-cop Jack Mills. 

When it came time to do the follow-up to Halloween House, Bob suggested it was only fitting that, since our first co-writing venture took place in his mythology with my alter ego, we should take a trip across the multiversal pond and set the sequel in my story-world and include Bob’s fictional counterpart. I eagerly jumped at the notion, already growing excited about the concept of tying our two universes together by giving them a common extradimensional foe. 

  

Whisperwood is the result of that endeavor, and I'm very proud of the story we've crafted (by the seat of our pants!). This book is especially exciting for me as this is the inaugural title under my new Willowbrook Underworld banner. If you have read my (to date) two HITMEN collections, then you may be aware that, for over 25 years, I have been filming backyard blockbusters with my friends and family. These elaborate "home movies" have become the foundation of my fictional universe--a test bed of characters and ideas. The two HITMEN braided novels (Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder and Night World) are, in fact, expanded adaptations of a carefully curated selection of those home movies. The movies--and the books inspired by them--take place in the town of Willowbrook. I would love to continue adapting those movie projects into written form, but as the mythology has grown significantly over the last quarter century, finding the next selection that could fit thematically into a braided novel is becoming trickier.

It is my hope that the Willowbrook Underworld line is the solution to that conundrum. Now, I can release individual adaptations at a time, rather than trying to narrow down which ones to include in upcoming collections. There might still be collections, yes. And, under Willowbrook Underworld, I also hope to write all-new stories set within the mythology of those "home movies" that are very near and dear to me and my family. Whisperwood is one such story--an original tale set within the home movie universe, starring characters that you can meet in my novels Night World and Infernal City.

This summer, as the hot days draw out, I welcome you to the mist-shrouded forest of Whisperwood to uncover the monsters that lurk there...

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Special Agent Jack Mills of the National Clandestine Agency receives a call from an old partner, he is drawn to the small rural community of Whisperwood to investigate an unsolved murder from his past. Aided by his new task force of monster hunters, Mills must return to familiar paths fraught with peril and painful memories, leading him to Holbrook House--a mysterious ruin possessed of something not from this earth.

As the danger mounts, Mills seeks the aid of author and paranormal investigator, Bob Freeman, to unravel the mystery surrounding Holbrook House and the cult that has come to offer sacrifice to its new otherworldly occupant.

Finally, the veil between worlds is torn, unfathomable abominations emerge, and no one is safe within Whisperwood.

Order your copy today! 

 

 

Now Available - "Hell's Dark Riders"!

Out today is the brand-new "The Coming Evil" tale Hell's Dark Riders--the very first installment of the Old Greenesboro Trilogy! Journey back to the 1800s to witness the formation of the town of Greensboro as seen in The Coming Evil Trilogy and learn of its original confrontation with the demonic Strange Man. Throughout the original Coming Evil Trilogy, the events of this era were only briefly glimpsed, but now all will be revealed. There will be more than a few surprises along the way, and your journey starts now.

Available in print and Kindle. Order your copy today!

ABOUT THE BOOK

The year is 1879. It is a time of darkness.

Four mysterious figures on horseback ride across the Ozark Mountains, leaving death and misery in their wake. Led by the false god Chemosh, these demonic Dark Riders seek to overthrow the world of Man and re-establish their wicked reign upon the Earth.

Everett Greene once fought such creatures, but has since retired, leaving that war behind. When Virginia Hallerin, a young mother who has suffered unspeakably at the hands of the Riders, beseeches Everett to intervene, the haunted hero is compelled to leave his life of peaceful isolation and anonymity behind to re-enter the fight. Aided by his mentor Jesse Crocker, an old, grizzled bounty hunter down on his luck, Everett determines to follow the trail of the murderous Riders.

Along the way, Everett and his companions will encounter hellish beasts as they fight their way into the very heart of evil. Yet, the Riders have an ace up their sleeve. Once Everett discovers that the villains have enlisted a certain “Strange Man” with an agenda of his own to join in their scheme, he realizes that this battle will be unlike any he has ever fought before.

Hell’s Dark Riders is the opening act in an epic new tale that sets the stage for the events depicted in The Coming Evil Trilogy.

A New Trilogy Begins

Welcome back. Three items of business to discuss this morning that I think fans of The Coming Evil Trilogy will be excited to hear, so let's get right to it.

Item 1: There is a brand new trilogy of The Coming Evil books headed your way! Back in 2011-2013, I published The Coming Evil Trilogy, a series of books that tells the story of the small town of Greensboro and its harrowing battle against the invading demon known only as "The Strange Man". The books were always my ode to the wild monster movies of the 1980s, and very much served as my own "coming of age", both as a writer and as an adult. It wrestles with questions of faith, friendship, bravery, and discovering what matters most when up against the darkest hours of our lives. As readers of the original trilogy know, over a hundred years before The Coming Evil begins, the town of Old Greenesboro first ran afoul of the Strange Man--events that have only been hinted at...until now!

Now, journey to the past to discover the origins of Old Greenesboro and how its feud with the Strange Man began! I am pleased to announce Book One in the Old Greenesboro Trilogy: Hell's Dark Riders.

The thing that excited me the most about this new trilogy--and was the most challenging--was how to present this story in a way that was fresh and surprising while also following the course that was clearly laid out within the pages of The Coming Evil. Readers of that first trilogy will already know the fate of Old Greenesboro and its citizens' first encounter with the Strange Man, so I knew this telling needed to expand on those things you know--and reveal truths that you could never have guessed. What's more, the events in this new series will provide new insight and a deeper context to the Coming Evil books already in circulation.

What's more, readers of my other works will see many familiar locations, characters, and mythology within the new trilogy. I have often said that Infernal City, my Rift Jump duology, and the HITMEN series were all cousins of The Coming Evil. If that's the case, the Old Greenesboro Trilogy is their common ancestor. Seriously, folks, it all begins right here, and I can't wait to share it with you at long last. Which leads me to:

Item 2: Each installment of The Coming Evil Trilogy was released in February, and things timed out in such a way with this new book that I felt no reason to break the streak. So, Hell's Dark Riders is scheduled to drop on February 4, 2025, in both print and Kindle editions! But wait, there's more.

Item 3: All three installments of the Old Greenesboro Trilogy will be released THIS YEAR. Looking through my writing journals recently, I was shocked to discover that I have been jotting down notes for this new trilogy since 2004! Indeed, I have made rare mentions of it over the years on this very blog, but I have resisted saying too much, as I wanted to complete the entire trilogy before announcing Book One. So, it is with much relief that I can safely announce that all three books in this new trilogy are finished and edited. I could stretch out the releases over the next three years, but I have been not-so-secretly writing these novels for the last fifteen years, and it's time to finally release them into the world. No hard dates are down as of yet, but I suspect Book Two will be released sometime this summer, and then Book Three will hit around November/December. So let's keep the party going throughout 2025 and make this the year of Old Greenesboro. 

I so greatly appreciate all of you who have read and enjoyed The Coming Evil throughout the years, and it is my hope to reward you with a wild ride through some very unexpected territory. As for Hell's Dark Riders, here's your first glimpse into this exciting new story:

ABOUT THE BOOK

The year is 1879. It is a time of darkness.

Four mysterious figures on horseback ride across the Ozark Mountains, leaving death and misery in their wake. Led by the false god Chemosh, these demonic Dark Riders seek to overthrow the world of Man and re-establish their wicked reign upon the Earth.

Everett Greene once fought such creatures, but has since retired, leaving that war behind. When Virginia Hallerin, a young mother who has suffered unspeakably at the hands of the Riders, beseeches Everett to intervene, the haunted hero is compelled to leave his life of peaceful isolation and anonymity behind to re-enter the fight. Aided by his mentor Jesse Crocker, an old, grizzled bounty hunter down on his luck, Everett determines to follow the trail of the murderous Riders.

Along the way, Everett and his companions will encounter hellish beasts as they fight their way into the very heart of evil. Yet, the Riders have an ace up their sleeve. Once Everett discovers that the villains have enlisted a certain “Strange Man” with an agenda of his own to join in their scheme, he realizes that this battle will be unlike any he has ever fought before.

Hell’s Dark Riders is the opening act in an epic new tale that sets the stage for the events depicted in The Coming Evil Trilogy.

It is coming...