Tag Archives: Brian Lumley

Mar 27 2015

Interview with Author David Price

by Jason Harris

 

Author David Price at the 2013 New England Author Expo. Photo by Jason Harris.

Author David Price at the 2013 New England Author Expo. Photo by Jason Harris.

David Price is the author of Dead in the USA. He resides in Massachusetts. His new story, “Necrophone,” appeared in the online sci-fi & fantasy magazine, Buzzy Mag, today.

JH: How did your adventure in writing come about?

DP: Well, I’ve always loved reading. I was a huge comic book fan, and later moved on to Stephen King, J.R.R. Tolkien, Brian Lumley and many other speculative fiction writers. In my freshman year of college, I absolutely aced Composition 1. I was undeclared, and my professor suggested I become an English Major. That’s really when I first started thinking seriously about becoming a writer.

JH: What was your first published work?

DP: I had a short story based on the haunted experiences in my life published in a collection called Tales from the Grave.

JH: Do you have a specific writing style?

DP: The most frequent comment or compliment to my writing is that it’s “page-turning.” I’ve also been told that I do particularly well with dialogue. I don’t tend to bog down on details or describe a scene for very long. If you like extensive, detailed descriptions, I’m probably not for you. If you like stuff that moves along, I might be your guy.

JH: What year were you published?

DP: 2012 was the first time I saw myself in print, other than an online article or two.

JH: Have any real life instances influenced your work?

DP: Oh sure, I’ve put many of my real life experiences in my work. In my story “Necrophone,” coming out in Buzzy Mag in March, I mention cliff jumping at a quarry.  That really happened. Actually quite a bit of that story is based on my relationship with my grandfather, as I wrote it shortly after he died.

JH: What books have influenced your life the most?

DP: Hmm, my life or my writing? The Stand is my favorite book, so it’s certainly influenced me. The works of Stephen King have changed the way I see the world, at times. Some of the ideas in the Dark Tower series will always influence me, I think. And then of course, there’s J.R.R. Tolkien. The fact that The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are the main influence for the Dungeons & Dragons game is important. D & D is the inspiration for the series of epic fantasy books I am currently writing.

JH: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

DP: Stephen King, hands down. Even when his stories don’t quite hit the mark, he has the way of always getting me to care about his characters. I don’t think I write much like Stephen King myself, but I am always conscious of trying to get the reader to care about my characters.

JH: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

DP: Well, J.K. Rowling isn’t that new, but I consider the Harry Potter series pretty much revolutionary. I’m a big fan of John McIlveen, having recently read his collection, Jerks. Bracken MacLeod is an up and coming writer, as anyone who is paying attention to the horror and crime markets will tell you. Kealan Patrick Burke writes so beautifully, that I doubt I’ll ever equal his style.

JH: Can you share a little of your current work with us?

DP: As I said, “Necrophone” is a short story that will be published online in Buzzy Mag on March 27. It’s about a man who discovers a phone app that allows him to communicate with the dead, in this case, his recently deceased grandfather. Other than that, I’m putting some more polish on the first book of my epic Lovecraftian fantasy series: Lightbringer.

JH: What was the last book or piece of work that you had published? What was it about?

DP: Last year I had my essay “Shark Bait” published in the collection, Phobias, from Hidden Thoughts Press.

JH: Do you have a ritual before you write?

DP: Not really. I’ve used music at times, usually Tool or Puscifer. Sometimes I drink coffee, sometimes wine.

JH: Do you have any advice for other writers?

DP: If you don’t have the stomach for rejection, this might not be the business or hobby for you. I wasn’t ready for all the rejection, to be honest. I mean, I knew it was part of the business, but I didn’t realize how hard it would be to handle at times. That story, “Necrophone” that I’ve mentioned already? That was rejected more than ten times. I finally sold it to Buzzy Mag, making it the best paying story I’ve sold to date. You just never know. Stick with it and try not to take it personally. Just keep writing, keep improving, and keep submitting.

JH: Are you going to be signing anywhere in the near future?

DP: I will be at Super MegaFest in Marlborough, MA, April 17-19, Anthocon in Portsmouth, NH, June 5-7, Necon in Portsmouth, RI, July 16-19, Granite State ComicCon in Manchester, NH September 12-13, and possibly Necronomicon in Providence, RI, August 20-23. That’s all for now!

You can follow David on Twitter here and find out about David on his website here and on his Amazon page here.

Jul 18 2013

Author Talks about First Novel and Writing

 

By Jason Harris

Dawn of Broken GlassGordon Anthony Bean recently published his first novel, Dawn of Broken Glass. It was released in June.

He has written two other novels, but shelved them since they didn’t feel right to him. He plans to revisit them at a future date.

“Dawn of Broken Glass felt like a great story with fully developed [and] believable characters that the reader could identify with, so I decided this was the book I wanted to publish first,” Bean said.

Dawn of Broken Glass tells the story of Michael Carson, who witnesses the brutal and senseless slaughter of his family during Kristallnacht in the early days of World War II. The loss of his family has left him with deep emotional scars, and feelings of anger and hatred which become all-consuming to the young man. Years later, he seeks his revenge. Along with the mysterious Jason Froemmer, Carson begins a mission to eradicate the bloodlines of each soldier who partook in his family’s slaughter so many years earlier.

Bean wrote it over eighteen months. He spent the better part of a year doing multiple revisions on plot, characters, and writing style.

Bean is working on Bloodlines, a sequel to his first published short story, “From a Whisper to a Dream.” This story was published in the anthology, Sinister Landscapes, published by Pixie Dust Press. He does have a second short story, “Out of the Corner of His Eye,” in the Grinning Skull Press anthology, From Beyond the Grave.

“One interesting tidbit about my writing is that the stories are all interconnected. In my second novel, there will be an appearance of a central character from Dawn of Broken Glass. Basically, I’m creating a wholly contained universe where all my stories take place on the same earth,” Bean said.

His primary career is in finance, but he wants it to be writing.

“I’m trying to get my writing career to take off and hopefully be able to one day devote myself to it full-time.”

He has been writing his entire life. “In elementary school, I had a short story published in our school’s spring journal. In high school, my creative writing teacher told me that of all the students she ever had, she felt that I was best suited to be a writer.”

He belongs to the New England Horror Writers organization. He hopes to get exposure for his writing through the NEHW. This is what he hopes would happen with belonging to any writer’s organization.

“What I hope the NEHW or any other group would be able to do is help give exposure to this novel and future novels,” Bean said.

Bean has received good writing advice in his life, he said.

“The best I remember getting was to write for myself. Like most writers, I love to write. I am a huge horror fan and if I can leave a lasting imprint on a reader through my work, it’s all worthwhile.”

Besides writing, he enjoys reading. Michael Moorcock and Robert Heinlein were two early favorites and Clive Barker, who he loved when he was a teenager. He reads Christopher Golden, Brian Lumley, F. Paul Wilson, Joe Lansdale, Edward Lee, Jonathan Maberry, Dan Simmons, Richard Matheson, Douglas Preston & Lee Child now. His tastes vary, he said.