Painting by Nigel Gillings

The Book Eater’s Haiku

helter-skelter notes

a poem long forgotten

on her mental shelf

he’s sitting nearby

his maroon leather bookmark

the tongue of a snake

dusty yellow book

the evaporating scent

of a sepia dream

Virginie Colline lives and writes in Paris. Her poems have appeared in The Scrambler, Notes from the Gean, Prune Juice, The Mainichi, Frostwriting, Prick of the Spindle, Mouse Tales Press, StepAway Magazine, BRICKrhetoric, Overpass Books, Dagda Publishing, Silver Birch Press and Yes, Poetry, among others.

Alexander Ghastbrow is an author, artist, sculptor, and , photographer who resides in Beverly Hills, CA. His works appeal to fans of all things edgy and dark. He is currently working on his novel Wanderlust and editing Clive Barker’s Alphabet a tribute to Edward Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies, illustrated by Paulo Daniel Lorca.

Can you tell us a little about yourself? What were you like as a child?

I’m a writer. I’ve been writing stories since I was a kid, and I wasn’t a normal kid. I caused all sorts of trouble. And since I was very precocious I tended to videotape everything I did. So there is lots of evidence of my misbehavior.

Did you always have an affection for all things creative?

I’ve always been creative. I can’t remember a day I wasn’t creating something, or inventing some story, or writing a cheesy script to turn into a five minute flick. I loved Horror movies. I loved making people feel something, whether it was laughter or fear. I don’t think I’ve ever scared anyone though. I’m too funny…my humor is dark.

Who were some of your earliest influences?

My earliest influences were French poets like Atonin Artuad, Baudelaire, Henri Michaux. But as a child I loved reading all the classics of children literature. I especially loved R.L Stine.

What do you think you’d be doing right now if you hadn’t chosen to be an artist?

Well, art for me is a hobby. I do it for fun, as a way to express myself. I consider myself a writer. That’s what I enjoy doing the most. If I wasn’t writing or drawing…I’d probably be a publicist, or an agent. I think I have a talent for finding rarities. So if anyone wants to hire me…I’d certainly do that.

Photo by Austin Young

Are there any little known things about yourself you’d not mind sharing with our readers?

I love fried food. Fried ice cream. Fried pickles. Fired cookies. Fried bananas. You want to win my heart, fry me some food!

You are also a sculptor, photographer, and author as well as an artist. Do you enjoy more than the other?

I prefer writing because it’s easier for me. Painting requires lots of energy. When I draw I get very exhausted, and the older I am becoming, the more exhausted I am feeling. I have to be able to envision the drawing very clearly I have I am going to dedicate my soul to a piece. On the other hand, writing for me comes very easily. I can write 60,000 words in 8 months if I sit down everyday…I’ve done it several times.

Who are some of your favorite living artists?

Quentin Blake, Diamanda Galas, Clive Barker, Paulo Andreas Lorca, Marilyn Manson’s water colors are beautiful. Sadly, I think the majority of my favorites are dead…but their alive through their art in some way, aren’t they?

 Why do you think art has always been so powerful through the ages?

Art is love. Art moves. Art is a living thing, without which the world would be worse. The Renaissance artists knew this when they depicted religious scenes in art form, it was a way to worship Christ or the apostles. Art is a breathing beast.

Alex as Satan

Is there on thing you’d most like to accomplish in your work that you have yet to do?

I want to write an epic fantasy series. I haven’t done that yet. Perhaps someday if I can find someone to pay me, I can sit down and write it. In the meantime I have to earn a living, so all my writing is coming slowly.

What would you say is your favorite subject to cover in your artwork?

I love to draw faces. I love eyes, and lips and ears. I like to exaggerate them.

What advice would you give to the artists of tomorrow?

I would pass down the advice that my mentor gave to me. Learn the three T’s: Taste, Talent and Tenacity. Sometimes it’s hard to learn it, because it feels almost metaphysical, like the type of thing a philosopher would say. But this was Clive Barker who said it to me. And at first I didn’t understand it. It’s abstract. But if you think about it long enough. It’s true, it works. You can apply that to everything.

You are also an author. What first led you to try your hand at that?

I’ve been writing stories since I was 10 years old. I would sometimes turn these stories into short movies I would film with my cousins. Perhaps some day people will see them?

Can you tell us a little about Wanderlust? What can the reader expect from this book?

Wanderlust is a place that exists in my imagination. It’s a word that means “A strong desire to travel.” I have always been in a state of wanderlust, I want to travel to places that, sometimes only exist in my mind. This book is a fantasy book based off of true experiences, for example, my mom’s schizophrenia was the inspiration behind this children’s story. I wanted to explore what it was like growing up with a mother who often times escaped her world via her illness, involuntarily of course. She couldn’t control her illness, people with this illness have no choice. Wanderlust is a journey into that world, that state of being.

You also work closely with Clive Barker. What is it like to get to work alongside him? What is he like as a person?

I’ve been working and collaborating with the Prince of Midnight for many years. He’s shaped every aspect of my creative life. He has given me access to the map of the imagination. I don’t think I would have been able to access certain part of my creative imagination without his guidance.

You had the chance to work with Paulo as well. Did you enjoy that?

His emergence in my world came as a surprise. I didn’t think I would be working with him, but we found a mutual bond and love for art and imagination that allowed us to form a creative collaboration. We’re working on Clive’s Alphabet book, which has a title now, (Can’t reveal that yet thought!) and he’s so easy to work with. He takes suggestions really well, he listens and he also isn’t afraid to speak his mind. He’s a great collaborator. I don’t think I’ve ever come across an artist so inspiring and innovative; he has a style that is all his own. He works so well with ink and pen, and brush. In one month I watched him make over 50 drawings….so detailed. We made a little documentary too, you should watch it!

Do you think encouragement is an important asset to have when you work in the creative fields?

Encouragement is very helpful. I try to do that everyday when I talk to other artists. Artists should support one another, regardless of the medium. There are some very cruel people out there who also call themselves artists, and are very successful artists as well who do not support emerging artists. I think that’s unfortunate. Working on Clive’s facebook page we’ve been able to showcase artwork by his fans. I think they appreciate the exposure.

Do you believe in ghosts and such? What are your feelings on the afterlife?

I don’t believe in ghosts. As for an afterlife. I might be a plant, or a fly…or a maggot.

What projects are you currently working on?

I’m working on editing Clive Barker’s Alphabet and doing some design work for that. It’s going to be amazing!

I’m also compiling all of Clive Barker’s poetry. I’m digging through everything so we can have a definitive collection. Not sure what we’re going to do with that yet.

I’m also working on finding a publisher for my own novel. I’m a first time author, so it’s going to be a long hard road to get my work read by people. I just want people to have fun when they read my work. It’s not Horror. I write children’s fantasy. I know some people think I would write Horror because of who mentored me, but that’s not what I do. I want to explore the fantastical world of magic and fantasy…

Anything you’d like to say before you go?

Stay tuned…I have such sights to show you! Wink! Bwahahhahahhaha!

For more examples of Alex’s work please see The Artwork and Photography of Alexander Ghastbrow.

Have a good day at work honey, sorry for my deadness

Hush

It’s dark down here and oh so cold

Zombie Worms chew me blindly

Hag Fish and Sea Snails live off the white brick of my bone

Sad Eyes you look at me with hunger

you and the dogs would eat the fat of me

But I’m tired

let me settle

under the ice

the withering glaciers

to survive the depths one must carry a tiny fire inside

one must light their own way

In this pickle jar

I am still

under swell under salt

my vertebrae scattered

my building blocks

your stepping stones

I once swam fast made rich milk for my son

Now I’m all clammed up

the beast at the bottom

I lay for centuries

Ice cubes in your deep freeze

I will still be here

when you are all gone.

Cassandra Dallett occupies Oakland, CA. Cassandra writes of a counter culture childhood in Vermont and her ongoing adolescence in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has published in Slip Stream, Sparkle and Blink, Hip Mama, Bleed Me A River, Criminal Class Review, Enizagam among many others. Look for links and chapbooks on cassandradallett.com

Tye Harris is a tattoo artist specializing in stunning portraits. Based out of Austin, Texas he has produced some of the world’s finest tattoos all over globe. For more information please see Facebook.

Perspectives

While looking through some old photographs the other day, I came across some that were taken when I was a child. It was wonderful to see the looks in my friends’ faces. Their youth, their joy, their love of life. Not the lines of old age, the gray hair, the harshness of life that was apparent when they passed over to whatever lies beyond.

I thought about the old Tarzan movies and the natives who thought that the camera took your soul and wouldn’t allow the photographer to live unless they destroyed the image. This got me to thinking, and Crom knows it’s not always a good thing for me to think too hard.

A photograph does steal your soul. It takes a piece of it and places it on a piece of paper for everyone to see. It steals the moment it was taken. It steals a moment of joy, a moment of sadness and keeps it constant. It will never change as each passing second changes the person in the picture.

As you grow older, you remember the youth and the things only the young can do. You wonder why you have to age and allow the miseries of age to rob you of the things you want to do, but cannot do. Age, illness and misery are the earmarks of a long life, while the image on paper stays the same and mocks you.

If you could live forever and not age another day, would you? Would you want to watch your friends and family age and wither until they die? Would you want your feet firmly planted on solid ground and never discover the mysteries beyond the veil?

No one knows what tomorrow will bring. If we did, we would all be happy and win the lottery and not have a care in the world. Or is it better to live each day to the fullest and enjoy your life? If we live each day as if it were our last and follow the original “golden rule” of treating each other as we wish to be treated, wouldn’t the world be a better place.

It seems there are too many today who live by the “Modern Golden Rule” in that he who has the gold, makes the rules. I’m sure there are more “modern” folks out there than “originals”. We all have our demons and angels in our lives.

There are some who allow the demons to rule their life and use them to obtain their goals. Every now and then, someone loses the control and allows the demon to reach out and touch someone else and in doing so end up as demons themselves.

Then there are those who feel the demons inside and use any means possible to keep them bottled up inside and lose themselves only to become a vessel of pain.

Sometimes one can keep the demon under control and keep it in a deep dark place in their soul, but know that it can break out at any time and wreak havoc. It becomes a constant ache or ringing in your ears to let you know it’s there waiting for that instant it needs to break out and go on a spree. You maintain the control, but become numb to the joys and, sadly, to the love that is in the world. You “live in your own world”, “march to the sounds of a different drummer”, or beat on the cells of a rubber room.

A home is said to be a place filled with familiar things, love, and safety. I would say it’s funny, but too many people have a home only in their mind. Too often the dust and the cobwebs build up there and they are afraid to shed the skin or the shell and grow and find their feelings again. They can’t bring themselves to open that door and escape into the sunshine.

Why do we stay this way? Are we happy to spend our lives in our own private Idaho or in one of the nine circles of Hell? Crom, I’m full of questions and I have no answers. BS, that’s not true. I’m full of answers, but no one ever asks me, or if they do, it’s the wrong one and they really don’t want an answer.

Do you really think the person that you pass on the street really wants to know “How are you?” No, they don’t, not any more than they want to know what you had for breakfast this morning. We go through life making the motions until they become habits.

Here’s an exercise for you. Make a list of your friends, I’ll wait.

Now look at that list and use your fingers to count those to whom you would tell your deepest, darkest secret. Use your other hand and count those who already know your deepest, darkest secret. I’ll bet you have at least two fingers left on your first hand. I’ll also bet that your other hand only has one finger outstretched at the most. If I’m wrong, you are a better person than I am, but I know who I trust and who I can talk to about anything and it makes me a better person.

I never said I was an exceptional person, not even a good one; but, I know it makes me a better person. I may be totally fubar, but I know it, my true friends know it and they accept me for who and what I am. No apologies needed or wanted – just honesty, truth and understanding. They are with you from the lowest low to the highest high, but yet they are an anchor to keep your feet planted firmly on the ground.

Living is a lot harder than dying, especially these days. But living is always better than dying. We all will pass over one day and I would rather it be on my own terms than on someone else’s. Make peace with yourself, live life to its’ fullest, laugh often and love with all your heart.

I hope this little epistle gives you a new perspective on what’s going on. Let me hear what you think, I’m not going anywhere until the guys in the white coats drag me off kicking and screaming.

Barry Hunter has published Baryon Magazine since 1976 and it is well known in the science fiction and fantasy field. He has been writing since his college days and most recently his fiction has been presented in various anthologies published by Whortleberry Press. He is married and has one son. His websites are www.baryon-online.com and thebaryonreview.blogspot.com

Chad Crawford Kinkle is best known for his work writing and directing the horror flick Jug Face. The film set in the backwoods, was filmed in Nashville, TN. The story line focuses on a girl who is pregnant with her brother’s child that is forced to sacrifice herself to a creature in a pit.

Can you tell us a little about yourself? What was it like growing up in Fayetteville? Did you develop a love of film early on?

Fayetteville is a small southern town with a population of about thirty thousand in the entire county. I tell people it’s still too small for a Wendy’s to open. But growing up there was great. We had one movie theatre and I went every weekend. This is also pre-internet so my friends and I had to be creative to come up with things to do. That’s one of the reasons I think my imagination is strong. And also why I ended up using my parents VHS camcorder to make movies on the weekends.

I was a horror buff early on. I stayed up at night watching HBO hoping for two things. A horror movie and nudity. During the 80’s those went together. But Halloween was always my favorite time of year because of all of the horror movies that would be on TV. Plus, I loved pranks like “rolling” my friend’s houses with toilet paper.

What led you to start writing?

I didn’t until college. Actually, I hid from writing all the way through school because I couldn’t spell to save my life. I even failed 9th grade English. In second grade, I remember developing a sloppy handwriting style to cover up my spelling. The literature part was a breeze and I loved it. But probably my fondest memory of grade school was something I wrote. In fourth grade, we had a writing assignment to create a story about a picnic where a couple’s food was stolen by a bear. I wrote the story from the bear’s perspective and the teacher pulled me aside to tell me what a good job I had done.

Then nothing really happened to spark me until I wrote my first screenplay assignment in college. It was a one page scene. I found it to be somewhat easy and surprisingly a pleasurable experience. I was more of a visual artist, but transforming what I saw in my mind to words ended up suiting me the best.

How did the story for Jug Face come about? Where did you get your inspiration for this one from?

I was visiting my wife’s aunt and uncle in north Georgia. They wanted us to go to a newly built pottery museum. It was there that I saw my first face jug. They blew me away. So grotesque. I had to have one(now I have more than twenty). As I walked around the exhibit, I watched a video about the process of making a face jug and came up with the idea for Jug Face on the spot.

What was the most challenging thing about bringing this story to life on film?

The dread. That’s what I was most concerned with. All the other elements are interchangeable to a certain degree, but the tone took consistent attention.

Why do you think so many tales of terror seem to take place in various backwoods locations? Do you think so-called backwoods people are often underestimated or judged unfairly for coming from where they do?

I lived in New York City for a time and it was actually the safest place I’ve ever lived. There aren’t too many places where bad things can happen that another person won’t hear or see. But in the country, it’s a whole different story. You are truly alone and anything can happen. That fear translates into the way people view someone who lives in the backwoods.

What do you love most about living in Tennessee?

The rolling hills. They are imprinted in my brain from growing up here.

This film features the acting talents of Lauren Ashley Carter, Sean Bridgers, Sean Young, Larry Fessenden, and Daniel Manche. Do you consider yourself lucky to have had the chance to direct them? What do you think each one of them brought to this picture?

For my first feature, I was blown away by the actors that signed on. I was expecting to be using mostly unknown actors with lesser talent.

Lauren was the anchor of the entire film so it all started with her. Sean Bridgers brought the levity that the story definitely needed. Sean Young was the guiding mother figure on and off the set. Larry was such a cool person and also brought the humanity to the family. And Daniel was a jerk. Kidding. But he did play the perfect prick brother.

Did Daniel’s role in The Girl Next Door and Lauren and Sean’s roles in The Woman have anything to do with you deciding to use them in this movie?

Sure. I watched all of those movies before casting them. But it wasn’t what they did in those movies that sold me. It was that I could envision them in the world of Jug Face.

Do you have any interesting stories from the set that you are at liberty to share with our readers?

On the last day of shooting, a massive storm was coming. But somehow it actually bent around us and didn’t delay the shoot one bit. We were already scheduled for a 16 hour day.

How does this film differ most from other horror flicks?

In a way, I don’t think it does at all. People generally have low expectations for horror films so I think they get surprised when one actually has well rounded characters. But if you look at the best horror films, they generally do.

Why did you decide to work with Sean Spillane on the soundtrack? Are you a fan of his work?

Sean was recommended to me by my producer Andrew van den Houten. We hit it off the first time we met and I felt that he had a good idea for what music this type of story needed.

Are you surprised at how well received this movie has been so far?

Yes and no. I’ve always thought it was a good idea or I wouldn’t have written or made the film. But I’m really more surprised by how it splits people. The ones that hate it, really hate it.

Are there any little known things about you that the public might be surprised to learn?

None that I will divulge. (smiles)

What do you love most about bringing a story to life on film?

A screenplay is only a “plan” for the movie. It always has an unfinished feeling about it. But by completing the film, I get closure.

Do you have a dream project you’d most like to accomplish over the course of your career?

I must make something written by Stephen King. I’m so paranoid that he will stop writing and all of his stories will be taken.

What are you planning to work on next?

I have another southern gothic story. But this one is set in an urban environment in a current modern city.

Anything you’d like to say before you go?

Thanks for doing this! If anyone hasn’t seen Jug Face, please check it out!

Toby Huss has portrayed many characters since he began his career in 1987. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Cotton Hill and Kohng Koy Kahn Souphanousinphone on King of the Hill and Felix “Stumpy” Dreifuss on the HBO series Carnivàle. He has appeared on countless films and television shows such as Down Periscope, Jerry Maguire, Beavis and Butthead Do America, Seinfeld, Vegas Vacation, The Mod Squad, Nikki, Reno 911!, 30 Rock, Cowboys & Aliens, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Enough Said to name a few. His parodies of Frank Sinatra in the films Vegas Vacation and Down Periscope led to his forming the character Rudy Casoni. Toby also did several promo spots from MTV during the early 90’s wherein he covered tracks by Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre., Cypress Hill, and Pearl Jam among others. He is also a bit of an artist in his own right.

What was it like growing up in Marshalltown, Iowa? Can you tell us a little about the place? 

It’s a place where meat is steamed.

Did you experience any culture shock when you first moved to Los Angeles? What do you like most about living there?

Los Angeles usually fries or grills their meats. Or there’s a nice Mexican flat steak marinade they do. Still, jarringly NOT steamed.

What did you do before you became an actor? In the back of your mind was acting something you always wanted to do?

I worked for a Jamaican construction crew in NYC.

You have also done quite a lot voice over work. Do you enjoy that as much as acting? How do the two differ most? Do you find you are less self conscious when providing voices?

Voice over work is for pussies.

What was it like to provide the voices for Cotton Hill and Kahn Souphanousinphone on King of the Hill? Was it strange to be portraying two very different characters?

Cotton could kick Kahn’s ass.

What was it like to with Daniel Knauf and the cast of Carnivàle? What are some of your fondest memories from your time there?

Dan Knauf is a big, cuddly, American porch of a fellow. He’s sitable when he’s shaded.

What do you love most about acting?

All the free candy!

How did Rudy Casoni come into being? Can you tell us a little about him? Have you always been a Sinatra fan?

I liked Sinatra more when I’d get drunk and smoke around women I’d hit.

You are a bit of an artist and photographer as well. Do you find there is a certain freedom that comes from the act of creation, regardless of what form it comes in?

I make a lot of things that no one needs to see. And some that a lot of people see. Some things I make are only seen by certain people. It’s all a racket, this finding love.

What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

I have a paper route and a tortoise.

Are there any little known things about yourself that your fans might be surprised to know?

That I’m reluctant to delude myself into a collective form of intimacy with them. That, and my turn-offs are: sloth, envy, greed and girls who “think” they’re “all that.”

You have covered a wide array of characters over the course of your career, are there any that you love more than others? Which you would say was closest to your own self?

I’ve always liked my portrayal of Franklin D. Roosevelt in American Shitfister.

What are you personal feelings on the state of the entertainment industry today? How would you most like to see it change in the future?

I hope entertainment will one day come in pill form. Or fudge form. I’d like to eat a chocolate Kristen Wiig film next week.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Stoke on it.

What projects are you currently working on?

Just trying to get my shoes on over the horrible swelling like everyone else.

Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent

Vincent had the yellows,

pulled sunflowers from

behind his ears.

A storm in a dyke,

Vincent scooped the sky out

with teaspoons,

had a policy of stun and run.

Star stuck,                he

put his hand in Jesus’ wound

to see how sweet pain was,

plummeted to earth with wax wings.

Previously published in Poetry NZ.

“Prayer” by Vincent Van Gogh

Sue Clennell is an Australian poet who has also been published in New Zealand & the US. Her short play The Unknown was performed in Sydney’s Short & Sweet Summer Festival 2012. She currently has a poetry CD out The Van Gogh Cafe – 2 poems from which may be viewed on YouTube.

Christopher Rice is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels. Christopher has also written Coastal Disturbances for The Advocate and now hosts The Dinner Party Show. His upcoming thriller The Heavens Rise, which takes readers to the bayous of Louisiana where three friends face an ancient evil in the form of a parasite, is due out October 15.

What was your childhood like? What are some of your most fond memories from that time?

My childhood was divided in two by my mother’s success. We lived in San Francisco until I was ten years old, and then, after The Vampire Lestat was such a big hit, we could live pretty much anywhere we wanted and Mom decided it was time for a homecoming. I missed San Francisco very much during the first few years after the move. We lived in the Castro and it was the 1980’s so there was the shadow of illness across the community, but I still have wonderful memories of walking from our grey Victorian on the corner of 17th and Noe to see movies at the Castro Theater. We would always sit in the front row and when the organist would rise up out of the pit to play the overture before each film, everything would seem magical and perfect for a moment. The first few years in New Orleans were very challenging for me. I didn’t fit in. I was a wacky skater-adjacent kind of kid with a rat tail and big baggy T-shits with crazy horror movie imagery on them. But today I consider New Orleans to be my true hometown because most of the real life lessons, most of the real development, happened there.

 Do you feel privileged to have been raised in such a creative household?

Absolutely. But you have to leave such a household and go out on your own to realize how privileged you truly were.

What would you say are the most important things you have learned from your mother and father?

Write the book you want to read. Not the book that you think will get the most attention, or the most critical acclaim, or the most literary awards. The book that you want to sit down with and get lost in. Also, as artists they were incredibly disciplined, and as parents, they were incredibly tolerant and accepting and generous.

What was you very first favorite story?

When I was a little boy, it was a children’s book called Star Baby about a little baby who fell out of the stars and ended up in a fisherman’s net before he was raised by the fisherman and his wife. I can still remember it’s simple, pen-drawn illustrations.

Are you glad you chose writing over acting? What do you love most about the act of writing?

Well, I feel like I’m acting again now that I’ve launched The Dinner Party Show with Christopher Rice & Eric Shaw Quinn, my new Internet radio show. Eric and I play various characters and over the course of our 2-hour live show, we play about 45 minutes worth of pre-recorded sketches broke up into five and ten minute segments. Eric’s sister described the show as “a fairy home companion”. But at heart, I’m a writer, and most of the work we do for the show is about writing.

Are you enjoying hosting The Dinner Party Show? Can you tell our readers a little more about that? How did that first start?

Eric and I have been best friends for years. I always wanted a radio show. I always thought Eric should be on the radio. When the Internet radio thing became so easy for people to do on their own, people all around me were trying new and interesting things with it. Eric had talked about doing a one-man show, Tracey Ullman style where he played all these different characters, a sort of cross-section of American life. I asked him if we would merge into this show idea I had for the two of us and we basically took it from there. It’s been alot of work. We built our own studio. We hired all our own staff, bought all of our equipment. This is an entirely independent operation which is both joyous and nerve-wracking. It’s been an incredible experience so far. We’ve had great guests like Dan Savage, Patricia Nell Warren – my mother, of course – Chaz Bono, the list goes on and on!

How do you think you have evolved most as a writer since your early days?

I’ve worked very hard to try to establish a distinct narrative voice for each book, even when the book is in the third-person. There’s a cadence and a syntax to my later books that just wasn’t present in the first two, as popular as they both are. And I believe you learn to do by doing. That was actually the motto of my high school in New Orleans.

 How did it feel when you first had a book labeled a New York Times Bestseller?

I was overjoyed, but I was also very young, so the full importance of it really dawned on me over time. Coming from such a privileged background, it wasn’t clear to me yet in 2000, when A Density of Souls was first published,  how hard most people have to work to get their foot in the door.

Are you excited for the release of The Heavens Rise? Do you still get nervous before your works are released to the public?

I’m very excited, but I’m also very nervous. It’s a new genre for me and I’ve worked very hard on this one. I spent two years on the manuscript before my agent saw it. Right now I’m focused almost exclusively on marketing the book, trying to drive up pre-orders and planning the tour with my mother. I’m doing a special pre-order giveaway where if you order the book – any edition from any retailer, in any country- and e-mail your receipt to theheavensrise@gmail.com, you’ll receive a copy of an individually signed manuscript page featuring author notes

 Why do you think Louisiana and various other Southern places make for such good story locations?

Louisiana is a place where the present meets the past, and it’s not truly an American city. It’s a European-Caribbean city that feeds the rest of the country with its distinctive flavor and magic. There’s a sense of rules being suspended when you’re in Louisiana, on a lot of levels, so your story opportunities seem to increase ten-fold once you cross the state line.

How did you come up with the idea of a microscopic parasite that wreaks havoc on the world for this one?

Well, I reigned in a bit. It doesn’t wreak havoc on the world so much as it does the individual who is exposed to it, and the powers it gives them are both terrifying and magical. I like supernatural concepts that sit right on the dividing line between Science Fiction and the spirit world and I love it when writers try to explore a quantum or biological basis for supernatural phenomena. Not in order to disprove, but to give the fantastic a toe-hold in our everyday world.

Are there any little known facts about yourself that you’d not mind sharing with our readers?

In the age of social media, I don’t think there’s anything left that people don’t know about me. I’ve tweeted or posted all of it on Facebook at one time or another.

What was the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Sometimes we can’t wait to get in the mood to do what’s best for ourselves. Sometimes we have to take the actions that will benefit us and have faith that improved feelings and self esteem will follow.

 In your opinion what elements does it take to craft a really great story?

It all comes down to characters. Even if it’s a monster story, if I don’t care about the characters, I don’t care. Period. A good story is a collision of a compelling, complex character and an environmental conflict.

What projects are you working on at the moment?

I’m about 1/3 of the way through another supernatural horror novel set in the deep south, and right now, we’re taking a bit of a hiatus from The Dinner Party Show so that I can focus on getting ready for my book tour.

To pre-order The Heavens Rise in Hardback or Kindle formats please see: http://www.amazon.com/The-Heavens-Rise-Christopher-Rice/dp/1476716080/