Cthulhu invades Germany, Monsters invade France

It’s been a while since my last post (I sound like I’m in the confessional booth here), so I have a few things to catch up on…

Firstly, I want to announce the recent release — from Germany’s Festa Verlag — of my Cthulhu Mythos collection Geschichten aus dem Cthulhu-Mythos. It’s a beautiful hardcover, the dust jacket having a wonderful mock-leather textured feel. I think I’m in love. The contents, in English, are:

I Married a Shoggoth

The Bones of the Old Ones (which is set in my Punktown universe, as are the next two stories)

The Avatars of the Old Ones

The Young of the Old Ones

Servile

Conglomerate

Through Obscure Glass (which is set in W. H. Pugmire’s Sesqua Valley)

Out of the Belly of Sheol

The Face of Baphomet

Corpse Candles

Pazuzu’s Children

The Dance of Ugghiutu (another one set in Punktown)

Children of the Dragon (the first appearance of this story anywhere; it’s set in modern-day Vietnam)

As a bonus, the book also contains an interview with me, conducted by German writer Christian Endres. I featured the English version of this interview here on my blog, back in September of 2011: http://punktalk.punktowner.com/?p=1372

Also, the interview appears in the November/December issue of the German magazine GEEK! Here’s their third issue.

Christian decribes GEEK! thusly: “a new geek-culture sf fantasy horror print magazine here in Germany that reaches 40,000 people.” Sounds good to me! Christian sent me a PDF of the four-page interview, and it bowled me over with its colorful interior design. They even have me, on the first page, side-by-side with Mr. Lovecraft himself. I wish I could reproduce those pages here to show you. Thanks, Christian! And thanks as always to mein freund, Frank Festa.

The book Geschichten aus dem Cthulhu-Mythos can be ordered from the Festa Verlag web site here: http://www.festa-verlag.de/Lovecrafts-Bibliothek/Geschichten-aus-dem-Cthulhu-Mythos::328.html

Also recently released is the anthology MONSTRES!, from France, edited by Jacques Fuentealba. I’ll let you guess what the theme of the book is. My contribution is the story Me femme est un shoggoth. Can you figure that one out? Yep, it’s I Married a Shoggoth again, in French translation this time instead of German. As you can see, the book features really cool cover art. This link gives the full contents:

http://www.psychovision.net/livres/sorties-livres/827-monstres

If you English-speaking people are feeling left out, here’s a link to an oldie-but-goodie review of the ebook edition of my novel MONSTROCITY (the Cthulhu Mythos again, and again in Punktown), from the SF Crowsnest site:

http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/articles/books/2011/Monstrocity-by-Jeffrey-Thomas-16305.php

…wherein it is said:

“Thomas creates a rich, alien world that mixes many quite prominent elements of H.P. Lovecraft’s Chthulhu mythos with twists of his own, setting the tone for a story that jangles the nerves and pulls on the puppet strings of paranoia and insanity.”

The ebook of MONSTROCITY can be ordered here:

http://anarchy-books.com/

That kind of catches me up…I hope to be back sooner next time to keep you filled in on my conquest of the world.

Punktown RPG Announced

It’s official: there’s going to be a Role-Playing Game set in my world of Punktown. The announcement was made by Michael Tresca in his column at Examiner.com, wherein Michael relates:

“I’ve been working on-and-off for the past few years on a secret project that can now be revealed to the world: Jeffrey Thomas’ Lovecraftian sci-fi setting known as Punktown is on track to be published as a Call of Cthulhu-compatible role-playing game by Miskatonic River Press in 2013.”

And working hard he has been. Michael has already created a very meaty core set of rules for the game, detailing much about Punktown. (This book could be as much a travel guide to Punktown as a RPG game!) And Michael’s credentials in the gaming arena are impressive:

“Michael ‘Talien’ Tresca is a game designer, author, communicator, and artist. Michael has authored numerous supplements and adventures for publishers of Open Game License and D20-compatible games, including AEG, MonkeyGod Enterprises, Goodman Games, Otherworld Creations, Privateer Press…”

Our RPG was Mike’s brainchild, in fact, so I am obviously greatly indebted to him.

Also on board is another writer with outstanding credentials: Mr. Brian M. Sammons. Here’s some of his work: http://www.freewebs.com/brian_sammons/mygamework.htm

Brian will be writing one of the book’s game scenarios. And in addition to adding a number of illustrations, I’m slated to pen a couple of original Punktown stories for the book, to get gamers new to the city acclimated to their environment.

As Mike relates, the book is to be released by MISKATONIC RIVER PRESS — and a huge THANK YOU to MRP guru Tom Lynch for giving our project such a fine home. http://miskatonicriverpress.com/

I’m tremendously excited about this project. It’s been fun thus far and promises to be even more fun as it progresses. Best of all, I’m sure fans of Call of Cthulhu, anything and everything HPL, and readers of my Punktown novels and short story collections will find much to enjoy here.

Spread the word, my friends!

Ia! Ia! 27 Cthulhu Mythos stories for a buck! (Did I say, “Ia!”?)

Yeah…until June 3, my collection of Lovecraftian short stories UNHOLY DIMENSIONS is available in ebook format at Smashwords for 79% off — that’s $1 to you.

THE COUPON CODE IS: RC52Y

And here’s the link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/58343

That’s 27 short stories…CTHULHU MYTHOS stories, no less…for a buck.

If you need more convincing, there’s even a video trailer to be seen at YouTube, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=S_uxGVgddf4

It’s not too late to be squamous, eldritch, and/or gibbous! Get yours now!

LOST IN DARKNESS ebook & THE AKLONOMICON released

Some exciting news is forthcoming. Last week, within two days, I placed stories in three anthologies, each with a fascinating theme. I hate to be a tease, however, but I can’t as yet discuss two of these projects until they’re formally announced — so I’ll just skip on to two projects that have just been released and are ready to be ordered.

One of these is the e-book edition of my young-adult supernatural horror novel LOST IN DARKNESS. You can read about it, and order it, here:

http://store.crossroadpress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_61_314&products_id=396

The other new release is an anthology called THE AKLONOMICON, from Aklo Press. It’s a beautiful thing indeed, a thick paperback full of illustrations and even graphic stories (in full color, no less!). The contributing authors and artists are a who’s-who of who’s hot in the world of the weird tale: Laird Barron, Richard Gavin, Simon Strantzas, Nick Gucker, Paul Carrick, Joseph S. Pulver Sr., JD Busch, Jordan Krall, Garrett Cook, Mike Dubisch, Edward Morris, Ivan McCann, Andrea Bonazzi, Nova McIntosh, Kristamas Klousch, Scott Nicolay, Steve Lines, Livia Llewellyn, Kirill Rozhkov, Brandi Jording, Jason Roberts, Eric Reinert, Tara Vanflower, Daniele Serra, Michael Zigerlig, Johnny Mains, Eric York, Jacob Parmentier, Ann Koi, J Karl Bogartte, Stanley C. Sargent, T. E. Grau, Tom Moran, David Lee Ingersoll, and Daniel Mills. The glorious cover is by Dave Carson. My own story is called “Counterclockwise” and takes place in Punktown. (Co-editor Joe Pulver had asked me for a Punktown tale!)

I’m not sure if it’s available in the USA at this time — I’ll keep you up-to-date on that as best I can — but I do know the book is currently available in the UK here:

http://aklopress.bigcartel.com/product/aklonomicon

It contains work by some of my current favorite authors, and I’m greatly looking forward to delving in!

Seven new books from Anarchy Books — and one freebie!

Exciting news abounds from Anarchy Books. Here’s the press release:

*****

Press Release

April 6^th, Good Friday, is also Good Anarchy Books Day! We’re releasing not 1 – not 2, but 7 (YES SEVEN!) new novels, and for a limited period we’re giving away our fabulous anthology VIVISEPULTURE for FREE!

Our new releases are New York Blues by Eric Brown (hardcore SF heavyweight!), A Jar of Wasps by Luis Villazon (whom you may know as a technical writer on PCFormat, MACFormat and TechRadar.com, so he certainly knows his tech SF [digital] onions!),  Silversandsand The Last Reef by Gareth L. Powell (rising star of contemporary SF), the gentle, beautiful fantasy Fynoderee by Alexander Caine-Duncan, and last but by no means least, Young Punks: A Tale of Anarchy in the UK, a fabulous oral history of growing up as punks in the 70s by BAFTA short-listed film director Paolo Sedazzari. And just to add to the fun, we’ll also be releasing a soundtrack to Young Punks by a brilliant raw new punk band, The Mice, containing their stunning mad single Sex Shop.

Check out www.anarchy-books.com for more information, and for details of how to get your FREE NOVEL – VIVISEPULTURE, and a free copy of SEX SHOP.

VIVISEPULTURE – Welcome to our anthology, a collection of weird and bizarre tales by Neal Asher, Tony Ballantyne, Eric Brown, Richard Ford, Ian Graham, Lee Harris, Colin Harvey, Vincent Holland-Keen, James Lovegrove, Gary McMahon, Stan Nicholls, Andy Remic, Jordan Reyne, Ian Sales, Steven Savile, Wayne Simmons, Guy N. Smith, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Jeffrey Thomas, Danie Ware, Ian Watson and Ian Whates. Artwork by Vincent Chong.

In the tradition of Poe, Kafka, Borges and H. G. Wells, this collection of weird stories are written with the primary drive of presenting twisted deviations of normality. Whether it’s the deviant factory workers of Neal Asher’s Plastipak™ Limited, the pus-oozing anti-cherub of Ian Graham’s Rotten Cupid, the acid-snot disgorging freak of Andy Remic’s SNOT, or Ian Watson’s alternate zombie-crucifixion, ZOMBIBLE, each story will drag your organs up through your oesophagus and give your brain a chilli-fired beating!

April 6^thAnarchy Book Releases – Individual Details

New York Blues

by Eric Brown

Hal Halliday runs a missing persons business in mid 21st century New York. It is a city that is drowning in refugees after terrorist outrages have left much of America a radioactive wasteland. People colour their grim lives with endless hours spent in VR. It is an addiction which has made VR magnate Sergio Mantoni a multi-millionaire. But now Mantoni faces a threat from a guerilla group called VIREX, who are dedicated to ending the false promise of VR. And when Hal accepts a job to look for the missing sister of a Holodrama star, he find himself drawn into the complex world of VR and VIREX . . .

Silversands

by Gareth L. Powell

In an age where interstellar travel is dangerous and unpredictable, and no-one knows exactly where they’ll end up, Avril Bradley is a Communications officer onboard a ship sent to re-contact as many of these lost souls as possible. But a mysterious explosion strands her in a world of political intrigue, espionage and subterfuge; a world of retired cops, digital ghosts and corporate assassins who fight for possession of computer data lain undisturbed for almost a century. . .

A Jar of Wasps

by Luis Villazon

Graham Trevennan has just been dumped by his girlfriend. That’s not the problem. He’s wanted by the police for a murder he didn’t commit. That’s not the problem, either. But around the world, dormant volcanoes are suddenly erupting and impossibly complex crystal meteorites are falling out of the sky in a way that probably isn’t coincidental.        Now, the CIA, the army and at least one terrifyingly beautiful treasure hunter all seem to think that shooting Graham will somehow help them get hold of these priceless, extraterrestrial crystals. That is a problem.

Graham’s mission is to avoid getting killed, figure out whose side he is on and save the world. In the end, he manages two out of three. Which for a beginner, isn’t bad.

Dark Asylum

by Matthew Cowden

All families have secrets. Some are just far darker than others.

Pennsylvania, 1895. Evil and madness hide within the walls of the Gaskell’s gothic, country mansion, and some believe ghosts roam the halls to torture the living. Emily Radcliffe, the Gaskell’s governess, has her own dark past, one she has been hiding from under the shelter of this sinister home.

A blood thirsty killer escapes from a nearby mental hospital, leaving a trail of carnage and cat-and-mouse games through the streets of Allegheny City, and giving the police the impression that the Gaskell family may be his eventual target. Mystery, madness and carnage gradually surround Emily as she becomes trapped in this dark world of secrets and sin.

Dark Asylumis a tale of the late Edgar Gaskell, a man who is the key to unlocking the horrifying secrets of a tortured family and horrors beyond imagination… Only read Dark Asylum if you wish to suffer…

Young Punks

by Paolo Sedazzari

Young Punks is an oral history novel that takes you back to the scariest day of your life – your first day at secondary school, and secondary schools don’t come any scarier than Feltham Comprehensive, West London. Rough, tough and brutal – if you stole a peek at the graffiti in the bogs you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in the bowels of hell. It really is a case of – we can laugh about it now but at the time it was terrible. Young Punks is a universal timeless tale of adolescence, with our story kicking off in the mid seventies, and a sleeping Britain is about to be jolted awake by the punk rock explosion. But the three 11 year old protagonists of Young Punks are about to experience something even more seismic – puberty. We get spots and our voices break and whether you like it or everything has to change.

Young Punks brings you the fun, the scrapes and the anarchy of adolescence, packed with heartbreak and anguish, sibling rivalry and parental conflict. Mixing it altogether to give you an authentic picture of what it was like to try and grow up in the seventies, and what happens after you leave school and get spat out into the big bad world.

Fynoderee

by Alexander Caine Duncan

“Is this magic?” asked the boy, unable to hold his curiosity any longer. “No. It’s not magic,” said the creature, as calm as before. “It’s just…different”… For Juan Kerruish, a boy only ever noticed by the school bullies, his world is about to turn upside down. When he meets Bea, the Fynoderee, a creature thought to exist only in myth, he discovers that he carries a message from the past that could change the course of the future. In a time when old and new worlds collide with life threatening consequences, the few who stand in the way of an ancient evil must face and conquer their ultimate fears, if ever the land and their loved ones are to be saved.

The Last Reef

by Gareth L. Powell

What do you try to save when your world falls apart? Gareth L. Powell’s first collection of short fiction features a motley collection of archaeologists, hackers and ex-cops struggling to answer that very question. As their lives implode around them, will they use the moment to save their own skins, or to find a way to make up for past misdeeds? With settings ranging from the dead sands of Mars to the seedy backstreets of Amsterdam and Buenos Aires, these fifteen action-packed tales explore mind-bending science fictional ideas through the eyes of unforgettable and all-too-human characters.

Author Information

ERIC BROWN was born in West Yorkshire, England in 1960, Brown has lived in Australia, India, and Greece. He began writing when he was fifteen and sold his first short story to Interzonein 1986. His story The Time-Lapsed Man won the Interzonereaders’ roll for the most admired story of 1988. He has won the British Science Fiction Awardtwice for his short stories and has published over twenty books: SF novels, collections, books for teenagers and younger children, as well as radio plays, articles and reviews. His latest books include the collection Threshold Shift, the novella The Extraordinary Voyage of Jules Verne, and the children’s book Crazy Love. He is married to the writer and mediaevalist Finn Sinclair, and has one daughter, Freya. He lives in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

LUIS VILLAZON has degrees in Zoology and Computing. He has worked as a computer programmer, raised chickens, rabbits, turkeys and quails and served eight years as a volunteer coastguard rescuing people from cliffs. All of these things were a long time ago. Now he writes for various science and technology magazines and builds steampunk ray-guns out of odd bits of brass and copper. Luis is divorced and lives in North Devon, near to his three children but a long way from his girlfriend. A Jar of Wasps is his first novel.

GARETH L. POWELL. Born and brought up in the West of England, Gareth L. Powell studied Humanities and Creative Writing at the University of Glamorgan. He has since given guest lectures on creative writing at Bath Spa University, and has written a series of non-fiction articles on science fiction for The Irish Times. He is the author of the novels The Recollection and Silversands, both of which were favourably reviewed in The Guardian, and the short story collection The Last Reef, which was described by Morpheus Tales as “One of the finest collections of SF short stories I have had the privilege of reading” Gareth lives near Bristol with his family, and can be found online at www.garethlpowell.com.

PAOLO SEDAZZARI began his film-making journey in the late nineties after several punishing years as a rave promoter and freelance journalist. Fuelled by a punk rock spirit mixed with a Roger Corman ethos of ‘brilliance on a budget’his debut film the black comedy BRADBURY BEAR – FIRE RANGER made the BAFTA short list and rocked the London Film Festival in 1998. After a few more shorts it was time to make the big leap into feature films. It took Paolo the best part of four years to take his black comedy horror THE TOYBOX from computer screen to seeing the finished DVD in the racks of HMV. The film saw releases in the UK, Germany, Russia Thailand, and The USA – where it is presently available for viewing on the hulu.com VOD service. Horror expert Kim Newman in Empire magazine appointed The Toybox his Video Dungeon breakout film for the month, and compared the direction to Peter Jackson of Heavenly Creatures. Leading horror magazine Fangoria had this to say – “The Toybox is a strong aesthetic experience and a pleasant escape from the follow-the-leader trend.” In 2012 Paolo publishes through Anarchy Books the semi auto-biographical work Young Punks which will strike a chords with lovers of the British music scene all over the globe.

ALEXANDER CAINE DUNCAN was born and brought up in the Isle of Man. What began as a mild interest in his homeland’s folklore turned into an obsession, taking up most of his spare time, and a lot of time when he should of been doing other things! Alexander spent ten years as an actor, working both nationally and internationally in theatre, film and television with companies ranging from the R.S.C. to the B.B.C. and winning a number of awards for his performances. He now teaches and makes up stories full time.

*****

AND THERE’S MORE! Anarchy Books’ Andy Remic says…

We’ve also started a mail order service with our ANARCHY PACK 1 – 8 novels and 4 albums! delivered on a 1 gig memory stick to your door, for just £24.99.

This includes:

[NOVELS] Serial Killers Incorporated by Andy Remic, The Office of Lost and Found by Vincent Holland-Keen, Rain Dogs by Gary McMahon, GIG (both sides) by James Lovegrove, New York Nights by Eric Brown, Vivisepulture Anthology by Various, Monstrocity by Jeffrey Thomas, SIM by Andy Remic

The Black Seas of Infinity by Dan Henk – and [ALBUMS] ser1al killers incorporat3d by th3 m1ss1ng, SIM by th3 m1ss1ng, GIG by James Lovegrove and Monstrocity by Das Sombreros.

For more info please see the website www.anarchy-books.com

LOST IN DARKNESS released

My new novel LOST IN DARKNESS (Bad Moon Books) has been released in trade paperback, with a limited hardcover and ebook editions to follow. The production is beautiful, with compelling cover art by the artist known as GAK which fits the novel perfectly.

LOST IN DARKNESS was a little experiment of mine. I wanted to see if I could write a contemporary supernatural horror novel that did not rely on violence or sex (quite a change of pace for me…though there is a lot of steamy repressed teenaged passion). The book was actually written in the mid 90s but only survived in manuscript form; a friend of mine retyped the whole thing for me so the novel could finally see print.

The novel has already received a very rewarding review at Hellnotes that makes me feel I was successful in my aims:

“The title Lost in Darkness may be interpreted as a metaphor for sifting through the complicated dynamics of passion, loyalty, uncertainty, and acceptance.  The character of Dana Tower is a tough and sweet chick.  She can square her shoulders, yet is not immune from going weak in the knees.  Jeffrey Thomas infuses her with youthful exuberance and dogged determination; reminding us that challenges, mysterious or mundane, can be fulfilling and rhapsodic.”

The review in its entirety can be read here:

http://hellnotes.com/lost-in-darkness-book-review

The book can be ordered in trade paperback here:

http://www.badmoonbooks.com/product.php?productid=2861&cat=0&page=1

…and preordered in signed hardcover edition here:

http://www.badmoonbooks.com/product.php?productid=2862&cat=0&page=1

Eldritch Chrome

(My story involves a futuristic corporation. Portrait of CEO Cthulhu by JET.)

Ebook of WAITING FOR OCTOBER

Back in 2007 Dark Arts Books released WAITING FOR OCTOBER, a fascinating cross between short story collection and anthology — in that it included four authors (Jeff Strand, Adam Pepper, Sarah Pinborough and myself), each of us offering 3-4 stories. Great news: WAITING FOR OCTOBER is now an ebook available for the Nook:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/waiting-for-october-jeff-strand/1008452994

…and the Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006PGK0TO/?tag=jeffreythomas-20

Displaying his usual commitment to graphic design, publisher John Evenson has labored over the formatting of this book to ensure that it’s a beautiful presentation.

Here is the table of contents:

JEFF STRAND:
Gramma’s Corpse
Bad Candy House
Here’s What Happened

ADAM PEPPER:
The Admirer
Buried A Man I Hated There
Old Maid
Syndrome

SARAH PINBOROUGH:
Express Delivery
The Fear
Crystal
Carla

JEFFREY THOMAS:
The Hosts
Adoration
Star est Control

Much recommended for the discerning reader of the weird…and there’s no need to wait til October to buy it.

Thinking About “Blood Society”

Reviewer David Marshall, at his website “Thinking About Books,” has just posted a review of my latest novel BLOOD SOCIETY, making much of the odyssey through time by the immortal lead character, Attilio Augusta. He concludes the review by saying:

“Blood Society is well worth seeking out as one of the more thoughtful and, therefore, best vampire-type books of 2011.”

You can read the full review at “Thinking About Books” (where Mr. Marshall also thinks about movies, TV, anime, etc.) here:

http://opionator.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/blood-society-by-jeffrey-thomas/

And the book can be ordered as paperback, hardcover or ebook here:

http://www.necropublications.com/blood-society.html

Interview with author JAMES ROBERT SMITH

James Robert Smith is a man of numerous impressive literary accomplishments. He has written comic scripts for Marvel Comics, Kitchen Sink, Spyderbabies Grafix, and others. He was co-editor of the  anthology Evermore, from Arkham House. His short stories have appeared in such anthologies as HORROR FOR THE HOLIDAY, THE DEVIL’S COATTAILS, THE BLEEDING EDGE, WHITLEY STRIEBER’S ALIENS, SINGERS OF STRANGE SONGS, RETURN TO LOVECRAFT COUNTRY, and CHILDREN OF CTHULHU. His first novel, THE FLOCK, was published in 2006 by Five Star, and a later edition from Tor-Forge appeared in 2010. His zombie novel THE LIVING END appeared in 2011 from Severed Press. His latest novel is HISSMELINA. Let’s ask James about all this and more.

Jeffrey Thomas: James, as an author of comic scripts, short stories, and novels, do you have a preference for one of these forms — is one more rewarding for you than the others?

James Robert Smith: Novels. No contest. After I started concentrating on novel-length manuscripts, it was years before I went back to the short story form. The past couple of years have been the first in a long time for creating short stories. Comic scripts have always been more of a purely for-the-money kind of work for me. There are things that you can only do with comics, but as I have to rely heavily on another creator’s interpretation of my ideas and that person’s own vision, it’s not my favorite form in which to work.

JET: What’s your writing process like? Do you have certain times in which you write, any idiosyncratic writerly rituals? Music or no music while you write?

JRS: I pretty much have to have peace and quiet and a certain amount of solitude when I write. I’d never be able to write in a shop window as Harlan Ellison so famously did. Also, I cannot write when music is being played. I’ve tried writing when playing music and it stops me in my tracks. Any kind of music just disturbs me. It doesn’t matter what kind—I have to shut it off. As for the time of day—I used to write mainly late at night, but now I write early in the evening because that’s when it’s most convenient to write. Unfortunately, my day job dictates when and where I can write.

JET: Tell us about your first novel, THE FLOCK. I love the premise but I want to hear you describe it!

JRS: THE FLOCK was a huge departure for me. It is neither fantasy nor horror but was instead inspired by a number of subjects close to my psyche: environmentalism and paleontology. Some years back it was theorized that the North American predatory ground bird, Titanis walleri had re-evolved arms in place of its rudimentary wings. This meant that it would have truly resembled the extinct theropods of tens of millions of years before. Around the same time there was an erroneous discovery that would have put the last of these creatures on the North American continent at the same time as the early Native Americans (roughly 15K years ago). These discoveries started swirling in my head and wouldn’t leave me alone. Thus, I ended up writing THE FLOCK, my first non-horror novel which proved to be my first novel sale.

JET: You sold the film rights for THE FLOCK; how did such an exciting development occur?

JRS: When the book came out and was a modest success in hardcover, I had a couple of inquiries for the movie rights. These were from East Coast sources and nothing ever really panned out. Then, one day on an old comic book artist’s website I accidentally insulted one of Don Murphy’s films (FROM HELL). I didn’t know the guy frequented the board and he was there and took offense to my criticism. So he went out and bought a copy of THE FLOCK, intending to read it and thereby authoritatively shred it in public. Instead, he loved the book so much that he teamed up with John (WEST WING) Wells and they optioned the novel through Warner Brothers.

JET: I hear there’s a sequel novel to THE FLOCK forthcoming?

JRS: I sold the sequel to THE FLOCK. It’s called THE CLAN and we rejoin most of the human characters from THE FLOCK in a new adventure. I’m not sure when Tor-Forge is going to release that one. They have the manuscript and I’m waiting for it to be scheduled.

JET: What other work do you have in the pipeline?

JRS: Next up should be FOUR FROM MANGROVE, a four-story fantasy collection set in my mythical nation of Mangrove, an Iron Age city-state. Over the years I’ve sold a number of my Mangrove stories to various publications and figured I’d collect them into one volume.

Tor-Forge has first refusal rights to my novel THE LOST CHILD, so I’m waiting to hear what they’re going to do. That one is a supernatural horror novel featuring a kind of werewolf. I’m also working on a Young Adult book my agent and I want to pitch as a trilogy—ISAAC’S QUEST.

JET: What’s your new novel, HISSMELINA, about?

JRS: HISSMELINA is a horror novel based on Lovecraftian themes. It’s not Mythos related, but does use some of the tropes we all pick up from reading HP Lovecraft in our youth. I wrote it partly because I got tired of reading horror novels with villains who were so evil that one had to laugh at them, and with heroes so good that they make you want to puke. So I created likable antagonists and mildly disreputable heroes. It’s my favorite novel and had the most near-misses at the major publishing houses of anything I wrote. It was past time for it to see print.

JET: How did you get into comic writing, and for Marvel no less?

JRS: I started writing for comics when I sold a couple of scripts to Steve Bissette for his infamous TABOO title. The TABOO stories led to other offers, including Marvel (CLIVE BARKER’S HELLRAISER) and New Comics, Fantaco, etc.

The comic book industry is a truly cut-throat and disreputable cesspool of a place and I haven’t worked in that format much in a long time. The last comics work I did was for Basement Comics when I did a CAVEWOMAN one-shot.

Currently, Mark Masztal and I are trying to piece together a comic book adaptation of my zombie novel, THE LIVING END.

JET: Who inspires you — not just writers, but creative people in general who fan your own creative flames?

JRS: Charles Bukowski, Robert Graves, Robert E Howard, Ernest Hemingway, Charles Portis, Barry Gifford, Boris and Arkady Strugatski, David Lynch, Peter Weir, Ridley Scott, Bertrand Russell, (comedian) David Cross…hell, I could sit here all day and write about inspirational figures.

JET: Do you have some concluding thoughts or any other projects you’d like to mention?

JRS: A lot of people ask me for advice since the movie deal was made public. I have to say that the best advice that I can give to anyone wanting to be a writer is the same that I kept hearing over the years: keep reading and don’t stop writing.

In addition to that, I like to tell younger writers not to be scared of rejection. If you can’t deal with rejection then you’re never going to make it as a writer or any other kind of creator.

JET: Thanks for the guest appearance, James!

JRS: Yer welcome! Thanks for having me on the blog!

Find JAMES ROBERT SMITH at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/James-Robert-Smith/e/B001JP7MG0/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1327214090&sr=1-3

…and visit him at his official web site: http://jamesrobertsmith.net/