Categories
Books

Exclusive Interview: “Ghost Station” Author S.A. Barnes

 

In space-based science fiction stories, the main character is usually the leader; like, say, the captain of the ship. The commander of the military. It’s one of many reasons why Alien was such a revelation when it came out in 1979; its main character was an officer, just not the one in charge.

It’s something author S.A. Barnes is doing as well in her psychological space horror novel Ghost Station (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), in which the main character is not the one leading an expedition, she’s a psychologist in the crew.

In the following email interview, Barnes discusses what inspired and influenced this scary sci-fi story.

Categories
Books

Exclusive Interview: “Grey Dog” Author Elliott Gish

 

Some people like to take walks in the wood to clear their heads.

But you probably shouldn’t ask writer Elliott Gish to take a stroll among the trees if relaxation is your objective. At least not if what she says about her haunted forest horror novel Grey Dog (paperback, Kindle, audiobook) in the following email interview is any indication.

Categories
Books

Exclusive Interview: “Mal Goes To War” Author Edward Ashton

 

When we think of artificial intelligence, we usually expect it to be, well, intelligent.

But in his new “sci-fi that’s a bit cyberpunky” novel Mal Goes To War (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), writer Edward Ashton gives us an AI who, well, let’s just say he’s perfectly capable of making bad decisions.

In the following email interview about Mal, Ashton talks intelligently about what inspired and influenced this smart story.

Categories
Books Comics

Exclusive Interview: “Victory Parade” Writer / Artist Leela Corman

 

It’s always interesting to consider who and what had an influence on something.

Take Leela Corman’s new graphic novel Victory Parade (hardcover, Kindle), which, as she says in the following email interview, was influenced by such seemingly disparate influences as the iconic experimental band Einstürzende Neubauten, the sitcom M*A*S*H, author Primo Levi, singer Josephine Baker, and painter Otto Dix, to highlight a few.

Categories
Books

Exclusive Interview: “Disquiet Gods” Author Christopher Ruocchio

 

The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer once said something to the effect of “all good things must end.” And while the exact wording of what he said has been lost to time, it doesn’t make the sentiment any less true.

Which brings me to Disquiet Gods (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook) the sixth and penultimate novel in Christopher Ruocchio’s Sun Eater series.

Though as Ruocchio explains in the following email interview, Disquiet Gods isn’t actually as close to the end of this epic science fiction space fantasy series as you might think from a penultimate entry.

Categories
Books

Exclusive Interview: “The Heartbeat Of The Universe” Editor Emily Hockaday

 

For more than 20 years, senior managing editor Emily Hockaday has overseen the poetry sections of the iconic science fiction and fantasy magazines Analog Science Fiction And Fact and Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine.

Well, now she has a new (ish) role: editing the new anthology The Heartbeat Of The Universe: Poems From Asimov’s Science Fiction And Analog Science Fiction And Fact 2012–2022 (paperback, Kindle).

In the following email interview, Hockaday discusses how she decided which of the poems published on her watch to include (and which not to include), what forms they take, and why none of them start with the line, “Oh 3PO, oh 3PO, wherefore art though, 3PO?”

Categories
Books

Exclusive Interview: “Setting His Cap” Author Aaron Rosenberg

 

Sometimes the best character in a story isn’t the one the story is about. Sometimes, there’s someone just as interesting in a supporting role. Or someones, as the case may be with Aaron Rosenberg’s comedic urban fantasy novel Yeti Left Home, in which the titular cryptid wasn’t the only interesting supernatural person.

Which brings us to Setting His Cap (paperback, Kindle), a prequel to Yeti centered around one of the interesting characters the yeti met when he left home.

In the following email interview, Rosenberg discusses why he decided to write this prequel, as well as his plans for more yeti-related stories.

Categories
Books

Exclusive Interview: “Echoes Of The Divine” Author Danielle Ackley-McPhail

 

Under normal circumstances, I cannot abide the “throw it all away” philosophy of Marie Kondo. I just like my stuff too much.

But sometimes, decluttering can be good.

Which brings me to writer Danielle Ackley-McPhail who — as she explains in the following email interview — put together her new steampunk short story collection Echoes Of The Divine And Other Steampunk Stories (paperback, Kindle) when she realized she, “…had a lot of short stories … just sitting around cluttering up my hard drive.”

Categories
Books

Exclusive Interview: “People’s Park” Author David Agranoff

 

Back before everyone had the Internet in their pocket, some kids used to hang out, listen to music, and skate or die.

It is in this before time that we find David Agranoff’s new horror novel, People’s Park (paperback, Kindle), a story that — as he says in the following email interview — has a lot of connections to his real life in that long lost era.