Tag: noir

Books

Exclusive Interview: “The Jaguar Mask” Author Michael J. DeLuca

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date July 29, 2024
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There’s been a lot of novels lately that are putting different spins on classic stories. There’s Madeline Miller’s Circe, a retelling of The Odyssey from the perspective of the titular sorceress, while Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne, puts a new spin of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.

But in Michael J. DeLuca’s surrealist fantasy noir novel The Jaguar Mask (paperback, Kindle), he’s not so much putting a different spin on a Mayan myth as he is imagining what that mythical figure would be up to these days.

In the following email interview, DeLuca discusses where he got the idea for The Jaguar Mask, as well as what influenced how he told this story.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “The Switch” Author April McCloud

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date June 21, 2024
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If you’ve ever done it, you know: cat sitting for a friend is annoying. Stupid cats never stay still long enough for you to sit on them.

But for writer April McCloud, cat sitting for a friend wasn’t that bad, since it inspired her to write this new noir-ish cyberpunk sci-fi thriller novel The Switch (paperback, Kindle).

In the following email interview, she explains how that happened, as well as what else inspired and influenced this novel.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart” Author Izzy Wasserstein

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date March 11, 2024
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“I don’t generally set out to write about social and political topics,” writer Izzy Wasserstein says in the following email interview about her new novella These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart (paperback, Kindle), “but we’re living in a time of political upheaval, climate change, and rising authoritarianism. And as a trans woman, I’m constantly being reminded that my existence is political.”

Though in talking about this queer, noir technothriller, it’s clear that while Wasserstein didn’t necessarily set out to be social or political, this story wouldn’t have it any other way.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Small Gods Of Calamity” Author Sam Kyung Yoo

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date March 4, 2024
No Comments on Exclusive Interview: “Small Gods Of Calamity” Author Sam Kyung Yoo

When we think of ghosts, we usually think of dead people. Or that slimy guy from Ghostbusters.

But in Sam Kyung Yoo’s urban fantasy / supernatural noir / paranormal investigation novella Small Gods Of Calamity (paperback, Kindle), a full-time police detective and part-time spiritualist named Kim Han-gil is chasing a ghost worm.

In the following email interview, Kyung Yoo talks about what inspired and influenced this story, as well as their plans for more…but not about the worm. Some mysteries must remain mysterious

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Austin Noir” Co-Editor Scott Montgomery

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date June 22, 2023
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For nearly 20 years, Brooklyn’s Akashic Books has published a series of geographically-based anthologies of noir short stories: Buffalo Noir, Belgrade Noir, Boston Noir, Baghdad Noir — and that isn’t even all of the “B”s. For the latest, though, they’re going for an “A” with Austin Noir (hardcover, paperback, Kindle, audiobook), which was edited by Hopeton Hay, Scott Montgomery, and Molly Odintz. In the following email interview, Montgomery discusses this series and his specific installment.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “The Long Shalom” Author Zachary Rosenberg

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date June 21, 2023
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By calling his horror noir detective novel The Long Shalom (paperback, Kindle), writer Zachary Rosenberg knew some people might wonder if it was a parody. But as he explains in the following email interview about this otherwise serious story, while it does have some humor, it’s more the gallows kind than anything Mel Brooks-esque.

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Exclusive Interview: “Blind Spots” Author Thomas Mullen

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date April 6, 2023
No Comments on Exclusive Interview: “Blind Spots” Author Thomas Mullen

Read enough murder mysteries, or watch any cop shows or movies, and you’ll inevitably hear a police officer say that the victim, “Never saw it coming.” But what if no one ever saw it coming because they were blinded by the murderer? This is the idea behind Thomas Mullen’s new novel Blind Spots (hardcover, paperback, Kindle, audiobook), in which something caused people all over the world to go blind, and while they’ve since compensated with cybernetic implants, a murdererous hacker is now taking advantage of these devices. In the following email interview with Mullen, he discusses what inspired and influenced this cyberpunk sci-fi noir mystery thriller.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Haunted By The Past” Author Simon R. Green

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date December 7, 2022
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Simon R. Green Haunted By The Past Ishmael

Nearly sixty years after he landed on our planet (or seven, depending on your perspective), Ishmael Jones’ career as a paranormal P.I. is still going strong. In the following email interview, writer Simon R. Green discusses what inspired and influenced Ismael’s latest case, Haunted By The Past (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), as well as how his new publisher Baen will be rereleasing the previous 10 Ishmael Jones novels.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “The Last Raven” Author Steve McHugh

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date November 9, 2022
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With The Last Raven (paperback, Kindle, audiobook), writer Steve McHugh is kicking off a series of urban fantasy noir novels called the Riftborn saga. Though as he explains in the following email interview, the Riftborn will ultimately comprise a trilogy of trilogies.