Books, Babes, and the Business: The Fluffy Fox

Vix Kirkpatrick

I am a BritGirl who loves reading. I am fortunate enough to be able to say I beta read for some awesome authors and am passionate about their work. I strongly believe in supporting all their hard work and try to promote them as much as I can on my little blog.

My favourite genre is horror and the huge areas it covers which often spill over into sci-fi, the bizarre and comedy in many instances.

Influential females…..oh my, far too many! I am thankfully now surrounded by so many wonderful ladies it would be unfair to even contemplate a list! Social media is often derided for its flapping, nasty or inane comments or food pictures, but it has allowed me to “meet” some of my best friends and expand on my gang/stable/horde of authors.

List a few authors and my favourite books by them! Ok, lets limit it to my top eight, those ladies whom I would probably read their shopping lists if they published them; with these amazing ladies you are ALWAYS promised a great read.

Kat Yares – has a multitude of brilliant short stories and my pick of the bunch would be Cleanliness Is Next Too….as it made me leap from my bed on a Saturday morning and start hovering! Who is afraid of the odd dust bunny? ME! But from her novels I loved Beneath The Tor, so much I bought a hard copy and have passed it around my local friends. It is a wonderful narrative of what could have happened in the Christ story, KY is delicate, respectful and clever in her ability to weave all the important aspects of Christ into this fictional story with a twist.

Lori R. Lopez – Jar Baby and The Fairy Fly are my favourites. LRL always throws in words and phrases that I have to run off and look up, she expands my vocabulary every time I read her and Jar Baby is one of my favourites as she manages to make mummy & zombie killing so eloquent sounding as you would think you were at a tea party with Earl Grey tea and cucumber sandwiches. The Fairy Fly is not a horror book, unless you are afraid of creepy crawlies and up until this book I was morbidly afraid of spiders, now I can even sit in the same room as them and not have panic attacks, I will forever be in LRLs debt for that.

Billie Sue Mosimen – with such a huge repertoire can anyone have a favourite BSM novel/short story? I can read White Skulls over and over though as it has the gore, back story, interesting characters, plot twists and humour that I love so much in all my reads.

Suzi M – The Immortal War series for me was almost perfection, a brilliant mix of Vamps, Demons and all sorts of other critters mixed over time, space and a 3 way love story, do you need anymore?

Jaime Johnesse – well apart from her famous Bob (The Zombie) Series, her best story was Shifters (which I believe is having an overhaul to make it even more awesome!) and even now 3 years later I still think of the characters from this book.

Eden Crowne – Fall From Grace; Angels, Demons, marks of death and lots of sex! how could you go wrong with that mix! Her stories are complex and intricate and really give a sense of being in the story with all the fantastic descriptions of people and places.

Allison M. Dickson – The Wicked Brew collection for me had the best short story “A Concealed Hand” this one really touched me; made me gasp, hold my breath and laugh. Her debut novel “Strings “ was grotesque in that wonderful horror way that makes you want more, just not after dinner.

Christine Sutton – her Kayla Burkhart series was brilliant, CS took all your usual fairie tales and turned them on their head! Humour and gore combined are my favourite elements in a horror story, the giggle then the slap in the face – not to mention the amazing writing style that CS has.

Current projects? Well, as I am NOT a writer it’s more like an ongoing blog of reviews; although I am trying to bully everyone into answering a few silly questions, nothing like the sensible ones you have me answering! Unless you would like to know what my favourite sandwich is?

Vix loves the horror genre, but it must be well written even if Bmovie style! She also enjoys sci-fi, comedy, thrillers, biographies and some weird stuff.

Vix enjoys leaving reviews and supporting Indie authors. You can find Vix here: http://fluffyredfox.blogspot.co.uk/

Books, Babes, and the Business: Malina Roos

Malina Roos

Please tell us a little bit about yourself… (would you describe yourself primarily as a writer, publisher, editor, artist, radio talk show host…) Do you focus on a specific genre with your work?

I describe myself as a storyteller. I tell stories. I make stuff up that is almost plausible, throw in some weird character flaw for my protagonist and antagonist, send them on a journey into a ‘what if’ situation and see what happens. Inevitably, I have an idea, and it will come from something as simple as walking into a room and seeing something out of the ordinary and my mind wanders automatically in to….what if someone became so obsessed with her boyfriend that she thought he was cheating on her, and she killed a complete stranger in the process. The caveat in this piece is the MC was in grade nine.

I write horror. That’s what I classify it. It’s psychological horror, crime horror, the type of stuff that makes a reader go ‘huh’ at the end. It’s about people, damaged, broken, hurt people, who do messed up things, either because they have to, or because they want to. I have always been obsessed with why people do the things they do and I try to get into their heads and figure that out. I write from the broken perspective. Not to garner sympathy, just to play around in their sandbox for a while, mess with their toys, and then I go home to my warm bed and cuddle my dogs.

I do edit for others and my main goal is to write and edit fulltime after my I am finished with career number 8. I change jobs and careers like people change underwear. Well, hopefully people change their underwear more often than eight times in a lifetime……I have fixed airplanes in the military, hung upside down like a bat inside the cockpit of a Tutor; studied psychiatric nursing; managed a hair salon; was a live-in help aide to disabled people, and now I am in law enforcement. I have always wanted to be a writer, though. Wrote my first story when I was six about Dracula and a Duck. Yeah I don’t get it either. But the teacher thought it was great and had me read it to the class, then to the school during an assembly. By the time I was in Grade 6, I was in a Grade 12 English class.

I also review books for other authors and promote them whenever I can. As an industry, we are here to help each other. Being a writer is a tough job, and there are so many great ones out there, that are falling by the wayside. I started writing book reviews to help people get noticed. I read a lot, on the average, probably 200 to 300 hundred books a year. Insomnia is a gift. So when I read something that I think deserves credit, I review it and recommend it for the Bram Stoker awards.

I started the Solstice List two years ago, and a few Stoker recommendations appear on both lists. I love great writing, and want to do my part to promote it. The Solstice List is simple. If I read a book that is edited, blows me away or I can get lost in the dream of it, regardless of the year it is published, it makes it on the list. So out 200 books, 20 make the cut. I started this because I wanted to promote writers but also because I was reading all these great books I could not recommend for a Stoker because they were published in the wrong year. I thought, wow. You people are missing out, readers and writers alike. Penelope Crowe was my inspiration for this when I read 100 Unfortunate Days. What an amazing, terrifying and utterly page-turning book. I read that in one sitting then had nightmares and weird experiences for months. And I could not recommend it for a Stoker because she published it the previous year.

Not all horror writers are members of the Horror Writers Association. If you don’t know about it, how do you get your work noticed?

Right now, I work full time and I take courses in editing to get my certification as a professional editor. I sleep. A lot. I am recovering from the great Brain Splatter Incident of 2009 as I call it, when my brain decided, you know, you think way too damn much, and blew up. Had two ruptured brain aneurysms, who I have named Esmeralda and Esperanza, my conjoined twins. I was terrified I would not be able to write afterwards, but I did. And I take life way less seriously now.

Do you/Would you ever write under a male pseudonym? Why or why not?

I write under M.L. Roos because of the stigma there is against females in writing horror. Everyone expects men to be the horror writers, not the women, and, if you are a female horror writer, then it must be paranormal romance….and I am so far from that. I want people to read my work. I think I have a better shot at it if they don’t know I’m female. Is this reality? I think so. Some would agree, others would say, that’s BS and that’s a cop out. I don’t know. I am not here change the world, just to grab a tiny, crazy little piece of it. So if writing under my initials makes that happen, so be it.

Name a few of your favorite books/authors you’ve read recently:

One of my favourites was The Missing Years of Thomas Pritchard from Matt Shaw. Beautiful, intense, lovely piece of work that made me cry, damn him. Just outstanding. Made my novel of the year for my Solstice List: The Best Books and Stories of the Year, that I publish every December 21^st.

Deeply Twisted by Chantal Noordeloos was a great compilation of a deeply twisted mind. That girl can write.

And then of course anything by Michealbrent Collings, Craig Saunders, Billie Sue Mosiman or Penelope Crow. For shock value, I read Matt Shaw and that’s why he surprised the heck out of me with The Missing Years.

Who has been the most influential female in your personal life and how have they shaped your work?

Hands down, without a doubt, Billie Sue Mosiman. When I read Interview with a Psycho, I was hooked. She writes so clean, so to the point, without pretention and claptrap, and superfluous fluff. I loved her from the moment I read her and thought, dammit, that’s who I want to be when I grow up.

The one book that stands out is Widow. I wrote her and wanted her to change the ending. I loved the MC. She was doing horrible things, but she was so broken. I could totally understand why she was doing what she was doing and I was cheering her on. Loved her.

If you could give your younger self one piece of advice relating to the business what would it be?

Be yourself. Do not give up. Keep writing. Keep eating cake for breakfast. Push the send button. One, you asked for one.…..ADD is a gift, dammit.

Do you have a current project or upcoming project you would like to tell us about?

I have several……as I am sure we all do. Do all writers have ADD? I think we have to be, or have some mental illness that sets us apart from the rest of the regulars.

Sever, Slice and Serve will be a collection of short stories, if it ever gets finished.

Talia is part one of a three part series about the origins of Vampirism, Sleeping Beauty and where fairy tales really come from.

Circle of Survivors is a compilation of research in to brain aneurysms and the treatment, care of, and survival guide for survivors and the people in their life.

The Wolfing is about a community of werewolves who share more with the human race than we care to think about.

Where can we find you? 

Author Site

Book Review Site on FB

Editorial Services                                                                                                                               

Blog

Amazon

Death to the Brothers Grimm

 Zippered Flesh 2

 Malina Roos tells stories, runs with scissors, and makes things up all the time. The best part is, a lot of people believe the things she says. He loves her husband and family, including her fur babies and that’s what keeps her grounded. Especially her husband. Without his support, none of this would be possible.

Creating fiction in a non-fiction world keeps her sane and makes her less stabby. And yes, people in her life, do appear in her work……..

The All-Time Greatest Horror Writers – Billie Sue Mosiman

Congratulations to the lovely and talented

Billie Sue Mosiman!!

 TOP 50 All-Time Greatest Horror Writers!

Sekhmet Press LLC had the great honor

of publishing Ms. Mosiman in the 2013 Wrapped In Red vampire anthology.

CLICK to buy on AMAZON

She is also the author of over 60 books since 1984 and two of them received an Edgar Award Nomination for best novel and a Bram Stoker Award Nomination for most superior novel. Please do yourself a favor and check out her work!

RANKER All-Time Greatest Horror Writers -Read the entire list HERE

Author Spotlight – Billie Sue Mosiman

Billie Sue Mosiman is the author of the short story YE WHO ENTER HERE, BE DAMNED in the

NEW Vampire Anthology

WRAPPED IN RED

She is also the author of the New

SINISTER –  TALES of DREAD 2013

Excerpt from:

Ye Who Enter Here, Be Damned

As he opened his eyes the dark thickened, and grew as black as the bottom of a barrel. He lay in the depths of a grave. Swaddled in rotting clothing from a former century, his long nails clawed patiently at the shredded satin padding of the coffin. He had been at it even in his sleep-dream.
His heart beat slow as an African drum he’d heard once as a young man in Uganda. It came from a tribe he stalked, a group of primitives who wore carved sticks over their penises and sported black tattoos on their shoulders. He had drained dozens of them before he was done. The memory of blood made him lick his lips. His stomach was flat, his veins collapsed, but his brain festered with atoms sparking and igniting in the center of each brain cell.
Now he listened to his heartbeat, as he clawed away stinking satin and clots of cotton stuffing pressing down inches above his head. Only when he was free and fulfilled would his heart beat with new energy enough to carry him through into the future.
They had pushed the stake through his unholy heart, but as soon as they closed the coffin lid he’d withdrawn it. It had taken every ounce of his remaining strength. The pain, excruciating, left him faint and weak. But not dead. It had taken nearly a hundred years for the damage to correct itself, for it was his black heart that propelled him. With it punctured he had lain like the corpse they thought him for years, dreaming.
His nails reached the wood of the lid, having gotten through the batting. He methodically scratched at it, imagining it clarified butter, imagining it as cloud. The wood gave and rained down bits of damp splinters onto his chest. Finally earth filtered through the cracks. It smelled rank and full of worms, fertile as a river delta. He forced his right forefinger nail into the split wood and pushed it down and down, widening the gulf between him and the ground holding him hostage.

He came forth in darkness -a lucky matter for him. He hadn’t seen the sun for a hundred years, even as a shadow cast on a wall. That great orb’s beam would have rendered him blind for some time. It was not always true they could not take the sunlight. He was a creature living beyond all myths, even the deadly stake through his heart.
He sat beside his own grave, noting they had left a stone marker holding a warning: DO NOT ENTER HERE, FOR THERE BE DRAGONS.
He smiled. He was more powerful than any dragon and longer-lived, for the dragons had long gone from the earth even before mankind swam through the mud puddles as tadpoles.
He raised his head to see the moon and it was full. He arched his neck, letting the light bathe him in silver essence, renewing his soul. For he did indeed have a soul, though a black one. It responded to the celestial body circling the earth to bring reflected sun to those like him, who could not bear the brighter star for too long at a time.
He stood, shucking the tatters of his suit, leaving him a skeletal and naked man. He brought up his hands and ran his fingers through long raven hair, knocking loose dirt. He brushed his face down and clapped his hands to be rid of what earth still clung to him.
He put a hand over his heart, judged it strong enough to animate him for at least a while more, and set off into a lope out of the lost graveyard for the plantation house belonging to his murderer.
He -Charles Highgood -would not still be alive. No. It had been too many decades and taken him too long to release himself from the deep grave. But Highgood’s descendants…they might still be in the big house, unaware he was coming.
For he was coming. READ MORE

Author of more than 50 books, Billie Sue Mosiman is a thriller, suspense, and horror novelist, a short fiction writer, and a lover of words. In a diary when she was thirteen years old she wrote, “I want to grow up to be a writer.” It seems that was always her course.

Her books have been published since 1984 and two of them received an Edgar Award Nomination for best novel and a Bram Stoker Award Nomination for most superior novel. Billie Sue has been a regular contributor to a myriad of anthologies and magazines, with more than 150 short stories published.

The INTERVIEW with Fiona

Name – BILLIE SUE MOSIMAN

Age- What? Oh no. No, no.

Where are you from- Alabama originally.

A little about your self `ie your education Family life ect

I’ve been writing and publishing for thirty years. It’s been my life, along with raising children and being a wife to my good husband. You’ve heard of a life well-spent? Mark me down for that.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

My collection of all new short stories was just published. The title is SINISTER-Tales of Dread. Fourteen short stories, many of which will be in anthologies too. I just sold my fifteenth novel, a suspense, to Post Mortem Press, for publication in April/May 2014.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I began writing in journals and diaries as a kid. I began writing (trying to write) short stories when I was eighteen. I’m not sure why except I always knew I wanted to be a writer.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When I wrote my first short story. Writers write and that’s what I was doing. I worked at it with dedication and finally began to sell my work.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your story?

I hadn’t written a vampire story since DAW Books published my trilogy of the Vampire Nation novels. I wanted to try one and in my mind I saw a swampy, foggy area in the South and a house where gene4rations of vampires had lived.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

Lately I’ve been called a “quiet horror” writer, meaning the opposite, I guess, of “extreme horror” writer. I am also known for realistic suspense novels.

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

It came from the quote to the entrance to hell “Abandon hope all ye who enter here.”

Is there a message in your story that you want readers to grasp?

Not really.

Fiona: How much of the story is realistic?

The setting, and I hope the emotions.

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

Some are, but not in this story. The last vampire I knew made me promise not to speak his name in public.

Read more HERE

Related articles

• Here is my interview with Billie Sue Mosiman (authorsinterviews.wordpress.com)
• Review: Carnival Freak – Billie Sue Mosiman (soireadthisbooktoday.com)

WRAPPED IN RED: Thirteen Tales of Vampiric Horror

Thirteen crimson concoctions sure to tempt your teeth,

from the ancient to the modern,

from the Carpathian Mountains

to the Atlantic Ocean

to the Wild West,

you are sure to find your… type –

Wrapped In Red.

13 Authors.

13 Stories.

Unlimited Vampire Nightmares.

Presents

“Wrapped in Red is an anthology that includes not one or two great stories, but all thirteen stories in this collection are strong and well written. These vampires are old school, without a bit of sparkling in sight, for which I was truly grateful. From authors I love (i.e., Billie Sue Mosiman, Patrick Green, Suzi M and Chantal Noordeloos) to authors I’ve never read before, I enjoyed every story in this book.

Just plain good old fashioned horror, well written, well edited and worth a read. When I was asked to review this by the publisher, I wasn’t really sure. But in the end, I sat down and read the entire collection in a day, so if that isn’t a collection worth a 5 star rating, I’m not sure what is.” Kat Yares Vine™ Voice reviewer.

Related articles

• ARC Review: Wrapped In Red, Thirteen Tales of Vampiric Horror (jenspenden.wordpress.com)
• What does the Fluffy Fox say about Wrapped In Red? (fluffyredfox.blogspot.com)
• Here is my interview with Michael G. Williams (authorsinterviews.wordpress.com)