On Pod of Horror #80, Kealan Patrick Burke tells us about Sour
Candy...Nanci and Mark talk about David Bowie, The X-Files and maybe
some horror...and we review books by Kealan Patrick Burke and Brian
Keene.
If you’re a horror fan, this is
the one podcast you can’t afford to miss! You can listen to Pod of
Horror on iTunes or stream it right here. Just click on the link below.
I’ve been thinking about doing an occasional “Best of Pod of Horror”,
featuring excerpts from maybe three or so of our interviews over the
past decade. Each “Best of” would have links to the full interviews in
our archives.
Yes, you can go directly to the archives and listen
to the old episodes now, but this way you could sample a portion of an
interview with someone you might not ordinarily be interested in.
That’s
my thinking, anyway.
Keep in mind I’m short on sleep and way too caffeinated.
Would you guys be interested in this?
In addition to writing, we recorded a great installment of The Call of Kalanta today. Nanci and I discussed David Bowie, The X-Files, The Taco Society and, oh, yeah, horror.
Pod of Horror #80 will go live on Wednesday with special guest Kealan Patrick Burke. You’ll find it here.
I spent the morning watching the Sunday news shows (I’m a news junkie, in case I’ve never mentioned it) and writing my weekly humor column for a local newspaper.
Later, I recorded an interview with horror author Kealan Patrick Burke for an upcoming installment of Pod of Horror. His new novella Sour Candy is one of the best things I’ve read in recent memory. We discussed that and many other topics. The interview will appear on Pod of Horror #80, which should be out in the next week to 10 days. I’ll let you know when it’s streaming.
I also dabbled a bit with the short story I mentioned earlier. I know, I know. I have a novel to finish and The Dead Sheriff to revise (and then the Donovan Pike book and a collection of pulp stories and something else I’m talking about with a collaborator...) but I love short stories. I love reading them and writing them.
Once it’s finished I’m not sure I’ll know what to do with it. I’m very out of touch with the markets these days, and most of the magazines I like to read all seem to be closed to submissions.
Still, that’s okay. It’s a story that’s demanding to be written and that’s all that really matters.
Between episodes of Pod of Horror, you can find some other cool stuff on our site, including industry news and book reviews.
We just put up a review of The Complex by Brian Keene, a novel that scored a spot on my Top Books of the Year list.
Feel free to leave feedback for Pod of Horror at the links at the top of the page.
Since Pod of Horror #79 has been out for a few days, and others
are posting about the list, I wanted to share my picks for Top Books of
2015.
If you’d like a little more info, check out the show.
#3 A tie! Wolf Land by Jonathan Janz and The Complex by Brian Keene.
#2 Slowly We Rot by Bryan Smith.
#1 The Border by Robert McCammon.
You can listen to the entire episode free here.
The final Pod of Horror of 2015 is live now.
Our year-end installment includes my annual Top Books list and another installment of The Call of Kalanta.
Also, rising horror star Glenn Rolfe talks about his books, his influences and gives his view of the Samhain controversy.
You can subscribe to Pod of Horror on iTunes or stream it free from our site.
Happy New Year!
PoH #76 is live now, featuring my interview with writer, editor and Cemetery Dance publisher Richard Chizmar. We talk about his career and his excellent blog, Stephen King Revisited. The interview starts around the 39-minute mark. Listen here.
As always, your feedback is encouraged. The links are at the top of the PoH page.
We're baaaaaak!
We have a new website and a new logo. We're refreshed, rejuvenated, re-every-other-cliche.
Our next episode debuts Wednesday March 18 on the new site and iTunes. Our featured guest is the legendary Ronald Kelly, a phenomenal writer of horror and a genuinely nice guy.
Until then, feel free to browse our archives and listen to your favorite blast from the past.
After a lengthy hiatus, we've attached the electrodes to the corpse, shot a million volts of current through the rotting remains and viola! Pod of Horror is back! Episode #71 features interviews with authors James A. Moore, Hunter Shea and Daniel Boyd, along with regular features The Call of Kalanta, Jason Keene's Moonshine Matinee and Scary Words. Listen on iTunes or here.
If you're a fan of Pod of Horror (and if you are, thank you) the show will be in about a week. For hardcore followers of our show's The Call of Kalanta, here is something to tide you over. By the way, this isn't an old clip. It was freshly recorded yesterday.
The stake has been pulled from the heart of
Pod of Horror and our moldy slumber is over. We’re back with PoH #70,
featuring horror writer Jonathan Janz, author and Stephan King expert
Bev Vincent, Jason L. Keene’s Moonshine Matinee and all the news that
fits in the Call of Kalanta. Pod of Horror # 70 is produced and hosted
by Mark Justice. You can listen here.
Because I have trouble saying no and I suck at time management.
That’s the simple – and basically true – answer. The more complicated one is that I have a job. It pays the bills and the mortgage and provides much-needed health insurance. And I like my job, unlike many people I know. It takes a lot of hours and it involves a certain amount of creativity and brain work. Some days when I finish, there’s hardly any gas left in the tank for other things, like writing.
I write a weekly newspaper column and a monthly web column (which I’m late with) and another quarterly column.
I also have published a few books and those require a bit of behind the scenes details which would be boring to the non-writers out there.
Also, like everyone else, I have to deal with the mostly mundane details of everyday life.
And I want to write more. I have dozens of ideas for novels and stories. These ideas tug at me and sometimes wake me in the middle of the night, demanding to be written down. The real agony (and, believe me, there is true pain involved here) comes from not having nearly enough time to do it all.
They say you make time for the things that are important to you. So here’s my priority list:
1) My family.
2) Staying employed.
3) Writing.
4) Pod of Horror.
I love PoH. I will continue to do PoH. I will try to have a new episode by the end of this month. But a more realistic target may be February because I’m on deadline to turn in a new book on January 31st.
Pod of Horror is back with a scary feast fit for Thanksgiving, including bestseller Patricia Cornwell, horror’s funny man Jeff Strand, the original rocket boy Homer Hickam, Writer and ninja Jon F. Merz, movie reviewer and novelist L. L. Soares, along with the Call of Kalanta, Scary Words and the Tomb of Trivia. It’s all on Pod of Horror #69, produced and hosted by Mark Justice.
Download it at iTunes or listen here.
Pod of Horror is back, and #68 features the legendary Joe R. Lansdale, plus newcomers Jonathan Janz and Ty Schwamberger, as well as the creator and host of The Funky Werepig, Greg Hall. Nanci Kalanta has the news, Jason L. Keene goes to the movies with Moonshine Matinee, and we give away swag in The Tomb of Trivia. Scary Words reviews Southard, Janz, Cato and Schwamberger. The fear is here with Pod of Horror #68, produced and hosted by Mark Justice. Get it now at iTunes or here.
I realized that there has only been one post this month, so here’s a very brief update.
A couple of weeks ago, Dave Wilbanks and I signed off on the edits for Dead Earth: Sanctuary. It’s done and waiting on its slot in the Permuted Press publishing pipeline. When we have a publication date, I’ll let you know.
Here's a new review of Looking at the World with Broken Glass in My Eye.
I have other projects in the work, though nothing is far enough along to announce.
To everyone’s surprise, my weekly humor column continues to appear in a local newspaper. You can read it online. I’ve had a promotion to page 2.
Finally, another Pod of Horror is in the works. I should have more information in about a week. PoH is something I love and the thing I have the least time to produce.
P.S. I HATE the new Blogger interface. The need to “improve” things until they are nearly unusable is an endless source of frustration. For example, see the large space after the book review link? It doesn't appear in the posting window and I have no idea how to fix it. If you have to contact tech support to type a few lines, the system is fucked.
What? They’re back already? Pod of Horror #67 features horror writer James A. Moore, the author of Smile No More and The Subject Seven novels. Kelly Laymon discuss the legacy of her father, Richard Laymon and the long road to publication for In Laymon’s Terms. Jason L. Keene returns with a laugh packed installment of our film feature Moonshine Matinee, Nanci has all the news, and humiliation and belittlement for our host in The Call of Kalanta. The stack of prizes gets bigger in The Tomb of Trivia. And we review new books from Dean Koontz and Brett McBean. Pod of Horror is produced and hosted by Mark Justice. Listen to it here.
Pod of Horror is back to wrap up 2011 and prepare for Mayan destruction in 2012.
On PoH #66, Cullen Bunn discusses his award-winning series The Sixth Gun and his new young adult horror novel Crooked Hills.
In Scary Words, we review the second series of Maelstrom books from Thunderstorm Books and Brian Keene.
We have a winner in The Tomb of Trivia. Nanci delivers all the news that fits, and we announce the return of a member of the PoH family.
Get it at iTunes or download it here. Pod of Horror is hosted and produced by Mark Justice. And visit our Facebook page.
Here’s what’s been going (or hasn’t been going) on:
Writing
Dead Earth: Sanctuary is being revised. Dave Wilbanks and I want this manuscript to sing before we turn it in to the publisher. When I sent it to him, it probably sounded closer to William Shatner than Tony Bennett. I’m sure when it returns to me the pitch will be closer to perfect.
I have begun the second Dead Sheriff book for Evileye Books. It’s a bit difficult to talk about it, since the first book isn’t out yet (and I don’t know the release date), but I can share the opening of #2:
The Indian youth screamed when Arlo Belcher bit into his shoulder and ripped away a mouthful of flesh and muscle and blood.
“Damn it, Arlo, I ain’t even got the fire built yet,” his brother said.
“Cain’t help it, Billy,” Arlo said, around a mouthful of meat. “I was hungry and this here Injun tastes good.”
I have a couple of short stories in various stages of completion, and another novel I will be writing as soon as The Dead Sheriff #2 is finished. As always, my writing schedule and productivity waxes and wanes with the demands of my full-time job and personal life.
Reading
For my birthday, Norma got me a number of books by Jack Kirby and others featuring the work of Kirby and his partner of many years Joe Simon. I’m working my way through these slowly, a story or two at a time, so I may savor the experience for as long as possible.
I’m also reading Killing the Blues by Michael Brandman. Or, more precisely, Robert B. Parker’s Killing the Blues: A Jesse Stone novel by Michael Brandman. This is a continuation of the popular series from the late Parker. Brandman is a writer/producer on the CBS Jesse Stone movies. His style is not very close to Parker’s, and the novel reads in places like a first draft, but I’ll stick with it and see where it goes. Parker’s Spenser series is also being continued by mystery writer Ace Atkins.
Next up in the queue: The Affair by Lee Child and Feast Day of Fools by James Lee Burke.
Pod of Horror
I hope to have another episode up this month. Other than that, I don’t have much to report.
