Interview with Adelise M Cullens

With several Short Stories, novellas and now Anthologies, it is no wonder this power-house writer got picked up as a Staff Writer for Ink Blood Publishing. (Why, thank you!)

Q. You just finished writing “The Althorn Encounters”. How was that experience for you?

A. Hectic and exciting! I don’t think I have ever written so quickly before. My process is normally pretty relaxed and deadline-free. I also like to write a variety of things, so writing four stories with ‘death’ as the subject made want to think about nothing but sunshine and lollipops for a while.

Q. One of our favorite stories in the collection is “Hanging Onto Hope”. We got the sense that it is about Forgiveness and Redemption but is a dark as well. Can you tell us what inspired this wonderful read?

A. Good question. Sadly, I got the idea from a true story, or rather a number of them. One of my work colleagues had a distant family member that passed and was not found for a number of days. My over-active imagination took that idea for a dance and “Hanging Onto Hope” is what came out. There have been several stories in the news over the years of people being forgotten, some found up to ten years later. It always makes me so sad.

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Q. While writing your stories for “The Althorn Encounters” Did you feel a special connection to any of the characters? Is there any character in particular you would like to talk about with your fans?

A. Karen from Killing For Pages has been around for a long time. I wrote that short story around three years ago and I have been hanging on to it, waiting for its time. When Althorn came into my life I had found a place for Karen. This is more of a prologue to a bigger story about the lengths a writer will go to for her writing and the consequences of those lengths. I also have a special place in my heart for Neil in that story and I honestly still cannot decided whether he is a bad guy or a good guy. I guess I will find out when I finish that book! I do believe the best villains are ones that you can feel sympathy for, the ones you can see the why behind the terrible thing that they do. And likewise, the best protagonist are the ones that don’t always do the right thing. This is why I like this story.

Q. You are now about to start on your second project with Ink Blood. Can you give your readers a little taste of what you have in store for “The Apocalypse Collection?”

A. My story is about Captain Michelle Swanson, a scientist for the military. Michelle is a mycologist, a scientist that studies fungi. What does the military want with a mycologist? Who knows? One day she awakes to find that something is wrong. Animals are going crazy, attacking people. Whole flocks of birds are dropping dead from the sky. And then horror breaks out across the world…

Q. We know your talent goes well beyond short stories. Which other books have you written would you recommend to your newest fans?

A. You could read my novelette series starting with “Searching For The Silent Lady.” It is full of fighting and fantasy and adventure. You could also hang out for my debut novel “Dead Bunnies Make all Eight of Me Cry.” It is a weird tale about a women with Dissociative Identity Disorder or what used to be called Multiple Personalities. I have been told it is “hard to pigeon hole into a genre” so I will just say it is New Adult/Dark Comedy/Horror/Chick Lit/Fantasy/Humour/Fiction. See, that wasn’t so hard!

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us and we look forward to seeing much more of your brilliant work in the near future!

(You’re welcome! And thank you!)

Read more by this wonderful author and check out her short stories in The Althorn Encounters.

AMAZON

Interview with The Saber

A man with a Darque Reflection who’s twisted horror stories have landed him in the ranks of Staff Writer joins us today. Let’s talk with The Saber!

Q. The first thing most readers want to know is how did you become “The Saber” Can you shed some light on your mysterious pen name?

A.  The saber is a sword that has some interesting characteristics.  It is partially a two-edged sword and has a curve to it making it both a thrusting weapon as well as a hacking one.  It is my sword of choice in working out with blades.  All three genres of speculative fiction – horror, science-fiction, and fantasy often have swords or some kind of cutting implement.  So the weapon ‘fits’ as a symbol.  Also, like the saber (the weapon) has several ways to strike , I strive to make my stories elicit some kind of response in the reader, whether it’s a sharp scare, a building sense of anticipation or dread, surprise, or a combination of these.

 

Q. You were the very first Staff Writer for Ink Blood Publishing. When you were in the planning stage for “The Althorn Encounters” you got a chance to understand who Althorn the Crow really was and what the collection stood for. What can you tell us about that character and how he influenced your stories?

A.  Kind of a variation of Charon the Boatman on the River Styx, but much more active, Althorn escorts your soul to its final resting place when you die.  I actually tried to put a little appearance of Althorn into my stories somehow, except for Rage.  That one just appeared out of my mind and I sent it to you immediately after, but it fit the death motif..  But the crow... the crow has ALWAYS been an omen of ill throughout history, and to have it show up from time to time on the stories was fun!  I enjoyed the concept of Althorn and utilizing it in bits and pieces... kind of the ‘golden thread’ that tied the stories together somewhat, though in this case, the thread would be a black one, I suppose.

Q. Everyone has a favorite, sad but true. My favorite story in that collection is “Ol George”. I think it is partly because scarecrows really are creepy, but more than that it has a kind of old fashion country feel to it. Which one of your stories for this project is your favorite and why?

A.  This answer has a spoiler alert!!!  Ol’ George was an interesting story – it started off one way, and took a totally different slant.  I enjoyed that, but honestly, Wolfie is kind of my favorite.  I have never written a werewolf story before and I really enjoyed making the underdog get the best of the bullies.  I never really liked bullies growing up (who does, except other bullies...right?) and there is SO much of that going on, it was kind of fun to make a story that  does to bad people what we fantasize would happen – though we would never really wish it to afterwards.  You know what I mean? 

Q. What can the readers expect from you in the future? I know you are working on “The Apocalypse Collection” is there any novels or novellas awaiting your fans?

A.  In my piece in the Apocalyptic collection I am writing about the fall of Man by basically his own foolishness and vanity.  Touching on genetic engineering and how nothing goes quite the way we want it to.  I am also working on the sequel to the story that led Ink Blood to me – The Storyteller.  This one takes place in Tennessee in the mountains, around Gatlinburg.  It will be longer, have more fun in it than the last one, and will make you wonder why you like this creepy little girl so much.  I have had more people tell me they want more of her, so they will get it.
Further down, I am working on an epic fantasy series as well as a series of horror novels.  Both are underway and serious efforts at this point.  The horror stories may actually tie in to my first novel, Darque Reflections, but that isn’t cast in stone.  The main theme on that series is a man named Joel Favery, who lost his daughter to cancer and his wife to her inability to cope with it.  He drinks himself into oblivion, truly working on drinking himself to death, but finds he is being drawn in to battle demons – and these aren’t human-type – these are some real bad asses!
The epic fantasy series I am working on involves a young couple that get transported to an alternate world.  It’s a perfect world until they unwittingly, and quite innocently, bring evil into it.  And they are the ones that have to figure a way to make things better before the world is taken over by Dar-Bezhul the Destroyer, a very powerful evil spirit they unwittingly brought with them.Also, whatever else we come up with in Ink Blood!  Those are the quickest to get to you.

Q. Saber-Books was up and running when you joined Ink Blood. What is it like working with them compared to the old days of absolute creative freedom? Are there benefits to working with such a small company?

A.  Saber-Books is my creation.  I still have all of the freedoms I want with it, but it’s nice to have a publisher like Ink Blood to suggest topics to write on, sometimes.  It stimulates my mind and challenges me to be a little more creative.  But then again, I have talked with my publishers and they just say something about how their day went wrong on a point, and I’ve already got a horror story line running through my mind.  Ink Blood is marketing my stuff better than I did, too.  But I still have Saber-Books.  It is always there for me whenever I need it and I still use it.  I am going to break up my book The Imp and Other Tales into individual stories like Ink Blood has done with Althorn.  I like the concept.

 

Q. For anyone who hasn’t seen Saber’s book trailer for “Darque Reflection’s” you should go and watch it now. RIGHT NOW! We understand you created that yourself. Is this something you enjoy doing?

A.  I love doing it!  I am actually working on a re-make of it that will most assuredly grab potential readers’ attention and take notice.  BUT!!!! It won’t be for the faint of heart.  I also want to make one for The Althorn Encounters as well.  For those who want to see the first one or the upcoming remake, join me on my Facebook book.com  @ https://www.facebook.com/kevin.timko.12?ref=br_rs_WyJrZXl3b3Jkc19zZWFyY2giXQ%3D%3D .  It can also be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwVgrRRTPSAWiHJnFxLAZcg   There are 2 videos but they are the same, the difference being a change in the intro on the newer one.  I am growing in the creativity in this and like writing, it’s challenging, a lot of work, but fun at the same time!

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us and for your fans out there we all expect great things from you in the future.

Thank you!  It’s been a pleasure! Check  out "The Althorn Encounters"  available now and read more from this talented writer.

AMAZON

Once Upon the Blood Moon

Available Now!

Thirty Seven short horror stories from acclaimed writers Cody and Chandre Toye. It Includes the entire Blood Moon series and much more. Come take a stroll in the twisted minds of these writers and let them show you something you can only experience once in a Blood Moon.

Amazon

New Year New Novel!

With 2016 here, the writing frenzy has begun anew! Coming soon from Ink Blood Publishing