New interview with novelist Alistair Cross

Writer extraordinaire Alistair Cross is back! Today we’re chatting about his new urban fantasy horror, The Silver Dagger (Book Two in The Vampires of Crimson Cove Series).

Bio:

Alistair Cross' debut novel, The Crimson Corset, a vampiric tale of terror and seduction, was an immediate bestseller earning praise from veteran vampire-lit author, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, and New York Times bestseller, Jay Bonansinga, author of The Walking Dead series. In 2012, Alistair joined forces with international bestseller, Tamara Thorne, and as Thorne & Cross, they write – among other things – the successful Gothic series, The Ravencrest Saga. Their debut collaboration, The Cliffhouse Haunting, was a bestseller. They are currently at work on their next solo novels and a new collaborative project.

In 2014, Alistair and Tamara began the radio show, Thorne & Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE!, which has featured such guests as Anne Rice of The Vampire Chronicles, Charlaine Harris of the Southern Vampire Mysteries and basis of the HBO series True Blood, Jeff Lindsay, author of the Dexter novels, Jay Bonansinga of The Walking Dead series, Laurell K. Hamilton of the Anita Blake novels, Peter Atkins, screenwriter of HELLRAISER 2, 3, and 4, worldwide bestseller V.C. Andrews, and New York Times best sellers Preston & Child, Christopher Rice, and Christopher Moore.

Welcome back to Reviews and Interviews, Alistair. Please tell us about your newest release.

The Silver Dagger, is Book 2 in The Vampires of Crimson Cove series and picks up where the first book, The Crimson Corset, leaves off.

Life in Crimson Cove has been good to the Colter Brothers since Gretchen VanTreese was staked and her horde of vampires scattered. But when she rises from the grave, the brothers are torn apart, their lives - and the peace between them - shattered. Meanwhile, a serial killer is stalking the little mountain town, leaving a trail of blood that leads to a truth Sheriff Ethan Hunter doesn’t want to face. The streets are no longer safe, nor are the forested paths, for a new and unknowable evil has come to Crimson Cove and everyone - vampire and human alike - must come together in order to survive.

What inspired you to write this book?

When I finished The Crimson Corset, I knew I’d return to Crimson Cove one day, but I had a few other stories that were demanding to be written first - I believe very firmly in writing the story that’s calling to you. I finished two other books (The Angel Alejandro and Sleep Savannah Sleep) and then began The Silver Dagger. So, it wasn’t so much about inspiration as much as it was simply time to go back and see what happened next. 

Excerpt from The Silver Dagger:

Crimson Cove’s sheriff, Ethan Hunter, is relaxing waiting for his fiancée, who happens to be a mortician, to get home, when his nosy neighbor, Gladiola Gelding hammers on the door with needs of her own.

He opened the door. Mrs. Gelding didn’t wait to be invited in. She barged into Ethan’s living room, a tray of cookies in hand, her one-sided conversation trailing her like a loyal hound. “Can you believe this heat? And the humidity!” Mrs. Gelding dropped the tray on the coffee table then inflicted her bulk upon Ethan’s favorite chair. “I almost had a heat stroke in the kitchen baking those cookies for you!” Her beady eyes followed him. 

“Uh, thanks.” For a moment, he stood there - sitting seemed an act of surrender - but finally, defeated, Ethan eased himself onto the sofa. Mrs. Gelding was a steamroller, flattening folks into whatever shape most suited her, and after the day he’d had, Ethan didn’t have the energy to fight it. He asked, “How are you, Mrs. Gelding?” 

She wasted no time getting to the point. “Well, I can tell you I’d be a lot better if it weren’t for all these bear attacks!”

A greasy sliding feeling roiled through Ethan’s gut. 

“It’s all anyone is talking about at the Senior Hall, you know.” Mrs. Gelding’s piggy eyes sparkled with excitement. “I’ve never even heard of a bear attacking innocent people for no good reason. Never! I do hope you’ve figured something out.”

“We’re working on it.”

She sighed. “I suppose it’s not my place to tell you how to do your job, but you might consider letting the public know what you’re doing about this. We don’t feel safe!”

Ethan frowned. “I can’t talk about it at this point, but rest assured, we’re doing everything we can-”

“Well, I just don’t know if that’s going to be enough. The public deserves to know more.”

And what she meant, Ethan knew, was that she deserved to know more. There was nothing Gladiola Gelding loved so much as being the star of the Crimson Cove Senior Citizen Center on Bingo night, the woman to whom all gossipers flocked. 

Just then, Sheila’s headlights cut through the living room window. Mrs. Gelding prattled on, taking no notice even when Ethan’s fiancee entered the living room. 

As Mrs. Gelding blathered, Ethan and Sheila exchanged glances. His said, Help! And after a whimsical smile, Sheila’s said, I’ve got this. 

“Hello, Mrs. Gelding!” Sheila spoke a little too loudly, cutting the woman off as she perched on the sofa arm beside Ethan. 

“Oh, hello, dear.” It was but a small speed bump in Mrs. Gelding’s sermon and as she opened her mouth to continue, Sheila sighed loudly and looked at Ethan. 

“Boy, am I glad to be home.” She shook her head. “We had another groaner in the morgue tonight.”

Ethan suppressed a snort.

Mrs. Gelding blinked. “A … groaner?”

Sheila nodded. “Yep. A lot of people don’t know this, Mrs. Gelding, but sometimes, dead people make noises. It’s just air escaping the lungs, of course, but when you’re in that dark room alone with the corpses, it’s pretty alarming.” Her gaze settled on the tray of cookies. She took one, bit into it, and groaned, long and low. “Mmmm. These are excellent, Mrs. Gelding. Nothing gets the stench of formaldehyde out of my nose like your cookies. Thank you.” She pushed the tray toward the other woman. “You shouldn’t have made so many, though. Please, have one.” 

All color had retreated from Mrs. Gelding’s chubby cheeks. Scandalized, she shook her head. “No, thank you, dear. I have plenty at home.”

Ethan was barely able to suppress laughter when Sheila barreled on.

“And twitching, too. Usually in the smaller muscles.” She popped the rest of the cookie in her mouth. “I’ll never forget the first time I saw a twitcher.” Sheila grinned at Mrs. Gelding. “I thought for sure there’d been some mistake and the guy was still alive.” 

“Yes, well … ” said Mrs. Gelding. “It’s a dreadful business, I’m sure.”

“You get used to it,” said Sheila. Her gaze cut to Mrs. Gelding, going grave. “Well, some of it, anyway. Not only do they groan and twitch, but, sometimes-”

“Well.” Mrs. Gelding cleared her throat and hefted herself from the chair. “I suppose I’d better be off.”

Ethan got to his feet and walked her out. “Goodbye, Mrs. Gelding.” After closing the door, he broke into laughter. “We need to do that more often.”

“Works every time.” Sheila held an uneaten part of cookie to his lips and he bit into it.

“She does make damned good cookies, though.”

What’s the next writing project?

There are always several things going on at once. As far as my solo work, I jumped right into the next Crimson Cove book after finishing The Silver Dagger and am madly, deeply in love with it thus far.

Then there are the Thorne & Cross novels, which I write with my friend, collaborator, and Haunted Nights LIVE! co-host, Tamara Thorne. Our serialized gothic/horror, THE RAVENCREST SAGA, is ongoing and we’re closing in on the third full-length novel in that series – which we’re calling Exorcism. The other collaborative effort we’re working on is a psycho-thriller called Spite House, which takes place in the fictional town of Snapdragon, where our #1 bestseller, MOTHER, was set.

All three projects are running very smoothly – which of course, makes me very suspicious! But so far, so good!

What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book? (or the biggest challenge with this book)

The greatest challenge with this book was keeping my facts straight regarding what happened in the book before it. Also, it’s a balancing act. You have to give enough information for new readers, but not too much for those who read the first book. That’s always a challenge.

If your novels require research – please talk about the process. Do you do the research first and then write, while you’re writing, after the novel is complete and you need to fill in the gaps?

Research starts before the book is written and continues throughout on an as-needed basis - which is ongoing. I try to do physical research as often as possible because reading something or watching a video online rarely gives you all the little details you need to make the writing come to life.

For The Silver Dagger, I took a trip to Santa Cruz, California, where a part of the story is set. We traveled through the mountains where Crimson Cove is (if it were a real place, that is) and went to the ocean to absorb the sights, sounds, and feel of the locations.

What’s your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.

I write wherever I can, which is usually at my computer in the corner of my writing room. As for my muse, I’m sad to say that he is a fall-down, black-out, pee-your-pants drunk who can only very rarely be depended upon. 

I just write. If my muse shows up for work that day, great. If not, oh, well. I still write. It’s my job.

What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside of your genre?

I’ll read everything from horror to historical romance to the back of an aspirin bottle to profane poetry scribbled on the walls of a public bathroom stall with a magic marker - and I love it all. I’m a word person. Words turn me on. They just do - and if something is well-written, I’ll read it. Usually twice. 

Anything additional you want to share with the readers today?

Yes – thank you for reading. Keep up the great job!

Website

Thank you for coming back to Reviews and Interviews!

Interview with new adult dark fiction author Q.L Pearce

My special guest for the start to this holiday weekend is Q.L. Pearce. She’s chatting with me about her new adult novel, a dark fiction work titled Spine Chillers. It’s the first in a new series and is a collection of spine-tingling ghost stories.

Bio:

Q.L. Pearce is the author of more than 120 books for young readers, from picture books to YA, as well as film tie-in books for the Fox animated film Titan AE and the Universal animated series Land Before Time. Red Bird Sings: The Story of Zitkala Sa (Carolrhoda Books, with co-author and illustrator, Gina Capaldi), received several awards including a Carter G. Woodson Book Award gold medal from NCSS and a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award gold medal. Her fiction includes the popular middle grade series, Scary Stories for Sleep-Overs italisize (Price, Stern, Sloan). Q believes strongly in the value of scary books for young readers. When asked what credentials she has which qualify her as an expert in this area she replies, "I was a child once. That was very scary."

Welcome, Q.L. Please tell us about your current release.

Spine Chillers is a collection of short stories for young readers. It includes classic ghosts, a monster or two, urban legends and one tale that is an homage to The Twilight Zone. The stories are for reading aloud at a sleep-over, or under the covers with a flashlight. My goal was to include something for everyone and hope that each reader will find a favorite among them.

What inspired you to write this book?

The book is in the tradition of my first short story series, Scary Stories for Sleep-Overs. Although it has been out of print for some time, I still hear from adult readers who let me know how much they liked the books when they were kids. Spine Chillers is for a new generation of tweens to teens.

Excerpt from Spine Chillers:

From Hale Hallow Woods

“Tell me what you saw,” Grandpa said. “Everything.”

Tyler was relieved to share what had happened. The story flowed out in a torrent. His grandfather sat very still and listened. At last he nodded and spoke.

“He is able to use things around him to cause fear. He’s using our own tactics against us.” Grandpa sighed. “I was about your age when it happened. Andrew Buckner was a frail boy. He seemed to fear everything. We…my friends and I made fun of him.” He paused and looked down in shame. “We had a club…Tom Dixon, Eddie Macavee, Lester Morrow, and me. We called ourselves the Champions. Lester was the leader. He stood out in a crowd because he had bright red hair. We had a club pin we wore…a super hero with a cape. It was a stupid thing out of a cereal box. We also had a special thumbs-up signal that we used when we were planning some sort of mischief.”

Tyler’s grandfather opened a small red leather box he’d been holding. Resting within on the white satin lining was a cheap plastic pin.

“I guess Andrew wanted one of these more than anything in the world…to be a part of our group. It was my idea to challenge him.”

            Tyler glanced over his grandfather’s shoulder. Again raindrops pattered at the window. In the yard beyond he could see the boy, Andrew Buckner, standing straight and still by the hedge.

            “We told him he would have to pass a test…demonstrate his bravery by hiding in the museum before it closed and staying alone all night. We knew he was afraid of that place. To prove that he had been there, Andrew had to go to the top floor, climb out on the little balcony, and get one of the small stone gargoyles at the edge of the railing. It must have started raining sometime during the night.”

Tyler caught his breath. Andrew Buckner was at the window. It was raining harder, but Tyler could see the boy’s blurred image. His pale white hand was pressed against the pane. His eyes burned with anger.

“They found his body the next morning. They said he had slipped from the railing. The gargoyle was missing. We made a pact never to tell anyone why he had gone to the museum. His parents just locked up the house and no one saw them again. Ten years later Tom Dixon died in a swimming accident. Ten years after that Eddie Macavee was killed when his truck drove off a cliff during a storm. I left shortly after that. I heard Lester Morrow was found in the woods. They said it was a heart attack.”

“Why do you think he’s come back now?” Tyler asked, willing his voice to be steady.

“He’s here because I’ve come back. He plans to complete his revenge.”

“What should we do?”

Grandpa stood, walked to the window and placed his hand on the glass. He didn’t seem to see the boy glaring up at him from the other side of the pane, their hands separated only by a thin glass barrier.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m working on a few things including the next volume of Spine Chillers. I have three fact/fiction picture books with Gina Capaldi, a middle grade mystery adventure with coauthor Francesca Rusackas, and a YA horror novel in work. I’m also thrilled to be joining Tamara Thorne and Alistair Cross as co-host for YA nights on Thorne, Cross and Pearce Haunted Nights LIVE, part of the Authors on the Air: Radio Network.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I won my first school writing contest in third grade and my first city sponsored contest at age eleven. I’ve always loved to write but I began seriously submitting to magazines when I was in my early twenties. It was more of a hobby and I gathered an extensive collection of rejections. Over the course of years the rejections went from definite “no” to “no, but keep submitting.”

Originally I wanted to write horror for adults. I often included children or teen characters in my work and I eventually realized that the stories were really about and for them. My first contract with a major publisher was for an activity book about dinosaurs. It was with Price Stern Sloan. My first contract for fiction also came from Price Stern Sloan when they published Scary Stories for Sleep-Overs.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I start my reading and research mid-morning then spend two or three hours writing. My dogs take me out for walks a couple of times a day and I use that time to brainstorm. I usually write for another hour or so later in the afternoon. I turn in early and rise early. The critters pretty much determine that schedule.

When I’m not writing I’m thinking about my books in work, doing research, and gathering ideas, or working on promotion. I volunteer with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and I read a lot! So although I can’t say that I sit in front of my computer as a full-time job, I think I can say that I’m a full-time writer.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I do a lot of research. I enjoy prowling through antique stores for curious objects or photographs that might spark an idea, or hiking around in new environments to use as settings. My dear friend, author Tamara Thorne, and I sometimes take road trips. We visit haunted hotels, abandoned buildings and ghost towns, all for background and inspiration.

I don’t know if it would be considered a quirk, but one thing that I won’t do is have an animal come to harm in anything I write just to further the story. I get very upset when a writer kills of a dog or cat to show the danger or ratchet up the tension. Early in my career I wrote a story in which a cat disappeared in the vicinity of a killer plant. I still regret that.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I’m originally from Kitchener, Ontario. Shortly after I was born my family and I moved to Baranquilla, Colombia. We arrived in the United States when I was five and we lived on an island near the Gulf coast of Florida. As a child I wanted to be a storyteller or a mermaid when I grew up. We eventually moved to Palm Springs in the California desert so I scratched mermaid off the list and focused on storyteller.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

The advice I usually give to working writers is finish what you start. I have several manuscripts that are sitting in a file folder because I didn’t push through when I hit a weak spot. Once that happens I start second-guessing and lose momentum. A prolific writer I respect told me to get the story on paper even if it isn’t exactly what I had in mind, then go back and get it right.

The advice I always give to young writers is to take every opportunity you can to travel, meet new people, learn about new cultures and try new things. Life experience is a wonderful muse.

Links:

Website | Amazon | Goodreads | Amazon author page | YouTube

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