Interview with John Grover
Author of A Beckoning of
Shadows
1. It looks like you're having a lot of success lately. Start off by telling readers about your new collection, "Feminine Wiles."
Sure Jason, I'd love to. Feminine Wiles is a collection featuring 16 tales of female villains. It has been a labor of love for me. I love writing about women as the villain instead of the victim. They have a certain charm and sexiness about them but I felt there had always been a lack of evil women in horror literature and films. So I decided to create stories that would feature them and show readers that they could be just as strong and deadly if not even more so than their male counterparts. Women in my view would be a much more seductive and subtle a villain, where they would go about their motives in a much different way. At first I just wanted to write a story or two about this and then more tales just seemed to beg to be told and that was when Feminine Wiles was born. I had so many of these devilish vixens that I decided it was a cool theme for a book and there it was. They are some of my most darkest and most thrilling stories and let's face it, what man wouldn't love to be the victim of a beautiful woman? The book was picked up by Blu Phier Publishing and will be coming out this August.
2. You've also got a collection called "A Beckoning of Shadows." What can you tell us about that one?
A Beckoning Of Shadows is my first solo collection. I'd been published in co-authored collections before as well as anthologies but I really wanted my own collection of work. I just love the short form so much, you can get a quick jolt or horror fix with short stories and visit that dark world for a short time instead of being caught up in an novel that takes up all your waking hours. I took some of my best stories, some previously published and some original works and began subbing them around. It has a wrap around story featuring a man running from his past but one thing you can't run from is your shadow. Much like your past it follows you wherever you go. Short story collections can be a hard sell for most publishers, so it wasn't easy at first but after a few years the collection was picked up by Naked Snake Press. It contains 16 of my best works. Ordering information can be found on my website www.shadowtales.com
3. What is your proudest moment as a writer?
I'll never forget my first pro-sale. It was to Flesh and Blood magazine for my story "The Mute People." I was so excited to finally make a pro-sale and to share the pages with authors like Douglas Clegg. It was a true rush. These days I write and publish as a hobbyist. I'm not trying to make it big or make a living out of it. I just love writing and love trying to see if it will get published and what people think of it. Even though I write for fun, that pro-sale was still the best feeling from my writing.
4. For readers unfamiliar with your work, where would you tell them to start?
I would suggest checking out my website www.shadowtales.com
and read some of my sample stories. That can give readers a feel of what I write and they're free. After that I would pick up my chapbook "Terror in Small Doses." It's a small book of 6 tales and is a great introduction. It won't break the bank and it's even autographed. The publisher is now out of business but some of the last of the inventory is still at Shocklines.com5. If I remember correctly, you had one of your short stories adapted into a short film a few years back. What story was it? How did it come about? Is the film available for viewing?
Oh God yes, that was a few years back. The story was called "Black Out" and at the time was on the website Short Scary Tales. A group of Canadian film students loved the story and wanted to make it into a short film for their final project. They asked my permission first and of course I was so flattered I said yes. The result was a 4-minute short film that could be viewed in Quicktime. They were going to get a chance to have it shown on Canadian TV on a sci-fi network there but I never heard if it actually made it on or not. I have a copy of the film on CD but unfortunately it isn't available for viewing online as it belongs to the students. It was just thrilling to see my name attached to a movie for a short time, however.
6. Your website (www.shadowtales.com) has recently been nominated for the Best Dark Author Website in the Black Quill Awards given out by Dark Scribe Magazine. Tell us about that.
I couldn't have been more surprised. I accidentally discovered I was nominated when I read the announcement for the awards on a message board. I went to the site to see who was nominated in the book and story categories, I never thought I'd be up there too! It was a nice nod to me and my designer. A couple years ago I hired a friend to redesign my site because the old one looked so awful. I have never been happier with the outcome. I love the site and the feel of it and actually visit it often to make sure everything is running smooth.
7. The majority of your work is short fiction. Any plans for a novel?
Funny you should ask that. I have written a few novels over the years but never really did anything with them. I took two of my favorites and gave them an overhaul. One is with my reader right now and the other I am still working on. I don't want to say too much right now as I am hoping to start subbing them around soon but I will say they're pretty big novels, none of this short stuff. One of them tips at 400 pages. I'm really excited about breathing new life into them.
8. Most people have some sort of guilty pleasure that they won't readily admit to enjoying. Is there a particular book you've read that might fall into that category?
I really enjoy graphic novels and comic books. My fiction reading tends to stay in the horror genre and fantasy realms but I love a good superhero comic. The X-men is one of my favorites and I am a sucker for the Dark Phoenix. My favorite graphic novel is the one I have about the return of the Dark Phoenix.
9. Do you have any particular rituals/habits that are essential to your writing?
Not really. I guess I am a little boring in that way but one this is I need to write when I am really in the mood and in a comfortable place. I actually like sitting on the floor and writing with my laptop most of the time. Which may not seem comfortable to most people but it is to me. Oh, and one weird hang up I have if I am in the middle of writing a story I try not to stop at page 13. I either stop on page 12 or 14 and then finish later. I don't know why.
10. Any other projects in the works you want to talk about?
An artist friend of mine and I are working on adapting some of my stories into comic book forms. So who knows, I might be working in that format some day. I think that would be a lot of fun. I am also planning to re-release my first e-book in print format. Shadow Tales, the book that my site is actually named after was the first e-book I ever had published and it has never seen print. I'd like to see that in paperback form. It's 15 tales, all reprints. I am polishing it up right now, so if anyone out there wants a shot at it let me know. Thanks for the opportunity to talk Jason!