NEW PODCAST! The Grim Tidings Podcast

I'm very excited to announce the launch of an all new podcast that I'll be co-hosting. It's called The Grim Tidings Podcast, and I'm proud to say it will be a podcast about all things Grimdark! Joining me will be Philip Overby and Ross Evans.  It's a show for fans, by fans, and we hope to bring listeners a weekly dose of all the cool things happening in Grimdark realism, including books, movies, tv, video games, news, interviews, and much more. If it's grim, gritty, and all together awesome, you can expect us to talk about. I've been working in professional broadcasting for over a decade, so my hope is to deliver a high quality program, that's both listenable and entertaining. You can find The Grim Tidings Podcast on iTunes and Stiticher, or drop by our Facebook page. If you like the show, please be so kind as to leave a review, and spread the word. But that's not all... We also plan to do companion episodes that focus specifically on writing.  We're not experts, but we want you to join us on our journey toward publication. We'll speak to other writers and experts in the field to get tips and insights to writing and publishing fantasy fiction. 

Grim Interview: Daniel Polansky

Today we're joined by Daniel Polansky, a Brooklyn native and author of the Low Town trilogy, and the upcoming Empty Throne duology, of which the first installment Those Above, is slated to hit the shelves on February 26th in the US. 

The Low Town series was a blend of noir and fantasy. Would you say that your upcoming series (Those Above) is more traditional fantasy, or can we expect more genre blending?

A: It's a little hard to say--the Low Town stuff had a very deliberate sort of an aesthetic, being in first person and with that stylized hard boiled dialogue. Those Above is somewhat grander, both in terms of the language and some of the themes. It's sort of a noir on a much larger scale, the foolishness and brutality of nations as opposed to of individuals.

One of the reasons why so many people loved your first trilogy was because of the genre blend. Can readers expect more noir in your upcoming novel?

A: Yes, though perhaps of a less conventional sort. There's a strand of the novel dealing with urban poverty and the crime that runs through that, and there's generally a lot of violence and malfeasance and drinking and bad behavior.

Who would you say was your biggest influence as a writer?

A:I suppose it would maybe depend on the book? The Low Town stuff was all Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, but Those Above is somewhat more flowery. I like to think that my writing is evolving, and so therefore my influences evolve as well. Hopefully that doesn't sound pretentious.

You’ve said in the past that Westerns were a big influence for Low Town and it’s respective sequels, what influences were you inspired by to write Those Above?

A: It's really hard to go back and pull apart all of the original threads. I'm a big history buff, have been for a long time, I think I was reading Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire while I was coming up with some of the ideas for Those Above. Robert Graves's I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Lots and lots of other things, probably.

Do you read any other authors in the genre, and if so who are your favorites?

A: Sure, lots of people. Myke Cole and Mark Lawrence and Stark Holborne and John Hornor Jacobs. I always say Gene Wolfe so Gene Wolfe once again. Tim Powers is awesome. I could go on for a while here.

Considering you were published by the time you were in your mid twenties, what advice could you offer to struggling writers?

A:Read a lot. Read more than you're reading. Read the most difficult books that you can make yourself read, push your comprehension skills, sharpen your understanding of language and your knowledge of the world.

Where do you see the fantasy and science fiction genre in the next ten years?

I am honestly the absolute worst person to answer this question. Trends and currents in the marketplace are just not something I have a very good grip on, probably to my detriment. I suppose there will be some good books and a lot of bad ones, but that's hardly a change in the status quo.

What does an average day of writing look like for you?

A:I'm a night owl, so I wake up late morning and brew a pot of coffee and just get to it. I try to get down a thousand words or so, then I go for a long walk and find a coffee shop and try to do it again. This pattern repeats until happy hour, and then I trade coffee for beer.

How do you feel about the rise of Grimdark? Do you consider your books Grimdark?

A: In any genre or subgenre there are some good things and some bad ones, so without trying to be pedantic I would say I like good grimdark and dislike bad grimdark. As far as my own books go, I can understand why someone would group them in under that rubric, but again you have a very different perspective on the stuff you've written. They just have their own look to you.

The synopsis for Those Above hints at the three main characters we will get to meet, a woman, a general, and a boy killer. Was there one in particular that was especially fun to write?

A: You're not really supposed to pick favorites (like with children) but yes, totally. The woman referred to in the blurb is Eudokia, the Revered Mother, sort of a Machiavellian type controlling the strings of empire from behind the scenes, and on a bunch of levels she was just so much fun to write.

If Low Town was made into a film, whom could you see playing The Warden?

A: Me. I would play him. I would make like Stallone with Rocky and refuse to grant the rights unless I was the lead also. would have to bulk up about sixty pounds and get taller and also a lot older and have my face beat up. But I could do it.

When you aren’t busy writing, what other hobbies or activities are you involved in?

A: Reading. Chess. I walk around the city. I talk to people occasionally. I don't travel like I used to but I'm usually still out of the country a few months a year.

If you lived in Low Town, what would your job be?

A: Oh Christ, nothing very impressive--I'm clever enough to get into trouble but not tough enough to get out of it. I guess everyone's clever enough to get into trouble. Anyway. I'm going to go with dream vine tester. I would be good at that.

Considering your novels have many darker elements to them, have you received any negative reactions from family, friends, or readers?

A: Well, some people just don't like my books, obviously, but I gather you're asking more along the lines of if I've offended anyone, to which the answer would be; a few people. Some readers have a way of taking the things a character says as being things you think, something especially common with a first person perspective. But that's pretty rare, honestly.

Is there a certain novel you would suggest is essential reading for struggling authors who want to write in the fantasy genre?

A: Not really, not one guy in particular. There are a lot of great writers but there's not really a silver bullet answer here. But just to say something I'll say Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, which is pretty tremendous.

Fantasy has many mediums these days ranging from films, to video games. Are you a fan of any of these popular franchises?

A:Sure, some of them, probably not anything unexpected. Firefly was great. Lord of the Rings was really cool. Game of Thrones, except having read them it's a little less exciting. I had my Xbox stolen a year ago and never got around to buying another, so my video games skills have kind of atrophied. My peak video game skills are all centered around like, early 2000's rpg's. My Morrowind character was on point.

Without giving away any spoilers, what can fans look forward to with Those Above?

A: Sex, blood, greed, death, hope, despair, evil. Lots of evil. It's bigger and more expansive than the Low Town stuff, there are a lot of viewpoints, I swung a bit more for the fences, if that makes sense. Hopefully people respond in a positive way.

How many books are planned for your newest series?

A:Two! Just the two of them. I don't know why people don't write duologies more. Did I spell that correctly? THESE ARE SO RARE THAT I DON'T KNOW THE PROPER SPELLING. Anyway, two. But a strong two! Like a kick in the head, two.

Thanks for joining us Daniel, looking forward to the new book, and best of luck with the release.

Thanks tons for having me! Please, if you have any interest, go out and pick a copy of my book. You could read it, or you could use it for terribly uncomfortable toilet paper, or you could buy a bunch of copies and build a fort. I think this last plan is probably the best.

Free GRIMDARK Fiction Short Story Compendium!

The Grimdark Short Story Writing Challenge Compendium for Summer 2014 is now available as a pdf to download and enjoy for free. The compendium features two original short pieces from C.L. Werner and Timothy Baker, and a host of aspiring authors.

Click the link to download... http://tinyurl.com/ke5npw3

Grimdark Writing Challenge

Write a short story up to 1,000 words using the picture as 'grimspiration' (art by Kai Lim). When you’re done, just post a link to the story in the comments (please do not post your story in the comments). Just giving this a try to see if it’s something people enjoy. Please make sure your story is “Grimdark”, or you will be summarily dispatched with a battleax to the knee. Deadline will be 8/31/2014, and I’ll collect all the final pieces and post them on the GFRW blog. Thanks to all who join in.

Update: The Grimdark Writing Challenge is now a Contest! Thanks to the team at Ragnarok Publications, I'll select a 1st place and 2nd place winner who I feel best meets the challenge, and each will get to select (1) eBook title from the Ragnarok Library.  Deadline is 8/31/14, winners will be notified by 9/8/14.  And for the best in dark genre fiction, check out ragnarokpub.com...

Grim Interview: Jake Scholl

Our next guest for Grim Interviews is Jake Scholl. As author of the forthcoming dark fantasy novel Blade Of The Broken, Jake has traveled the road of self publishing, and offers some insights to other new authors aspiring to get their work published and noticed. Jake is a blogger, gamer, metal head, and a true fan of speculative fiction, movies, and more.

Roll call: Name, age, where do you live, and what do you do with your spare time when you’re not writing?

Name is Jake Scholl. I'm 22, and live in southwestern Idaho. In my spare time I collect comics, watch movies, and spend time with family and friends.

Can you tell us about the moment when you sat down and decided you wanted to be a writer?

It was back in 3rd grade, and it happened rather by accident. We were assigned to create a picture book, and I remember being the only kid disappointed that I had to draw pictures. I wanted to make a real novel! Thankfully that book is hidden in place I only know. It may be embarrassing, and a flagrant rip-off of Jurassic Park and Neverending Story. So to avoid a lawsuit, it will stay in hiding. But we all have to start somewhere.

What other writers or books have most influenced your writing?

Quite a few. Most people say Tolkien, but Tolkien wasn’t the Fantasy writer I read first. It was Dennis L. McKiernan’s Iron Tower Trilogy. (Those first edition paperbacks I read were well used. Definitely a good sign.) People say that series is a Tolkien rip-off, but that is far from the truth. It was darker, and the characters were very complex and layered. The story may be simplistic compared to long running series, but I’d rather read a book series that gets to the point quick than not deliver. This was the book series that made me want to be a writer for a living.

Michael Moorcock would be high on the list too. His Elric novels are some of the best Fantasy books ever written. A lot of books, songs, and of all things video games, have been influenced in some way by Moorcock’s novels. His writing style is what always brings me back.

Ray Bradbury is another. His writing style will never be equaled, and is best read out loud. And that’s why I read my books and stories to myself. If your book doesn’t sound good out loud, something is wrong.

Tell us about your new novel, Blade Of The Broken. Give us an elevator pitch. Is this the first of a series? When do you expect the novel to be released?

The focus of the book is on a ranger by the name of Stefan. The rangers in Blade Of The Broken are the only law in the book’s world. Since this world is like a medieval one, most “justice” is solved by killing, or beating the hell out of people who hurt others. Sometimes arrests happen.

He gets sent on a mission to stop someone who allegedly wants to kill a bunch of people with a magical item. Though things aren’t as they seem… And dark things from the past are waiting to strike Stefan once again.

That’s the most I can say without spoiling the book. J It will come out either in October or November. You can find out more on my blog.

With your latest novel, Blade Of The Broken, can you go into some of the details of your writing process? What were the circumstances around your initial concept for the novel? Did you do an outline, or “discovery” write? How long did it take for you to get to a completed manuscript?

I began outlining my novel around the end of July of 2011 with a character I’d been “seeing” in my mind. (I thought it would be smart to outline before I participated in National Novel Writing Month, and I was thinking of writing an epic fantasy novel like the books I grew up reading.) Then in August 2011, I was rushed to the hospital, and went septic.

Real life craziness can really change plans, and book outlines. So the book became more of a heroic, and gritty fantasy tale. The fighting theme of the genre resonated even more so after the hospital, and I couldn’t read epic fantasy that wasn’t about people who couldn’t wield a weapon, or weren’t intelligent. The stories I read had to be realistic; so the story I would write had to be honest to the reader.

So in November, I started writing, and it took one month. I didn’t follow the outline word by word, but I didn’t go full-on discovery mode either. It was a good mix of the two. The first draft was horrible, and it’s taken 3 ½ years of rewriting and having an editor to go through it to get to the point I’m at now.

Thankful I never threw the book away.
 

Can you tell us about how you came up with the cover art for Blade Of The Broken?

The MacGuffin of the story, if you will, is a sword called the Runeblade. I don’t want to get too much into it, but it connects all of the characters together in one way or the other. (Trust me, it’s more than an old blade with runes scribbled on it.) So I always thought it should be on the cover, and I worked with my amazing cover artist Rene Folsom, she works at Phycel Designs.

The fiery, and dark background worked best to set the mood. There are quite a bit of sword fights and carnage throughout the tale… Speaking of the background, when I got the first cover proof I could’ve sworn I saw a raven with talon’s extended. When I said I liked the raven, Rene asked “What raven? I didn’t put one in!” but said it was a great idea. So she added a raven… That’s part of the magic of a writer and cover artist working together!

How would you describe your experience with self-publishing your novel? Do you plan to stick with self-publishing, or do you hope to someday go with a publishing house?

It’s been good. I like having a direct influence on every aspect of my book, rather than having another person make all the calls for me. I’m planning to stick with self-publishing. In this day and age, it’s possible to produce a great looking book without the publisher as a middle man. I’ve been told money should flow to the author, rather than making the pittance publishers pay. The model traditional publishing uses is rather outdated, especially since we use eReaders now. It doesn’t mean you don’t need editors or cover artists, etc, but rather can hire those people directly, and make your own decisions on your books.

Speaking of blades, weapon of choice: letter opener, Swiss army knife, or Ginsu blade?

 
Ginsu blade. The other choices aren’t barbaric enough.
 

This isn’t your first self-published piece, though; tell us a bit about Demon Stone.

Demon Stone was first written back in 2009. I was reading old school sword & sorcery a lot that year, by authors’ such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, and Michael Moorcock. So I decided to write a tale inspired by these stories. It started out as a hack job, but over many revisions, I had something original in my character Dagr. I kept getting rejection letters, and kept revising, changing, adding… Then I gave up, and kept it saved. I went back to it in 2011, and kept revising. Then I sent it to an e-magazine and it was accepted, and was published in the first issue of Fantasy Short Stories, ran by Mark Lord.

By that time, I’d been working on the book that would become Blade Of the Broken. And when I got the rights back, I decided to self-publish a special edition version of the Demon Stone short that had more changes, to help with the hard task of building an audience.

The story is a quest about a King who lost everything to try and save his wife. If you like sword & sorcery, and heroic fantasy, this story may appeal to you. It’s on Smashwords, Kindle, Nook, iTunes, and a lot of other eBook sites.

What do you find most appealing about writing darker fantasy?

Being able to explore parts that normally isn’t explored in other genres. In traditional epic fantasy, it seems to be a big no no to explore what makes the villains tick rather than just that they want “world domination” or “destroy everything”. Doesn’t the reader want to know why the villain does what he does? Or see what the other characters want you to see?

Also, with the heroes, they don’t have to be perfect in “dark fantasy”. George R. R. Martin, Gary Gygax, Michael Moorcock and many others were/are of the mind that everyone has good and bad, so why not write people realistically, rather than make the heroes saints? Even bad people at times have done good things.

I think “dark” fantasy should be called “realistic”. But that would be a weird word pairing. 

What influence has gaming had on your writing?

Games have had quite an influence on me. Before I even touched a novel, I’d been enjoying playing as Mario on the SNES, and trying to rescue Princess Peach, only to find out I was in the wrong castle. Or Banjo on the N64, trying to rescue his sister from the witch… And incidentally, these games had stories just as engaging as any novel, and inspired me to dream up stories in my mind with unlimited FX budget. Thus, writing was very attractive to me.

What do you find most aggravating aspect about the fantasy publishing industry today?

Probably the assumption most self-published books are crap. Yeah, there is some self-published drivel, but I’ve read quite a bit of crap published by people like Random House. Crap is crap no matter who the publisher is. It doesn’t care where it’s from. It just goes splat!

*Note to all self-publishers or would be writers: Hire an editor. Not your mother or father, or a friend or family member. We writers need editors who will say what needs to be said. No matter if it hurts your feelings.

Not only do you rock dark fantasy novels and short fiction, but you’re also a blogger. When did you start blogging? What is your blog about? Where can folks check it out?

I started blogging in ’08, originally just writing fantasy and sci-fi novel reviews, and posted them on my website called Goblins, Swords, Elves, Oh My! Then that progressed to also interviewing authors like Dennis L. McKiernan, Margaret Weiss, and fellow indie authors.

That site built up my writing confidence dramatically, so I decided to also write about my crazy life on another website called Jake’s Blog. I’ve been in a wheelchair most of my life, and was diagnosed with Duchene Muscular Dystrophy at age five. I really didn’t have that odd of a childhood as people would think, nor am I some broken soul… I just have some definite opinions on life and writing.

Now it has a dual function of being a blog, and an author’s website. I haven’t posted much lately on either site, but there’s quite a backlog of posts dating back to ‘08. So now you can see how bad of a writer I was.

I was pleased to read that you were also a lover of cinema and heavy metal music, now I’m pretty much convinced we were separated at birth. Give us your top three movies of all time, and top three metal albums.

Another favorite’s question? This is like choosing which children I’d keep around, and which I’d put up for adoption! I was raised watching old black & white movies my parents grew up watching. John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, and tons of other movies. I hope they forgive me if I don’t name any classics, haha. Plus, being disabled, movies are one thing I do to pass the time.

I would put the original, and uncut (Han shot first!) Star Wars Trilogy. (This was literally my first exposure to the science fiction / fantasy genre, and without it I probably wouldn’t be interested in fantasy or heroic fiction at all.)

Second, I would say Pan’s Labyrinth. It’s a great play on traditional fairy tale films, and has a great plot and writing. It may have subtitles, but it’s worth reading through for two hours. I usually like quest type fantasy films, but at times I prefer the morality tales my mother and grandparents read to me as a child. There’s something comforting about stories about children and the small folk of the woods.

Since you asked for three movies, I’m going to have to skip a ton of others outstanding films, so here’s the third one; Mad Max: The Road Warrior. The story is probably one of the best in modern cinema, and The Road Warrior was a great improvement from Mad Max, from a writing and acting standpoint.

As for favorite Metal Albums, where do I begin?! Holy Diver by Dio is great. Summer Of Darkness by Demon Hunter. And currently 7th Symphony by Apocalyptica is a great album… And I’ll cheat and say every Iron Maiden album is amazing! (And Maiden is a fun band to write to!)

For writers just starting out, what advice or wisdom can you offer?

Listen to all criticism. All of it. Too many beginners have a thin skin, and that isn’t good when you’re a writer. Believe me, I was there too. I had my sister read my very first novel in 4th grade, and she said it was crap. I was devastated, didn’t listen to her criticism, and threw all the pages in the garbage.

Everything you write has potential to be a great novel, or story. Listen, and keep revising, and repeat. If you don’t have friends who have time to critique, find a group like Critters. There are thousands of people that use Critters, and I’ve gotten great input from the group. (Especially when I was working the early drafts of Blade Of the Broken.)

Also, watch out for scams. There are a lot of people wanting to scam writers, so I recommend checking out Writer’s Beware, Preditors & Editors, A Newbie’s Guide toPublishing, and David Gaughran’s blog.

What’s the next project on the horizon for Jake Scholl?

I’m currently planning a sequel to Blade Of The Broken, and maybe a short story or novel sequel to Demon Stone. Or maybe a Horror novel? We’ll see what the guy upstairs has in store.

You can find Jake Scholl on Facebook, Twitter (@JakeSCholl), Goodreads, and you can grab a copy of Demon Stone here for a mere $0.99. A special thanks to Jake for taking the time to talk to us, and wish him the best of luck with the release of Blade Of The Broken.

Grim Interview: Greg James

All the way from the UK, today we’re joined Greg James, author of The Age of the Flame Trilogy, which titles include The Sword of Sighs, The Sceptre of Storms, and The Stone of Sorrows.  Not only has the trilogy topped the Amazon rankings for bestselling dark fantasy, but it also comes with a tasty content warning for those not accustomed to high levels of violence and potty language.  But the fun doesn’t stop there, not by a long shot.  Horror fans can also pick up a myriad of novels, novellas, and short stories, including the The Vetala Cycle Series, under the pseudonym G.R. Yeates.  Oh, but there’s still icing on this literary pop tart.  Greg has a new trilogy of grimdark novels coming out very soon titled The Khale Trilogy, with the first novel, Under a Colder Sun, due out August 28th of this year.  We’re going to talk about just what the hell kind of childhood trauma makes Greg James tick, and let us peer into that utter pit of infinite darkness known as a cerebral cortex.

First off, Greg, please tell us a bit about your background.  Where are you from?  When you’re not pounding the keys constructing grimiores of gritty goodness, do you have a day job?

I’m from London, England and I am an office administrator. It keeps me in bread, water and the occasional light bulb while I write in my spare time.

When did you first start writing?  Who were your major literary influences?

I started writing seriously back in the far gone days of 2007. I spent a few years writing the Vetala Cycle trilogy and then tried to break into traditional publishing. It didn’t work out so I sacked my agent and started self-publishing in 2011. I had a slow start with the Horror genre but managed to gain some critical acclaim and then I made the jump across to Fantasy and I have to say the genre has been very good to me since then.

I have a broad range of influences from differing genres but from Fantasy I would say that Robert E. Howard sits at the top of the tree in many ways for me and after him there stands Michael Moorcock, David Gemmell, Stephen Donaldson and Karl Edward Wagner.

You’ve got 12 novels under your belt at this point with a new trilogy on the way, which is quite an amazing feat for a man of a mere 34 years of age.  You look marvelous by the way (and you smell terrific), how do you find the time to get so much writing done?

It’s a combination of discipline, late nights and having a very supportive and understanding girlfriend. There’s no real secret to being prolific apart from hard work and wanting to succeed at what you love doing. If all life was writing, it would be so much easier.

No doubt your body of work has included some rather dark stuff.  But now you’ve specifically endeavoured to release a number of grimdark novels.  Can you tell us how you came to begin writing this new trilogy?

The beginning goes back to when I started writing seriously in 2007. The main character of the series, Khale the Wanderer, existed in an early form in my head back but he wasn’t an entirely coherent entity and my passion at the time was strictly for the Horror genre so he has had a long time to gestate and develop. He grew out of my reading stories about various Fantasy characters of whom a short list would include Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Druss, Kane, Elric, Thomas Covenant and Sandor Clegane. I wanted to create a character who would follow that lineage and now that I have made the move across to the Fantasy genre, the time felt write to sit down and start making his adventures become a reality.

Can you give us your definition of grimdark?

I think it goes back to what Robert E. Howard started in 1932 with Conan’s gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth. Those stories introduced a grittiness and realism that never really became a part of the High Fantasy epics until George R.R. Martin brought the two together with A Song of Ice and Fire. Though if we went further back, it could be argued that its roots are there in Greek and Shakespearean tragedy where heroes are not always pure and noble, villains can have justified reasons for acting heinously and the gods are creatures that mock and torture mankind. The classic tragedies are also marked by their black humour which is something that I think is often referenced as part of the appeal of grimdark fantasy. Things can become too dreary and feel too pointless otherwise.

Since you live across the pond, can you give us a general idea of what the fantasy / sci-fi / genre fiction scene is like in the UK?

I’m still a relative newcomer and the majority of my success to date is thanks to genre lovers on your side of the pond so I can only comment so much but I think we are in rude health with Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence, Richard K. Morgan and, of course, David Gemmell’s legacy. I’m still familiarising myself with the current crop of grimdark authors so those out there that I have not mentioned will have to forgive my omissions and ignorance.

Besides books, do any other forms of media influence your work?  Music, movies, origami?  I see you’re a connoisseur of heavy metal like myself, to what role have other forms of media had an impact on your writing?

To be honest, it all goes into the mix. I’m of the generation who grew up watching movies like Robocop and Conan the Barbarian well before being of legal age. I’ve been a gamer for many years and I would say that the Demon’s Souls/Dark Souls games have had quite an impact on the atmosphere of Khale’s world in that it’s a realm that is rotting and falling apart and the only gods left are those of darkness and chaos.
 

As to music, Manowar have had a significant part to play, I cannot lie. Listening to something like Hail and Kill or Sons of Odin gets me into Khale’s mindset pretty quickly. Though I’m also an aficionado of dark ambience and post-punk bands like Joy Division, who can get me in the mood for the more reflective scenes and character moments.

Weapon of choice?  Bastard sword, blow darts, or butterfly knife?

It’s going to be the bastard sword. Given the character I’m bringing to life, anything else would be a bit too lightweight for him.

Let’s talk about horror for a bit.  What do you enjoy most about writing horror fiction?  Do you have any plans for more horror (that rhymed) down the road?

I think horror and grimdark have some common lineage when done at their best. Both genres look at the world without rose-coloured glasses and are willing to take risks and challenge the audience. As a reader and writer of the genre, I remember watching some of the more shocking scenes in the Game of Thrones TV show and not being surprised to find out thereafter that George R.R. Martin had written horror in his time. I may be wrong but, in my opinion, the execution of Ned Stark and the Red Wedding owe as much to the Horror genre as they do to their historical precedents.  I think there will probably be the odd horror release from myself in the future but fantasy, particularly of the grimdark variety, has ripped my heart out and placed it atop an altar to its dark and faceless gods for the time being.

For fantasy readers who have yet to delve into the horror genre, do you have any titles you recommend as essential horror fiction?

One of my main influences was Robert E. Howard’s contemporary, H.P. Lovecraft, so I would recommend starting with his story ‘The Colour Out of Space’, and then maybe ‘The Rats in the Walls’. Even though I’m now drawing more on inspiration from the former gentleman, I think Lovecraft will always touch my work one way or another even when it’s not intended. Though I do try and keep an eye on the adjectives as best I can.

What has been the most influential writing advice you’ve ever received?  What advice would you offer to new writers?

The best advice I received was from a whole book and that was Stephen King’s On Writing. Regardless of your genre, I would say it’s the best how-to book out there. It’s the only one that had an impact on me and started me on the road to writing as opposed to just dreaming of doing so.

In terms of my own advice, as a self-published author I would advise new authors to very carefully look at their options and not take industry word as the gospel because it’s not. If I’d listened to the traditional publishing industry, I would probably still be miserable, depressed and trying to hawk the Vetala Cycle rather than being where I am now with two complete trilogies under my belt, a handful of novellas and short stories, a growing audience and a regular monthly income.

Self-publishing isn’t an easy path to choose by any means but if you are willing to work hard, keep your ego in check and take the pitfalls with the breaks, then the rewards are there.

Can you give us a bit of insight into your writing process?  Are you a discovery writer, or an outliner?  Do you use writing groups or beta readers? 

I’m a discovery writer. My outline tends to consist of my title and then I’m off. I do outline and map the world though. I don’t think you can write fantasy without setting up the boundaries of the world you’re creating, even if it’s just loosely. The world-building is a lot of fun though, sometimes too much, and I have to remember to write the story and not piss the night away adding extra mountains here and there. I would if I could because mountains are awesome. Fantasy worlds without looming mountains are like pizza without cheese.

I have beta readers who I select from my hardcore readers, friends and fellow authors who are willing to lend their time. I’m not a writing group person. I like to work alone for most of the process then bring in my readers, editor and cover artist during the final furlong.

Your beard is epic, by the way.

Thank you. As a Fantasy author, I feel it is my duty to look the part.

So you’ve traveled abroad as a teacher, instructing English as a second language.  Can you tell us a bit about that experience?  How do you feel your experiences living in other regions of the world have influenced your writing?

I think living in China for a year taught me that we are all basically the same and that cultural boundaries are something we create needlessly. It also taught me that we live in something of a bubble in the Western world and even when we think that we have filtered out a lot of the bullshit from our upbringing, a lot of it still remains and you don’t realise that until you have the experience of being an outsider in a country that’s not your own.

As to how it’s influenced my writing? China has awesome mountains. If you go there, take a riverboat trip to see the Guilin mountains. They are incredible.

To date, what has been your most unpleasant experience as an author?  Any words of warning for those of us who seek to get our work published?

My most unpleasant experience was having an agent. Eighteen months or so of my time were wasted by him and I got to see what the publishing industry was really like. You realise that, as a new author, you are considered as being at the bottom of the food chain and your work is just another piece of shit for them to throw at the metaphorical wall while you sit there hoping and praying that it will stick. If it doesn’t stick, it’s no skin off their nose, but for you it’s your dreams being treated as something that should be flushed down the toilet. My only regret is that I didn’t cancel my contract and start to self-publish sooner.

Seriously, that beard, I just want to snuggle it for a while.  That cool?

There’s plenty of room and I feed it regularly so you won’t go hungry.

For those who want to snag a copy of the new book, or find out more about you, where should they go to learn more?

You can visit me at http://www.manderghastpress.co.uk or find me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/gregjames1945. My Twitter handle is @manderghastp though that particular social media channel is still something of a dark art to me.

Again Greg, thanks for hanging out with us, I’m definite looking forward to the new series, and I wish you the best of success in your writing career.  Any last words before we wrap things up?

I’d like to close by saying thank you to the fantasy genre and its readers as a whole for giving me the beginnings of a career and I hope that you will find something to enjoy in the adventures of Khale and the other denizens of his world. That’s my little teaser, I guess. There will be at least two other characters with their own series showing up as part of my contribution to all things grimdark. I can’t say anything more at the moment as it would spoil details of the initial trilogy.

Stay grim. Stay dark. Stay true.

Don't forget to snag your copy of Under a Colder Sun, coming August 28th!  Until then, you can get a free copy of Greg's fantasy title The Sword of Sighs! US - UK

Grim Interview: Adrian Collins

Our first interview!  Grimdark is on the rise, and nothing could be cooler than a new e-zine chalk full of gritty goodness to satisfy our unending thirst.  Grimdark Magazine, online at grimdarkmagazine.com, is slated to hit the interwebs in October, and I the chance to chat with Adrian Collins, the editor and founder.

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The first guest for the Grimdark Fiction Interview is none other than Adrian Collins, founder and editor in chief of the forthcoming quarterly e-zine, “Grimdark Magazine”.  Adrian, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us.

No worries.

Tell us a bit about yourself.  Where are you from?  Family, kids, career, secret identity?  How did you get involved in writing and publishing?

I live and work in Sydney, Australia, working as a tender/proposal writer for a tax company. I live with my very supportive girlfriend. She's backed me from writing my first short story to kicking off this magazine.

My background is in business processes, project management, as well as business and creative writing.

I got involved in writing a long time ago, in my teens. I'd read and written since I can remember being alive. Unfortunately, where I grew up, anything creative that wasn't music was generally frowned upon and I allowed myself to be shamed out of writing and really loving the sci-fi and fantasy genres openly by my peers.

When I finally picked it back up again I was in uni. That first novel disappeared in a haze of drinking, rugby, and more drinking (pretty sure I turned up to a class or two as well at some point). Eventually I woke up one morning with an absolutely fucking belting new year's day hangover and realized I'd thrown away almost six years without writing. I set myself a goal of writing my first novel by the end of the year and delivered on that promise to myself.

Grimdark Magazine was born out of a few bits of feedback I got that my short fiction magazine submission were too grim in their endings and the frustration of not being able to place those works. It also came from a want to experience the other side of the publishing industry coin. We only get to live once. We might as well try everything. I know how to develop businesses, have some pretty solid contacts, passion for the industry and the genre, and have been very fortunate to gather like minds around me to contribute and collaborate.

Weapon of choice?  (Sword, ax, mace, or bow and arrow?)

I have a really nice 14th C Lord Marshall sword (made by Hanwei). So I'll pick a mace, or a flail, or maybe a Norseman's axe... Can I take a few? What about a shield?

There have been some gentlemanly disagreements over what the sub-genre of grimdark is defined as.  How would you define grimdark?

This is an easy, yet really difficult question. Easy, because I know what I believe it is. Hard, because everyone has a different perspective on it. Therefore I'll preface this opinion by saying the opinion is mine and I'm always happy to be challenged.

Grimdark is a grim story in a dark world. Authors challenge readers. They challenge readers to love unlovable characters. They challenge you to read through unspeakable acts and keep believing that there is a way out or back for the protagonist or antagonist. Authors use perspective to keep readers reading like a surgeon uses a scalpel to keep you breathing. 

Finally, black humor. Without it the sub-genre loses its flavor to dreariness.

The first issue of Grimdark Magazine is scheduled to drop October 1st of this year (I can’t hardly wait), can you tell us the process of how the magazine came to fruition?

A great deal more hard work than I'd originally thought, actually! It started as a business plan I wrote with a mate over a few beers and grew from there. My background is in business, so setting up processes, working with change, website design, etc are all pretty easy for me. 

I chipped away at the setup over about 4 months before it was ready to bring people on board and asking for submissions. It's just sky-rocketed from there.

The magazine is a work in progress, and always will be, so long as I or the subscribers can fund it. I'm pretty open with the guys volunteering with the mag, so we're always coming up with new ideas to implement in order to further the publication. For example, you can expect to see Cheresse Burke out at Worldcon in a GdM shirt handing out our cards and posting on our page in August this year. 

You’re stranded on an abandoned habitable undead alien infested moon-base, what three books do you take along?

You mean, I have time to read in between wantonly slaying them with bolter and chainsword? I think I'd have to take Joe Abercrombie's The Heroes, Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns, and probably an Australian war history book like Peter Fitzsimmon's Kokoda.

You're currently taking submissions for short fiction and for artwork, have you been seeing some quality work come across your desk?

There's been some amazing stuff. I've actually had some pieces from some big names in the genre that we're really keen on. There have been some pieces that we've agonized over but had to pass on, and a couple we're holding on to, to see if we're going to be able to find a spot for. There are plenty more that either just aren't a fit or aren't quite there. Plenty of amazing stories and slices of imagination in this first bit.  Reading these has been the most fun I've had with the magazine.

On the flip side of this are the buggers that clearly haven't even bothered to read the submission guidelines or are trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole. If I've ever accidentally done this to a magazine, then those first readers and editors have my sincerest apologies.

We're a but lacking in the artwork department, though we've had a submission from Luke Spooner, whose done some good work for other markets. If you know any good artists, send them our way.

Why choose grimdark?  Why not alt history supernatural romance or middle grade literary cyberpunk?

It's my personal favorite to read and write. I also researched the current paying markets and found a lack of a pro-paying market for the sub-genre. 

No doubt that dark and gritty fantasy is on the rise, do you have an idea as to what factors have contributed to the popularity of grimdark fiction?

I think people like it because it's more real. We can relate to character's fallacies because we all have some - or many - of our own. I know I certainly do.

We're realizing that there is no such thing as a golden hero or pure evil. People are a million shades of grey between absolute good or evil, and there are six billion perspectives around the world to appreciate it. 

On a grander scale, I think we as a society, especially in the west, are beginning to question the world more. We've had it pretty good for a long time and now we've started really asking if our governments and banks have our best interests at heart and we're doing it with a never before seen level of cynicism (mostly due to social media allowing us to connect opinions and research like never before). 

Besides being the maliciously evil genius masterminding the precise construction on this awesome new e-zine, do you have any other works in progress we can look forward to?

I have two self-published books on amazon that nobody should buy. They are the two novels that every writer should put in the drawer and never allow to see the light of day. I wouldn't hand back the experience of writing and publishing them for anything, though!

Other than that I've got my third novel 90% done. I'm chasing an agent on this one. You might see some of my shorter stuff in magazines in the next year as well. Grimdark stuff, of course. Keep an eye out for me. I might just get lucky.

What direction do you see the grimdark genre going from here?

I see it branching out into other genres and taking over. Medieval fantasy and futuristic sci-fi have taking a right beating at its hands.  Who’s to say when somebody will grab another sub-genre by the balls and grimdark the hell out of it?

What wisdom or advice could you offer to aspiring authors when it comes to writing and submitting grimdark short fiction?

Learn to write well. You'd be surprised how many absolutely cracking stories get lost beneath prose that is either sub-par or gets tied up in the author's own cleverness. Look at Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind. The prose is simple, beautiful. It's almost like you forget you're reading.

Take my money already!  October 1st is when we can expect the first issue of Grimdark Magazine to infest e-readers across the globe with it’s blood soaked pages of literary malignance.  Where can folks go to drop some gold pieces in your satchel? 

Amazon, iBooks, iPhone/android app, bloody hell, wherever I can get the thing up it's going up! Each electronic issue will probably set you back at about $2.99, individual stories (from the apps) about $1.50 each. Hard copies will come in a bit dearer, depending on the page count.

I'll make sure the website has links to every method the magazine is available. Jump on our Facebook page for updates, Facebook.com/grimdarkmagazine.

Again, Adrian, thanks so much for hanging out with us here at Grimdark Fiction Readers & Writers.  It’s much appreciated, and best of luck with the new e-zine.

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My thanks to Adrian for jumping in and taking his time to talk to us.  I encourage you all to keep an eye out for the new magazine in October, be sure to buy a copy, and spread the word.  The more noise we can make, the more grimdark goodness to come our way.