Interviews

A Conversation with Tiffany Scandal About Portland, Second-Person Narratives, And Her New Novella 'Shit Luck'

November 18th, 2016

Tiffany Scandal first landed on my radar with Jigsaw Youth. I don't even remember how I came across the book. Just that I picked it up and one day after work I was reading it while headed somewhere on the R train, and I got so absorbed I missed my stop. That's the sign of a good book.

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The Origins of T.E. Grau’s 'They Don't Come Home Anymore': An Interview

November 16th, 2016

As host of the This Is Horror Podcast I love to dissect storytelling and uncover ways in which writers can improve their craft. Today I deviate from the audio format and onto the page. Having recently worked with T.E. Grau on his forthcoming novella, They Don’t Come Home Anymore, I invited him to spend some time with us at LitReactor to tell us more about the origins of They Don’t Come Home Anymore. Here’s the result.

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A Conversation with Jason Sizemore, Editor-in-Chief of Apex Magazine

November 2nd, 2016

cover art by Ania Tomicka I had a chance recently to converse with Jason Sizemore, the editor-in-chief of Apex Magazine, about running a successful online literary publication. If you're not familiar with Apex, here's a little bit of info from their website's About page:

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A Conversation With Tobias Carroll On Short Stories Versus Novels, Teaching, And His Two New Books, 'Reel' And 'Transitory'

October 13th, 2016

The last few months have been busy for Tobias Carroll. His first collection of short stories, Transitory, came out this past August. Then in October, his first novel, Reel, came out. This is on top of being an editor at Vol. 1 Brooklyn, an instructor here at LitReactor, and in general, a good literary citizen, preaching the good book word on the social medias. 

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A Conversation With D. Foy about 'Gutter Opera', The Rigors And Worth Of Touring, And His New Novel 'Patricide'

October 12th, 2016

D. Foy's voice is unlike anything else on the shelves today. His whipcrack debut, Made to Break, caused a stir in literary circles. So many people were talking about it he ended up on my radar for the LitReactor workshop program. I shot him a note and asked him if he was interested in teaching a class. He came back with Gutter Opera, an idea I fell in love with before I'd even finished reading the pitch. 

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A Conversation With Bracken MacLeod About Work-For-Hire, Horror Versus Crime, and His New Novel 'Stranded'

October 5th, 2016

In the course of this interview, Bracken MacLeod refers to his new novel, Stranded, as "John Carpenter’s The Thing meets Jacob’s Ladder.” I don't know that I can describe it much better than that. But I'll try!

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A Conversation With Chloe Caldwell About Truth, Sugar Packets, and Her New Collection 'I'll Tell You In Person'

September 29th, 2016

I'll Tell You In Person is one of the best books I've read this year. I've always enjoyed Chloe Caldwell's personal essays, but there's so much emotional honesty here, such a command of word and self, that it pretty much knocked me on my ass, over and over again.

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A Conversation With Dana Kaye About PR, Harsh Realities of Promo, And 'Your Book, Your Brand'

September 20th, 2016

Book promo is a lot more than copying Amazon links onto Facebook. It's about building your brand, and focusing your efforts where they'll be effective, and, most importantly, going into the game with realistic expectations. Problem is, there's a lot of noise out there—people who like to tell you they know what they're doing, but really it's just rehashed nonsense. 

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A Conversation With Chris Holm About Editing, Redemption, and His New Novel 'Red Right Hand'

September 12th, 2016

I'm a junkie for hitman stories (The Professional is my favorite film of all time) so Chris Holm's Michael Hendricks books almost feel like they're written for me. Smart, tense thrillers starring a dude who hits hitmen. Essentially, when you're targeted for assassination, he offers to kill the rival hitman—for 10 times the price on your head. If you can pay, great: He doesn't miss. If you can't or don't want to, oh well. Good luck. 

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A Conversation With Todd Robinson About France, Gay Characters in Crime Fiction, and His New Novel 'Rough Trade'

August 12th, 2016

Full disclosure: Todd Robinson and I once took a trip to Boston and both got food poisoning and shared a small hotel room so we both know each other a little more intimately than we'd like. I'd call him a pal.  But if I didn't know him, I'd also call him one of the best writers in crime fiction today. His voice is so incredibly strong and unique. And it straddles this line of humor and heart that I think is pretty much unparalleled. 

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