Tim Marquitz presents the Fading Light anthology (part I)

Hello, honorary librarians!

Today (and tomorrow) I'm turning my blog over to a great writer, but more importantly, a person I truly admire, author of the Demon Squad series and so much more, Mr. Tim Marquitz.

Take a moment to get to know the authors of Fading Light in part two of the multi-blog interview…

Fading Light collects 30 monstrous stories by authors new and experienced, in the genres of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, each bringing their own interpretation of what lurks in the dark.

Contributors: Mark Lawrence, Gene O’Neill, William Meikle, David Dalglish, Gord Rollo, Nick Cato, Adam Millard, Stephen McQuiggan, Gary W Olson, Tom Olbert, Malon Edwards, Carl Barker, Jake Elliot, Lee Mather, Georgina Kamsika, Dorian Dawes, Timothy Baker, DL Seymour, Wayne Ligon, TSP Sweeney, Stacey Turner, Gef Fox, Edward M Erdelac, Henry P Gravelle, & Ryan Lawler, with bonus stories from CM Saunders, Regan Campbell, Jonathan Pine, Peter Welmerink, & Alex Marshall.

1. Thanks for taking part in the multi-blog, Fading Light interview. Tell us a little about yourself.

Mark Lawrence: Mark Lawrence, scientist, gamer, author of Prince of Thorns & King of Thorns.

Adam Millard: Thanks for having me.  I'm Adam Millard, and I write primarily horror, with the focus usually on post-apocalyptic character-driven stories.  I also write comedy-fantasy for young adults.

Gef Fox: I'm what I like to call a rabid reader and rabid writer. I'm also a fan of dark fiction, particularly horror literature, which earns me some wary glances from people who ask. I'm also Canadian, which can earn wary glances on occasion, too.

2. Does music play a part of your writing? Television, movies?

Nick Cato: I rarely write without music on, usually film soundtracks.

Gene O’Neill: No.

Ed Erdelac: I’m sure I’m influenced by all of these things, but I need total silence when I write. I never listen to music or have anything on in the background. I’m pretty monastic when I write. But these things wend their way into my work, sure. For Gully Gods, a novella I did for the Four In the Morning collection, that was a supernatural story set in inner city Chicago, with gangbangers. I listened to a lot of Scarface, because the main character was from South Houston. For The Crawlin’ Chaos Blues, a story I did about a blues player making a deal with Nyarlathotep for fame, I listened to a lot of Delta and Chicago Blues. Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins. I did this to prepare myself for these stories, to get inspired, but again, I don’t listen to anything while I’m writing.

3. Tell us about your story in Fading Light.

Dorian Dawes: Angela's Garden is a story of a rather eccentric and bitter old woman trying to make the best of her life after having been abandoned by her children in an assisted-living facility. She's made a few friends, and does what she can to make her life more bearable, but shares no illusions to the cruel hand she's been dealt. The twist comes in that she bears a kinship with the supernatural, having seen things few mortals have ever witnessed. She also has the knowledge of how to beat back these unwanted entities when they begin targeting her loved ones. She soon finds her place of resident beset by a creature more ancient and foul than anything she's dealt with before, and so braces herself for one final battle.

Ryan Lawler: Light Save Us is about a guy named Ted, the lone engineer in a colony barely hanging on after the disappearance of the Sun. The survival of the colony is in Ted’s hands – the floodlights he maintains are the colony’s last protection against the monsters waiting in the dark outside.

The thing is Ted is so tired. Tired of having to fight so hard. Tired of everybody taking him for granted. The monsters are calling out to him, asking him to turn the lights off and surrender the colony to the darkness. And Ted thinks that just might be better for everyone.

4. Who are your greatest influences in your life, both literary and otherwise?

Gene O’Neill: Grandparents, both literary and other.

TSP Sweeney: I am a huge fan of the works (and, indeed, life stories) of Robert Jordan, Jim Butcher, Stephen King, and Aaron Dembski-Bowden, as well as many others, and I think all of them have influenced me personally to a great degree. I also feel, however, that it is important to take inspiration from the writing of others without trying to mimic their particular style or setting out to write a “Stephen King-esque” horror story instead of just setting out to write the story you want to write.

Otherwise, my greatest influences are definitely my wife and soundboard Sam, my mum and dad, who have always been supportive of me, and my friend Tristan, who has acted as my de facto beta reader and editor for about as long as I have been writing.

5. The zombie apocalypse arrives: who do you want on your response team?

Tom Olbert: Oh, Buffy and the Scoobies, natch.  Also, the gang from ‘Fringe’ would be nice.

Jake Elliot: Definitely my wife, she knows karate. I’m pretty handy with a rifle, or at least I was before my eyes turned on me, but my wife can kick the ass of any zombie that gets close. If we could get Chuck Norris as back-up, that would be nice too.

6. What projects are you working on now? Anything cool you can share with us?

Gene O’Neill: Just finished a long novella, OPERATION RHINOCEROS HORNBILL.

Carl Barker: The last year’s been tough in terms of new material, as work commitments have overridden my life to a certain extent. Guess you’ll just have to wait and see what I come up with when I get chance.

Tim Baker: Just finished a story inspired by the Blue Oyster Cult song, Tattoo Vampire. Was shooting for a short story but got a little excited, only later discovering that I created this rare strange thing called a novelette, which is not an easy sell. Currently researching and outlining a zombie novella set in Tibet. I swore I would never write a zombie thing, because frankly, I feel they have become cliché, but this take on zombies was just too interesting to me and like I said previously, I need to get it outta my head.

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Stop by tomorrow for part two of this interview. These great authors will reveal what books they enjoyed recently and they'll ever uncover the greatest secret of all - the song they would sing while drunk in a karaoke bar. 

Thanks for stopping by, guys!