Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Sabitha: Today we’ll talk to John Hartley (or maybe to his alter ego, Johny Nocash) about his musical memoir, Capturing the Wry. John, can you introduce us to your book?  

John: Howdo. I’m John; Hartley by birth, Johny Nocash by artistic alter ego since ooh, about 1989. I’ve currently a couple of things for sale in the big wide world: an official biography of the UK indie band BOB (entitled From Banwell to Berlin and Beyond) and, more personally, a memoir of my time in an ultimately unsuccessful indie band the Irony Board, entitled Capturing the Wry. I’ll chat more about the latter, if that’s ok?

Sabitha: Sounds good to me! Let’s start with—what inspired you to write this book?

John: Well, part ego and part fear of longer term memory loss I suppose. Despite our ultimate failure to make it big, I had a whale of a time in the band and remain very proud of the songs we recorded. I wanted to document this for my bandmates and for my family. I kept loads of letters, notebooks, cuttings and flyers during the time, and kept a gig diary too with setlists and a description of each gig, so that certainly helped me along the way. Plus, my old English teacher drummed into me, “write what you know.” 

Sabitha: Do you have a fan-cast?

John: Ha! That’s a great question. Who would play me and my friends in a movie of that time of our lives? I’d like to think Johnny Depp could play me—he’s a guitarist after all, but he’s also way too controversial now. He’s also far too good looking to play me. Being from the northwest of England we could be played by actors from Coronation Street I suppose. Realistically, we’d be played by young up-and-coming actors hoping to break through to the big time.

Sabitha: What book do you tell all your friends to read?

John: I’ve started to write fiction for the Young Adult market, and am currently close to self-publishing a book called The Broken Bottle. With that in mind, I would point people to The Kingdom By The Sea by Robert Westall, a fantastic tale set in wartime England. I’ve bought The Scheme For Full Employment by Magnus Mills for several people. He’s a fantastic writer.

Sabitha: Do you have any suggestions to help people in our community become better writers?

John: I often get to the stage of wrangling with myself over what I want for my books. I’d love to be able to write for a living—being a school leader in special education is what keeps a roof over my head and food on the table—but I think I would hate the publicity that goes with it. With that in mind my suggestion would be to enjoy writing for the sake of writing, and don’t get hung up on the end result. If you write something for pleasure and ten people love it, it will probably be more gratifying on an artistic level than having to write something you don’t gain pleasure from. Also, chat with other writers, let them read your stuff, read theirs, enjoy the constructive criticism that can be mutually offered.

Sabitha: What’s your next writing project?

John: The Broken Bottle is failing to entice the literary agents, so that’ll be self-published soon. The sequel How Green Are Your Eyes is being read by my mum and my niece before its second draft. I am currently second-drafting a story I wrote for my family entitled Searching for the Sound of Riduna, about a tiny record label on a tiny island in the middle of the English Channel. I’ve written and recorded all their songs too…

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

John:  I can be found trading as @JohnyNocash on Twit-X, Instagram and Threads. On Mastodon I am @JohnyNocash@indiepocalypse.social. My books can be found here, or the BOB book can be found here.

Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Sabitha: Nothing better than a queer romance—except a queer romance that’s also a thriller! M. A. Melby’s got the book for us. M. A., can you tell us a bit about Bad Memory?

M.A.: The story is from the point of view of two roommates, Jaimes who is promiscuous and fun and Nik is shy and neurotic. The beginning sets you up for a sweet familiar story about opposites falling in love, you know, a roommate romance with friends to lovers. Even the event that starts the drama, a prank going wrong, seems in line with that type of story, but it spirals down into some pretty dark places…so be warned.

However, it’s not all gloom and doom. Friends come to the rescue. There’s also computer hacking, a sci-fi/fantasy convention, and a spattering of quippy dialog. I even included a couple references that Boy Love fans will get a kick out of.

Sabitha: That sounds like such a fun read. What inspired you to write this book?

M.A.: During the pandemic, I watched a ridiculous number of Thai Y-series (boy love stories). How could I not attempt to write a roommate romance that accidentally became a thriller? 

If you watch Thai Y-series, you’ll notice a few of the common scenes, character types, and plot devices, obviously with my own spin. I took the “wound tending” scene a bit far!

Sabitha: If you could meet your characters, what would you say to them?

M.A.: I’m so sorry.

I grew up watching shows where the characters would get horribly injured or abused but would be perfectly fine before the next episode. I was determined to avoid that and make recovery difficult and meaningful, not, at all, magically going back to “normal”.

Sabitha: I’m sorry for the characters—but not for us readers! How much research did you need to do for your book?

M.A.: One of the main characters is a phlebotomist, so I incorporated language and situations I remembered from being in the hospital, but also looked up several medical procedures and terms.

The plot also involves computer hacking. I’ve been around pretty intense computer folks, but my own knowledge is limited. I tried to avoid getting too technical.

Sabitha: Do you have any suggestions to help people in our community become better writers?

M.A.: Write so that you are proud of your work and enjoy it. Your skills will improve as you write and receive feedback, but find yourself, your own style and voice. Don’t try to be anyone else.

Sabitha: So true. So, M.A., what’s your next writing project?

M.A.: I wrote an epic fantasy novel before this one that’s very close to my heart. I wrote it very quickly, practically in a cathartic fugue state. So currently, it’s a little bit of a mess!

I’m working on revising it to make it beautiful, so that it can be meaningful to my readers and not only to me. I’m very excited about it, and I hope it finds an audience.

The working title is The Epic Threesome. I might be cheeky enough to keep the title, we’ll see.

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?
M.A.: You can find Bad Memory at most online bookstores, at Amazon, or read reviews on Goodreads. I’m on Facebook, Mastodon, and BlueSky, and I have a website.

Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Sabitha: Ready for adventure? Vanessa Ricci-Thode has what you need, with another installment of her fantasy series. Vanessa, tell us about Firebound! 

Vanessa: For the first time in her life, Spark has friends and has cobbled together something that’s starting to look like a family in her new home under the dragon city. But she’s never felt more alone. Or under more pressure. It’s only a matter of time before Loch and the ice dragons take revenge and attack the dragon city again.

Spark throws herself into spellcraft as the dragons’ only hope. But there’s no way she can do it alone. And then there’s the matter of having mere days to rescue a stolen dragon egg. 

In order to save the dragons, she needs her mother and her grandmother at her side. Spark must delve into the most dangerous kind of magic while learning that rebuilding a family isn’t easy.

While this book is about grief and isolation and loneliness, it’s also about queer joy in the darkness. It’s about being the light that drives away darkness. It’s about family and trust and healing. It’s also the most like How to Train Your Dragon of the entire series.

Sabitha: What inspired you to write this book?

Vanessa: Dealing with a lot of complicated emotional trauma, mostly from a crappy relationship with my mom. I wanted to write a book that teen me needed to help adult me heal, but also to help anyone else who wishes their family had been more accepting.

Sabitha: If you could meet your characters, what would you say to them?

Vanessa: I would (once again) apologize a lot!

Sabitha: What book do you tell all your friends to read?

Vanessa: Listen, if you really need a warm hug in book form I highly recommend The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. So gentle! So nurturing!

Sabitha: Have you ever killed off a character your readers loved?

Vanessa: Oh yes. One of the family members Spark lost in Fireborn (Book 3) was a sweet

cinnamon bun and I’ve had some very cranky readers over that one.

Sabitha: Do you have any suggestions to help people in our community become a better

writers?

Vanessa: Attend writers’ conferences. See if there are any good ones local to you. If not, there are some terrific free/cheap online ones like WriteHive.

Sabitha:  What’s your next writing project?

Vanessa: I’ve started working on the fifth and final book in the series for NaNoWriMo. It’s going to be very queer and full of complicated messy women. Complicated, messy, and deeply powerful women in an epic team up! Also, there will be more dragons.

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Vanessa: They can go to my website, or subscribe to my newsletter—(subscribers get a free short story from the dragon’s point of view). I use the handle vriccithode on all the social media platforms I use (currently mostly Discord and Bluesky with some Instagram and Mastodon—wandering.shop on Mastodon). And they can buy Firebound here.

Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Sabitha: Today we’ll talk to T. Emiller about their fantasy series, starting with In Shadows Lie. T., can you introduce us to your books?  

T.: Living the dream? More like a nightmare! When Liana’s dreams start blending with reality, she isn’t sure what to trust or even who! Ripped from her average life and thrown into the realm of her past, Liana must figure out which way is up or risk losing herself and an entire Kingdom to the darkness unleashed.

Sabitha: That’s an exciting premise! What inspired you to write these books?

T.: I have sleep paralysis. When I first started having episodes, I would keep myself up for days to avoid them. After some time, my mother said that wasn’t good for my health and suggested journaling. My brother read the journal and suggested I turn it into a book. I started the book, but life interrupted numerous times, and I lost countless copies. Later in life, after being baptized and praying for the purpose of my life, I felt led to write again. I was drawn back to this story and finally finished the first book. When my partner learned about it, they were adamant that I publish.

Sabitha: Writing is so important, both for authors and readers. On that note, what book do you tell all your friends to read?

T.: It’s hard to think of just one, but The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis had a huge impact on my mindset when writing this story and in general.

Sabitha: Have you ever killed off a character your readers loved?

T.: I haven’t received feedback from my readers on the characters that have hit the chopping block. Personally, it was quite traumatic killing off at least two of them and one wasn’t human. I don’t want to spoil it so you’ll just have to read for yourself!

Sabitha: How much research did you need to do for your book?

T.: When it came to research that needed to be done for my series, I did quite an extensive amount. The series contains quite a bit of supernatural entities. I spent countless hours researching tales and myths across cultures to find commonalities in the creatures encountered in my stories. I also researched the way these creatures were usually depicted in other stories and tried to give a twist so they weren’t the typical creatures the reader would expect.

Sabitha: Do you have any suggestions to help people in our community become better writers?

T.: I would suggest writing and reading more! Education and practice are key to honing any technique. The writing community is also extremely supportive. Find the group of writers that match your style, then learn and grow! Don’t waste time worrying if you’re good enough.

Sabitha: That’s such good advice. Who did you imagine reading your book as you wrote it?

T.: As I wrote the book, I imagined my target audience would be a young adult, primarily female crowd. I was beyond amazed to find my books have been embraced across gender, age, and geographical demographics. I even have a huge fan that’s in their 90s.

Sabitha: What’s your next writing project?

T.: I am currently working on a poetry collection and hope to release it soon. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to the fantasy books after!

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

T.: All of the links to my socials and each book are listed here.