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

Zilla: I just ordered my paper copy of The Audacity Gambit (my review will go in the newsletter—I am PUMPED to read this) but while I wait for it to arrive I’ve got B. Zedan here to tell me all the details of their fantasy novel. So, with no spoilers, can you introduce me to your book, B.?

B.: Here’s The Audacity Gambit’s blurb:

It’s the back half of the 1990s and recently-graduated Emily’s big life plans include maybe getting promoted at her grocery store job, and not much else. It’s not that she doesn’t have ambitions, it’s that she feels more or less fulfilled already. She has a roof over her head (her aunt’s trailer), friends (the much-younger kids she babysits), hobbies (babysitting, reading), what more could she want?

Of course, it’s not about what she wants. It’s about what she was made to do. With little choice in the matter, Emily is plunged head-first into a fairy world that isn’t nearly as fabulous and fantastical as books would lead you to believe, though it’s a nice enough place for a vacation.

Zilla: What inspired you to write this book?

B.: I’m from a poor rural part of Oregon, originally, and boy-o one just doesn’t see that world in fiction unless it’s romanticised by people who haven’t lived it. So why NOT have the chosen one live in a trailer and treat it like its normal to live in a trailer, actually.

Zilla: I love that. Were you inspired by an image when you wrote this?

B.: In a way yes—the idea of the garden arbour on fire is so central to the book it’s on the cover. I love the idea of something so mundane as a portal.

Zilla:  Is your work more plot-driven or character-driven? Or a secret, third thing?

B.: The real truth of it is: I am a Nickelodeon run on Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tokens. I like to take the structures of folktale types, use those as the scaffolding and see what I can build. It’s very obvious in the context of The Audacity Gambit, but more so in other work I do. I don’t mean “remixed Cinderella,” btw, though that’s great, I mean like “type 565, “the magic mill” and looking at the actual components of that story type.

Zilla: I love when stories are in conversation with other stories that way. After all, an author is always influenced by every book they’ve read, so why not put the inspiration to direct use? Now that this book is out in the world, what’s your next writing project?

B.: I am desperately trying to finish a story that combines food review writing like Jonathan Gold’s with cosmic horror. Which means I’ve been working on anything else.

Zilla: Okay, so you need to tell me when that one comes out, though I relate far too much to the issue of working on the alternative projects instead of the “main” one. For everyone who hasn’t ordered your book yet, where can the Night Beats community find you and it?

B.: You can pick up The Audacity Gambit just about anywhere (a handy books2read page of places) but if you want to read it for free I’ve also serialised it and it’s available here: https://bzedan.com/blog/the-audacity-gambit-serialised/I have other writing work on my site (https://bzedan.com/blog/writing/), I kind of just… put things up and hope people read them sometimes. I’m also on all the places as “bzedan” but mostly you’ll find me on Tumblr.

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

Zilla: Black metal in an even darker storyline, a weird storytelling form, and I’m swooning in love. Michael Bettendorf’s Trve Cvlt sounds like everything I like best in a book. So Michael, can you introduce us to your black metal horror gamebook?

Micheal: Trve Cvlt is a meta-take on stories similar to Choose Your Own Adventures with a bit of a fatalist spin.

You wake up with a brutal hangover, but that can’t crush your spirits: you’ve been invited to take back the drum throne for Abyss, the cult band you co-founded.

It means setting aside a turbulent history with Abyss’ vocalist, Austin. You aren’t sure if he’s invited you back to bury the hatchet or if he’s just desperate because infamous black metal legends Waste Doctrine are rolling through town. They’ve given you the opportunity to open for them and maybe, finally, get the hell out of this nowhere town.

The promise of the upcoming gig doesn’t come without its share of hurdles, though. Austin’s hellbent on creating a ritualistic experience out of the performance, turning the abandoned roadhouse he’s chosen as a venue into a bloody, occult nightmare.

Yes, it’s black fucking metal, but is it too far?

Only you can decide.

Zilla: What inspired you to write this book?

Micheal: Trve Cvlt is rooted in an urban legend, specifically Cult Road and the alleged house(s) where local cultists gathered. Me and a couple of buddies went out looking for Cult Road one day and ended up lost on some backroads. We eventually found an abandoned farmhouse that was the epitome of dread. We almost ran out of gas on low maintenance roads before finding our way back. I wanted to write a black metal book for a long time, but didn’t know what it was supposed to be, but eventually I framed it in this setting and it clicked into place. It wouldn’t have existed if Alex Woodroe of Tenebrous Press didn’t tell me, “Pitch her something weird. Something no one has done,” at StokerCon 2023. I thought her partner in crime, Matt Blairstone was in on it, but it turns out I pitched him cold. Still the best rouse Alex has pulled on me. I’m forever grateful.

Zilla: What would your characters say if they met you?

Micheal: Austin would probably call me a fucking poser. The unnamed main character would probably have my back. So would Danny…mostly. Ryan would likely tell me to get better at drums.

Zilla: A range of responses! So who is your favourite character in Trve Cvlt?

Micheal: I think Abyss is my favorite character. It didn’t start as a character, but it morphed into one. It’s chaos. It’s love. It’s dread. It’s a god. It’s an ungod. It’s a manipulator. It’s existential dread. It’s us. It’s…the abyss.

Zilla: Who do you imagine reading your book?

Micheal: I wrote it for the outcasts and metalheads and weirdos and I think they are among the crowd who read it, but I also think it has struck a chord with the horror-curious.

Zilla: 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?

Micheal: You can find me on Bluesky @BeardedBetts, at www.michaelbettendorfwrites.com, and my linktree. You can pick up Trve Cvlthere.

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

Zilla: We always love having Claris Lam here to talk about her books, though today is a special interview—she’s crossed genre! Claris, can you tell us about Refilling the Well and your venture into poetry?

Claris: Refilling The Well is my debut poetry chapbook. This chapbook focuses on themes of self-care, burnout, burnout recovery, and hustle culture. 

I also think Refilling The Well focuses a bit on hope – hope that things will get better, even if they’re hard right now. 

Zilla: That seems like a really timely topic. Why did you write this book, and why now?

Claris: My burnout in summer 2023 inspired me to write this book, specifically. I went through creative burnout in summer 2023 specifically because I felt, at the time, I had to keep “working” on my creative craft to become some form of success that others seemed to have. It looked like that if you were a “successful” author, you had to be making huge book sales every month and/or capable of selling many books a year or even a book every two weeks. At some point that summer, I just lost all inspiration and drive to write much if at all.

It was scary, handling burnout. I never knew what it was like to be completely out of ideas before, because I often come up with ideas really quickly. However, it was a good period for me to reflect on what “success” as an author actually meant to me. 

Zilla: That’s such an important part of being an author—finding that internal motivation, and knowing that you can’t define success against anyone else. Can you distill your inspiration into an image?

Claris: Given the title of this chapbook, the image of a well inspired me. I thought about how wells, when overused or going through hotter than expected times such as droughts, can end up drying out and be unable to provide water to others. Our creative minds are like wells—it can generate a lot of ideas, but it also can only provide so much—especially when going through stressful times. And if we have no ideas left, that well of ideas is essentially dried out. 

Zilla: Who did you imagine reading your book as you wrote it? 

Claris: I imagined those who enjoyed poetry reading it, but I also imagined others going through their own periods of burnout, especially fellow creatives. I’ve read and heard of stories from many creatives who fell into similar periods of burnout for various reasons, including mine.

Zilla: What’s your next writing project?

Claris: At this time of writing, I’ll be releasing my debut YA short story collection, Stay Magical!, in fall 2025! It’s magical girl themed. Anyone who is familiar with anime and manga like Sailor Moon, Ojamajo Doremi, Pretty Cure and other series should consider reading it!

I’m also currently writing a new short story collection that is fairytale-themed and is a bit more experimental compared to my past work. I have the first draft done and I look forward to edits and revisions! 

Zilla: 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?

Claris: Refilling The Well released on February 10^th, 2025! You can order it here. 

As for where you can find me, check out the following:

Website: https://clarislam.ca 

Newsletter: https://buttondown.com/clarislamauthor 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarislamauthor/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClarisLamAuthor 

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/clarislamauthor.bsky.social 

Tumblr: https://clarislam.tumblr.com/ 

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/claris-lam 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22277014.Claris_Lam 

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

Zilla: We all need a good zombie story now and again, and even better if our human heroine is queer. This is why I invited Joseph Picard here to tell us about his post-apocalyptic novel, Lifehack. Joseph, can you introduce us to your book?

Joseph: Lifehack follows Regan as she breaks up with her cheating girlfriend then moves in with her brother. One of his peers twists a medical nanotech project into a zombie plague (the old slow/dumb kind) as a resignation letter.

Regan looks for her brother in the quarantined city for 2 years before she’s ‘rescued’ by a soldier she falls for immediately. Alisia’s a redead, and Regan’s been alone and going slightly batty. Priorities get a little jumbled, and the original culprit is still a potential threat out there somewhere.

Lifehack began my first series and impacts many of my books, even in my 3rd series.

Zilla: What inspired you to write this book?

Joseph: At the time, I’d only ever done one-shot short stories, but Regan and her exploits grew into 4 shorts, which eventually were refined into a book. I was drawing a lot back then—feedback on art of Regan actually resulted in Regan’s orientation… it seemed to fit her.

Zilla: Is your work more plot-driven or character-driven? Or a secret, third thing?

Joseph: Dungeons and Dragons-driven? I come up with a scenario, then sprinkle characters into it. Once they’re ‘active’ I lose most of the control. They reveal hang ups or quirks as events unfold. They fall in love, solve, or create danger. Sometimes they end up pitted against each other. I can kind of predict their path, but a few have surprised me.

Zilla: What’s your next writing project?

Joseph: The Daughter of Erebus series (which expands from the last book in Lifehack’s series, Echoes of Erebus) is coming soon. Daughter of Erebus: Sparrow is currently in the hands of my editor. Meanwhile, I’m chipping away at Daughter of Erebus: The Wronged.

There are still a ton of questions about Sarah’s future. She strives to lead a normal life, but being made out of tech made by Lifehack’s mass-murderer makes public relations a bit dicey. Sarah and her human found family have to face threats from other nano-creations, and public distrust. And despite wanting to keep life as simple as possible, romance finds a way, and Danielle finds a way, too… it confuses Sarah’s synthetic brain thousands of times faster than it would a human’s. She’s got neurosis down to a science.

Zilla: 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?

Joseph: Amazon has my kindle, paperback, hardcover, and audibles. But if you’re not an amazon fan, (who could blame ya?) my personal site has links to the books2read links for all my books. For example, you can find Lifehack.

You can find me hanging out on FB, (thoughI’m trying to back off a little from FB given some recent moves by zuck), and I’m settling into Bluesky.

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

Zilla: I devoured C.L. Methvin’s gruesome, touching and grotesque collection of short stories Eusect. I was delighted when they agreed to do an interview with us so I could pick their brains (not literally). C.L., can you tell us a bit about your book?

C.L.: It is a collection of horror shorts all flavored with Southern Gothic dread, varying in tone from subtle SCP-esque horrors to explicit gore, and in length from ~500 words to 6k+. Blurbed as follows:

The end is scary. The perpetual is scarier.

A suicidal housemate’s property regresses in ownership. A father is tormented by his immortal infant son. A school of fish offers communion with the heavens. A woman’s dead body multiplies across the world. These fourteen stories of terror, gore, and dissociation present people facing themselves and the infinite―often both at their worst.

Zilla: Let’s start with an introduction—between you and your characters. What would they say if they met you?

C.L.: “How fucking dare you.”

Zilla: Honestly, I can’t fault them for it, though as a reader I’m glad you did. Of all the characters you’ve tormented, who’s your favourite?

C.L.: In general: probably Aften from my 2022 novella Biting Silence. The book presents the story and characters in media res, and as such the reader doesn’t have much to go on to really meet the characters, essentially treating the reader as a wallflower. The circumstances under which the reader is introduced to Aften make him very swiftly (I think) a sympathetic character. What makes him my favorite is how one then watches his actions unfurl alongside other character vignettes and context(s) and slowly realizes the behavior and sympathy may not have been deserved. 

In EUSECT, probably the cute old woman Miriam, for reasons I’ll let the reader discover 😉

Zilla: Oh, Miriam. She’s certainly committed to self-discovery, and you have to admire someone who doesn’t let age slow her down from seeking new experiences. I’m a sucker for a love story, so as a reader, I’d pick Richard. When you’re in reader-mode, who’s your favourite character?

C.L.: It’s hard to choose just one, but probably Dorian Gray. The horrors he faced and enacted were just so human, even if the compulsion via portrait wasn’t necessarily. He was captivating, unapologetic, malleable, indulgent in his vices—and all of these wrapped up into a naïve socialite made for the perfect mixture of a man who could get away with anything. I find my favorite characters are often those who captivate (whether good or bad) by being extremely human. Martin’s Tyrion Lannister is clever; Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway is endearing; Ellis’s Clay is infuriating—each of them exemplify certain traits so wholly that everything they do is painted by it, and that consistency regardless of circumstance makes them feel real.

Zilla: After all this chat about characters, would you say you’re a character-driven writer?

C.L.: Definitely more character-driven! My general style of writing is to envision a character and circumstance and then let them interact with the situation. I find in many cases, plotting (for me) gets easily derailed because I may have outlined what I need, but if the characters would not organically reach that point, then the story doesn’t go there. Cliché as it may be, the characters often write themselves. 

Zilla: Beyond following the characters’ lead, do you do any research for your books?

C.L.: It depended on the story in EUSECT: for some, none; for others, maybe a few days of on-and-off research. I’m not one to write too heavily on a topic if I’m not familiar, for fear of misrepresenting an element of it. 

Zilla: 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?

C.L.: Handles on Twitter and Bluesky, and EUSECT can be found for purchase in various forms on tRaum Book’s site!