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

Sabitha: Tucker Lieberman joins us to talk about his weird and wonderful literary novel, Most Famous Short Film of All Time. Tucker, what can you tell us about your book?

Tucker: Most Famous Short Film of All Time is a philosophical novel. It’s set in Boston in the 2010s. Lev Ockenshaw is a thirtysomething transgender man who works for a tech company. He sees supernatural beings, which isn’t a big deal to him, and he likes telling campfire stories with his friends. One day, he receives an anonymous, threatening email, and things start to get weird. 

The literary style is absurdist with nonfiction-style digressions. There’s a bibliography: books, film, pop music.

Sabitha: It sounds absolutely delightful. What inspired you to write this book?

Tucker: Several overlapping cultural problems in the US are of concern to me. First, not knowing what an anonymous threat might mean, given the frequency of mass shootings. Second, the inability to make yourself heard, or a more active silencing perpetrated by people who you hoped would help you. Third, problems of visibility and invisibility, and self-interpretation and being interpreted by others, specifically as a transgender man might experience that. Of course, everyone’s experience is different, and this character is fictional, but his perspective is a transgender one. He’s not giving dictionary definitions of how trans people feel, but many trans people might relate to a lot of what he says. Ultimately, his philosophy is his own. It’s one attempt to unpack some of the cultural experiences of people who are transgender.

Sabitha: What was your favourite thing to write?

Tucker: The first scene I wrote was the Tele-Quiz gameshow where the main character makes 20 attempts to solve a question. I wrote it as a short story, and it was published in an anthology in 2019. That was fun. What came later felt harder. It took three years to write the next 100,000 words. I suffered with it.

Sabitha: The book’s got a catchy title—how did you choose it?

Tucker: In thinking about the stress of watching footage related to mass shootings on television news, I thought about the home video footage of the assassination of JFK in 1963. How much has changed in a half-century—the guns, the cameras. Most Famous Short Film of All Time is a reference to the presidential assassination that was captured accidentally by a bystander with a camera. The book is illustrated with the 486 frames of the film, with permission from the museum that owns it. I was thinking also about how each of us play certain memories on a loop, especially traumatic ones, and those memories become our own privately famous “films” that we examine, looking for clues, hoping to find answers.

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

Tucker: Most Famous Short Film of All Time was released on September 20, 2022. You can find purchase links here. You can find my website here, or find me on Twitter.

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

Sabitha: Kester R Park joins us to talk about his five stories in the Dread Cold anthology. Kester, how did you end up being so involved?

Kester: In 2019, Fantastic Books Publishing ran a competition to write short horror stories featuring the scene on the front cover in some way. There was no limit on the number and I had a year, so I wrote five. All were selected for publication in a blind judging process and two were selected for prizes. The book contains twenty other stories selected the same way plus some commissioned works.

Sabitha: That’s fantastic! What inspired you to write these stories?

Kester: Although horror is not my usual genre, I think it’s ideal for exploring the theme of vulnerability. When you look at the world through that lens, it’s everywhere: the vulnerability of youth, our vulnerability to love and disease. The future itself is vulnerable to the actions we take today. I found it fascinating to develop that theme through my five contributions. I don’t think I arrived at anything spine-chilling but I hope my stories will be thought provoking for most readers.

Sabitha:  Which character do you relate to the most and why?

Kester: I haven’t admitted this until now, but without a doubt it’s the narrator of Return of the Hunter. In a couple of my submissions, I really enjoyed developing the voices of thoroughly malevolent protagonists and the narrator of Return of the Hunter is easily the most evil. Fear not, though! I have no wish to spread disease, desperation and despair across the world as the narrator does. The point of identification is more to do with the anger expressed by the voice in this piece. The figure is trapped and unable to pursue its ambitions. It’s hungry for influence and its desire to exercise its true power is frustrated. As a writer who is obliged to sell his services to an employer 40 hours a week, I feel that frustration very keenly.

Sabitha: That is a very relatable feeling. How did you choose the titles of your stories?

Kester: I’ve already mentioned Return of the Hunter. The other four titles are Moon and I, Sunday Lamb, The Giants, and Utopia Mine. In each case, I limited myself to a short phrase. I think that horror pieces need short titles because they can only permit the prospective reader to peek into the terrifying world you’ve created as if through a crack between the door and the jamb. Additionally, each is an encoded clue to a key location, character or event in the story. In a perfect world, such a title initially disorients or misleads the reader and then, as the story goes on, ultimately comes to crystalise the sheer horror of the tale, and that’s what I tried to do in each case.

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

Kester: An electronic version is currently available for pre-order at 0.99 USD. A paperback version is also available. A proportion of the purchase price will go to Anti-Slavery International and Embrace the Middle East. You are very welcome to follow me on Twitter (I follow back!) and you can find a collection of my stories, essays and poems in English and Spanish at my website.

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

Sabitha: Nick Wilford’s here to tell us about Reckoning, the last book in the Black & White trilogy. Nick, take it away!

Nick: Reckoning is the last part of a YA dystopian trilogy entitled Black & White. The series explores two nations, Harmonia and Loretania, one of which is spotlessly clean while the other is full of dirt and disease. At the beginning of the series, the residents of each country are unaware of the other, until my protagonist Welles makes a discovery that unravels the secrets the government of Harmonia has been keeping. Through various twists and turns, in this last part we find the members of that government on trial for what amounts to genocide.

Sabitha: How did you choose the title?

Nick: I don’t really choose titles, they normally suggest themselves at a certain point – usually after the first draft is finished! This was definitely one of those cases. Reckoning suggested itself and was a natural fit for the story, so it stuck. It comes up in the work of Terry Pratchett, my favourite author quite a bit, in the phrase “There will be a reckoning” – in other words, a judgement, someone is going to get what’s coming to them. It’s got a great sense of foreboding to it, and obviously it suited the narrative of the courtroom and the former government being on trial.

Sabitha: You have good taste in favourite authors! What was your favourite thing to write in the book?

Nick: I enjoyed what happens to my main character, Welles, in this book. It’s the last part of the trilogy, and for most of the series he’s been this beacon of goodness, standing up for what’s right and striving to change things. Without wanting to give away spoilers, in this last part he becomes compromised, through no fault of his own, and goes off to the wrong side, which really jeopardizes what his partner, Ez, is trying to accomplish. I wasn’t sure whether or how I was going to bring him back, and I really enjoyed that sense of peril, things going wrong, which creates the stakes and tension in the story. I’m like a lot of writers. For some reason, we like being sadistic and putting our characters through hell!

Sabitha: What advice would you give to someone who’s writing or querying?

Nick: Can I tackle both? It’s really important to keep them separate. When you’re writing, you should try not to think about querying or about how someone else might receive it. That can be hard to do, but when you’re drafting you need to think of it as telling the story to yourself first. Without outside pressure, you’ll enjoy it a lot more, it will be more authentic, and that will hopefully translate to the reader. If you start thinking about what someone else will think, or about trying to write to trends, it’s a sure way to cripple your creativity and momentum. When it comes to querying, the most important thing to do is keep busy with something new rather than obsessing over responses, which is easier said than done!

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?

Nick: Reckoning is available for preorder here and links to my socials 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: We have John Luke Maxwell on the blog, with an absolutely delightful novel, Jean Locke Holmes: Pornstar Detective — The Phantom of Nob Hill Theater. John, tell us a bit about your book please!

John: For Rafael, the hits keep coming—losing his job, quarantine lockdown, bills piling up, and now…dumped by his boyfriend.

When a bad day seems only destined to get worse, something finally goes right. Retired porn legend Jean Locke Holmes stops by the used bookstore where Rafael managed to pick up a few hours. This is a man Rafael idolizes and has had many dirty fantasies about. Shockingly, Holmes seems to take a liking to Rafael. Sparks soon fly between the two men.

But sparks also fly on stage. During a charity performance featuring Locke at the recently-closed Nob Hill Theatre, a set of lights comes crashing down—and it’s clear this was no accident. Someone is out to murder porn stars.

But Holmes is a man of surprises. With his keen eyes and a knack for spotting details others miss, he soon leads Rafael hot on the trail of clues in a deadly chase. But will they catch the murderer before the murderer catches them?

Sabitha: This book sounds like such a fun combination of things. What inspired you to write it?

John: I’ve been a fan of mysteries for almost as long as I have been alive. My favorite cartoon show as a toddler was Scooby-Doo! lol I wanted to be a mystery writer for years and finally took the plunge.

Sabitha: We have a lot of writers in our community. What’s your writing process?

Jonathan: Usually, I plan a lot before I ever get started writing. I can never write just one book. An idea grows into several before very long so I lay out the overall plot before I get down to business. I also like to have a couple of book titles worked out because they help serve as a kind of memory road map. Even then, though, a lot about a book and the series as a whole can change while I’m writing it. I’ve learned to expect the unexpected.

Sabitha: How did you choose the title?

John: I wanted the “detective” character to have a career that no one would take seriously. And I had tossed around the idea of a porn star who stumbles upon a murder mystery plot. The Nob Hill Theater has a lot of history to it in the queer community. That influenced the setting and title as well. Plus, a lot of us like a good ghost story. 😉

Sabitha: Yes we do! When you picture your ideal reader, what are they like?

John: I hope that people enjoy a bit of fun with their mystery like I do, and they have fun following along with a mystery story as well.  🙂

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: You can find my book on Amazon. I’m on Twitter and Smashwords.

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

Sabitha: Today we have William Long with us, author of the science fiction novel Children of the Black. William, can you start us off by giving a summary of your book?

William: Children of the Black is a fast-paced SciFi/Action thriller set in a universe recovering from a millennia-spanning war between interstellar superpowers. Claude, a former soldier, and Vision, an eleven-year-old orphan with psionic abilities, have been shaped by this conflict and now struggle to keep the lights on in their modest apartment. It is only when shadows offer much-needed credits in exchange for information on a lost superweapon that Claude and Vision begin to realize that some things are more important than money.

Sabitha: What inspired you to write this book?

William: I first wrote this tale in a series of notebooks while I was bored in class. It was an escape that I fell in love with but ultimately placed on the back burner for decades while I tried my hand at filmmaking. But a few years ago, I had a stroke and was forced to come out of work and face several significant changes in my life. That brought me back to my love of writing, and the first story I wanted to revisit in novel form was this one.

Sabitha: If you’re a filmmaker, do you have a “fan-cast” – do you have actors you’d cast as your main characters?

William: I’m not sure I have a full-fan cast involved, but there are some very interesting thoughts I’ve had about the characters and who I want to play them. For Claude, I built him around Harrison Ford circa 1986, but I see Alexander Dreymon (from The Last Kingdom) in that role. With Vision, I think Mckenna Grace would knock it out of the park, and I’ve always seen Aisha Tyler as my villain, Miranda.

Sabitha: How did you choose the title?

William: The original title for the story was Silver, but when I decided to turn it into a novel, I just felt like that title brought to mind images of shirtless men in the moonlight with the eyes of wolves, which is very far from what my story is. So, I decided to name it after humanity’s position in the novel’s universe. They are all children lost in the darkness of space, without parents to guide them or a map to lead them home, hence Children of the Black.

Sabitha:  When you picture your ideal reader, what are they like?

William: As ideal readers go, I wrote the book to appeal to anyone who likes rich characters, detailed worlds, and pulse-quickening set pieces. If I’m honest, I wrote this book with the idea that it might be someone’s first foray into science fiction, whether they have read consistently since childhood or were inspired because they just saw the new Dune film. So, if you’re reading this interview, you are my ideal reader.

Sabitha: That’s a lovely sentiment! What do you most want your readers to take away from reading your book?

William: I wrote this book to be entertaining above all other considerations, but if there’s one thing I’d want anyone to take from my novel, it’s that life is messy. It’s brutal, and it’s hard. There’s far more gray than either black or white. Navigating through it changes us all, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

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?
William: You can find my book here, or on Amazon. I’m on Twitter and Instagram.

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 Nichol DeCastra about her first novel, An Icy Road to a Warm Heart. Nichol, lovely to have you here! Can you introduce us to your book?

Nichol: The first book I ever published is called An Icy Road to a Warm Heart.  The book is about a young woman named Dominique Miller, who is fleeing her abusive ex over the holidays and runs into a trucker, Edgar Himura, who offers to drive her to her family’s house. Along the way, they fall in love. 

Sabitha: What inspired you to write this book?

Nichol: The ending scene of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, where the heroine is helped by a trucker, honestly inspired me. 

Sabitha: We have a lot of writers in our community. What’s your writing process?

Nichol: Somewhere between a pantser and plotter. I am mainly the former, but occasionally I will make notes about what I want to happen in the future.

Sabitha: What do you most want your readers to take away from reading your book?

Nichol: That there is hope in escaping an abusive relationship and finding love again.

Sabitha: That’s a lovely message. Thank you for sharing your interview. Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Nichol: You can buy the book on Amazon. You can find me at Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and my website.

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

Sabitha: We have Ben Winter with us, author of the cyber-thriller Latent State. Tell us about your book!

Ben: Latent State takes place in the near future of Neo-London where drugs have made Virtual Reality feel like real life and the populace are hopelessly addicted. Within this crumbling cyberpunk dystopia, a couple of junkie brothers stumble on hidden tech that leaves one catatonic and the other, Daryl, suffering from episodes where time comes to a standstill. Now, to save his brother, Daryl must uncover the mystery of what’s happening to him, all the while battling his drug problems and the shadowy forces that are hunting him.

Sabitha: What inspired you to write this book?

Ben: The initial idea for Latent State was quite abstract. At the time I was watching a lot of superhero movies and was getting bored by them. I liked the idea of a main character with special abilities but the normal fantasies seemed too easy. It got me thinking about the downsides. What if someone could stop time? What would it mean? To my mind, it would be incredibly perilous; the air would be frozen and everything would be like stone. Those dangerous scenarios created lots of fascinating plot points, and everything else soon fell into place, including the cyberpunk dystopia, and the characters’ addictions to drugs and technology.

Sabitha: That’s a fascinating concept, and I bet there’s some great worldbuilding in the book. How did you choose the title?

Ben: I wish I’d known the title before starting as finding something that said everything I wanted was a challenge. The goal was for it to evoke the main themes: time manipulation, dystopia, control, and cyberpunk. Perhaps I set my expectations too high! In any case, I recall spending hours pouring over a thesaurus searching for synonyms. Then it finally came to me one night in the moments before sleep. I hastily made a note and couldn’t remember what it was until I checked my phone the following morning.

Sabitha: That is so relatable—finding the perfect title is a huge deal. We have a lot of writers in our community. What’s your writing process?

Ben: I broke every rule when writing Latent State. One of the biggest being I didn’t get feedback until I was more or less done. That was tough and lonely, but after many false starts I learned that unless people know about writing, they tend not to give helpful feedback, and all that does is ruin your motivation. I found the right kind of feedback later and had to change some parts, but I’m still grateful for the focus I achieved writing this way.

Sabitha: What do you most want your readers to take away from reading your book?

Ben: Latent State is set in a dystopia populated with flawed humans, but most of the characters are still hopeful for better and battle against the odds to achieve it. That’s the sort of mentality I think everyone can benefit from; the idea that no matter how bad things are, or how far you are from your goal, there’s always the chance to strive for better.

Sabitha: This book sounds very cool—we’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Ben: Latent State is out now on Amazon , and you can also sign-up at my website or follow me on Twitter for updates. 

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

Sabitha: Laura Quinn is here! She’s written a sweeping historical novel about family and love set in the time of World War One. Laura, can you introduce us to your book?

Laura: Titanic meets Boardwalk Empire in this historical fiction set against the picturesque shore town of Cape May, NJ, at the onset of World War One. Siblings Danny and Shannon Culligan are trapped under the thumb of their alcoholic father. Danny’s been in love with his childhood sweetheart, Jennie Martin- a wealthy cottager from Philadelphia- for as long as he can remember while her cousin, Hugh, is smitten with his sister.

As the foursome struggles to surmount the class differences between them, the nation is plunged into the Great War, changing all of their lives forever. Danny is drafted into the Army and Hugh enlists in the Navy- defending the home front as a lieutenant at Cape May Section Base Number 9. While Jennie works tirelessly on the Liberty Loans campaign in Philadelphia, Shannon finds herself ensnared in a rum ring operation as the temperance movement ebbs closer to its goal of Prohibition.

A sweeping saga of betrayal, lies, and loss on all sides, Thicker Than Water, marries the historically accurate world building of Ellen Marie Wiseman’s The Orphan Collector with the emotional resonance of Renee Rosen’s works.

Sabitha: What inspired you to write this book?

Laura: I grew up going “down the shore” every summer during childhood, and have a deep love of the area. The idea for Thicker Than Water came to me shortly after becoming a parent myself. My oldest was a terrible sleeper, and the story of one of the pairings (Danny and Jennie) was one I’d tell myself in my head while rocking him at night. 

Sabitha: That’s a lovely story! What was your favourite thing to write in the book?

Laura: I love being able to give readers a peek into yesteryear. The Christmas scenes (at John Wanamaker’s Department store) are particularly endearing to me. 

Sabitha: What advice would you give to someone who’s writing or querying?

Laura: Get it down. Whether handwritten in a notebook, typed up on a laptop, or texted from your phone when you can’t sleep. Tell your story. Be authentic and don’t hold back. 

Sabitha: What do you most want your readers to take away from reading your book?

Laura: The idea that people aren’t their parents. Change is possible, as is love, if you’re able to open your heart and let it in. 

Sabitha: That’s a really lovely sentiment. In your novel, which character do you relate to the most and why?

Laura: Shannon shares my snark and guarded nature. I’m an #ACoA (Adult Children of Alcoholics) myself, so portraying her and Danny’s home environment accurately was very important to me. 

Sabitha: Thank you so much for sharing a story that comes from such a deeply personal place. It sounds like a great read! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Laura: It is available in both eBook and paperback at a variety of bookstores. Those visiting Cape May can find it in stores at Exit Zero and Ferry Park. You can find me on my website, Instagram, Facebook (either my author page or my private fan group), Pinterest, and Goodreads.

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

Sabitha: Andrea Bougiouklis, author of the delightfully titled The Art of Becoming a Traitor, joins us to talk about her military thriller novel. Tell us a bit about your book, Andrea!

Andrea: A young woman with a larger-than-life legacy and an incredible sense of self truly believed that what she was doing was right. With all of her being, she thought that she was helping to serve a long-overdue justice.

When Eleri learns that she had been used as a pawn in a larger, evil plot, she has to find it in herself to right her wrongs – even if it means going against everything and everyone she ever loved. The war had been raging since she was a young child, and she had never thought to question it.

When Eleri and her best friend Fyodor discover that their leaders have been doctoring and altering history and are planning to disintegrate an entire population, they realize that they may be the only two who can prevent this atrocity.

In a race against time, power, and their own morals, they can only hope that their willpower and strength are enough to overturn a war that has already begun.

 Sabitha: How do you come up with story ideas? Character ideas? Setting ideas?

Andrea: I don’t think of myself as a very conventional writer, in the sense that there is not one specific way that I come up with story ideas, and most times, it has nothing to do with me conceiving a plot. Oftentimes there is inspiration drawn from anything in my life – whether or not it is other media, world events, personal experiences, or anything else – and this inspiration will lead to a single piece of dialogue, a single scene, or perhaps even a character. I then tend to build around that one concept. I don’t storyboard or pre-determine an outline for what I write. Instead, I just write and see where the story goes on its own. Obviously, when I re-read or revise my work, I fix any plot holes or inconsistencies that I overlooked as I was writing, but in general terms of my process or how I create ideas, there is no real answer!

.Sabitha: That’s a pretty loose process. Do you have any self-imposed writing rules? How do they help
your writing?

Andrea: There was something that I saw a long time ago, I can’t remember where or who to credit for it, but it said that to make your characters come to life, write out five or ten things about them (personality, interests, fears, etc.) and try to never explicitly mention it in your work. It helps to make them seem fuller and more well-rounded and adds dimension to the characters. Beyond that, there isn’t any one thing that I do when I’m writing. As I mentioned before, I do not have a linear or conventional writing style. I like to make themed playlists or sometimes find visual references, especially when worldbuilding, but those only enhance ideas that I already have.

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?

Andrea: You can get my book here, and find out more about me here. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram.

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 Londoner Harisson Shaws about his debut novel, The Lonesome Road. Henry, can you introduce us to your book?

Harrison: Life as we know is gone. The once vivid city now stands abandoned. Earth became a wasteland, stripped of all life. Broken, confused, and in a desperate search for answers, one person still roams its desolate remains. The Wanderer has no memories, no recollection of the events that led to the end of the world. All he sees are deserted buildings and the smoke that covers the sun. While taking shelter in an abandoned house one night, the last man on Earth gets a knock on his door. He finds an unexpected guide in a woman who feels familiar.

Will he choose to keep traversing these lands, lost as before, or will he take her guidance to find the answers his heart so deeply desires?

Sabitha: Does your book touch on any social issues or topics?

Harrison: The main topics that are sprung throughout The Lonesome Road are mental health, mortality, and morality. In today;s age, it is ridiculous that mental health issues still carry a certain stigma. As someone who suffers from severe depression and anxiety, I felt obligated to write about these certain issues.

People are left in fear of opening up to even those closest to them. Without the ability to share the burden, it burrows even deeper inside of them, rotting their core as they become even more hurt, desperate, and confused. Without a helping hand, we are forced, same as our main protagonist, to wander the world searching for answers that are on the end of a hard and difficult road. To get to them, we are at risk of corrupting the image of the world we hold and the image of our own self, our own worth, and our ideals. With someone who would dare to understand, the world would seem less grim.

There are questions of morality and mortality, what really is evil and what is good, are there such things, or is the world much more complicated, as both are mere matters of perspective?

The book also touches on topics of humanity and moral compass, are we bound to do good within the borders of set norms? If those who are higher do not abide, how can we be judged by someone who has the same or even worse sins than ourselves? One of the final questions that the book tries to ask is the question of destiny and hope. What is destiny, really? If destiny is real, does anything we do really matter? The Wanderer presents a curious take on it, saying that destiny is two points in time, one set and final we can’t affect (our birth) and the other ever-changing (our death). The path in between as we walk determines how our death will be, further saying that the point of life is a good death. But can we really rely on an opinion of a cynical narcissist that is our main protagonist?

Sabitha: What are some interesting facts about you that others might not know?

Harrison: I speak five languages. I spent some time of my childhood in Hamburg, Germany. I started writing at the age of 9, and I still remember parts of that fantasy I created, even though who knows where that notebook I wrote in is. Fitting that after all, I’ve been through, I am here, as a writer, feeling that this is my true calling. Before writing, I spent some time working as a video editor, but my love of writing was bigger than the one for editing.

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

Harrison: You can find my book here. You can find information about me here, or follow me on Twitter and Instagram.