Postcards From the Falls, Issue 023
The newsletter for all things Brennan LaFaro - Book birthday, nearly done novel on the horizon, and two brand new Out of the Shadows interviews
Happy one year birthday to my debut collection - Illusions of Isolation. A huge thank you to everyone who’s taken a chance on it so far, and may it land in many more reader’s laps in the coming years.
If you haven’t had the pleasure, you can check it out here.
I’m also thrilled to share my very first Booklist review. We’re less than two months from release, and if you haven’t pre-ordered The Demon of Devil’s Cavern yet, you can do so here.
As of sharing this, I’ve hit 60,000 words on my newest novel, Daisy. I’m estimating it’s got another 5-10k to go, and then some pretty hefty rewrites to get it into fighting shape. Some day I’ll figure out what a book is about before it’s three-quarters finished, but today is not that day.
While I let Daisy marinate, I’ll be working on a short story for an upcoming anthology and plotting (as much as I’m capable of plotting) a Middle Grade novel called This is Home. Very substantial chance that title will change, but I’m enjoying the prospect of creating this new world.
Out of the Shadows
5 Questions with Gwendolyn Kiste
Who is Gwendolyn Kiste, and how would you describe your brand of writing?
I’m a three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author as well as a Lambda Literary Award winner, and the author of The Rust Maidens, Reluctant Immortals, Pretty Marys All in a Row, and The Haunting of Velkwood. When I’m not writing, I’m probably hanging out with my cat and husband, or creeping around my backyard or a museum somewhere.
As for describing my brand of writing, I would say that my stories are frequently centered on ghosts, body horror, weird fairy tales, and historical horror. My fiction tends to include feminist and queer themes, and it’s usually more of the quiet horror variety, the sort that focuses on existential horror rather than all-out jump scares. Although a good jump scare is awesome too!
What does horror mean to you?
I often say that horror is where the heart is, which is so very true for me. I find horror comforting because horror is so honest. It doesn’t try to shy away from the difficult aspects of living; it faces them head on. I appreciate that aspect of the genre so much, and that’s one of the many things that draws me to horror. You don’t have to hide. As a writer, you can explore anything and deal with it in an unvarnished, devastating way. Trauma, abuse, loss, grief—they’re all right there with horror.
Recommend one of your stories/books for readers to get to know you. Why that one?
Since it’s on my mind right now, let’s go with The Haunting of Velkwood. It’s my current release, and it’s also my most personal. It’s all about reckoning with the past, dealing with your ghosts, and coming home again so that you can finally learn how to let go. The Haunting of Velkwood is about three girls who escape their neighborhood the night before the whole block of houses turns into a ghost. Now it’s twenty years later, and one of the girls returns to the neighborhood, eager to deal with the phantoms of her past once and for all. It took a lot out of me writing this one, but I’m so glad I managed to make it through, because I’m really proud of how it turned out.
What can readers expect to see from you in the coming year?
Right now, it’s all about The Haunting of Velkwood. As I’m writing this, it’s less than two weeks until the release of the novel, so it’s most definitely on my mind right now! Otherwise, over the next year, I’ll be out there with some horror short fiction and short nonfiction. I write regularly at The Lineup, so my articles about the genre are going live over there each month, and I’ve got a number of short stories slated for release this year. So just keep an eye on my Instagram and Facebook pages for any updates!
Recommend a book by another author (horror or otherwise) you believe everyone should read before they die.
Wow, I love this question! There are honestly so many books that I would recommend. The biggest one for me—and I always say this one—is We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Every time I reread that book, I’m still stunned at how good it is. It’s weird, it’s whimsical, it’s wonderful. A short horror novel in the tradition of quiet horror, and one that will live in my heart for the rest of my life. It’s also a reminder of the breadth of horror. Not everything has to be blood and gore; horror can be so many different things to so many different readers. I really love Shirley Jackson’s brand of horror, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle is absolutely her best work in my opinion. Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t read it yet—and it’s undoubtedly worth a reread even if you have.
5 Questions with Patrick R. McDonough
Who is Patrick R. McDonough, and how would you describe your brand of writing?
First and foremost, I'm a family man; without my wife and two beautiful boys, I'm lost. I'm also a writer, anthologist, podcaster, bookworm, lover of the outdoors, and someone who prefers the company of animals to people. As for my brand of writing, I always describe it as the adult version of a Pixar movie.Â
What does horror mean to you?
To me, horror is the crumbling of all you ever knew and loved, finding yourself alone in the wake of destruction, forced to keep living.
Recommend one of your stories/books for readers to get to know you. Why that one?
"It Calls", my story in Hot Iron and Cold Blood: An Anthology of the Weird West.
It's not only the first anthology I edited, but my heart, soul, sweat, tears, and blood are in every aspect of that book (plus, Robert Sammelin's cover is one of the greatest pieces of art that I've ever seen). I'm incredibly proud of that story, and there's a particular scene that Drew Huff described as "ballsy and brave for 'going there, when most other writers wouldn't' ". That scene is also a good example of question #2's answer.
What can readers expect to see from you in the coming year?
They can expect New Demons, a boundary-breaking horror anthology that I'm co-editing with Joe R. Lansdale and Keith Lansdale. It'll be funded through Kickstarter (You can sign up here to be notified of a wide array of exclusive perks when preorders go live). I'm also working on a YA SFF novel with my friend Luke Truan (a remarkable composer, who has done work for Shark Week, Clone Wars: Battle Of The Heroes, and Portal: Origins), and a High-Tech Noir with Drew Huff, best described as Raymond Chandler meets Blade Runner and The Matrix.
Recommend a book by another author (horror or otherwise) you believe everyone should read before they die.
Drew Huff. Drew Huff. Drew Huff. Drew Huff. And did I say, Drew Huff? Her debut, Free Burn, comes out March 5th 2024 (One HELL of a novel), and she also has a short story, "Old World Birds", in Hot Iron and Cold Blood: An Anthology of the Weird West, so please consider checking out both!