NonFiction

Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author: John Langan on Salman Rushdie

John Langan is the author of two novels and six collections of stories. That previous sentence is a direct lift from the biography he provided me for this opening. As far as understatements go, it’s an impressive. Langan is a master of the short story whose collections never grow stale and showcase an evolving, yet supremely confident author who has fun playing with the weird, the horrific, and the phantasmagorical…

Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author: Elizabeth Broadbent on William Faulkner

Patrick Barb

Elizabeth Broadbent is a force of nature. Since making her acquaintance, I have found Eliza to be a friendly, passionate, and caring person. Her love for both writing and her fellow writers is palpable, whether you’re interacting with her online or in person at conventions. And she’s not only a cheerleader of her contemporaries, but a serious player in the writing game, putting up truly impressive stats…

The People Are the Place: A World Building How-To

C.S. Humble

If you’re a writer, and you likely are because you’ve decided to read this post, you have found yourself threshing through dozens, if not hundreds, of articles with similar titles such as this one. As writers, we read the essays, listen to panel considerations, and attend the tool-building seminars of our peers and inspirations like prospectors panning for gold…

Behind the Title: Amid the Vastness of All Else

C.S. Humble

Over the last seven years I have been writing, what I consider to be, a collection of love letters. An epistolary which uses the epistle format at times, but primarily exists as a collection of novels revolving around a family of characters who learn to live and breathe, fight and die not only for the sake of the world, but for the sake of each other. Because in the end, each other is all we have…

Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author: Cynthia Pelayo on Samuel Beckett

Patrick Barb

Back during the height of the pandemic, when the HWA held a virtual version of their annual StokerCon, Cynthia Pelayo was one of the first authors who really welcomed me to the fold, who made me feel like I belonged and that I was part of something bigger than myself and my work alone. I’ve never forgotten that little bit of kindnes…

Your Favorite Author's Favorite Author: Pedro Iniguez on Ray Bradbury

Patrick Barb

This month, I had the chance to chat with the incredibly talented Pedro Iniguez about a favorite author that’s shared between the two of us: Ray Bradbury. Throughout this conversation, I found myself considering and re-considering Bradbury and his oeuvre as a result of the different perspective that Pedro provided…

Your Favorite Author's Favorite Author: Kristina Ten on Mariana Enriquez

Patrick Barb

In writing this column, I get to learn about new-to-me authors and I get a chance to see some familiar favorites through the eyes of others whose writing I admire. Additionally, this column and the immensely positive response it’s received has allowed me to connect with newer authors who’ve reached out to share their kind words about this project. Kristina Ten is one such author…

Your Favorite Author's Favorite Author: Tanya Pell on Christopher Golden

Patrick Barb

As an author, I am incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to conventions, signings, and other events where I have the chance to meet fellow scribes up and down the ladders of success in their careers. One author who I met both online and then later in-person, who has always impressed me with her passion, sense of fun, and supportive nature for all her fellow writers is this week’s interviewee: Tanya Pell…

Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author: Donyae Coles on Francesca Lia Block

Patrick Barb

Donyae Coles is the author of Bram Stoker nominated novel, Midnight Rooms. She is currently working on her sophomore Gothic horror, The Sunken, The Adored. Her short work has been published in a variety of places and she can be found on Blue Sky and Instagram. She is also a recent-ish transplant to my neck of the woods in the Midwest, making the ranks of the weird and creative just that much stronger out here in the middle of the States…

Your Favorite Author's Favorite Author: Rachel Harrison on Paul Tremblay

Patrick Barb

Rachel Harrison is one of the most prolific authors currently working in horror fiction. Having established a niche all her own in the genre, she is one creator who never fails to pair big ideas and beloved tropes with fresh approaches informed by character and the realities of modern life. The accolades and her catalog almost speak for themselves.

Your Favorite Author's Favorite Author: Christi Nogle on Stephen King

Patrick Barb

When I first turned my attention to writing short fiction and found myself in the submissions trenches, there was one name that came up again and again. One author who was selling stories at a rapid clip—quite often to markets that I wanted to crack but hadn’t yet…

Your Favorite Author's Favorite Author: Richard Thomas on Stephen Graham Jones

Patrick Barb

Here are at Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author, I’m always thrilled whenever a new conversation opens up exciting firsts for myself and you, dear readers. Somehow, some way, this seems to happen with every column though! This month’s conversation is no exception…