A Point of Pride: Interview with Damian Serbu

Damian Serbu is an author of gay horror/speculative fiction. After over twenty years of teaching history at the collegiate level, he now writes full time. He lives in the Chicagoland area with his husband and two dogs. You can find him at www.DamianSerbu.com, or keep up with his latest ramblings at https://twitter.com/DamianSerbu and https://www.facebook.com/damian.serbu. What inspired you to start writing? I was inspired to write because of the stories running around in my head! For as long as I can remember, I created fictional narratives and characters in my mind. I found the process exciting and a release from everyday…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Briana Morgan

Briana Morgan (she/her) a queer, disabled horror author and playwright. Her books include The Reyes Incident, Mouth Full of Ashes, The Tricker-Treater and Other Stories, Unboxed: A Play, and more. She's also a member of the Horror Writers Association. When not writing, you can find her watching horror movies, reading disturbing books, or playing video games. What inspired you to start writing? My grandfather was a storyteller. Whenever he visited us, he’d tell my brother and me all kinds of stories—some recounted from legends and family history, but most of them made-up off the top of his head. He also…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Crystal Romero

Award winning author, Crystal M. Romero, no relation to George A. Romero, writes Lesbian Speculative Fiction (aka: Horror). A graduate of San Jose State University, her first novel, The Veil of Sorrow, printed under the name Crystal Michallet-Romero was a Masters’ final project for a Gothic Literature class in which she was enrolled. It went on to win a Gold Crown Literary Society Award for Speculative Fiction and was nominated for a Gaylatic Spectrum Award. Crystal Fell in love with the zombie genre at a young age. She enjoys both film and television shows depicting post-zombie-apocalypse worlds. Despite this, Valley…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Roberto Carrasco

Roberto Carrasco was that kid who had an imaginary friend called Blue Eye. When they played Dungeons and Dragons he always asked to be a wizard. He wrote stories starring dragons that instead of eyes had pineapples, good monsters, and extraterrestrial princesses. When he was old enough to know the world, he knew the world and lived many adventures thinking that some of them would reveal to him the meaning of life. But life didn't seem to make much sense so he published a rage-filled novel called So Sweet, So Bitter which was read by 172 people. Then he got…

A Point of Pride: Interview with James Bennett

James Bennett is a British writer raised in Sussex and South Africa. His travels have furnished him with an abiding love of diverse cultures, history, and mythology. His short fiction has appeared internationally and his debut novel 'Chasing Embers' was shortlisted for Best Newcomer at the British Fantasy Awards 2017. His latest fiction can be found in the well-received 'The Book of Queer Saints', BFS Horizons and The Dark magazine. He also has a story in 'There's More of Us Than You Know', a new anthology from Bloodrites Books in support of The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Steve Berman

Steve Berman is the Lambda Literary Award-winning editor and publisher behind Lethe Press, one of the oldest queer and weird publishers around. He has sold over a hundred articles and short stories. His novel, Vintage, about an adolescent boy who meets the ghost of his dream and discovers this leads to nightmares, was a finalist for the Andre Norton Award. Steve released a collection of gay horror stories last year--Fit for Consumption received a starred review from Kirkus and praise from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. Steve works for Deerfield Academy, an eminent boarding school in Western Massachusetts. There may…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Cody Sisco

Cody Sisco is an author, editor, publisher, and literary community organizer. His LGBT psychological science fiction series includes two novels thus far, Broken Mirror and Tortured Echoes. He is a freelance editor specializing in genre-bending fiction and an editor for Running Wild Press. In 2017, he co-founded Made in L.A. Writers, an indie author co-op dedicated to the support and appreciation of independent authors. His startup BookSwell is a literary events and media production company dedicated to lifting up marginalized voices and connecting readers and writers in Southern California and beyond. He serves as a Co-Executive on the Board of Governors for the Editorial Freelancers Association and as…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Lucy A. Snyder

Lucy A. Snyder is the Shirley Jackson Award-nominated and five-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of 15 books and over 100 published short stories. Her most recent titles are the collections Halloween Season and Exposed Nerves (both from Raw Dog Screaming Press) and the forthcoming apocalyptic horror novel Sister, Maiden, Monster (Tor Nightfire). She lives in Ohio with a jungle of houseplants, a clowder of cats, and an insomnia of housemates. What inspired you to start writing? I wanted to become a writer pretty much from the moment I became an avid reader. And Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time was…
A Point of Pride: Interview with Robert Perez

A Point of Pride: Interview with Robert Perez

Robert Perez sleeps at the bottom of the ocean. Urban legend whispers that the writer can be summoned into your dreams if you read his work to a jack-o-lantern. You can find his poems and stories in the Horror Writers Association Poetry Showcase Volumes II, III, IV (Special Mention), and V, The Literary Hatchet #13 & #14, Deadlights Magazine #1, Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove, and Community of Magic Pens. He is currently working on obtaining a master’s degree in counseling psychology at the University of Colorado Denver. Follow @_TheLeader on twitter to keep up with future projects. What inspired you…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Edwin Brightwater

Edwin Brightwater lives in Taiwan. He was born in New Zealand in the 1970s and educated mostly in Australia. His native language is English. He is also fluent in Chinese, having learned the language in his late twenties. Edwin Brightwater writes horror and suspense fiction that incorporates the unreal—gothic, dark urban fantasy, the paranormal and the magical, thrilling stories of things bizarre, grotesque, or utterly impossible. His favorite authors are Virginia Woolf and Jane Austen and his oldest inspiration is “Doctor Who.” His preferred pastime is reading. His pseudonymous pen name, Edwin Brightwater, reflects his ancestry in the South Island…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Paula D. Ashe

Paula D. Ashe is a writer of dark fiction. Her debut collection, We Are Here to Hurt Each Other, was released in early 2022 from Nictitating Books. She lives in the Midwest with her family. What inspired you to start writing? I’ve been compelled to write since a very young age, I’m not sure why. I’ve always had an affinity for language, storytelling, and a big dark imagination. What was it about the horror genre that drew you to it? That’s the question, ain’t it? I don’t know what drew me in, but I know what keeps me is the…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Tenea D. Johnson

Tenea D. Johnson is a multimedia storyteller, musician, editor, arts & empowerment entrepreneur, and award-winning author of 7 speculative fiction works, including 2021’s releases, Frequencies, a Fiction Album and Broken Fevers, of which Publisher’s Weekly wrote “the 14 hard-hitting, memorable short stories and prose vignettes in this powerhouse collection … are astounding in their originality” (starred review). Her debut novel Smoketown won the Parallax Award for excellence in a speculative fiction work by a person of color while R/evolution earned an honorable mention that year as well. Her virtual home is teneadjohnson.com. Stop by anytime. What inspired you to start…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Avra Margariti

I'm Avra Margariti, a Rhysling and Pushcart-nominated author from Greece. My poetry has appeared in Vastarien, Asimov's, and is forthcoming from F&SF. My dark fiction appears in places such as The Arcanist and Daily Science Fiction. "The Saint of Witches", my debut collection of horror poetry, has been published by Weasel Press. What inspired you to start writing? I’ve always loved stories! Growing up in Greece, I listened to a lot of folktales and ballads preserved through oral tradition. Like most fairytales, these folk ballads included murder, monsters, and mayhem which I always found very appealing in storytelling. The first…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Maxwell I. Gold

Maxwell I. Gold is a multiple award-nominated author who writes prose poetry and short stories in weird and cosmic fiction. His work has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines including Weirdbook Magazine, Space and Time Magazine, Startling Stories, Strange Horizons, Tales from OmniPArk Anthology, Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas and more. He’s the author of Oblivion in Flux: A Collection of Cyber Prose from Crystal Lake Publishing. He’s a proud Columbus, Ohio native and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Horror Writers Association as the organization’s Treasurer. What was it about the horror genre that…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Caitlin Marceau

Caitlin Marceau is a queer author and, and an active member of the HWA, whose work primarily showcases queer women and her debut collection, Palimpsest, was released this past March by Ghost Orchid Press. Her work has appeared in collections such as Beyond The Veil: Supernatural Tales Of Queer Love, Blood & Bone, and Dark Hearts. Her debut novella, This Is Where We Talk Things Out, is scheduled for release this summer by Dark Lit Press and they’re also set to publish her second collection, Femina (which focuses on the horror of womanhood), in early 2023. A full list of…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Nisi Shawl

Nisi Shawl co-authored Writing the Other: A Practical Approach, a standard text on inclusivity.  Their debut novel, an alternate history of Africa’s Congo region, was a Nebula Award finalist.  They wrote the Otherwise Award-winning short story collection Filter House, and edited the acclaimed anthology New Suns: Speculative Fiction by People of Color, winner of the World Fantasy, Locus, and Ignyte awards.  Their most recent story collections are Exploring Dark Short Fiction 3: A Primer to Nisi Shawl, and Talk Like a Man.  Shawl’s forthcoming titles include Speculation, a middle grade historical fantasy about redeeming a family curse; and Our Fruiting…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Dan B. Fierce

Dan B. Fierce loves humor and horror alike, and many things in between. A long-time fan of authors like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Edgar Alan Poe, he lets his darker side come out in the macabre, "Revenge," demonstrates the tension caused by the corona virus with "Mistaken," and gives the reader a taste of dark humor with "Warning Shot," all contained between the covers of the 2020 Indie Authors’ Short Story Anthology. His suspense-filled story “Abandoned Bikes” was published in Crimes and Culprits: An Anthology by the Indie Author Group. Both books were put out by Heathory Press. He…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Holly Lyn Walrath

Holly Lyn Walrath is a writer, editor, and publisher. Her poetry and short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Fireside Fiction, Analog, and Flash Fiction Online. She is the author of several books of poetry including Glimmerglass Girl (2018), Numinose Lapidi (2020), and The Smallest of Bones (2021). She holds a B.A. in English from The University of Texas and a Master’s in Creative Writing from the University of Denver. In 2019, she launched Interstellar Flight Press, an indie SFF publisher dedicated to publishing underrepresented genres and voices. What inspired you to start writing? I started writing very much as…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Eva Roslin

Eva Roslin is a disabled horror writer from Canada with a penchant for Southern Gothic themes. She received the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship from the Horror Writers Association in 2017, a Ladies of Horror Fiction Grant in 2021, and is a Supporting HWA member. Her work has appeared in such publications as Love Bites (Mischief Publishing), Dark Heroes (Pill Hill Press), Murky Depths, Ghostlight Magazine and others. She is a librarian, instructor, and researcher with a focus on 19th century American history. My website: https://roslineva.wordpress.com What inspired you to start writing? I think like a lot of kids that didn’t…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Ron Gabriel

Ron Gabriel is a magazine industry veteran and author of supernatural fiction. He grew up in northern New England where he loved exploring old graveyards and places rumored to be haunted. He has a BA in Journalism from the University of Maine, and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is an active member of the Horror Writers Association. What inspired you to start writing? I’ve always loved when reality surrenders to fantasy and creation. And writing is such a satisfying challenge, a multi-layered puzzle with no shortcuts. Filtered thoughts and hard decisions turn…