Presenting Trust & Treachery Author J.R. McRae

May 14, 2012
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One of the things we want to do here at Trust & Treachery is give you a chance to get to meet our authors. Over the next few weeks, you will see bios and Q&As for our amazing contributors. Although we continue to run behind in our posting schedule, today is J.R. McRae.  Stay tuned as additional authors are added every Monday.

Best, Editors, Trust & Treachery

 

J.R. McRae  (Also writing as J.R. Poulter)JR McRae

J.R.McRae once worked in a circus. This qualifies her for a lot of imaginative things like writing and artwork. Her work’s appeared in anthologies like Basics of Life [ALR], 100 Stories for Queensland, Stories for Sendai, Road Trip, The Spirit of Poe, Tribute to the Stars, Pot Luck, Trust and Treachery etc, and journals Wired Ruby and Rose &Thorn. Her award winning poetry/haiku are published in numerous journals/ anthologies including Quadrant, Quadrant Book of Poetry 2001-2010, Bound by the Secrets We Hide, Long and Winding Road, Antipodes, Social Alternatives and Divan. Artwork / photography by JR features on covers of Vine Leaves, Ripples, on ABC Pool and in The Mozzie and Vine Leaves.  As J.R. Poulter, she is the author of 12 books & 4 digital books for children and education in the UK, USA and Australia, including Crichton Award winner, MENDING LUCILLE. Her 13th  traditionally print published book is due out September 2012 with Windy Hollows. J.R. Poulter also engages in editorial writing (WQ Magazine,The Courier Mail, Magpies Journal of Critical Review for Children’s Literature, Queensland Country Life and more). She  has taken workshops and readings for  ETAQ Conferences, SCWBI International Conference, Brisbane Poetry Festival, Kyeema Arts Festival [Arts Qld Funded], Channel 7 Family Picnic, Opening of BCC Central City Library, Mountains to Mangroves, Book Week and more. A former senior librarian, senior education officer and associate lecturer in English Expression  to international postgraduates at UQ, she also once worked as a full-time Book Reviewer for the Queensland Education Department.  You can find her at:  http://www.jrmcrae_subversive.weebly.com.  She’s also active on Facebook and Twitter (@JeRuMcRae).

Author Q&A

Do you have any recent events to announce (of publications or anything else exciting)?

I have poetry published in leading anthologies, the just released Quadrant Book of Poetry, 2001-2010 and in Bound by the Secrets We Hide coming out late this year. A new picture  book for all ages with the narrative verse story, “Fox Shadows”, is coming out in September with Windy Hollow Books and will be illustrated by award winning illustrator Laura Peterson.

What inspired you to write this story?

Partially, very dark family history on my mother’s side of the family – think medieval weddings at sword-point, murder, attempted murders, a sinister predator who haunted the dark – and, partially, a fascination for the sort of history that doesn’t get into history books.

What books and/or authors have most influenced you?

Nabokov’s work, Shakespeare’s plays, Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”, Dylan Thomas’ “Under Milkwood”, the Psalms of David, the Book of Job, Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass”, Kahil Gibran, Bunyan, Dostoyevsky, Ogden Nash, Solzhenitsyn and many more…

What are you reading now?

I’m reviewing “Hidden Kingdom” by award winning author and illustrator, Ian Beck , and reading ‘discovery’ Craig Stone’s “The Squirrel that Dreamt of Madness”.

What are your current projects?

A couple of novels that I must ‘get a go on’ with; numbers of projects for children’s books and an illustrated collection of my own narrative verse. I’m itching to do a visual arts and creative crafts course – I want to learn more about creating visuals to augment my work.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

BE passionate about what you do – if you lack passion you will not keep going – it is a tough field and only your passion, the knowledge that this IS you and this IS what you do best will keep you, sustain you on the journey. Writing is a life long journey, a constantly climbing learning curve! Be prepared to learn, to diversify, to innovate and to think laterally.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Enjoy! If you do enjoy, let the author know – your approbation says to us we are getting it right – we are providing you with a rewarding experience, we are entertaining you, making you laugh, cry, think, want to know more…

What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why?

Ecclesiastes 10:10 when the obvious doesn’t work and might doesn’t work, you need wisdom and divinely inspired wisdom will work.

What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

Healthy children, five of them, that’s number one and, after that,  the ongoing challenge and excitement of creative writing, the buzz of getting accepted and the thought that what you are writing is relating to others and they are deriving pleasure from it.

What inspires you to write and why?

Everything inspires – the world is so full of wonder – you never know what is around the corner, anything could happen next! Why do I write – because I always have, I want to , I need to – it is  me expressing the world according to me and my taking what I can’t control and  gaining some  sway over it. It is a survival tool and an outlet for an active imagination.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

Judith Wright said to me as a child, ‘write quality, not quantity’. Basically I interpreted that as  needing to edit more – who likes to edit… yuck! But it is rewarding, especially if you allow space to be able to step back from your work and look at it objectively. You can’t be precious [also implied in her statement], you have to see that there is always room for improvement. Nabokov did over 30 drafts for each book!

The best compliment – every time one of my works is accepted by a publisher or editor, every time someone says ‘I enjoyed that read!’.

Tell us something unusual (or fun) about you.

My first real job was in a circus. Loved it!  An American sociologist was traveling with the troupe and studying circus life. I had just graduated with majors in sociology and anthropology. Next, I was offered a job as Liaison Officer with Aboriginal and Island Affairs – great, I thought, I’d love that! Then I was told my first  placement – lone white woman on Mornington Island, rowing monsoon swollen rivers… I wasn’t a powerful rower so I saw myself drowning… No, I wanted to live longer than that. I resigned and  kept knocking at the door of the State Librarian till he relented and gave me a job. I worked in reference finding recipes for shrinking human heads, facts about folk’s ancestors that they then didn’t want to know, rediscovering lost customs and legends of  island tribes off our coast, researching designs for  street litter bins and then I moved to Rare Books. That was a kind of heaven – the then State Librarian was  gathering a collection of rare illustrated books from all over the world – the beauty of these exquisite books has stayed with me and  been an ongoing inspiration!

Presenting Trust & Treachery Author Edward Folger

May 7, 2012
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One of the things we want to do here at Trust & Treachery is give you a chance to get to meet our authors. Over the next few weeks, you will see bios and Q&As for our amazing contributors. Although we continue to run behind in our posting schedule, today is Edward Folger.  Stay tuned as additional authors are added every Monday.

Best, Editors, Trust & Treachery

 

Edward Folger

Edward Folger was born in New York City and studied Physics and Literature at Columbia University. He began making independent films in the mid-sixties and apprenticed with Alain Resnais, John Cassavetes, Milos Forman, and others. After writing and directing the feature Nanook Taxi for PBS in 1978, he moved to Baffin Island to work in video with the Inuit. He now lives in Ottawa, Ontario, and is on the board of the SAW Video Centre for Media Arts. He has been published frequently in the online journal Drunken Boat and his work was recently on exhibit in “H2O: Films on Water” at Great River Arts in Bellows Falls, VT.

 

Author Q&AEdward Folger

 

Do you have any recent events to announce (of publications or anything else exciting)?

I had a premiere screening of my film “The River of Life or the Case Against Certainty” at the Bytowne Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on Feb. 29, 2012

What inspired you to write this story?

Witnessing the huge misunderstandings by Canadian Anglo-French people of the effects the imposition of their culture have had on the indigenous North Americans.

What books and/or authors have most influenced you?

The novels of Samuel Beckett, Thomas Pynchon, Leo Tolstoy. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne.

What are you reading now?

Limits to Growth: The 30-year Update

What are your current projects?

I am writing a screenplay set in the world of contemporary Inuit young people living in Iqaluit and Ottawa.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Keep working, keep submitting in the face of rejection.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Nothing that is not in the work. I believe that every work of art should contain everything it wishes to express.

What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

The years I spent devoting my energies to Inuit Land Claims and the establishment of the Nunavut Territory of Canada which was realized in 1999.

What inspires you to write and why?

The life-long experience and pleasure of reading. I want to carry that on for others.

Presenting Trust & Treachery Author Richard Smith

April 30, 2012
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One of the things we want to do here at Trust & Treachery is give you a chance to get to meet our authors. Over the next few weeks, you will see bios and Q&As for our amazing contributors. Although we continue to run behind in our posting schedule, today is Richard Smith.  Stay tuned as additional authors are added every Monday.

Best, Editors, Trust & Treachery

 

Richard Smith

‘Richard Smith is a writer of dark and speculative short stories. He has always had a passion for reading and enjoyed writing at school. He took up writing again after a long break about five years ago, and try to create new tales whenever time permits, which is often a challenge when juggling the demands of full time work and family life. His fiction has previously been featured in publications such as Dark Tales, Morpheus Tales and Twisted Tongue, as well as various online sites, such as Spinetinglers, Shadeworks, and Flashes In The Dark.  He lives in England with my wife, two children, and family dog Goblin. New tales involving life, death and alternative realities are currently in progress.

 

Author Q&ARichard Smith

Do you have any recent events to announce (of publications or anything else exciting)?

A short story of mine, The Puddle was published recently in the latest issue of Dark Tales, which is currently available at www.dartktales.co.uk .

What inspired you to write this story?

I think spending too much time waiting on crowded trains helped. That and being caught up in several security scares in London.  And I wanted to write a story about regime change – wiping the slate clean and starting over.

What books and/or authors have most influenced you?

I think a lot of my influences came from the authors that I read whilst growing up – horror writers, British and American, such as James Herbert, Stephen King; fantasy stories (Tolkien), popular sci-fi. There was a great British sci-fi comic I used to read called 2000AD which was also huge influence.

What are you reading now?

Right now I’ve become addicted to George RR Martin’s Westeros books after watching Game Of Thrones on TV.

What are your current projects?

I’m currently writing a longer tale about a man on a personal quest, looking to find answers for events that have happened in his life. And there are further parts to my Trust and Treachery story that have been left untold, which could perhaps be revealed in additional stories.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Write. As opposed to thinking about writing, talking about writing, discussing writing on forums, blogging about writing. Research and reading widely are certainly important, and giving and receiving feedback can be very useful. But you need to write. Don’t put it off. Even if it’s a very rough first draft, then at least you have something to work with, rather than just an idea and a blank piece of paper.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

No. I’m just really hoping to entertain but maybe also provoke a little thought or contemplation on occasion.

What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why?

I don’t know! Can I quote the line ‘Winter is coming,’ from Game Of Thrones? It’s kind of apt, because it’s what I’m reading right now, but also because I think that’s a great starting point for a story – all is not well, bad things are going to happen, something’s not right.

What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

Apart from raising my wonderful family it is probably getting my first short story published, which again happened to be in Dark Tales.

What inspires you to write and why?

I love to read and whenever I read a good story I always feel the urge to write something myself. I guess I think ‘that’s something I want to do’ – write a story that moves and entertains others.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

I’ve been lucky so far in that I’ve never been on the receiving end of any really harsh criticism. I usually agree when an editor or fellow writer picks holes in something I’ve written, they usually have a point, and it’s something I can go and fix, hopefully. The best compliment was probably when someone said one of my stories had caused them to shed a tear as they read it. It was supposed to be a sad and poignant story and so it was a real compliment to get that kind of reaction.

Tell us something unusual (or fun) about you.

Probably the most unusual thing in this day and age is that I do not have a website, Facebook page or Twitter account. I’m totally ‘off the grid’ in that respect. I think that’s mainly down to trying to make the best use of my limited spare time – I try to avoid those kinds of distraction, they can take up so much of your time. But it’s possibly also due to the fact that I’m turning into an anti-social curmudgeon as I get older.

Presenting Trust & Treachery Author K.P. Hornsby

April 23, 2012
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One of the things we want to do here at Trust & Treachery is give you a chance to get to meet our authors. Over the next few weeks, you will see bios and Q&As for our amazing contributors. Although we continue to run behind in our posting schedule, today is K.P. Hornsby.  Stay tuned as additional authors are added every Monday.

Best, Editors, Trust & Treachery

 

K.P. HornsbyTrust & Treachery Author Kelly Horn

K. P. Hornsby, freelance author and researcher, has spent her life in the Pacific Northwest.  Raised in a household that enjoyed everything from documentaries to science fiction to courtroom dramas, she dreamed of becoming an archaeologist, an astronaut, and a lawyer.  The only way to reconcile those ambitions was to become a storyteller.  She has a bachelor’s in English and a master’s in History, and enjoys biking outdoors in the summer, and studying martial arts and pilates in the winter.  She has written for regional newspapers and trade magazines, but her short story in Trust & Treachery will be her first fiction publication.  She’s happy to have new fans and friends, and can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Author Q&A

Do you have any recent events to announce (of publications or anything else exciting)?

I’m attending the Potlatch convention for the first time at the end of February and was chosen to serve on one discussion panel and to moderate another.

What inspired you to write this story?

One of my childhood doctors said I might lose my hearing in adulthood.  This turned out not to be true, but the notion haunted me throughout my growing-up years.

What books and/or authors have most influenced you?

Dick Francis, Neil Gaiman, and Pamela Dean through their books.  Michaela Roessner through her teaching at Gotham Writers’ Workshop.

What are you reading now?

“A Canticle for Leibowitz” by Walter M. Miller, Jr. and “The All-Pro” by Scott Sigler

What are your current projects?

I’m working on a series of science fiction novels, and posting a novella chapter-by-chapter to my website.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Read from a lot of different genres, mixing things up will help generate more story ideas for your own work.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

If you like my work, I always have a novella-in-progress going on at my website: www.kapehorn.com

What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why?

“What else is history for if not to remind us about our better dreams?” by Thomas Paine.  We hear the adage about being doomed to repeat the past if we don’t remember it, as if History were a bad thing.  I like to see History in a more positive light.

What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

Learning to be just a little more patient with everyone (including myself).

What inspires you to write and why?

Authors whose books have helped me put my own life into perspective.  Fiction can teach us a lot about being human.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author?

That I’ve grown so much as a writer that some of my older work probably can’t be revised into something spectacular.  I agree, but it feels like losing an old friend.

 What has been the best compliment?

During my thesis defense, a professor in my department said my writing was elegant.  It made me so happy I nearly burst into tears right there.

Tell us something unusual (or fun) about you.

I have a brown belt in Kendo.

Presenting Trust & Treachery Author Stephen McQuiggan

April 16, 2012
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One of the things we want to do here at Trust & Treachery is give you a chance to get to meet our authors. Over the next few weeks, you will see bios and Q&As for our amazing contributors. Although we continue to run behind in our posting schedule, today is Stephen McQuiggan.  As a small note, I’m embarrassed to say we accidentally sent the Q&A to Stephen twice, and with good humor, he responded.  Twice.  Stay tuned as additional authors are added.

Best, Editors, Trust & Treachery

 

Stephen McQuigganStephen McQuiggan

Stephen McQuiggan spent the first twenty years of his life in a chicken coop before being rescued by a kindly Quaker family who shaved his hands and taught him how to speak. He has been published in Prole, Gold Dust, Debut and AWR amongst others, and features in the latest anthologies from Mirador and Grist. He lives in Northern Ireland and still has an aversion to eggs.

Author Q&A

Do you have any recent events to announce (of publications or anything else exciting)?

I am in the current issues of Subterranean, Debut, Prole and Strange Circle , and will appear in forthcoming anthologies from Headhunters and Austin MaCauley. I also appear in the latest anthologies from Mirador ( Fantasmagoria), Grist ( Outside The Asylum), and WIP ( Walking On The Wildside).

What inspired you to write this story?

Noisy neighbours and a burning desire, not acted upon, to wreak severe retribution upon them. Then I got to thinking, what if they had a reason for being anti social… and the story took shape almost instantly. The guy at the end with the hammer though is probably some sub conscious representation of me.

What books and/or authors have most influenced you?

Too many to list fully, but I love Orwell, Dostoevesky, George Eliot, Nick Cave, Irvine Welsh, Tolkien, Dickens, Atwood, King, Penny Rimbaud, and Vonnegut especially.

What are you reading now?

House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski – an amazingly original, frustrating, annoying, frightening piece of work. What a debut! I’ve read it a few times now and it still surprises me. A contrary masterpeice, and a great example of how there are no rules to writing if you belief in your tale is strong enough.

What are your current projects?

Working on a slew of new short stories (as always), and beginning to see the light at the end of my first novel which has took on a very spirited life all of its own. It grew out of a simple short story and I fear I’ll have to take the pruning shears to it before it’s all over.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Read everything, read widely. Write everyday and write for yourself. It doesn’t matter if no-one ever reads it. No piece of writing is ever truly wasted. The more rejections you get, the sweeter the acceptances. Get yourself a rhino hide and never give up.   AND stay dry and you will never be the victim of a shark attack.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I guess what I really want to do with my writing is to try and make some sense of this deranged world for myself. I find it very cathartic. If other people find something in it that’s an unexpected bonus.

What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why?

‘Let us be men, not monkeys minding machines.’ – DH Lawrence – more Situationist grafitti than poem, I see it as a call to arms. I’ve spent my working life in factories but they’ve never captured my soul. No matter what drudgery your faced with, your mind can transcend it.

AND

‘Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket’ – George Orwell – it sums up succinctly how I feel about modern culture.

What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

That’s a tough one. I’m not really prone to looking back at accomplishments. I’m a ‘glass half empty’ realist.

AND

A lot of small things, but I promise I’ll invite you to my death bed for a startling, earth rattling revelation.

What inspires you to write and why?

My partner Dawn. She encouraged me to write in the first place, hounded me to start sending my stories away, and generally made me start to believe in myself. She is the sauce on my pasta. I thought writing would fill the God shaped hole inside me, then realised Dawn was already doing that job.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

All criticism is hard to bear, especially when you’ve put your heart into something. The best compliment I recieved actually came in a rejection. An editor, who actually really liked the story I’d submitted, turned it down because it was ‘severely fucking disturbing’. I was pleased because I knew I had achieved what I had set out to do with that particular tale.

Tell us something unusual (or fun) about you.

I am 30 centimetres tall and have to write with a specially adapted chaffinch feather.

AND

BB King once gave me his guitar pick to cheer me up because he thought I looked depressed.

Contracts are Out!

March 15, 2012
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Contract and PenWhew!  We’re still running about a month behind schedule from where I wanted to be, but today, the last of the contracts was sent out to our authors.  All of whom, are pretty fantastic.  I hope to get back to posting bios soon.  I feel a little like a kid at Christmas every time I open up an email with the Q&As.  Seriously, not only are these folks great writers, but they tell amazing stories about their lives.  The things they read, do, think about…wow.

So, just a short update but more soon!