Today we welcome the author of Wicked Women story ‘The Book of the Gods’ – Sam Stone, take it away!
ell us a little about yourself and what you like to write:
I’m
Sam Stone. I’m an award winning female writer. I enjoy writing Horror,
Steampunk, Fantasy and Science Fiction. But I have also turned my hand
to writing some official Sherlock Holmes stories too.
How long have you been writing and how did you get started?
I started writing at the age of 11 and it was basically terrible fan-fiction!!
As I grew older and gained more experience of life, married, had a child, the idea of becoming a writing professional seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream. I told myself that one day I would write a book and get it published.
The opportunity for this came when, still following my dream, I completed my Masters Degree in Creative Writing and, for my dissertation, wrote a novel. This was really the start of my career as that book went on to win the Silver Award for Best Horror Novel in ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards in the USA. This then led to me getting my first professional deal, when The House of Murky Depths picked up the novel, and published it as Killing Kiss.
Since around 2009 I have been writing full time and have completed about 14 novels, a few novellas, and many short stories as well as audios, and a couple of screenplays.
I see this as my job and work the hours accordingly!!
Which authors have influenced you and why?
I have always been massively influenced by Tanith Lee, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Bram Stoker and other 19th Century Gothic writers such as Sheridan Le Fanu and Mary Shelley. I’ve also been influenced by writers such as Isaac Asimov and Philip K Dick. Ray Bradbury’s stories used to be read to us in science lessons when I was at high school. I loved them!
Both history and fiction are replete with women who aim to misbehave – do you have a favourite wicked woman and why?
Aphra Behn was awesome! She was a poet, playwright, translator and fiction writer born in 1640. She was one of the first women to earn a living from writing and she was also rumoured to have been a spy for Charles II. I think she was brave, unique, intelligent and a complete role model for future generations of women who have the power of words inside them.
Tell us about your radio show at SirenFM – how did that come about, what can listeners expect from a Stone Tapes show and where can we find it?
The Stone Tapes was conceived after I appeared as a guest on SirenFM’s Midweek Drive show a couple of times. We proposed the idea of a genre chat show to producer and founder of the radio station Alex Lewczuk and he really liked it. In February/March 2015 the show was given the green light and we launched our first episode in May 2015.
The Stone Tapes is dedicated to all things genre, and so we cover books, films, television, chat, music and have some great guests joining us for the show.
The team now consists of David J Howe (co-producer), Alex Lewczuk (Producer), Patricia H Ash-Vildosolo who is the editor of Gearhearts Steampunk Glamor Review Magazine, our regular reviewer, Robin Pierce, who is a writer for Starburst Magazine and is our Wales correspondent, and finally assistant director, actor and barman to Hugh Hefner, Joshua Lou Friedman, who is our LA Correspondent. I’m the voice that brings them, and the show, all together.
The show is pre-recorded and then transmitted on SirenFM, and can be listened to on transmission from their website at http://www.sirenonline.co.uk/about/how-to-listen.
All the past episodes are also available to download and stream online … and they include a Zombie Special (Episode 7) where we get trapped in the studio, and all sorts of other mayhem. http://southsidebroadcasting.podbean.com/category/the-stone-tapes/
You currently have three series in print – The Jinx Chronicles, The Kat Lightfoot Mysteries and The Vampire Gene series covering a range of genres from horror to SF to portal fantasy – do you find yourself drawn to writing series rather than stand alones, and what’s the appeal of series fiction for you?
I have always loved writing series. When I devise characters and really like them, I always want to write more about them and to spend time with them in their universe. With the Vampire Gene series, I was halfway through writing the first book when I realised that it had to be at least a trilogy. But when I got to the end of the third book, I knew that there was still so much more to say. I’m currently working on the sixth book, Jaded Jewel, which should be out later this year.
ell us a little about yourself and what you like to write:
How long have you been writing and how did you get started?
I started writing at the age of 11 and it was basically terrible fan-fiction!!
As I grew older and gained more experience of life, married, had a child, the idea of becoming a writing professional seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream. I told myself that one day I would write a book and get it published.
The opportunity for this came when, still following my dream, I completed my Masters Degree in Creative Writing and, for my dissertation, wrote a novel. This was really the start of my career as that book went on to win the Silver Award for Best Horror Novel in ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards in the USA. This then led to me getting my first professional deal, when The House of Murky Depths picked up the novel, and published it as Killing Kiss.
Since around 2009 I have been writing full time and have completed about 14 novels, a few novellas, and many short stories as well as audios, and a couple of screenplays.
I see this as my job and work the hours accordingly!!
Which authors have influenced you and why?
I have always been massively influenced by Tanith Lee, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Bram Stoker and other 19th Century Gothic writers such as Sheridan Le Fanu and Mary Shelley. I’ve also been influenced by writers such as Isaac Asimov and Philip K Dick. Ray Bradbury’s stories used to be read to us in science lessons when I was at high school. I loved them!
Both history and fiction are replete with women who aim to misbehave – do you have a favourite wicked woman and why?
Aphra Behn was awesome! She was a poet, playwright, translator and fiction writer born in 1640. She was one of the first women to earn a living from writing and she was also rumoured to have been a spy for Charles II. I think she was brave, unique, intelligent and a complete role model for future generations of women who have the power of words inside them.
Tell us about your radio show at SirenFM – how did that come about, what can listeners expect from a Stone Tapes show and where can we find it?
The Stone Tapes was conceived after I appeared as a guest on SirenFM’s Midweek Drive show a couple of times. We proposed the idea of a genre chat show to producer and founder of the radio station Alex Lewczuk and he really liked it. In February/March 2015 the show was given the green light and we launched our first episode in May 2015.
The Stone Tapes is dedicated to all things genre, and so we cover books, films, television, chat, music and have some great guests joining us for the show.
The team now consists of David J Howe (co-producer), Alex Lewczuk (Producer), Patricia H Ash-Vildosolo who is the editor of Gearhearts Steampunk Glamor Review Magazine, our regular reviewer, Robin Pierce, who is a writer for Starburst Magazine and is our Wales correspondent, and finally assistant director, actor and barman to Hugh Hefner, Joshua Lou Friedman, who is our LA Correspondent. I’m the voice that brings them, and the show, all together.
The show is pre-recorded and then transmitted on SirenFM, and can be listened to on transmission from their website at http://www.sirenonline.co.uk/about/how-to-listen.
All the past episodes are also available to download and stream online … and they include a Zombie Special (Episode 7) where we get trapped in the studio, and all sorts of other mayhem. http://southsidebroadcasting.podbean.com/category/the-stone-tapes/
You currently have three series in print – The Jinx Chronicles, The Kat Lightfoot Mysteries and The Vampire Gene series covering a range of genres from horror to SF to portal fantasy – do you find yourself drawn to writing series rather than stand alones, and what’s the appeal of series fiction for you?
I have always loved writing series. When I devise characters and really like them, I always want to write more about them and to spend time with them in their universe. With the Vampire Gene series, I was halfway through writing the first book when I realised that it had to be at least a trilogy. But when I got to the end of the third book, I knew that there was still so much more to say. I’m currently working on the sixth book, Jaded Jewel, which should be out later this year.
With the Jinx Chronicles,
however, I always knew this was going to be a complete story in trilogy
form. I have no intention of taking the characters anywhere else after
that, and I know I’ll bring it all to a satisfactory conclusion on the
third book. The first is called Jinx Town, Jinx Magic is the second book, and Jinx Bound will be the third. The second volume of that should be in print this year.
The Kat Lightfoot Mysteries started life as one book, as I’d had the idea for Zombies at Tiffany’s and knew that this would work well. But again, once I had written it, I knew there was so much more to tell and explore about Kat and her demon slaying companions. This series has such a wonderful following too and I’m sure that it will go on for very many years to come.
I have written a couple of standalone novels which are currently in the hands of my agent, and I have completed an outline for a mainstream thriller which is also with her. At the moment I’m seeing all of these very much as stand alone projects … but who knows what could happen in the future.
So … I do prefer series, but I also enjoy writing one offs as a change. There’s something very freeing in knowing that you have said all you need to about a character and their universe. It’s not always that easy to let go!
Given the range of genres you write in, do you have any particular genre preference?
I started my writing career very much as a horror writer and I would say that horror often spills over into the fantasy and sci-fi works when I’m writing, but I really love dabbling in all genre fiction. Crime has a particular appeal for me and the idea of unravelling a mystery is quite thrilling. I’ve written two Sherlock Holmes tales for anthologies now, and I love how you need to set the mystery without falling back onto horror or supernatural reasons. I think I’d like to write more crime and definitely some more thrillers. But even if I do, I think I will always come back to my roots and dabble in some horror.
You’re also the editor of the Telos Moonrise imprint – how are you finding life on the other side of the publishing desk and has this changed how you approach your own fiction?
It is a real eye opener working as an editor and yes, I do believe my own writing is much tighter now because of it! This is because when I’m editing I wear a completely different hat to when I’m writing and that editorial mindset also comes on when I edit my own work too. Also, I find myself editing and questioning myself more as I go along. It’s slowed my writing process down a little, but I feel I’m producing a tighter first draft now as a result.
Are there any exciting new titles coming up from the imprint?
I have just bought an exciting new series but can’t say more as contracts haven’t been signed yet. We also still have a huge backlog of previously acquired titles. We have a super YA novel coming soon from Bryony Pearce, and a novel from Martin Owton which goes very much into fantasy territory. But there will be more on this closer to release via Telos’s newsfeed and on their website at http://www.telos.co.uk.
I am also hoping that by summer we will be looking to buy more new material, but we are also on the lookout for some classic fiction by well established writers.
Room 101 time: what one genre cliché would you get rid of?
All of them if possible! I really hate clichés. Although I wonder sometimes if that’s to my own detriment because it does seem that some of the most boring clichéd stuff is that which enjoys overnight success.
What are you up to next?
Well – I’m in some very exciting talks at moment but can’t say more on those even though I’m bursting to!!
Otherwise, later this year I’ll be doing some writing workshops at the Regis Centre in Bognor. I’m travelling to the USA in a couple of weeks to appear at Gallifrey Convention as a guest with my husband David J Howe – where I will also be hosting a writing workshop for anyone who’s keen to become a writer, improve their work, or sell it in the future. I have the third Jinx novel to write, Jinx Bound. Have to finish Jaded Jewel and I need to come up with a new Kat Lightfoot novella to launch at the Asylum Steampunk Weekend in Lincoln in August. As well as all that I’m discussing new ideas with my agent, and she is planning how to pitch these all over to new publishers.
I’ve also been asked to write a stage play – still working out the theme for this one – but if I do it’s fairly certain to be produced so I must find time for it!!
I’d like to do some more screenwriting. And I do have a few short stories commissioned too.
It’s lucky that I like being busy!
Thank you for joining us Sam!
Award winning author Sam Stone began writing aged 11 after reading her first adult fiction book, The Collector by John Fowles. Her love of horror fiction began soon afterwards when she stayed up late one night with her sister to watch Christopher Lee in the classic Hammer film, Dracula. Since then she’s been a huge fan of vampire movies and novels old and new.
Sam’s writing has appeared in many anthologies for poetry and prose. Her first novel was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream. Like all good authors she drew on her own knowledge and passions to write it. The novel won the Silver Award for Best Horror Novel in ForeWord Magazine’s book of the year awards in 2007.
In September 2008 the novel was re-edited and republished by The House of Murky Depths as Killing Kiss. The sequels, Futile Flame and Demon Dance went on to become finalists in the same awards for 2009/2010. Both novels were later Shortlisted for The British Fantasy Society Awards for Best Novel and Demon Dance won the award for Best Novel in 2011. Sam also won Best Short Fiction for her story Fool’s Gold which first appeared in the NewCon Press Anthology The Bitten Word.
In 2011 Sam was commissioned by Reeltime Pictures to write a monologue for their talking heads style Doctor Who spin-off, White Witch of Devil’s End. She was also co-script editor with David J Howe. White Witch, starring Damaris Hayman, was released on DVD in October 2014.
Rights for Sam’s first novel Killing Kiss were bought by Verlag Bucheinband lnes Neumann in March 2013 for translation into German. The novel, Todeskuss, and was launched in December 2013. Since then Sam has sold an original novella, The Darkness Within to AudioGo for Audio and Ebook. She was also commissioned by Telos to write a sequel to her hugely successful Steampunk Novella Zombies at Tiffany’s and her much loved heroine, Kat Lightfoot, returned to the printed page in September 2013 in Kat on a Hot Tin Airship. The audio rights to Zombies at Tiffany’s were subsequently bought by Spokenworld Audio and was made available for download in Halloween 2013. Further sequels to this series are What’s Dead Pussykat (2014) and Kat of Green Tentacles (2015).
In 2011, Sam became the commissioning editor for Telos Publishing’s new digital imprint Telos Moonrise.
In May 2015, Sam launched her own monthly genre radio show, The Stone Tapes on Siren Fm in Lincolnshire.
An eclectic and skilled prose writer Sam also has a BA (Hons) in English and Writing for Performance and an MA in Creative Writing, which means that she is frequently invited to talk about writing in schools, colleges and universities in the UK. She is said to be an ‘inspirational’ speaker.
The Kat Lightfoot Mysteries started life as one book, as I’d had the idea for Zombies at Tiffany’s and knew that this would work well. But again, once I had written it, I knew there was so much more to tell and explore about Kat and her demon slaying companions. This series has such a wonderful following too and I’m sure that it will go on for very many years to come.
I have written a couple of standalone novels which are currently in the hands of my agent, and I have completed an outline for a mainstream thriller which is also with her. At the moment I’m seeing all of these very much as stand alone projects … but who knows what could happen in the future.
So … I do prefer series, but I also enjoy writing one offs as a change. There’s something very freeing in knowing that you have said all you need to about a character and their universe. It’s not always that easy to let go!
Given the range of genres you write in, do you have any particular genre preference?
I started my writing career very much as a horror writer and I would say that horror often spills over into the fantasy and sci-fi works when I’m writing, but I really love dabbling in all genre fiction. Crime has a particular appeal for me and the idea of unravelling a mystery is quite thrilling. I’ve written two Sherlock Holmes tales for anthologies now, and I love how you need to set the mystery without falling back onto horror or supernatural reasons. I think I’d like to write more crime and definitely some more thrillers. But even if I do, I think I will always come back to my roots and dabble in some horror.
You’re also the editor of the Telos Moonrise imprint – how are you finding life on the other side of the publishing desk and has this changed how you approach your own fiction?
It is a real eye opener working as an editor and yes, I do believe my own writing is much tighter now because of it! This is because when I’m editing I wear a completely different hat to when I’m writing and that editorial mindset also comes on when I edit my own work too. Also, I find myself editing and questioning myself more as I go along. It’s slowed my writing process down a little, but I feel I’m producing a tighter first draft now as a result.
Are there any exciting new titles coming up from the imprint?
I have just bought an exciting new series but can’t say more as contracts haven’t been signed yet. We also still have a huge backlog of previously acquired titles. We have a super YA novel coming soon from Bryony Pearce, and a novel from Martin Owton which goes very much into fantasy territory. But there will be more on this closer to release via Telos’s newsfeed and on their website at http://www.telos.co.uk.
I am also hoping that by summer we will be looking to buy more new material, but we are also on the lookout for some classic fiction by well established writers.
Room 101 time: what one genre cliché would you get rid of?
All of them if possible! I really hate clichés. Although I wonder sometimes if that’s to my own detriment because it does seem that some of the most boring clichéd stuff is that which enjoys overnight success.
What are you up to next?
Well – I’m in some very exciting talks at moment but can’t say more on those even though I’m bursting to!!
Otherwise, later this year I’ll be doing some writing workshops at the Regis Centre in Bognor. I’m travelling to the USA in a couple of weeks to appear at Gallifrey Convention as a guest with my husband David J Howe – where I will also be hosting a writing workshop for anyone who’s keen to become a writer, improve their work, or sell it in the future. I have the third Jinx novel to write, Jinx Bound. Have to finish Jaded Jewel and I need to come up with a new Kat Lightfoot novella to launch at the Asylum Steampunk Weekend in Lincoln in August. As well as all that I’m discussing new ideas with my agent, and she is planning how to pitch these all over to new publishers.
I’ve also been asked to write a stage play – still working out the theme for this one – but if I do it’s fairly certain to be produced so I must find time for it!!
I’d like to do some more screenwriting. And I do have a few short stories commissioned too.
It’s lucky that I like being busy!
Thank you for joining us Sam!
Award winning author Sam Stone began writing aged 11 after reading her first adult fiction book, The Collector by John Fowles. Her love of horror fiction began soon afterwards when she stayed up late one night with her sister to watch Christopher Lee in the classic Hammer film, Dracula. Since then she’s been a huge fan of vampire movies and novels old and new.
Sam’s writing has appeared in many anthologies for poetry and prose. Her first novel was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream. Like all good authors she drew on her own knowledge and passions to write it. The novel won the Silver Award for Best Horror Novel in ForeWord Magazine’s book of the year awards in 2007.
In September 2008 the novel was re-edited and republished by The House of Murky Depths as Killing Kiss. The sequels, Futile Flame and Demon Dance went on to become finalists in the same awards for 2009/2010. Both novels were later Shortlisted for The British Fantasy Society Awards for Best Novel and Demon Dance won the award for Best Novel in 2011. Sam also won Best Short Fiction for her story Fool’s Gold which first appeared in the NewCon Press Anthology The Bitten Word.
In 2011 Sam was commissioned by Reeltime Pictures to write a monologue for their talking heads style Doctor Who spin-off, White Witch of Devil’s End. She was also co-script editor with David J Howe. White Witch, starring Damaris Hayman, was released on DVD in October 2014.
Rights for Sam’s first novel Killing Kiss were bought by Verlag Bucheinband lnes Neumann in March 2013 for translation into German. The novel, Todeskuss, and was launched in December 2013. Since then Sam has sold an original novella, The Darkness Within to AudioGo for Audio and Ebook. She was also commissioned by Telos to write a sequel to her hugely successful Steampunk Novella Zombies at Tiffany’s and her much loved heroine, Kat Lightfoot, returned to the printed page in September 2013 in Kat on a Hot Tin Airship. The audio rights to Zombies at Tiffany’s were subsequently bought by Spokenworld Audio and was made available for download in Halloween 2013. Further sequels to this series are What’s Dead Pussykat (2014) and Kat of Green Tentacles (2015).
In 2011, Sam became the commissioning editor for Telos Publishing’s new digital imprint Telos Moonrise.
In May 2015, Sam launched her own monthly genre radio show, The Stone Tapes on Siren Fm in Lincolnshire.
An eclectic and skilled prose writer Sam also has a BA (Hons) in English and Writing for Performance and an MA in Creative Writing, which means that she is frequently invited to talk about writing in schools, colleges and universities in the UK. She is said to be an ‘inspirational’ speaker.
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