DJ Tyrer is the person behind Atlantean Publishing and has been widely published in anthologies and magazines in the UK, USA and elsewhere, most recently in Steampunk Cthulhu (Chaosium), Tales of the Dark Arts (Hazardous Press), and State of Horror: Illinois (Charon Coin Press), as well as in Strangely Funny II and Undead of Winter (both with our press). He also has a strong interest in The King In Yellow and is involved in The Yellow Site wikia.

How did you come up with the idea for your story in History and Horror, Oh My?

I had the core idea some time ago while watching the 2011 BBC adaptation of Great Expectations. It sat around unused, but always agitating to be used, until the call for submissions to History and Mystery, Oh My! and I had the idea of combining it with what could have been the hook for a more traditional ghost story.

Did you encounter any obstacles in researching the setting?

No. All the elements involved were once I'd previously done research on, so I was able to draw upon that. It helps to write about things that interest you - that way the research is mostly done and never seems like work!
 
Do you have a favorite historical period you enjoy reading or writing about?

I love learning about all periods of history and like to vary the eras and locations I write about. However, I do tend to gravitate particularly towards ancient and Biblical History, Celtic History (ancient to modern), Arthurian research, the Wars of the Roses, the Tudors, the Victorian and Edwardian periods and the Roaring Twenties. Historical linguistics is a field of particular interest to me.

Do you have some special education that helps you write historical fiction, or do you deal with history in your profession?

I have a BA in History and Welsh History from Aberystwyth. Sadly, I didn't get to pursue it further, but I have written a few historical articles.
 
What are you working on now?

I'm currently working on several short stories aimed at forthcoming anthologies, a couple of booklets that I'll releasing through my own press, Atlantean Publishing, and a pitch for a new project from April Moon Books. In the longer term, I need to make time to work on a couple of novel ideas (one of which is an alternate police procedural and the other steampunk) and plan to release some short story anthologies.

On the history side of things, I have a longstanding project involving Biblical history that I would like to actually bring to fruition.

Okay, so you're an author. What do you enjoy reading?

I like to read widely and will have a go at anything, fiction or non-fiction that takes my attention, but I do like James Patterson and Clive Cussler for escapism, and, because I write a lot of related fiction, I frequently reread the stories of HP Lovecraft, Robert W. Chambers, Clark Ashton Smith and Arthur Machen. The Brontes are an obsession of mine, so I reread their work and books about them frequently. Currently, for research, I am reading books about Napoleon III and the Prussian siege of Paris.

I was first drawn to Georgia Ruth's story, “Dead Man Hanging”, by the location. My father's family has deep roots in western North Carolina, especially Asheville (which gets a mention). As I read it, though, I also became impressed with her ability to create a sense of the era and the people who lived then and there. I could really picture Main Street in Marion, NC, in 1916. 

Why did you choose a historical genre for a mystery that could be put into any setting?

I now live in the foothills of North Carolina where my neighbors describe location based on the history of a building. As some of these folks trace their roots back to Wales in 1100 AD, the glimpses of past lives have given my life a new perspective. I am comfortable hanging out with ghosts.

How did you come up with the idea for “Dead Man Hanging?”

First I was overwhelmed by the devastation of the flood of 1916. Then I researched oral accounts of its effect on local lives in Marion of McDowell County, and I saw photographs of sections of railroad buried in mudslides. During that time I attended a neighborhood gathering where ghost stories were told, and I learned that the junior high school was haunted. My curiosity also picked up a rumor of a hanging decades ago in the downtown Eagle Hotel where today the current coffee shop owner often hears strange noises. My reaction was why? What causes so much stress? But it wasn’t until a year later that these experiences came together when I put pen to paper. I am an organic writer and start without an outline. Somehow Daniel Kanipe became part of my story, probably because I weekly pass by and admire his beautiful historic home. He was a survivor of the Little Big Horn, but I put words in his mouth and gave him another life as a detective in this story.

Did you encounter any obstacles in researching the setting?

The haunted junior high was built on the site of a real orphanage, where I imagined a private graveyard. In all probability, everyone was buried in the city cemetery on the next hill. After I wrote the story, I drove through town to test my possibility of “what if?” I drove the streets now surrounding the school, and there on a knoll overlooking the junior high I glimpsed a few broken tombstones in a tangle of weeds. I didn’t knock at the door of the old house nearby because the grave was part of my mystery not the history. To myself I proved it could have happened.

Are you working on other historical stories?

My blog at http://www.georgiaruthwrites.us is almost always about the fascinating history of my neighbors. On other projects, I am looking for a home for my fiction story “A Simple Life” about descendants of a survivor of a legendary Indian attack on Fort Pleasant Gardens. In March, I have a speculative story “The Mountain Top” coming out in a Sisters in Crime anthology Fish or Cut Bait. History that hasn’t happened yet! I predict that stories in History and Mystery, Oh My! will be enjoyed by readers of all genres. I am pleased to be included in this anthology.

Read "Dead Man Hanging" and see Georgia's work for yourself in History and Mystery, Oh My!, now available in print, ebook, and Kindle formats from online retailers.


You can also see more of Georgia Ruth's work now in That Mysterious Woman, the fourth mystery anthology in the Shaker of Margaritas series.

Joe Mogel, a born and raised New Englander, inherited his dry sense of humor from his equally dry family. Being home schooled, he had the time and opportunity to develop many hobbies, including painting, martial arts and writing. Going to college for engineering (“I'm not sure what I was thinking at the time. I like seeing the light of day on a regular basis,” he says), he rediscovered his interest in writing. Now, having published ten stories though seven different publishing houses and having had his work included on several websites, Joe is considering turning to writing as a full time career.

When did you know you wanted to become a writer?

~When I was a child I imagined that authors were the, often globe trotting, intellectual bad-asses I had seen all my life in BBC murder mysteries. Needless to say, I wanted to be one.

How did you pick the genre/setting/era you (usually) write in?

~I don't have a 'usual' genre/setting/era. I write as my imagination takes me, and it seldom takes me to the exact same place twice.
 
You write mysteries. Does your inspiration begin with the crime, the detective, the setting, or some other place?

~That depends on the story. Sometimes I start with the villain, because who's cooler than the villain? Unless it's the ice cold, man of iron detective. The crime is usually derived from either of those two characters, since all crime comes from a character's mind, I need the character first.

How did you come up with the idea for your story in History and Horror, Oh My?

~I was watching the Claude Rains version of 'The Invisible Man' and thought to myself that a blind person wouldn't be fooled by an invisible fellow. Once I made the blind man a detective, I had my story.

Did you encounter any obstacles in researching the setting?

~Not really, I'm already quite familiar with late Victorian/early Edwardian England and knew what needed to be present to make the piece feel real.
 
Do you have a favorite historical period you enjoy reading or writing about?
 
~With regard to reading, no. With regard to writing, no. I'm quite open to any form of antique awesomeness.

Do you have some special education that helps you write historical fiction, or do you deal with history in your profession? 

~Just a great deal of non-fiction reading. The more you read about history, the easier it becomes to understand what the feel/emotion/culture would be and the easier it becomes to think and write about an era.
 
What are you working on now?

~A novel. Admittedly, it's a modern setting, but the structure and theme are based on ancient Greek tragedies. So it's a bit of a challenge.

Okay, so you're an author. What do you enjoy reading?

~The classics are my favorite. Greek, Roman, Medieval, anything before the turn of the 20th century. They're a mix of Literature, history, anthropology, and art all rolled into one. I learn so much from the classics every time I read them.

Learn more about Joe on his website at: JoeMogelAuthor.yolasite.com . And read "Death in the Library" for yourself in History and Mystery, Oh My! now available in print, ebook, and Kindle formats from online retailers.

History and Mystery, Oh My! is now available in print!!!


We have at least one cover reveal coming up. I think you’ll like the artwork.


We have two single-author collections in the pipeline.
 

Plus… we have a surprise anthology coming out. The cover is still with the artist and it’s being formatted.


Busy times for us… and, I hope, fun times ahead for you.

You write mysteries. Does your inspiration begin with the crime, the detective, the setting, or some other place?

I enjoy thinking about financial transactions and how someone would try to pervert the system. With short stories, I usually start with the general characteristics of the crime. Then I create the characters and setting to make the story work.

How did you come up with the idea for your story in History and Mystery, Oh My?

I have a deep interest in the American Civil War, including the build up to it. Because I write mostly contemporary mystery novels, I didn’t have a lot of time to do research. However, I have a rich family history that ties to antebellum Dansville, NY. That allowed me to combine historical characters I knew well based on family records and a time period that I knew from my general interest.

The major issue of the time was slavery. I had recently taken a trip in upstate New York that included John Brown’s farm in the Adirondacks. His raid on Harper’s Ferry divided the nation in a way that only war would repair, so I decided to build a story seemingly triggered by that event. From there, the pieces fell into place and I decided to incorporate a puzzle-type mystery that readers could solve (or not).

Did you encounter any obstacles in researching the setting?

Because I don’t live near that area, I had to do my research by phone and email. In the time I had available, I couldn’t find anyone at the local historical societies who could tell me the structure of law enforcement in Dansville, NY in the late 1850s. So, I made up a sheriff.

What are you working on now?

My alter ego (James M. Jackson) has a novel, Ant Farm, that is up for nomination in the Kindle Scout program. I’d love your vote. Here’s the link: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3IATL9SA04ZS2 It is a prequel to my Seamus McCree mystery series. I am also working on the next in that series, titled Doubtful Relations.

Okay, so you're an author. What do you enjoy reading?

I love medium-boiled, suspenseful mysteries, which is why I enjoy writing them.

Roxanne Dent is a full time writer who lives in Haverhill, Massachusetts. She has sold nine novels, including her most recent, The Janus Demon, an urban, paranormal fantasy which is on Amazon in book and e-book form. Roxanne has also sold a number of short horror. Her latest, “Bug Boy,” sold to Great Old Ones Publishing, and will be out this year. In addition to fiction, Ms. Dent has co-written plays with her sister, Karen, produced at the Firehouse Theater in Newburyport MA. Her screenplay, “The Pied Piper” a thriller, won first prize in Fade in Magazine. Check out her blog tour on www.sistersdent.com

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I was always an avid reader. From ten to thirteen I moved to a section of Florida that was very bleak. When I couldn’t get to the library, I would visit the Food Fair and in the book section, I’d read until the manager caught me and threw me out. The next day, I would return and pick up where I left off. During this time, I used to pretend I wrote novels and was on a talk show discussing my latest. I would hold up a thick, Readers Digest Book and make up characters, setting and plot. When I was in high school, my poem, “The Devil’s Disciple,” was accepted into a state-wide anthology and I consciously made up my mind that was what I wanted to do but it wasn’t until years later, when I wrote my first Regency as a Christmas present for my sister Karen, that I began to believe my dream could come true.

How did you pick the genre/setting/era you usually write in?

I write in all genres. Regencies, Victorian mysteries, Fantasies, Horror, Sci-Fi, YA, and Middle Grade. I love history, particularly English Regencies, and Victorian times. Writing a story that takes place in the past is challenging and fun. I’ve also written Westerns and stories that take place in other countries. Research is not difficult for me and with the advent of the Internet it’s much less time consuming. Through the years, I have collected a lot of information which I place in binders and acquire books on subjects like poisons, famous murders, clothing and customs. I like to dive into the era I’m writing about and feel what it would be like to be alive then. But I am equally comfortable writing about my own era.

You write mysteries. Does your inspiration begin with the crime, the detective, the setting, or some other place?

That depends. Usually, it begins with either a crime or the detective. The setting usually falls into place after the other two are set.


How did you come up with the idea for your story in History and Mystery, Oh My?

I had already developed the character of Sarah Wyndom as an older, independent woman detective in the Victorian era in “The Case of the Missing Wife.” The Victorian era was a time of both restriction and budding freedom for women. For the first time, they left home to work in factories, entered professions like nursing, became doctors and owned their own businesses. Sarah Wyndom comes from a privileged background but rejected her role in society to do something she loved.


Do you have a favorite historical period you enjoy reading or writing about?

Besides the Regency and Victorian periods, I am an avid fan of English mysteries in general whether they take place in the past or present. But I am especially fond of the Medieval Cadfael series, the Sister Fidelma series set in ancient Ireland, and the Navaho mysteries by Tony Hilerman. Cultures and times that are different than mine fascinate me and add to my enjoyment of the mystery. In addition to mysteries, I love reading paranormal fantasy from such authors as Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris and Kate Daniels.


What are you working on now?

I just finished “The Haunting of Jemima Nash,” a short story I was invited to write for the John Greenleaf Whittier Museum based on one of his poems. At the moment, I am finishing up a Steampunk story called, “Re-Inventing the Future.” Grey Gate Media which purchased The Twelve Days of Christmas, a Regency novel I wrote, has sadly closed and my next project is to look it over and put it up on Kindle myself or sell it to another house. I am, however, never without projects, including Beyond the Iberian Sea, Book II of The Janus Demon, and The Boy in the Green High Tops, a YA prequel. I’ve written three chapters on another Regency, The Wager, and plan to edit a Victorian mystery, “The Poisoned Pen Murders.”

History and Mystery, Oh My! can be purchased in ebook format at Amazon and Smashwords. The print version will come soon.