Beverly Alice Black is an immigration attorney in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the day and a fiction writer at night. Her short stories have been published by The Saturday Evening Post, Disturbed Digest and Enchanted Conversation. Follow her on Facebook at Attybeverlyblack and on Twitter @AuthorBevBlack.

​When did you know you wanted to become a writer? 

I want to be a writer? I thought it was just something  I had to do. But seriously, as like most writers, I've written since childhood, created characters and backstories. But I really started writing when my children were little and I wrote for them. ​

Can you tell us a little about your writing process? 

I start with a character. I get to know that character, create a very detailed backstory. From there I create the story, focusing on the most important day in that person's life. I try to keep the other characters to a minimum. 

Where did the inspiration for "Angel in Hell's Kitchen" come from? 

That's an easy one. I went to Mexico at 18 and two years later spent my junior year abroad in Costa Rica. When I was growing up, where I was growing up, an attractive female was a blonde with long legs, big boobs and no butt. I was just the opposite: dark haired, short and with a big butt.. When I went to Latin America the men not only showed attention to me but they actually thought I was pretty. Hot, even. I couldn't believe it. I thought they were just trying to trick me, but I soon realized that different cultures have different ideas about beauty and what makes a person attractive. This story is all about that. About a group accepting you for who you are and appreciating what you bring to the table. 

A lot of your writing is fact-based and serious. How different is it to write humor?

Writing humor is hard! It is much easier to write a legal brief because you know what has to be written and in what order. Humor is subjective ... It's hard to hit the sweet spot between being illuminating and obnoxious. 

Your day job (immigration attorney) sounds pretty interesting. Tell us a little about it.

Many people in my critique group think I should write about immigration and immigrants. I have written a few stories, but I live this every day. My clients' stories are tragic. Many of my clients from Central America have lost loved ones and still don't qualify for asylum because they don't fit into rubric we've created about who deserves asylum. I don't feel qualified to write as a Latina because i'm not, even though my daughters are and I've spent a lot of time in Latin America.. I think Latinos should tell their own stories.

Is there a new author or book out there that you think we should be reading, and why?

Definitely. John Schoffstall's book The Half Witch came out last year and has bee nominated for a ton of awards. He's probably the most imaginative writer I know. if you haven't' read his work, you should. His imagination is amazing. 

Kate Franklin lives in Sarasota Florida, where she teaches college English and Creative Writing. Kate enjoys reading, writing, gardening and driving her Subaru Cross Trek to the beach in her spare time. She loves to travel. Kate's travel adventures have included Europe, Argentina and Antarctica. Kate's mystery and science fiction short stories have been published on-line and in print anthologies. Her story, "Coin Karma," was a featured podcast from the Liars' League in London. The Tattooed Mermaid, her first novel, won a silver medal from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association. She is working on the sequel, Mermaid Park. Kate is a member of the writing groups Sisters in Crime and Saturday Sleuths. 

When did you know you wanted to become a writer?
    When I was about six, but it took me decades to actually write.

Can you tell us a little about your writing process? 
   Generally, I postpone writing as long as possible. Then when, as Julia Cameron says, it becomes "more painful to avoid writing than actually writing," I sit down and start something. Usually, it goes well once I face the blank screen.
​
Where did the inspiration for "Ghost Heist" come from? 
    I wish I knew.

Tell us about The Tattooed Mermaid.
  The Tattooed mermaid is a murder mystery, but I see it primarily as a novel about relationships: A mother and daughter; two best friends estranged for years who come back together; a romantic relationship tested by life, some very dysfunctional relationships and a peek at a brand new relationship that will come in the next novel.

Are you writing something at the moment? Tell us about it.
    I'm thinking about a couple of things I've started but I'm still in the postponing, or gestation period. The one I like best is what I hope will become a series about a witch who has inherited a number of familiars/entities from her mother. These entities are under spells to make them appear to be dogs. Each one has a special gift and will have his/her own novel. They all help solve mysteries. The series is called "The Witch's Daughter."

You recently took a trip to Antarctica. What part did you enjoy the most?
     By far, bouncing around in the Zodiacs was the best. Getting up close and personal with huge icebergs, seals, whales, and penguins was fantastic. Zooming in and out of rock and ice caves was a total thrill.

Thanks for visiting with us!

Strangely Funny VI is now available in print and Kindle on Amazon, and is currently free on Kindle Unlimited.

Be sure to read Kate's story, "Ghost Heist" for a good laugh. Bed and breakfasts have found a new way to attract customers: by advertising that they're haunted. And if they aren't really haunted, the ghosts better watch out.

Gareth Barsby is a graduate of the University of Chester, where he studied Creative Writing and Journalism, but for most of his life, he has used writing to explore weird new worlds. He has a blog where he puts up his written work - myweirdwriting.wordpress.com – has self-published three books – The Werewolf Asylum, Barking Benjamin and Mr. Movie-Maker – and has submitted short stories to several publications.

1. Santa as an agent of Purgatory is a new wrinkle. How did you come up with the idea for Reindeer?
 
Reindeer is meant as a love letter to my favourite Christmas stories from childhood, and it came about through thoughts on them. Like, I was thinking about the fact that the two most prominent Christmas stories are stories about Santa Claus and Christmas Carol spin-offs, despite the fact that the former is about candy canes and happy elves while the latter is about ghosts and graveyards, and I thought about if there was still a chance these Christmas characters could still be real, even though we now know it was our parents that were giving us our gifts. No-one’s found Santa at the North Pole but he could exist in another plane of reality. Santa doesn’t give people Christmas presents on this plane of reality, but what’s to say he doesn’t on another plane?
 
So I thought Santa living in Purgatory would allow me to write a story where he could be real yet have people in the “real world” not believe in him, and would allow him, his elves, his reindeer and Toyland to better co-exist with the undead characters of A Christmas Carol. It would also mean putting familiar characters into a new world, which I thought would be a good challenge.

2. Can you tell us a little about your writing process? Did you sit down with cocoa and a candy cane, for example, to write Reindeer? Play holiday carols as you typed away?
 
Well, replace “cocoa” with “a tonne of coffee” and “a candy cane” with “even more coffee”, and the second sentence is accurate. I did play some music to help immerse myself; not necessarily always holiday carols, but music that I felt evoked Purgatory so I could feel like I was there with Randall. The writing process was mostly just sitting myself down and typing out the story.

3. What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
 
I enjoy writing fantasy stories because I find it fun creating a world and its “rules”, so what was probably the most fun thing about Reindeer was creating my own vision of the afterlife. That and creating a new adventure for my favourite Christmas characters.

4. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor and how is that reflected in your work?
 
I’m not sure I can choose just one mentor. Stephen King’s On Writing was a big help for me and so was How Not To Write A Novel. I’ve been influenced by Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley and Lewis Carroll and Gregory Maguire, and I don’t know which has influenced me the most. Stephen King said to be a writer you have to write a lot and read a lot, and I think that in a way, everything I’ve read has had a little influence on my writing.
 
5. What is your current project and can you share a little of it with us?
 
I have no major projects at the moment, but I do still write short stories and poems from time to time, and I, of course, put them up on my blog.

6. You're an author. What do you enjoy reading?
 
I enjoy reading all sorts of things. I especially like horror, like Thomas Harris’ Hannibal books, and retellings of older stories (recently finished Christina Henry’s Alice). I also like reading poetry, especially humorous poems like those by Edward Lear.
 
7. What would you like most for Christmas?
 
Socks.

Columbkill Noonan has an M.S. in Biology, and teaches Anatomy and Physiology at a university in Maryland. An avid history buff, much of her writing, which could be best described as “supernatural historical horror”, combines historical events with elements of paranormal fantasy.  Her first novel, Night Woods, is available as an e-book on Amazon.com. She is currently working on her second novel, which was inspired by a trip to Scotland, particularly by the grim castles and spooky underground alleys of Edinburgh. Which makes her story, "The Mislaid Heart", a real departure...

What would you like people to know about you?
That I am terrified of ghosts. I sometimes scare myself when I am writing scary stories, so that is why I really enjoy writing about ghosts who are silly and funny.

When did you begin writing?
I wrote my first story when I was five. It was a about an epic journey taken by a dog who was lost on vacation. The dog took trains, crossed mountains, and sailed across the ocean in order to get home. My mom liked it.

How did you get the idea for your story in Strangely Funny III?
I just randomly became obsessed with Egyptian mythology and began researching it. Once I had done that, I had no choice but to write a story about it.

Is there a genre you haven't written in, but would like to?
I like historical fiction very much. I've been working on an historical fiction novel for a few years now, but it's coming along very, very slowly.

What are you working on next?
It's another humorous story about the Egyptian afterlife, but this time it'll be a novel. I'm already in love with the characters!

What is your favorite writing snack food/drink?
Gum. I chew gum like a madman when I write. I'm actually chewing it now while I write this email.

What would you like people to know about you?
Well,  I’m a Sagittarius. So I’m half human and half horse. Guess which half is which?

When did you begin writing?
I began writing in elementary school, where the nuns at St. Stephens inspired me to write such prose as "See Dick run" almost daily. It was actually during those days that I first remember enjoying literature. As I learned to read I immediately was drawn to books on monsters, ghosts, unexplained phenomenon and animals. I would read these books and then write my own versions of the stories. I would read these books and then write my own versions of the stories. They were terrible rip-offs of the originals but eventually they made me want to create my own stories that people would
get excited for.

How did you get the idea for your story in Strangely Funny III?
I had written a list of story ideas for children that would never get published. For example: What to do When your Imaginary Friend Goes into Rehab, My First Prostitute and The Jungle Juice Book. But the one that I knew I could possibly get published (not for children) with a little finesse was, The Monster That Wouldn’t Come Out of the Closet. And with just a throw-away title, a story baby was born.

Is there a genre you haven't written in, but would like to?
Chick-lit. I love writing dialog and women talk a lot! Sorry, ladies we do; me included. It would be great just to let loose on each character. But knowing me, they’d end up at the mall and a huge creature would rise up from the pretzel dough at Aunt Anne’s and attack everyone. Which would bring me back to the horror genre anyway. So never mind.

Who are your current favorite authors? What do you enjoy about them?
I love reading Indie authors. They have such wonderful ideas and craft stories so much better than some of the well-known authors who write because they have to write, not because they choose to write. Independent authors write because they love to write and their ideas are fresh.

What are you working on next?
I'm working on a book with President Obama about his monster that he hides under the desk in the Oval Office. He doesn't know it yet. Damn Secret Service keeps yanking me out of the trees.  

What is your favorite writing snack food/drink?
Air. Butter flavored air.

Thank you for sharing your craziness with us!

You can read Ruschelle's story, "Quasi-Therapy" and other amusing tales in Strangely Funny III, now on Amazon.

I need to confess something here. I write fiction under a different name than the name I use on my nonfiction. I’ve been doing it for so long that I’ve forgotten what the original logic was, but I’m sure it made oodles of sense at the time.

Admittedly, it has its advantages. It makes displaying my books easier, since I can I can separate them by name and give myself two shelves of work, and I can review anthologies that include works by my horror writing brother (not named Scooter) and say bad things about the book without looking like an even bigger ass for saying bad things about a book with my brother in it.

Where it gets complicated is conventions.  Do you sign your real name, or the byline on the story? I mean, if you’re asking me to sign, you know who I am, since my real name is on my pass. And if you ask how they want it signed, they assume I’m going to personalize it when all I really want to know is which name do you want me to use. And when they want one of your nonfiction titles and that anthology – well, you can just rock me to sleep tonight because I’ll still be stressing over that one.

I am pleased to announce that Strangely Funny III is now on Kindle. It presents nineteen stories from talented authors, and I would like to introduce you to one of them.

Nathan Cromwell is the author of "The Tortured Teen." Rather than being interviewed by us, Marla, one of the characters from “The Tortured Teen”, expressed her desire to talk with the author about the story.
 
Marla: You don’t like me very much, do you?
 
Cromwell: You’re a bit of a pain, but I’m sure you’ll grow out of it.
 
Marla: You have me already dead in the very first paragraph!
 
Cromwell: . . .
 
Marla: (After a half-hour awkward silence) What’s up with the picture?

Cromwell: That was a gift from my niece, Mikaela. It’s a statuette of me with a peacock on my head.
 
Marla: Wh--
 
Cromwell: I don’t know.
 
Marla: Okay. So, how did you come up with the story?
 
Cromwell: I was sitting in a coffee shop trying to think of something interesting to write for this anthology. I had started watching a documentary on string theory the night before, and I had recently read Oscar Wilde’s The Ghost of Canterville, so I decided to mix an old-fashioned ghost with modern physics.

M: Do your stories just come to you?
 
C: Sometimes I do write straight through, but mostly I jot down ideas until my muse takes a bathroom break. Then I’ll start arranging my notes into clumps and decide the best plan of attack. Once I’ve got the architecture, I start fleshing out and filling in gaps, and either throwing out or saving things that don’t fit.
 
Marla: Some authors talk to their characters. Do you?
 
Cromwell: I never have conversations with my characters.
 
Marla: Speaking of your characters, how did you come to put me in Atlanta instead of somewhere more goth-friendly, like New Orleans?
 
Cromwell: I used to live there, and I left about the time they were tearing down homes in the shabbier part to prepare for the Olympics. Since I wanted a ghost haunting a brand-new house, that came to mind.
 
M: A lot of authors, myself included—did you know I write heart-rending poetry?—get inspired to write by reading a story and saying to themselves: “I can do better than that.” Do you feel proud that you will inspire so many future writers?
 
C: I’m not some hack! I put a lot of effort and thought into my stories.
 
M: You know, after all that work, it’s unbearably sad that no one will read or even remember this story fifty years after you’re dead.
 
C: (As a pleased smile blossoms on Marla’s lips) That’s not—maybe this—you never kno—oh, shut up!
 
M: And if by some miracle people are still reading it, you’ll be dead but I, the dead girl, will live on in your story. Isn’t that neat?
 
C: (Inaudible).
 
M: Thank you, Mr. Cromwell. I enjoyed our interview. More than you know.

Nathan Cromwell is a living, breathing, swearing teleprompter for the human race, and he does some of his best work on public transport. A military brat, he is from no one place. He did hover in Indiana long enough to earn a BA in English which he has never used for any job ever unless you count this. He has worked in the retail, security, and fitness industries and has acquired all the concomitant bitterness they offer. That hard-won fruit he passes on to you in his stories.
 
Many of his stories are online, and you can find links to them at nathancromwell.wordpress.com.

How did you come up with the idea for "Alien Dust"?
I came up with the idea for the story as I was trying to figure out how a person would stop a vampire with modern technology. The Dustbuster (TM) just jumped into mind, and I laughed my head off. However, it wasn't that funny with humans; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural have pretty much worn the shine off of the idea. But aliens! Who have never seen a vampire! Area 51 meets Dracula, it was too good!

How do you handle the challenges to your writing time? You seem to live with a crowd of people and animals.
Challenges to my writing time occurred while the kids were growing up. Now that they're adults, it's easier to find the time to myself.

Do you see writing as an eventual career for you, or a sideline?
I always wanted to be a writer as a career. But look around. Less than 100 people make a living off of writing, and I am nowhere near the quality to manage that. So I kept my day job.

Do you have hobbies? If so, do they influence your writing?
My hobbies are gardening, taking care of the critters, and walking. I fit anything else in as there is time (and energy). And yes, they always influence my writing.

What is your next project?
My next project is to finish one of the list of stories I have the kernel of an idea for (I have the list written, now I need to point my finger at whichever one draws my interest). I'm thinking dice would be a better way to decide which story is next.

Once again, we welcome the multitalented Chantal Boudreau to our pages. In addition to being a CMA-MBA, she has a BA with a major in English from Dalhousie University. A member of the Horror Writers Association, she writes and illustrates predominantly horror, dark fantasy and fantasy and has had several of her short stories published in anthologies.

Your story involves a ghost writer who isn't a ghost. :) How did you come up with the idea for "Dead to Write"?

I have several writer friends with whom I chat regularly and occasionally collaborate. One of these friends, Brad Filipone, is primarily a playright and I speak with him a few times every week. He does write some fiction but he struggles with getting things finished...we have a joint project that has been a work in progress for years. Anyway, we were talking about my zombie stories and funny concepts and he planted a seed for this story in my head. He has a quirky sense of humour and a great imagination. With his permission, I used the idea to write "Dead to Write." A lot of my story ideas are sparked by things friends and family say.

Can you tell us a little about your writing process? (For example, do you have to be alone, do you play background music, etc.)

I'm a full-time accountant with a busy household: a stay-at-home, self-employed husband, two kids, one a teenager and one with special needs, a mother-in-law and a cat. I also have chickens and a demanding garden. What this means is I have to steal time to write whenever I can get it. Usually it's when I'm on the bus, commuting to and from work, or during my lunch hour. I like to have music on when I write, but it's not required. I find it inspirational.

With short stories I find it's one quick burst of an idea and I write around it. With novels, I do a lot of plotting. While planning, I start with an ending, go back to the beginning, set out the major plot points that will get me to my end and fill in the gaps. The characters create themselves as I go and my writing is very fluid. The outline is there as a guideline, but it can change with little warning.

Do you see writing as a career for you, or a sideline?

Maybe when I retire ... if I retire ... it may become more of a career, but for now it's a sideline that helps keep me sane when I'm stressed. I'm quite happy with my day job. I have a great boss and co-workers and they support my writing efforts. It's secure, pays well and makes good use of my education. I only have one pro-rate writing sale (and a few semi-pro sales) so far, along with several token payments and royalty contracts. I'd need a great deal more than that before I could consider giving up being an accountant.

Do you have hobbies? If so, do they influence your writing?

I love to read, listen to music and draw, all of which influence my writing. I also like to dabble, trying out varous sports, crafts, art forms and leisure activities. I also like to travel. I think a broad range of diverse experiences translates to more fodder for stories.

What is your next project? 

My current project is working on the sixth novel in my Fervor dystopian series. I'm more than halfway through the first draft. I'm not sure what my next project will be - wherever whimsy happens to take me, I guess.

Now that we've shown you the cover to Tales of The Bastard Drunk, we would like to better introduce you to the author, D.M. Woon. 

You started writing at a young age. What were those early stories like?
One of the first stories I remember writing was about a young girl moving to a new school and finding her classmates reluctant to accept her as one of their own because she was different. As much as I'd like to say that my earliest work was teeming with social commentary, it was actually pretty nonsensical. I think her name was Safari and she had a magic watch; either way, it was all child-friendly until the likes of R.L. Stine and Louise Cooper corrupted my mind. I read Say Cheese And Die! and pretty much everything I wrote from then on was horror.

Tell us more about the origins of The Bastard Drunk, a character with an undeniably strong voice. He emerged from one of your short stories?
The Bastard's voice came from a short story I wrote during my final year at university, when I was actually supposed to be writing my dissertation. I was working on a submission for an anthology that was looking for homages to the kind of films you'd see in Grindhouse theaters. I was already a fan of the Tarantino/Rodriguez double-feature, and the next thing I knew I was writing my own B movie, with all the sex and violence that were characteristic of the genre. Grindhouse is an American term, so the narrator was American. It was my first real attempt at writing in a voice different to my own, and I wanted to explore it further.

Gina is a major power in Kramusville, and a real shock to read. Would you tell us a little more about her?
Gina has always been aware of her 'special abilities'; her memory stretches back to when she was still in the womb, and she claims to have used her powers for only good, to ensure that her mother felt no pain. Her parents did not believe her, nor did they accept that she had a gift, and for this their relationship suffered. School was Gina's escape - her classmates were in awe of her. She felt in control of them, and as she grew, so did her desire for command over children. They gave her solace. When her parents announced they were expecting a second child, Gina wasn't so kind with her powers...

Did any of the story inspirations come from real life? The tales are pretty horrifying, but so are people sometimes.
The tales weren't inspired by any specific real life events; at least, not from my own personal experiences. 'Clean Up On Aisle Gore' was the first tale I started to write, and at the time, all I wanted to do was place my narrator into a mundane setting and have something extraordinary occur. I tend to write horror that preys on the fear of the horrible things that could occur in everyday life, but with Tales Of The Bastard Drunk I wanted to incorporate the paranormal to broaden the scope and have a bit more fun with it.

Who are your current favorite authors? What do you enjoy about them?
Stephen King will always be a firm favourite for obvious reasons, and I've been reading classic Raymond Carver quite a bit recently. I like to think that I'm versatile when it comes to reading, and believe it or not I prefer books that make me laugh. I really like Danny Wallace, and Yes Man is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. Comedy is a welcome escape from my own writing; when I finished writing The Bastard's tales, the first book I picked up was Ron Burgundy's autobiography.

What are you working on next?
I recently finished a short novella called The Recherché, which is set in an alternate, dystopian reality where blood is currency. Among my current projects is The Cure, which is a short fantasy story set largely in the imagination of a young girl, who is confined to her bed due to illness, as she searches for her remedy. There is another novella in progress with a working title of Kentucky Fried Christian, and there's always the possibility of more tales from The Bastard in the future...