Featured Author: Jonathan Moon

The time has come for my author spotlight to shine on a new face. I’d like to welcome my new Featured Author…Jonathan Moon!! I have selected Mr. Moon to be one of my Featured Authors this week because of a very important day that is coming up this Friday, December 10th. To find out more about his collection of stories, Mr. Moon’s Nightmares, and find out what is happening on December 10th, read Jonathan’s interview below!!

Without giving too much away, can you tell us what Mr. Moon’s Nightmares is about?

Mr. Moon’s Nightmares is my first ever collection of stories and it runs the gamut of horror subjects and styles. I have two novellas, a 9 part mini series, a limerick, and a 100 word flash fiction piece amongst the 22 stories within. I have ghosts, serial killers, werewolves, witches, vampires, giant carnivorous insects, cursed towns, cosmic terrors; basically every thing a horror fan could possibly want.

How long did it take you to write the stories included in Mr. Moon’s Nightmares?

It took me about eighteen months to get the stories all written (or rounded up, as some were older than others). I’ve got about half of Vol 2 finished and I’ve been working on it off and on for five months already.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

I’ve stolen your soul and I’ll only give it back if you read my book.

I understand you have deemed December 10th to be Mr. Moon’s Nightmares All Day Day. Can you tell us a little bit about what to expect and what you hope to accomplish on December 10th?

Sure! In an effort to spread awareness of my tome of terror I’m running a promotion on 12-10-10 I’ve affectionately named Mr. MoOn’s Nightmares All Day Day! I’m attempting to get as many people as possible to buy or review Mr. Moon’s Nightmares from Amazon all on the same day. For those that purchase Mr. Moon’s Nightmares I’ll enter them into a drawing full of some of my favorite books by some of my favorite authors; including books by David Dunwoody, ESB, Kevin Shamel, Jordan Krall and more! If you buy the very recently released Houdini Gut Punch along with your killer copy of Mr. Moon’s Nightmares, I’ll enter you into the drawing three times!

I plan on posting up reviews of some of my favorite books and movies, posting up some of my favorite music videos, and giving away a few MP3 of my stories and maybe even a few PDFs of Mr. Moon’s Nightmares and Houdini Gut Punch! Be sure to check out the Facebook event page to be apart of the fun!

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always had an over-active imagination and I’ve written since my childhood. The first thing I ever wrote was a comic book called ‘The Blue Ninja’. I stapled copies together and sold them on my block. Since then it has just gotten uglier.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

Often times when I’m writing there is a guinea pig on my lap.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I split my spare time loving on my wife, daughter, dog, and aforementioned guinea pig and spreading chaos, panic, and despair.

What does your family think of your writing?

I have a lot of kind supportive people in my family. I also have a lot of assholes in my family. The kind and supportive ones have been there believing in me and my madness since the beginning and the assholes…well, they are assholes and who cares what they think?

How many books have you written so far?

I’ve written 3 so far…okay, I wrote a novel called HEINOUS and had it self published. The entire experience left a sour taste in my mouth and I was never as happy with the finished product as I should have been. Luckily for me Doc Pus saw through the shitty formatting and my half assed editing to see the wicked story underneath and I’m re-writing it for his Library of Horror. I wrote each and every story in Mr. Moon’s Nightmares so I’m counting that as 1. Then I co-wrote the Apocalypse and Satan’s Glory Hole with Timothy W, Long of The Zombie-Wilson Diaries fame. It is our wild insane brutal hyper-offensive epic about an apocalypse gone terribly wrong. Heinous should be back out and ripping off faces by the middle of 2011 as well as the zombie western I’m working on for Doc’s Library of the Living Dead. Whew.

Also, I’ve got stories in Jason Baker’s Abandoned 1 & 2 (and one in the upcoming 3), The Zombist, Houdini Gut Punch, the forthcoming Fearology from Library of Horror, as well as a hip new one in the upcoming Undertaker Tales from NorGus Press.

How did you celebrate the sale of your first book?

With the Soulja Boy dance.

Which book was the most enjoyable for you to write? What about the least enjoyable?

They’ve all been enjoyable just in different ways. Apoc was a blast because Tim and I were cracking each other up the entire time. We allowed ourselves to write with no boundaries or restraints. Writing Heinous feels like visiting a masochist for an afternoon whipping with a head full of bad acid. Trust me it is far more therapeutic than that sounds. I end up putting various pieces of myself in every thing I write so each means something and triggers some kind of emotion within my cold black heart. I enjoy writing books. I despise writing job applications.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a published author?

Be patient, have thick skin, learn from people that are kind enough to teach, READ and WRITE everyday, and don’t mess with bad bad LeRoy Brown.

Do you hear from your readers much?

I am more and more and I dig it. I am always very happy to hear from someone that enjoys the work I do. It makes me do the Soulja Boy dance.

What do you think makes a good story?

I consider a story good if it can offer me an escape from reality when I read it. It can be short, long, scary, weird, dumb, gory, sexy, gay, straight, violent, abstract, whatever; just so long as it takes me away while I’m reading it.

What genre do you find the most difficult to write in and why?

Romance. My grandma has been asking me to write a love story for years…and I try but they always twist themselves up into to something dark by the time they’re done. My stories don’t often have happy endings and if there is romance then, well, someone has to die.

Outlines? Are they needed or just a waste of time?

I think it is always a good idea to get a basic idea of what the hell you are doing. Some projects require more in depth outlines than others. But I think it helps my creative process sometimes to put my random thoughts in order before I dash in like a drunken scientist hoping to make something terrifying.

Do you ever experience writer’s block and if so, how to you overcome it?

I do. To cure it I walk in circles slapping myself in the face, chugging Johnnie Walker Red, and screaming the theme song to Real American Hero until the damn breaks and creativity returns.

What is the last book you read?

Eric S. Brown’s Season of Death…and it rocks!

If you could take any book and rewrite it, putting your own twist on it, which book would it be and why?

The BFG by Ronald Dahl….I’d gore it up good! Since my childhood I’ve been fascinated with monstrous characters and the ‘human bean’ eating giants could really be scarier…I’m only saying this because I love the story.

Is there anything you need in order to write? (ie music, silence, chocolate)

I like to have something to drink on and I go outside for smoke breaks. I get into moods where I want different music (heavy or doomy are my faves) and other times I command complete silence. I never know till I’m sitting down to do it.

Night owl or Early bird?

I actually go back and forth….sometimes in the same week.

If you could have dinner with 1 person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

Hunter S. Thompson, three words Party-Animal-Writer

If you could travel into the past or future, where would you go and why?

Most likely to the past; around the mid 1800’s specifically. I’d love to see the western states before man came clomping through.

What does the word success mean to you?

Being able to never have to say, “I’m sorry I set you on fire.’

If you had to compare yourself to an animal, which one would it be and why?

An elk. We both love the forest and mountains and we also share a mild anxiety around humans.

If you were written about on the front page of the newspaper, what would the headline be?

‘Man Creates Shot by Shot Remake of The Big Lebowski Playing Every Role Himself!’

If you had to have one word or phrase written on your forehead for an entire week, what would it be?

‘give this man all your money or he’ll bite you like an elk’

~*~*~*~

I’d like to thank Jonathan Moon for stopping by and being one of my Featured Authors!

Be sure to mark your calendars for this Friday, December 10th, and stop by Mr. Moon’s Facebook event page to learn more about this Featured Author and take part in all the awesome things he has planned! I know I’ll be there!

Visit Jonathan’s blog, Monkey Faced Demon

Get your Paperback copy of Mr. Moon’s Nightmares or get a copy on your Kindle!!

Get your Paperback copy of Houdini Gut Punch

Happy Reading,

Jaidis