Great friend to Demain and contributor (Book 2 - The Stranger & The Ribbon) Tim Dry has created a brilliant little promo for the first twelve books...thanks Tim!

Check it out on YouTube here:

https://youtu.be/ZmK78y3bsj4

​It really is very good.

​Where to begin with Mister Youngquist? Well Dean and he go back almost ten years now and it was actually David and his publishing company Dark Continents which gave Dean a platform with his Phobophobia anthology of which he will forever be grateful. David is a class-a writer too and his contribution to the Short Sharp Shocks! Series is Book 9: The Other.
DEMAIN PUBLISHING: Hello sir, how goes it – it’s been a little while hasn’t it...
DAVID YOUNGQUIST: Hello and thanks for taking the time to talk with me today. Glad we could sit down for some questions. I’ve been off the writing radar for a time, so it’s good to catch up, and this way maybe some new readers will get to know me a bit.
DP: I hope they will too, so let’s get down straight to it. Can you tell us a little about The Other and where the idea / concept behind it..
DY: Many writers say they don’t really know where they get their ideas. I admit most time I don’t either. It’s usually an organic thing where several ideas kind of gel into one story line. In the case of The Other, there actually were things that inspired it. I did used to teach, when Fay and I first married, and then after that I worked second shift at a local factory for five years. Many nights found me up late grading papers, and then after working a late shift and getting home past midnight, I would often be awake into the wee hours of the morning. I am one of those people who can’t just come home and jump into bed, so I would be up working on a writing project or something. There were several times, I heard something in my garage, like someone rustling around working on something in there, but when I would go to check on it, the garage would be empty except for the wife’s car. I always wanted to expand on this happening as a story, so The Other is my offering of that.
DP: With all that ‘experience’ then going into your story, I suspect you didn’t have to do much additional research?
DY: There are a lot of interesting concepts in this story (at least I hope there are) so one would think there was a ton of research involved. My wife, however, referrers to me as ‘the largest walking encyclopedia of useless knowledge’ that she knows. I have to agree. Part of the reason for that is I’m an omnivorous and voracious reader. I read much more than fiction. Part of that is due to my education. I’m a trained teacher of Biology and History, so there are a lot of subjects I have studied as part of my course material. Psychology is a big part of the educational certification in the US, so knowing what the mind can do is part of this story as well. I have also written three collections of ghost stories, and was part of a paranormal investigation team back in Illinois for several years, so the concept of parallel worlds is something that I have dealt with. One of our investigators used a ‘ghost box’, so I have heard those voices from the other side.
DP: ‘Ghost box’? That’s really cool – I’ll quickly tell this story: I had an experience a couple of years ago on a short holiday on a canal boat...there were five / six of us that went and one of the group (who I didn’t particularly know) claimed to be a psychic and in communication with ‘the other side’. She had this little machine which was something straight out of Ghostbusters – one night we were in a really old  restaurant (in Oxford I think it was) and, a little drunk, we asked her whether there were any ghosts around us. She got the machine out and we watched it light up from red to green then go back down to green, a process which kept repeating itself every few minutes – she told us that the whole place was literally screaming with the undead and (probably due to the booze) we were really impressed and talked about who the ghosts could be etc etc. A couple of moments later however, one of the guys noticed that her machine seemed to go off everytime the waiter walked past our table. We grabbed hold of him and tested our theory – we were right. It seemed it was his mobile phone which was sending her machine haywire and it wasn’t anything supernatural at all...which kind of ruined the evening if I’m honest and ruined her reputation...tell us about the challenges you faced when writing The Other.
DY: Not let it grow into something much larger. My short stories tend to morph into something bigger these days, so I had to keep the reins tight and stay focused on the end point of this story.
DP: I know that pain – I hate being given word counts, deadlines ha ha – I’ve been a bit better of late but in the past tell me you want five thousand I’ll write ten, you want ten, I’ll write twenty or something...but as I say, I’m getting better now, more disciplined. Tell me David, when you were writing did you ever ‘become’ one of the characters?
DY: Every writer is part of the character he or she writes. In this case, Jake, the main character definitely is an aspect of my life that could have been. And that life in the story of how it could have been. I’m one of those people that believe our paths take a direction at certain points in time based on one important decision or another. ‘Bad Jake’ made certain decisions. As did ‘Good Jake.’ And sometimes, the universe helps fix things.
DP: I like that theory and perhaps needs further thought before I can retort as articulately as I would wish...but this interview is about you, not me. Do you think you have a specific writing style, has it changed over the years?
DY: Every author evolves their own voice, or style, as they grow. If they stick with it long enough. My style evolved into something fast, with dark shadows around fringes of hope. I guess the realist and the optimist are always struggling within the confines of my writing. But I think that may be a Midwestern thing. We’re a hardy bunch or realists hoping life gets better. Farming stock tends to have to be that way, or there’d be no farmers left in the world. One of the most challenging things I still struggle with, is detail. I started my career as a reporter, and it shows. You don’t get the ton of detail with me you get with someone like King or Clancy. Sometimes I have to fight myself to put in enough detail to get people’s attention and keep it (at least in my mind).
DP: I personally like your style because it is very much to the point – like Hemingway. Punchy. Who were your influences...
DY: I have many influences on my work. From Karnow to King, from Poe to Twain, I think probably there are touches of all of them in my work. Poe, perhaps influences my style of writing horror, but I think if I had to pick one overall writer as a mentor / influence, that would be Jim Butcher [the second Short Sharp Shocks! Author to talk about Jim! - DP]. His Dresden Files series is the only piece I have read every book of. He had me hooked from the beginning. His ability to blend magic into the world of every day is the best I have ever read. The only complaint I have is he hasn’t released a new Dresden book in a couple years now, since he’s busy on other projects.
DP: I’m beginning to think I’m missing out not having read Jim’s work – I need to address this asap. What’s next for you?
DY: I’ve got a ton of things going on. Stitched Smile Publications has been kind enough to pick up my z-poc series Snareville for re-release, as well as my fantasy/cross dimension series Black Jack. I can’t say when the first will be released, but it is coming soon. They have contracted me for continuing books in both those series, so I’ll be revisiting the worlds of Danny Death and Black Jack Dragonfist soon. They also picked up my Black Jack tie-in series Were Wars, which has never been published before. This series follows the story of werewolves that have been hiding among us for centuries, to be outed now in the modern world. Finally, I’m working on a crime series that I’ll be taking with me to Bouchercon in Dallas, TX this fall called The Hitman’s Daughter. I hope to find an agent there interested in the series.
DP: Well, all the best from us – please let us know how you get on! With all these different projects on the go do you ever suffer from the dreaded ‘writer’s block’?
DY: 2018 was the first time I ever dealt with writer’s block. Up until then, I had enough projects going that if I bogged down on one, I simply switched to another piece, and went on from there until the first book talked to me again. For the last two years, however, I had only been working on the third Were Wars book and The Hitman’s Daughter. I hit a wall with both. You have to understand, however, the events of 2016 - 2018 were pretty full. We moved to Washington state, started new careers and schooling, had a death in the family, so yeah, giant mental blocks. I didn’t panic. Just took it easy. Went for a lot of walks in the mountains with the fam and down along Puget Sound (which is now about a mile from my front door) The muse spoke again, and I’m back on track.
DP: Yes, sometimes you’ve just got to re-connect with nature for your own sanity if nothing else. I quick like walking between the trees or my favourite sitting by the sea watching the waves...very theraputic as well as inspiring. Thinking about inspiration, do you write outlines of your stories before you start or do you just chance your luck?
DY: I am one of those people who do not do formal outlines. Since about the year 2000, I have had mindless jobs that allowed me to write the story in my head for eight hours a day, and then sit down at the keyboard and get it down. The job I have now is much more involved, but there is downtime in daily life where you just let your world build. Plus, the people in my stories tend to tell me where they want to go and what they want to do anyway, so a strict outline is pretty rigid to me.
DP: Do you think there’s a particular theme you write about? Do you stay in the same genre or try to mix them up a little bit?
DY:  I fell into the z-poc genre wanting to write a better story than the shit that was out there at the time (2009-10-11) so I got in on that wave, and think I did a pretty good job. Took the genre in a new, more involved direction. Horror wise, writing it has always been a way for me to let the demons out of my skull and control them. But it’s my dark place. I don’t like to live there. When I discovered ‘Urban Fantasy’ though Jim Butcher, I finally figured out how to blend all my styles. I think most of what I do now would be referred to as ‘Urban Fantasy Noir’. Even my Hitman series, as grounded in the real world as it is.
DP: I’ve always wanted to write a noir piece actually...I’ll have to give that some more thought. Um, so I’m a film producer, pitch me The Other.  
DY: If the Universe offered you a chance to correct the biggest mistake you made in your life, would you take it? Jake Jablonski finds himself deciding just that when he steps though the doorway of his garage into a life that could have been.
DP: Brilliant, brilliant – and finally, one surprising fact about you, if you don’t mind.
DY:  My readers may not know that in addition to my Bachelor’s of Education, I also earned a degree in Horse Science Technology and spent many years of my life working as a horse breeder and trainer in different parts of the country before I met Fay.
 
Thank you David – a pleasure as always. All the best with your projects and (obviously!) with The Other!
To connect directly with David:
Twitter: @DavidYoungquis1

A brilliant review of Barbie's Patient K has appeared on the Clive Barker Podcast webpage by Rob Ridenour of which he writes: "If you’re a fan of Wilde’s past work then I’m positive you’ll find a lot to enjoy here. She’s crafted a story that’s a cross between The Punisher and The Twilight Zone. In fact, it’s a story that would’ve made Rod Serling proud." - High praise indeed. Thank you Rob!!!! 

(to read the review click on the banner below)

Dean M. Drinkel met Jason D. Brawn many (ha ha) years ago when Jason came to see at least two of Dean’s plays (if memory serves one was Clive Barker’s Frankenstein In Love and then one of Dean’s original pieces, The Catskills) and a friendship was borne. Jason (who recently graduated with an M.A. – well done!) is a talented writer and has worked with Dean on a few projects now so when it came to the Short Sharp Shocks! Series, it was a no-brainer that Jason would be involved.
Demain Publishing: Hey Jason, hope you’re doing fine. Let’s get straight down to it – can you tell us a little about The Intruders?
Jason D. Brawn: The focal point of this story is what if witch-hunting existed today in rural England, still practiced by the locals.  The story focuses on a couple sharing a holiday home that was once owned by the Pendle Witches.
DP: Ah, the Pendle Witches – I actually wrote my degree dissertation on the Salem Witch Trials so I remember that I did some reading up on witch trials in Europe...interesting and intriguing...for The Intruders did you have to do a lot of research?
JDB: I did do a little research, as I've already been to the area of the Pendle Witches, and I did think outside the box at times.  I guess I do that with most of my stories – a combination of fact and fiction. 
DP: Which you have constantly made a success off...did you have any particular challenges when you wrote The Intruders?
JDB: Keeping the suspense going, which was hard.
DP: Well you succeeded there my friend.  While you were writing, did you ever feel as if you were one of the characters? Are there parts of The Intruders which are based on events in your own life?
JDB: Hell no, but I did tell the story from one character's POV.
DP: Out of interest do you find anything particularly challenging when you write?
JDB: I tend to find my own voice through each story.  I do not pay much attention to my own voice.
DP: Let’s talk then about your influences...who is your favourite author and what is important about their work?
JDB:  Edgar Allan Poe for the way he can turn your paranoia into your worst monster, and I love reading Sigmund Freud's The Uncanny, as a book.
DP: Now that your M.A. is finished I suspect you’ve got a little more free time – what are your current projects?
JDB:  A folk horror screenplay and a contemporary Gothic thriller novel set in East London.
DP: Both sound very much up my street. Folk horror is certainly en vogue and I love Ben Wheatley’s work...do you suffer from writer’s block at all?
JDB:  I am always inspired by art, literature, cinema, TV, dark history and travelling, and finding lots of ideas for me to write.  So the answer to that question is no.
DP: Good for you. With a couple of the projects on the go at the same time do you outline or just go for it?
JDB: For short stories I don't.  But because I'm writing a screenplay and novel, I am finding my story through that process. 
DP: So Jason do you have a favourite theme that you write about and do you learn anything when you write?
JDB: The fear of losing control of yourself.  Each story I craft is a learning process and I can only get better when I keep writing.  
DP: And if you were writing a synopsis for a newspaper / magazine article – how would it go?  
JDB: A young couple's holiday retreat in a secluded cottage is rudely disturbed one night, when they hear noises outside.  What is it?  And who are they?  And what do they want?  And why them?
DP: Very succinct. Finally then, tell us something your readers might be surprised to find out about you?
JDB: I am not weird. 
DP: Thanks for your time Jason and all the best with The Intruders (and other stories).
To connect with Jason:
Website: http://jasonbrawn.weebly.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasonbrawn

Recently we sat down with Liz Tuckwell to talk about her A Monster Met Book 7 in the Short Sharp Shocks! Series...
DP: Hi Liz, hope you’re doing well. A Monster Met is out at the end of the month – can you tell us about it and how you came up with the idea in the first place?
LT: Hello and yes definitely. I went on a Caribbean cruise on of those floating palaces, a cruise ship with over 3,000 passengers, with my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law (nothing like the characters in the story I must add). I enjoyed the cruise very much (what’s not to like?). It made me think about how much we take people at face value on holiday. If someone was a serial killer, how would you know? And serial killers like to kill people. How easy would it be to kill someone on a cruise ship? That was the germ of the idea for the story.
DP: And its a great idea for sure – did you have to do a lot of additional research for the story...
LT: I’ve had a few holidays on large cruise ships so I knew quite a lot about how they operate and how passengers behave on them. I did google ‘CCTV on cruise ships’ and ‘crew quarters’ on Google and got some very interesting and entertaining results. I also did some research on Canadians and Canada as my ‘hero’ is Canadian to back up my extensive research into Canadian cuisine and alcohol when I went there a few years ago. Google was very useful for serial killers.
DP: Just make sure you delete your browsing history though ha ha! Did you have any particular challenges when writing A Monster Met?
LT: Trying to think like a serial killer. Trying to think like a male serial killer. Writing a 5,000 word story. It’s not a length I’ve tried much before.
DP: And you’ve made a success of it so make sure you keep at it...some writers become so immersed in their work that they actually become one of the characters – did that happen to you and are there are any parts of the story based on your own life (having read your story I’m looking forward to this answer LOL).
LT: No, I never felt like I was one of the characters, which is probably reassuring for people who’ve read the story. Yes, the story is partly based on cruises I’ve been on.
DP: Ah, shame, shame – I was hoping that you were going to...oh, better not say any more as this is a relatively spoiler free zone, okay, next question: Which authors influenced you?
LT: I think I’ve been influenced by Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris and Jasper Fforde.
DP: To be honest I haven’t read those authors – so I will resolve that asap...I quite like the look of Fforde’s work...a friend recently recommended Jim Butcher’s books to me as well oddly and Charlaine Harris isn’t doing too badly for herself. So what next for Liz Tuckwell? Anything you can tell us about?
LT: Sure. I’ve got a few projects on the go. I’m the sort of person who finds it hard to focus on just one at a time. I’m revising a classic murder mystery with a fantasy element novel, I’ve got a couple of novellas I’m rewriting and I’ve got a batch of short stories that I need to edit and do something with.
DP: That’s what I like to hear: a busy writer. With all that going on, do you outline each project before starting or just go for it?
LT: I usually have a rough outline, I don’t normally do a detailed one for short stories. For A Monster Met, I had a rough idea of where I wanted it to go. I changed the point where the story started, originally I had more background on Joe, and the ending a couple of times.
DP: Interesting, interesting...do you have a favourite theme and / or genre which you write about...also, do you think you learnt anything from writing A Monster Met?
LT: My favourite genres are fantasy and science fiction, particularly urban fantasy and alternate history. I do occasionally read horror, I read the anthology Dean edited, Phobophobia (Dark Continents, 2011) and enjoyed that. However, I realised that for me to write a horror story, it has to have some comic elements to balance the horror.  I also learnt I can write 5,000 word stories and that I can write horror stories.
DP: Well that’s definitely true. Okay, last one – tell us something your readers might not know about you.
LT: I’m an identical twin, my sister is ten minutes older than me and never lets me forget it. I’m also learning Esperanto, the universal language for two reasons. 1) I think it’s a great idea although it will never be adopted but wouldn’t it make life easier if it was? And 2) learning a language is good for your brain (apparently) and Esperanto is one of the easiest languages to learn (unlike Klingon or Dothraki etc.)
DP: Nice one Liz, nice one. Well, great to speak with you and all the best with A Monster Met.
 
If you want to connect with Liz directly:
Twitter: @LizTuckwell1 (more than one of me apparently)
www.facebook.com/liztuckwellwriter

Dean M. Drinkel met Emile-Louis Tomas Jouvet in a bar in Montmartre (Paris) nine or so years ago. A band was playing a song by A-Ha (Dean’s favourite band) and Dean (who more than likely had had a couple to drink at that point) attempted to wrestle the microphone from the lead-singer before literally bumping into Emile-Louis and his friends who – as it turned out – also had a fondness for our Norwegian heroes. More drinks followed and a friendship was born. At that time Emile-Louis was a student in Paris, studying history and literature. He had written several stories in French (and won awards for them) but never in English. As Dean was looking for stories for his first anthology Phobophobia, Emile-Louis promised he’d try and write one. Emile-Louis kept the promise. For the Short Sharp Shocks! Series, Emile-Louis’ Every Moon Atrocious is Book 6.
 
DEMAIN PUBLISHING: It’s good to sit down with you again my friend. It’s been a while. I know after graduation you’ve travelled a fair bit haven’t you? Asia, the Far East, South America...
ELTJ: That’s true. I’ve been to so many places, seen so much of the world. I’m truly blessed. It’s not always been easy and it’s certainly not a free ride – I’ve worked in every country I’ve visited but I’m back in Paris now. Settling down perhaps...we’ll wait and see, there’s still a little fire in the belly I can tell you. I would like to visit Russia next and work my way around the old Soviet states.
DP: I’ve always fancied the Trans-Siberian express if I ever get enough money ha ha – anyway, anyway, onto your story Every Moon Atrocious can you tell us a little about it.
ELTJ: I’ve been fascinated for a long time by the fact that if you live in a city then you are constantly under observation, under scrutiny, under pressure but when you are out in the country you are free – well, for the most time I suppose – I wanted to write a story where the narrative was directed not so much by the characters / their words & actions but by the machinery which observes / records them. I liked telling the story ‘out of sequence’ too. I hope that makes sense.
DP: Of course.
ELTJ: In Cannes, so I believe, isn’t it correct that you are always on camera no matter where you go in public. Every centimetre of public space is being observed by somebody...very scary in my opinion.
DP: That is true of Cannes yes and I suspect of many cities now...so with Every Moon Atrocious what were the challenges you faced when writing it?
ELTJ: Getting the time sequences right – it took a little while but we got there in the end. The story did inspire me though to delve deeper into the ‘peeping tom syndrome’ and I think at some point I’d like to write a companion piece about the person at the other end of a cctv camera...I guess also I wanted to write something which was natural and too much contrived. Like you I’ve been very influenced by the Italian Umberto Eco and whilst not every reader might see them, there are several allusions to his work – particularly The Name Of The Rose.
DP: Ah, a great author and what a cracking book that is – I enjoyed the film a lot and can’t wait for the tv series which should be out very very soon. It’s odd you mention that book today as I’ve been thinking a lot about it recently...you been spying on me Emile?
ELTJ: Not recently no – why what have you been up to?
DP: Moving on...did you use anything from your real life when writing your story do you think?
ELTJ: Not that I will say everything here but a couple of years ago, not long after meeting you I did have some trouble with local law enforcers in Paris...it was a mistake on their behalf and nothing ever came of it – I did get a written apology which I framed and put on the wall of my parent’s home in Marseille...I suppose a little of that experience did go into some of the characters...
DP: Tell me about your writing style.
ELTJ: Right now I don’t believe I’ve got a specific style – I love experimenting and I’m working on a couple of stories right now which are very very different from each other. I have a great affiliation for William Burroughs and I was reading only the other day that he had four distinct styles / periods during his writing career and I think I’m a bit like that – I need to find my voice or voices and see where they go. I would also add that I think also what affects me is what country I am in whilst writing – for example, a story I wrote a few months back in Belize is very different to the one I’ve just finished in Paris...the world around you does influence you...I’ve found anyway.
DP: Totally agree, I know my ‘voice’ changed when I started going to Paris a great deal and then when I moved to Cannes...these last few months while I’ve been in the UK working on the tv stuff, I’ve noticed another shift. For me I’ve also found that if I’m reading a lot by a particular author then they can invade my work too...with that in mind, which other writers (or books) influenced you?
ELTJ: Well, we’ve mentioned Umberto Eco – I love Bret Easton Ellis too...can’t wait until his new book...the summer I think. Somebody else you told me about a few years ago was that English singer...Paul Heaton (I have that right?) his lyrics...wow, I don’t really know any British poets but his songs are amazing - The Housemartins, The Beautiful South, his solo work...I’ve got most if not all his albums on my MP3...I also love Rimbaud¸ Dumas, Hugo, Hemingway...I was going to add that guy from The Smiths I would be a liar...
DP: Such an eclectic mix but I wouldn’t expect anything else...so any more stories in 2019?
ELTJ: To be published? I’m not sure...I’m working on lots of stuff and perhaps one or two stories in my own language as it’s been a while...we will see...I know I will soon get the bug to travel again...you’ll be the first to know though. Let me know when you are in Paris my friend
DP: Okay I will – we need to do some karaoke...I’ve been practising some Brel songs...
ELTJ: ...do you want to talk Brexit now or then?
DP: Brexit? What’s that...just a figment of all our imaginations...ha ha! Good luck with the books Emile and see you soon.

Demain and the Short Sharp Shocks! series got a nice mention on Lee's excellent website. Lee is a respected writer (and publisher - Dark Cloud Press) in the genre. He is known for his dark fiction: horror, erotic horror, dark fantasy, dark crime, psychological thrillers and suspense stories. Thanks a million Lee!

The article can be found here: https://leeallenhoward.com/2019/03/18/demain-publishing-releases-short-sharp-shocks-series/

And more about Lee here: https://leeallenhoward.com/bio_bibliography/​

Where we can here at Demain we are always up for a little 'cross-promotion' and as such, if you like your horror French and folk (or even gothic as a recent review said!) then you can't do much worse than check out 'Into The Night Eternal - Tales Of French Folk Horror' with stories by Romain Collier, Dean M. Drinkel, Jan Edwards and Phil Sloman. A recent review on Amazon gave it 4 / 5 stars saying: 'Whilst not all stories felt 'folk horror' to me - most actually seemed more gothic - I am not one to split hairs over a label, especially when the stories were as enjoyable as these. All are different, from rural and urban settings, to holiday home and deserted hotel, from disillusioned couple to long-lost friends, but all are dark and chilling reads.' It is available in both paperback and ebook, links below. Enjoy! 

Kindle: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Into-Night-Eternal-French-Horror-ebook/dp/B07GZ1JFBP/
Paperback: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Into-Night-Eternal-French-Horror/dp/1527229807/

Of Martin's entry to the Short Sharp Shocks! Series a review on Amazon (giving the book 4 / 5) said: "Wonderful little collection of spooky stories, from demonic farm animals (my favourite tale) to a haunted hotel. Hugely entertaining and worth the read." - Well done Martin Richmond!
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