That
Which Grows Wild
by
Eric J. Guignard
Genre:
Dark Fantasy, Short Stories
That
Which Grows Wild collects sixteen dark and masterful short stories by
award-winning author Eric J. Guignard. Equal parts whimsy and weird,
horror and heartbreak, this debut collection traverses the darker
side of the fantastic through vibrant and harrowing tales that depict
monsters and regrets, hope and atonement, and the oddly changing
reflection that turns back at you in the mirror.
Discover
why Eric J. Guignard has earned praise from masters of the craft such
as Ramsey Campbell (“Guignard gives voice to paranoid vision that’s
all too believable.”), Rick Hautala (“No other young horror
author is better, I think, than Eric J. Guignard.”), and Nancy
Holder ( “The defining new voice of horror has arrived, and I stand
in awe.”)
Stories
include:
• “A
Case Study in Natural Selection and How It Applies to Love” - a
teen experiences romance, while the world slowly dies from rising
temperatures and increasing cases of spontaneous combustion.
•
“Dreams
of a Little Suicide” - a down-on-his-luck actor unexpectedly finds
his dreams and love in Hollywood playing a munchkin during filming of
The Wizard of Oz, but soon those dreams begin to darken.
•
“The
Inveterate Establishment of Daddano & Co.” - an aged undertaker
tells the true story behind the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, and
of the grime that accumulates beneath our floors.
•
“A
Journey of Great Waves” - a Japanese girl encounters, years later,
the ocean-borne debris of her tsunami-ravaged homeland, and the
ghosts that come with it.
•
“The
House of the Rising Sun, Forever” - a tragic voice gives dire
warning against the cycle of opium addiction from which, even after
death, there is no escape.
•
“Last
Days of the Gunslinger, John Amos” - a gunfighter keeps a decimated
town’s surviving children safe on a mountaintop from the incursion
of ferocious creatures… until a flash flood strikes.
Explore
within, and discover a wild range upon which grows the dark, the
strange, and the profound.
Eric
J. Guignard is a writer and editor of dark and speculative fiction,
operating from the shadowy outskirts of Los Angeles. He's won the
Bram Stoker Award, been a finalist for the International Thriller
Writers Award, and a multi-nominee of the Pushcart Prize. His stories
and non-fiction have appeared in over one hundred genre and literary
publications such as "Nightmare Magazine," "Black
Static," "Shock Totem," "Buzzy Magazine,"
and "Dark Discoveries Magazine." Outside the glamorous and
jet-setting world of indie fiction, Eric's a technical writer and
college professor, and he stumbles home each day to a wife, children,
cats, and a terrarium filled with mischievous beetles.
GUEST POST
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
No, but I’ve always wanted to be a
creative professional, whether that was involved in creating art,
design, or writing. I’ve been driven to create all my life. If I
wasn’t writing, I’d be drawing, woodworking, painting, modeling,
or any number of other things. The same part that gets me up in the
morning is thinking about what I’m going to make next, even if it’s
just a design doodle. I happen to enjoy writing most right now, and
my preference is toward dark matter, being monsters and thrilling
adventures, things that excite, which I’ve also been drawn to all
my life. Creating is my catharsis, my escape, and my satisfaction all
at once
What are the biggest mistakes new
writers make?
False expectations
of rapid success and profitability. For 99% of writers, there is
neither… but that is offset by intrinsic satisfaction and the joy
of releasing a finalized creative product that you have devised.
Do you outline before you write or
do you write as you go? Do you have any writing rituals you practice?
I always begin just by “writing as I
go,” but if the story becomes complicated or I get burned out, or
stuck, then I turn to outlining to figure the proper direction. No
other rituals, but that I write when I can! I try to write in the
morning after I wake up, the earlier the better. I also, oddly, have
a time of greatest focus/ productivity in late afternoon. Our bodies
cycle to rhythmic clocks and mine is set to pound out work at about
4:00 p.m. Of course all that also depends on other work, family, and
life obligations. I write technical documentation for my day job, and
also teach as adjunct U.C. faculty, and have two small children to
raise, so it’s easy to let writing take a back seat to everything
else, though I force myself to write something creative every single
day, even if it’s only fifty words or so.
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the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
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