Fiction and Fantasy by Weston Kincade: Surprise Interview with Up-and-Coming Author JC Michael

I am happy to announce another surprise author interview, this time with British author JC Michael, whose debut horror novel Discoredia was just released through Books of the Dead Press. It is a very well developed and horrifying tale. Reading through the events in the story almost felt like the strobe lights of the raves and pill-popping dancers’ mindsets were shared with the reader throughout. It was certainly an entertaining and exciting tale.

Here’s the short summary:

As the year draws to a close a mysterious stranger makes a proposition to club owner, Warren Charlton. It's a deal involving a brand new drug called Pandemonium.

The good news: the drug is free.
The bad news: it comes at a heavy price, promising much but delivering far more.

Euphoria and ecstasy. Death and depravity. All come together, at Discoredia.

What other authors are saying:

“J.C. Michael’s brilliant novel, Discoredia, is a literal trip into the abyss echoing with the screams of those classic movies from the 80s where the big bad was bigger than life, unrepentantly evil, and no one was safe. By the time Michael’s 200 beat-per-minute pandemonium kicks in it’s too late to do anything but keep rolling and pray you make it to the last track.”
~ Bracken MacLeod, author of Mountain Home

“J. C. Michael’s Discoredia is the ballroom blitz from Hell. Michael’s novel of sex, drugs, music and evil pulls you in seductively, then turns the amp up to 11. With a silky, snaky style reminiscent of Clive Barker, Michael weaves a tale that takes recreational drug use to a whole new, terrifying level. The book moves at a terrific pace, to the THUMP THUMP THUMP of dance music. And all the time, in the background, there is an elegant, sophisticated evil DJing the entire rave.”
~ John F.D. Taff, author of Little Deaths

“Fantastic. Epic. I’ve done a lot of drugs, and wrote my share of stories, but never have they both danced together in the darkness such as in Discoredia.”
~Mark Matthews, author of On the Lips of Children

I was blown away. Discoredia is a story of humanity, depravity, and living sin, shoving all else by the wayside. I read it in just a couple days and felt somewhat torn. Part of me wished to help the main characters, but almost all are littered with the flaws of humanity, some worse than others. A nagging part of me even rejoiced at each character's horrifying experiences. This tale isn't for the weak hearted or those whose sanity might be teetering. With a writing style and flare all his own, J.C. Michael has rewritten history and the possibilities of the universe. Don't miss the excitement of this heart-thumping tale, but look out for those purple-flecked panda pills.

As you can see, I enjoyed the read. It’s great to have Mr. Michael with us today.

WK: Welcome, JC. It’s good to have you. Now, I’m sure you are excited to have your debut novel out and in readers’ hands. What’s your inspiration for writing?

JC: My inspiration comes from a lot of places, but mainly it’s the fact that I’m often making up stories and coming up with plots in my head, with writing providing a release for those thoughts and ideas.

WK: I can certainly understand that. Those ideas and characters rattle around in my head sometimes like inmates trying to get out. It’ll drive a man insane. So what made you write Discoredia?

JC: It was a challenge from my wife (girlfriend at that point). She was studying for a Performing Arts degree, which brought quite a creative atmosphere to our home life, and I also had a habit of saying “It would have been better if…” after reading a book or watching a movie. The result was a challenge that if I thought I could do any better, then I should give it a go, and I readily accepted. I wound up with a 90,000+ word novel.

WK: LOL. That’s an interesting start. Competitions and challenges have motivated some of the greatest authors throughout history: Mary Shelly, Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and so many others. Hopefully you’ve just started down a similar path. Do you have any favorite authors?

JC: Stephen King has to be my favorite, but I also enjoy James Herbert and Clive Barker.

WK: Those are certainly some whose works I’ve enjoyed reading. On a slightly different topic, does your inspiration ever come from people you know?

JC: Character-wise yes. I don’t exactly create characters based on specific people, but I bring in bits and pieces of various people I know.

WK: That’s hard to resist sometimes. Real people are often intriguing and more astounding than any fictional character we could come up with—that’s for sure. So, while not writing, what do you enjoy doing?

JC: Spending time with my family and fairly run-of-the-mill stuff like movies, video games, and watching the football (soccer for American readers) on T.V. I’m a big Manchester United fan.

WK: Speaking of Manchester United, I have often seen drunken brawls portrayed on television by Manchester United fans, probably from movies like Eurotrip, Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. (Correct me if I’m thinking of the wrong movies.) Do you have a celebration activity or something you like to do when you finish a novel? I hope it doesn’t involve too much destruction.

JC: I'm not sure about Snatch and Lock Stock, but I do know The Football Factory and Green Street are movies about hooliganism. However, I never truly feel that the novel is “finished” as I’m always likely to tinker with it and be looking to improve it. I suppose publication is the point where I view the novel as “finished” and I’ll be celebrating that with a glass of whisky, and a toast to my publisher.

WK: I’m sure he’d appreciate it. Maybe you can even name a character in your next book after him. Speaking of—how do you choose character names, and are they important?

JC: They’re not random, but they’re not overly important. Having said that, once a character has a name it would be weird to change it.

WK: I can understand that. Attempting to change a character’s identity mid-book would almost seem traumatizing. Additionally, in my opinion there’s a feel to a name sometimes. Think about your character Warren Charlton. The name itself seems to exude an aura of authority to my ear, even before we meet him. Sometimes when testing names for characters, I go through them like a shopping trip through Dillard’s, trying each one on like it were a new sports jacket. I’m sure you went through plenty when coming up with characters early in your writing. Do you remember the plot of the first thing you ever wrote?

JC: I wrote a story at primary school where two alien races were in a battle and every few lines another bunch of aliens would turn up in their spaceships, and turn the tide of the battle. The teacher read it out to the class and pretended it was from a real book.

WK: Wow! Well that was nice of her. I’m sure it helped motivate you to write more, or did you just try to impress her for the rest of the year by wearing some fancy cologne? In that line of thought, do you have a favorite game, cologne, or anything that you just can’t live without?

JC: Hardcore music and Manchester United.

WK: Since we’ve now travelled back into the early days of your childhood, let me pry a bit more. What was the first thing you remember reading?

JC: I’ve no idea, but “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” was a childhood favorite according to my dad.

WK: Ha-ha! I’m sure my parents might say something similar. I don’t know which book it might be, maybe “Where’s Waldo” or something. Now, which do you prefer as a reader, e-book or paper?

JC: Traditional dead tree for me. I read a lot on the I-Phone at the moment, but given the choice I’d opt for a real book as I stare at a computer screen all day at work.

WK: My sentiments exactly. It’s hard to beat a good traditional book, but when it comes to pocketbook comfort and accessing a huge library of books easily, I find the convenience factor very difficult to overlook. Seeing how Discoredia has just been released, this might be a bit of a ways off, but if your book were made into a movie, who would you like to direct and star in it?

JC: Discoredia is very much a “British” book, and I’d like it to keep that feel. Christopher Lee would make a great Woodrose, in the early part of the novel, and director-wise maybe Neil Marshall (The Descent / Dog Soldiers).

WK: I’m sure that would be a very exciting movie, and you certainly can’t go wrong with Christopher Lee. He’d do a heck of a good job as Woodrose. Let me know when it’s in the works. I’d love to see it come to fruition. Thanks for coming, JC. And good luck with Manchester United!