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Interview with Dark Vanishings author, Dan Padavona

5/19/2015

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While I've mentioned Dan Padavona here a few times in the past year, I've never actually had him over.  Until now.  Dan has authored 3 books (one co-authored with J. Thorn), 1 two-story collection, and he so graciously wrote the foreword to my book Night as a Catalyst.  His passion for the craft is contagious and his work memorable.  To discuss his process of writing, Stephen King comparisons, his new book Dark Vanishings, and his father, Ronnie James Dio, here's Dan Padavona:

Lutzke:  Tell us a about your new book series, Dark Vanishings and what readers can expect to get themselves into while following the series.

Padavona:  Dark Vanishings is a post-apocalyptic horror/adventure series, set up in a series of episodes. The first three episodes will be released on a monthly basis, allowing people to experience the story much the way they do a popular series on HBO.

Without giving too much away, the story begins with a girl awakening to find everyone in her town has disappeared. No killer virus, no zombies risen, no mass alien abduction. The lights still work, all of the town’s houses and businesses still appear intact, yet she lives in a ghost town. The same story plays out across the United States, and eventually our characters find out they aren’t completely alone. And that’s when the fun starts.

The Sterling and Stone crew have shown that the episodic series is a great way of releasing novels, and their readers love their episodes. Not everyone wants to consume a 900-page epic in one sitting. By lowering the price of each book and keeping the page count to somewhere around 150 to 200 pages, not only do you allow readers to tackle a more manageable page count, but you also give them something new to look forward to every month.

Lutzke:  Do you have any projection of how many books will be in the series? 

Padavona:  It’s difficult to say, as I write sans-outline.  The series will take a minimum of four episodes to complete, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes five or six. It’s completely possible that the story will take on a life of its own and keep going, and that’s great, because it’s a fun adventure to get lost in both as a writer and as a reader. But we’ll have to see.

I’m almost finished with the first draft of the third episode, and I can tell you that plenty of story remains to be told.
Lutzke:  I know you're a big Stephen King fan, and after reading the first book in the Dark Vanishing series, I feel it would really appeal to fans of The Stand.  Is this something you did consciously like you did with your first book, Storberry, making its comparisons with that of Salem's Lot?

Padavona:  I actually fought hard to differentiate Dark Vanishings from The Stand. Ultimately, every post-apocalyptic horror story is going to be compared to The Stand, because it’s the best of breed, and King wrote a thought-provoking masterpiece.  Dark Vanishings does have a single bad guy trying to make life miserable for everyone else, but he is nothing like Randall Flagg, and I think by the end of episode one people will realize the antagonist will have dangerous opposition.  I threw out the rule which states that only the evil dude can summon secret powers. In many ways, Dark Vanishings feel to me like a mash-up of fantasy, post-apocalyptic horror, and action.

When I read post-apocalyptic novels, I often garner the most fun from watching the characters interact with familiar locations. I asked myself where I might live or hang out if the world disappeared and I had my choice of any location. My characters have some fun along the way, such as one guy who decides to move into one of the world’s most famous amusement parks.  Because I can tell you if everyone disappears tomorrow, I’m moving into Disney World. There is an upside to this much freedom.

This is quite unlike The Stand, where after the virus, everyone is fleeing fly-covered corpses.

But eventually, the characters of Dark Vanishings must deal with evil, too, and figure out how to survive after the electricity stops functioning.

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Lutzke:  What is your writing process like?  Do you have a regular routine?

Padavona:  Ideally, I would write daily after breakfast. I work rotating shifts with NOAA, so I have to write whenever my schedule allows me to. I write almost every day for about ninety minutes, often at odd times so I can meet my family and career obligations.

I never outline. I prefer writing from the seat of my pants, generating the story as it pops into my head. That process can make facing the blank page more intimidating. However, this style of story generation often surprises me in exciting ways. For instance, the character “Ricky” appeared out of nowhere in the first draft of Dark Vanishings episode 1, and he was so over-the-top that I couldn’t get enough of him. Ricky, a trash talking redneck from…wait for it…the Baltimore suburbs, became a star character instantly. I can’t wait to see what he does next. Don’t ask me how I came up with the idea for Ricky. I have no idea, but I sure am glad I did.

Stylistically, I learned the basic mechanics of writing in college and high school creative writing courses, and refined it greatly with Stephen King’s On Writing. I improve my skills by writing and reading, writing and reading, day after day. My favorite horror story teller is King, but I greatly appreciate the poetic prose of Dean Koontz and the sheer brilliance of Clive Barker. Yet the greatest lesson is in reading widely, and so I read many authors and genres, everything from John Steinbeck to J.K. Rowling.

Lutzke:  When writing, how much life experience can be found in your work versus just straight up created fiction?

Padavona:  Life experience always works its way into my writing. I think it does for any honest writer.  When I wrote Storberry, the interplay between Tom and Jen rang true for me because I remember what it felt like to be a teenager with a crush on someone. I also grew up in a broken home amid a messy divorce, and I know what it’s like to sense there is no way out, and how complex parent-child relationships can be.  

The characters of Dark Vanishings are shaped by a diversity of experiences. Viper, the bounty hunter, watched as his mother was abused during his youth. Blake’s status as an adopted child is hidden from him, and he finds out the truth just as his world begins to fall apart around him. Jacob was a tortured soul in high school, and in the post-apocalyptic silence, he loses his tenuous grip on sanity.
Lutzke:  Before I ask this next question, I need to mention who your father was for those who aren't aware.  He was Ronnie James Dio, rock/metal vocalist with arguably the most impressive vocalist resume in the genre.  Do you pay homage to your father or his fans in your books?

Padavona:  My father left my mother and I when I was four years old. For the next 38 years, my father and I struggled to make our relationship work. Ultimately, cancer took his life before we connected the way a father and his son should. We loved each other, and I still love my father and think of him every day. But we never became a proper family.

My father was an avid reader, and he enjoyed horror quite a bit. I mailed a fair amount of King novels to him for gifts, as well as the Thomas Harris novels. So writing is in many ways my way of paying homage to him as a person. I’m not a musician or singer. I can barely carry a tune, singing along in the car to Tool and The Smiths. But I am a storyteller, always have been, and I believe he was somewhat of a storyteller, too, through his lyrics.

Writing is my way of telling him, if he is somewhere where he can read my books, that he made me proud, and everything is okay between us. We are family in death, even if we never fully came together in life. I hope to see him again someday, and hopefully they let me bring my Kindle with me.
Lutzke:  What's the most important lesson you've learned since you began starting to write for more than just a hobby?

Padavona:  I’ve learned it is crucial to surround myself with well-read, intelligent critics. I run almost everything I write past my father-in-law, a former English department chair who could have made a living as a line or development editor if he was so interested.

Maintaining a thick skin and taking his and others’ advice to heart has made me a much better writer. I love Storberry – its characters and plot still move me. But Dark Vanishings is huge step up for me in terms of prose and storytelling.

Another lesson I’ve learned is to minimize passive voice. In other words, she ran rather than she was running, he saw her running rather than he could see her running. But I state this with a big, fat asterisk. I am of the opinion some editors and writers take these rules too far. King advocates against the use of passive voice in On Writing, yet he regularly peppers his own prose with passive voice.

My feeling is overly-optimized, cleaned prose sounds robotic. I include a small bit of passive voice in my own prose because I believe it simply sounds better to the ear in given passages and it adds variety.
Lutzke:  When will the next Dark Vanishings book be released?

Padavona:  The second Dark Vanishings episode is due out in the third week of June with the third episode to be released in late July. Forthcoming episodes will be released in the autumn and winter until the story concludes. The second draft is in the hands of the editors as I write this, and as of this morning, I estimate the first draft of the third episode is about 40% complete.

Lutzke:  Outside of Dark Vanishings, what else can we expect from Dan Padavona this year?

Padavona:  I have no less than three stories on the backburner, including an idea for a possible Storberry sequel. I can’t make any promises until Dark Vanishings concludes, but I really love old school, scary vampire stories, and I see myself revisiting the genre often.  Though there is no shortage of vampire books, very few authors write true vampire horror. Most vampire novels are love stories disguised as horror.

I have a ripper of a slasher story in the works, too.
Lutzke:  Last words?

Padavona:  Family and friends are our most precious blessings. They are the heaven in heaven and hell. Let your loved ones know how important they are to you. Tell them you love them, and don’t assume tomorrow will wait for you.

Book one of Dark Vanishings can be found here on Amazon.

Check out Dan Padavona's site here and give his author page a like over on Facebook.


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News Update and Cover Reveal of Double Feature Collection III

5/7/2015

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As you know, Night as a Catalyst was released last week.  It made Amazon's bestselling list at #9 in Kindle horror anthologies and shot up to a ranking of 28,000.  According to my peers, this was a good launch.  

I've been offering One for the Road for free for those who sign up to my reader group.  But because that story can be found in Night as a Catalyst, I am working on a brand new double feature collection that I will be offering for free instead.  This collection will feature two brand new stories never published anywhere.  The ebook will be out on Friday, May 15, 2015, and you can find the sexy cover below.

I will be sending the book to everyone already in the reader group as well as those who sign up before
its release.  You deserve it!   







Here are some important links you may find worthy:

*Crystal Lake Publishing's The Deep End:  A piece I wrote discussing the deeper meaning and process of writing Deprivation, one of the more disturbing stories that can be found in Night as a Catalyst.

*A promo piece I released that has been posted at Horror Novel Reviews, UK author Carole Gill's blog, and Anything Horror, where you can read a lengthy excerpt from Birthday Suit; one of the stories from Night as a Catalyst.

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Night as a Catalyst is now available in paperback for only $7.99!   Or get the Kindle version here for $2.99.
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Night as a Catalyst Has Been Unleashed!

5/1/2015

2 Comments

 
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As beautiful as the night can be, it often plays a role in something more foreboding, supplying the catalyst for things both terrifying and imaginative.  Utilizing this hallowed time of the day, author Chad Lutzke has written and compiled 18 stories, with creature features, sleep deprivation, hiding the undead, revenge, cannibalism, morbid habits, and executions of karma being just a handful of the themes covered in this book.  Read on and discover what the mind produces when using the night as a catalyst.


Get Night as a Catalyst here through the weekend for only $0.99.  Monday it'll be sitting at $2.99.  Paperback version available this weekend!
Here is a sample from "Birthday Suit," one of the stories from Night as a Catalyst:

As the evening matured, the moon guarded the neighborhood in a blanket of blue; while in the tree house, gossip was slung, pages were flipped, and appetites were gained.  Mrs. Tessal headed out back with the quart of milk and a Tupperware container full of cookies.  She pulled a rope below the fort, and the other end tipped a small, rusty bell that struggled to make an audible ring.

"Send down the bucket, boys.  I've got goodies for you.  Chocolate-free, Shawn."

“Okay, thanks Mrs. Tessal.” 

Both boys hurried to the bucket.  Kyler got to it first and slowly lowered it down to his mother.  She placed the goods in the bucket and tugged on the bell again.  Humoring the boys.

"Thanks Mom!"

Kyler pulled the care package up through the hole in the floor of the tree house and pulled out the contents.  The milk was freezing cold.  It would feel good going down on such a warm night.

"Oh, and Kyler.  No whizzing out the windows up there.  If you guys need to use the restroom then you come inside.  I'm leaving the slider unlocked for you."

"Yes Ma'am."  They both chuckled, knowing full well they'd be watering the lawn at some point.

The cookies were still warm and chewy.  While the boys carelessly ate, the open pages of Fangoria collected the small crumbs that dropped, while the bigger chunks acted as edible bookmarks.  By the end of the feast, only drops of milk remained at the bottom of the quart, bellies were full, and veins rushed with sugar.

"I'll be right back," said Kyler.

"Where you going?"

"I'll be right back."  Kyler insisted.

Shawn watched as Kyler hurried down the ladder and sprinted for the garage—the glow of the moon lighting the way.  Moments later, Kyler returned holding something in his hands.  He climbed the ladder and fed a pair of binoculars through the hole in the floor and pulled himself up.

"Yes!"  Shawn shouted.

"No.  We're not watching Suzie.  This is for spying on every other house but hers."

Shawn gave a disappointed look.  He grabbed the binoculars and brought them to his eyes.  At first everything was a blur.  He lowered them and looked for a line of perspective, then brought them to his eyes once more.  One street over he could see someone's living room illuminated by nothing but the glow of 100 yards of green football field being cast from a large flat screen.  A man sat reclined in his chair, intermittently sipping on a beverage.  A quick sweep around with the binoculars led to an open, well-lit garage on the other side of the street.

"Woah!  Who's that?  She's so hot!"  said Shawn.

"Nuh uh.  Let me see.  Where?"  Kyler snatched the binoculars from Shawn and searched intently for the hot female.

"Over a little.  In the garage.  No shirt."

Kyler searched frantically until he spotted the garage.  A shirtless, overweight man sat at the end of his weight bench covered in sweat from lifting.

"Awww..you jerk!"  Kyler punched Shawn in the leg, who was too busy laughing to feel it.

 "Good night, boys!" 

They hadn't even heard Mrs. Tessal open the slider.  Kyler dropped his dad's binoculars out of his mother's view.

"Good night!"  The boys said in unison.

The house went dark, save for a dim kitchen light showing the way for any midnight trip to the bathroom.  After recovering from the startle, they both wiped their brow symbolizing a close call.

"Ya know, Kyler.  Does Suzie even like you back?"  Shawn asked.

"Sure she does.  Just the other day in school she asked me to stand by her in the lunch line."

"She made you stand there to keep her place in line while she went and talked to Bill Weston."

"You make it sound so..."

"Platonic?"

"No!  You make it sound like I've got no chance at all.  You don't see the way she looks at me."

"Why don't you ask her out to a movie?  Make it a scary one.  She'll be all over you."

Kyler lit up.  "Good idea!  They have that special showing of The Shining next week.  She'll be all kinds of freaked out."

"There ya go!  Hey, maybe we could double date."

Kyler laughed at the thought.  "Who are you going to take?  Your little sister?"

Shawn's fist made contact with Kyler's shoulder.  "Lame.  I'll get somebody to go.  Maybe that new girl."

Kyler rubbed his arm.  "Samantha?"

"Yeah.  Samantha.  I'll ask her and we'll make it a double."

"Good luck with that.  She'll get freaked out by your horror fanboy self."

"Nah.  I'll tone it down."

"No you won't.  You’ll be chanting ‘red rum’ an hour before we even get to the theater."

"You challenging me, bro?"

Kyler puffed his chest out.  "I challenge thee.  If you get her to say yes, you can't say 'red rum' one time all night.

"Here's Johnny!"  Shawn gave his best Nicholson.

"That either.  You can't do any line from the movie."

"All work and no play makes Shawn a dull boy."

Kyler laughed.  "You'll never make it."

"Hey, technically that's not even a line in the movie."

A light flicked on in the house next door, catching their attention.  Kyler quickly raised the binoculars and watched his neighbor, Mrs. Wilson, open her fridge and search it.

"What do old people do all day?  Kyler asked.  “I mean, Mrs. Wilson just shuffles around, feeds her cat, waters her flowers, and fills the birdfeeder.  That can only take up so much of your time. What do they do the rest of the time?"

Shawn lied down and got comfortable in his sleeping bag.  "They nap.  Nap and watch game shows, I think."

Kyler turned around to see Shawn tucking himself in.  "You going to sleep?"

"Yeah.  Sugar rush is gone, and I'm coming down."

"Same.  Those were some good cookies though."  Kyler followed Shawn's lead and situated himself for sleep.

"Yeah they were.  Your mom is like the Stephen King of baked goods."

"What does that even mean?"

"I don't know."  Shawn chuckled at himself.  "I'm tired.  G'night, Kyler."

"G'night."

The boys lay silent for a full minute before Shawn threw in the last joke of the evening.  "Red rum!"  An explosion of laughter traveled halfway down the block.

As the crickets sang their lullaby, the boys drifted off into a satisfying sleep; safe within the four walls of their favorite place on earth.

Initially their slumber was not disturbed by the beam of light that shot down from the sky and into the backyard.  The beam of light that left behind a perfectly black, round scar in the grass and two slender humanoids with skin that resembled that of a dolphin.  The figures stood silent in the dark while a gelatinous layer of liquid formed around their feet and eventually up over their heads, as though sinking into an invisible pool of mucus.

It was the smell of the burnt grass that stirred Kyler.  Still half asleep and dreaming, his imagination got the best of him as he envisioned flames from below, threatening to lick his precious fort to death with him in it.  

Kyler pushed himself up and peeked out the makeshift window facing the back of the house.  Both figures stood on the burnt ground; a blue ghostly aura around each one.  Kyler rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and squinted, fighting through the blur.  He squinted harder.  The sight of two figures glowing blue in the backyard made little sense, even for one who was still half asleep.  Once the blur had gone and he was fully alert, fear dried Kyler's mouth and gripped his throat.  He reached down behind himself without looking and struggled to make contact with some part of Shawn.

Get Night as a Catalyst here for only $0.99 through the weekend, after which it will go up to $2.99.  Paperback version available this weekend!

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