On occation I will give interview to writer who I think everyone should be aware of.  For my first, I decided to pick local author and my partner in crime Brent Abell.

Q. Although I see you on a daily basis at our day job, tell the good people out there who you are and what you do.

A. My name is Brent Abell and I work in a pit of despair watching plastic all day.  I dream of breaking my shackles and working from home where I can do only what I feel motivated to do, not what I have to do for 8 mind-numbing hours.

Q. So I hear you’re a fiction writer…what do you write?

A. I’ve heard that about me also.  I weave tales of blood, sex, and weird shit into stories that one day I hope can make working at home in just my boxers possible.

Q. Why Horror?

A. I love the dark side of things and I’ve been like that from pretty early on.  I got in trouble in preschool for coloring Jesus’s robes black and then arguing it was artistic impression.  It ended with me yelling at my teacher that I quit preschool.  I also loved my 6th grade reading teachers face when I brought Stephen King’s “It” to read in class.  Where else but horror can you explore our world and the other, dark world that exists parallel to ours?  It also allows one to explain the evils in our society and in our own souls.  I like that in a genre.

Q. In a fight between John Travolta and Elmo, who would win?

A. Elmo.  The red fur is just Satan’s disguise and Satan beats alien religion figureheads hands down every time.

Q. Does living in Indiana affect your style or general storytelling, and if yes, how so?

A. I think that the religious nature of the region affects my work quite a bit.  I either try to freak the church goers out, or I use the biblical notion of good versus evil to explain our roles in the endless battle between heaven and hell.  This is playing a huge hand in a couple of projects I’m drawing up right now.  One is a novella that examines the abortion issue and the supernatural ramifications it can have.  The other is one of two novels I’m plotting.  It concerns sacrifice and what a father will do to save the last of his family when it means dooming his hometown.

Q. What kind of writing shedule do you keep?

A. Very fucking random.  Anytime I can squeeze an hour in is good for me.

Q. Marry, Fuck, Kill: Charlize Theron, Betty White, Sharon Osbourne.

A. Fuck Charlize Theron, marry Betty White (she shares my sense of humor and I can always fuck Charlize), and kill Sharon Osbourne, freeing Ozzy from that harpy’s talons.

Q. Who do you enjoy reading?

A. Shit, that’s a long list.  Brian Keene, Ed Lee, Doug Clegg, Graham Masterton, J.F. Gonzalez, Wrath James White, Stephen King, Ray Garton, Joe Hill, Tim Lebbon, Jack Ketchum, and that super sexy author Wesley Southard.

Q. Wesley Southard, eh?  Hmmmm…I’ll have to check him out.  What/Who keeps you writing?

A. It is really a great stress reliever, but it turns stressful again waiting to hear back about a story.  I also write to do something more with my life than a part-packer.

Q. A little birdie told me, from time to time, you like to partake in spirits…what’s your drink of choice?

A. Hell, any hoppy beer or Sam Adams.  I am also partial to whiskey, wine, and gallons of margaritas.

Q. Do you have any rituals you like to do before you sit down to tap the little black keys?

A. Surf the Internet for porn or I look at my bookshelf and picture my books on someone else’s shelf one day.

Q. If you found a $100 bill on the ground, would you try to find the owner or would you spend it on expensive hardback books?

A. I would look for a second or two and then get on the computer and shop.  When the books come in I will feel guilty and not read them out of shame.  How fucked up is that?

Q. Tell us about your recent fiction sales.

A. I have one story already in print in the “Undead of Winter” anthology from Rymfire eBooks, “Rivals” is being released this December from Wicked East Press in their “Short Sips: Coffee House Flash Fiction Vol. 2, and I have a story accepted in upcoming “South Will Rise Undead” anthology from Library of the Living Dead Press.  There a few things out there now I hope to find homes for soon.

Q. Tell us where we can find you, on the internet and out in the world.

A. On the website at www.plan9reloaded.com/btabell.  From there you can find links to my Facebook and Twitter pages.  It will be great place to get updates from the road at Horrorfind in September.  That Wesley guy and I should have a fucking blast.

Q. Thank you, Brent…wait, wait!  Don’t leave!  I have one more question: What’s the best Southwestern Indiana lemon-orange soda that goes perfectly with either Nacho Cheese Doritos and/or BBQ Grippos?

A. Why that would be Ski of course!  I goes good with everything, not just chips.

Agreed!  Thanks, Brent.  See you at work tomorrow.