Anne Nelson's Interview of the amazing JH Glaze.
What an honor it was for
me when Shanna (Admin) asked if I would be interested in doing a Q and A
interview with JH Glaze!! Being a huge fan of JH Glaze, I’ve read each of his
novels: The Spirit Box, NorthWest, The Horror Challenge
Vol. I, The Horror Challenge Vol. II, The Horror Challenge Volume III, The Life We Dream, and Forced Intelligence.
Now I’m waiting eagerly
for Send No Angel, which is book 3 in the John Hazard series and the new series called RUNE.
I immediately said, heck
yes, I’d love to! Then the shock-panic set in. What the blazes was I thinking??
I’ve never done anything like this before. dang I don’t even have a blog page!
But the big scare factor
here for me was and still is, interviewing this phenomenal mastermind, genius
of a brain, and in my opinion the king of horror/thriller/paranormal himself…
Author JH Glaze (takes DEEP breath).
Without fail, whenever I
finish reading anything written by JH Glaze, and I mean ANYTHING, I sit there
shaking my head afterwards, wondering to myself (as I’m sure a lot of us do) “Where
does he come up with this? How does he do it?”
Now the next question is,
where do I begin with my Q & A’s for the mastermind JH Glaze? Then I
thought it best I do an introduction, not that it’s needed of course... We all
know of JH Glaze (and if you don’t yet, start with The Spirit Box).
Here is some information
that I actually took from his Goodreads profile and his biography from Amazon:
JH Glaze, the emerging
horror/thriller/paranormal author, was born in Niles, OH, in the heart of the
Rust Belt. He currently resides in Atlanta, GA with his family. His wife Susan
Grimm is his editor and works diligently to keep the stories coming.
The incredibly entertaining
stories he writes are drawn from experiences he survived during his travels
across the US on multiple road trips. A life lived to the fullest each day, and
an imagination that refuses to be silenced.
His writing style has
been called clever and unique by many of his readers. He goes all out in his
efforts to please, thrill, and shock the reader. A few chapters into his books
and you will understand why he is rapidly moving up in the ranks to be a top a
author in his genre.
JH
Glaze draws from all genres to weave together stories that will at once
entertain you. His writing style draws you into the story to the extent that
you feel that you are living the action as it unfolds.
Spirit Box is the
beginning of a series that will take you into the mind of John Hazard, a former
Marine, a detective, and a real man who is persistent, but never perfect.
NorthWest (Book 2) takes John
Hazard to the Pacific Northwest for a paranormal exercise in survival. It’s an
over the top adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat for more
than the last 150 pages, in fact maybe for the whole book, in my opinion.
Send No Angel is book #3
(to be released).
Readers who enjoyed the first two novels will also love the short stories ‘Forced Intelligence’ and 'The Life We Dream'.
And the story collections
of The Horror Challenge Vol. 1, The Horror Challenge Vol. 2 and The Horror Challenge Vol 3 by this talented
author.
Now on to my questions:
1. I
know that this question has been asked about in your street team, and we had or
gave our pick . . . but as the author yourself, which book of yours
would you like to see made into a motion picture, and why?
I would like to start
with The Spirit Box. Since the story is one of human frailty and weakness, I
believe a lot of people could be drawn into a series that they can relate to,
and one that is not afraid to take some chances.
The Spirit Box is a source of power and
temptation that is hard to resist. To think that you could have literally
anything you want and all you have to do is “introduce” people to this ancient
box. It is a very compelling story at its core. It is like watching a bug
flying near a spider’s web and knowing what may happen, what will happen, but
being helpless to stop it from happening. You can yell at my characters, but
you can’t stop The Spirit Box.
2. How do you wrap your brain around an object or a
topic that then spurs you to develop your spectacular stories, whether a full
novel or a short story?
Everything in this world
has a dual personality. I like to look at things and evaluate what they are
made for or meant for and then imagine what happens if they go wrong or rogue.
For example, a hair dryer is a wonderful tool we use to style our hair. Yet if
we are careless just for a moment, that same hair dryer falling into a sink
full of water, combined with a quick reflex to grab it out of the water can
result in fatal consequences.
But then sometimes I take
it a step further. What if there is someone in the house who has planned for
such an accident to occur, maybe even applied something slick to the handle of
the dryer. At the moment when the dryer goes into the water, that person is
leaning against the fuse box in the garage. Instead of the intended victim
grabbing for the dryer, the circuit disperses through the metal of the fuse box
and the plotting individual is electrocuted instead.
Even
more, what if the bastard’s girlfriend who was involved in the plot, just
happened to grab her lover’s arm as the dryer went into the sink? You can see
how the variations can build a wild tale.
3. Your fan base and
number of followers is growing, can you give us a hint as to what’s developing
in that brain of yours? Can we expect a lot more stories in the future?
I have been blessed so
far with endless ideas. I have a list of topics to write about that I may never
finish all of the stories. I already have book 4 of the John Hazard series developed
in my head, so with the new RUNE series, more Hazard books and the side shorts
and Horror Challenges, there is a lot of work to do!
4. I have to ask you
this: I think I can “see” you in a character sometimes. Often it makes me
wonder if this or that person could be you. Have you written a character into
one of your books that resembles your personality? If so, which one?
I have to admit. The
character who most resembles me is Jack in The Life We Dream. That story is
written with pieces of my own life, mixed with fiction. Though you may not be
able to tell what is factual and what is fiction, the story itself is based on
a theme that is taken from my own life.
In all
of my other stories, I take a little bit of this or that person I’ve known, and
piece them together to be what my character needs in order to drive the story
forward. Sometimes they have a bit of me (John Hazard for example), but other
people influence them as well.
5. Do you feel or believe that what you write or
writings change lives/ or the way people may look at events?
I just want people to
read the stories and be entertained, to be able to escape into something
fantastical for a while and forget about everything else for a while. On the
other hand, if they see a bit of themselves in my situations, maybe they will
be more cautious in their own lives.
Believe me, I am mostly
trying to write fun, freaky stories that make people say “WTF? That was the
shit!” or something like that. The closest I have come to trying to be
philosophical was the Horror Challenge story about the Kazoo. You know which
one I’m talking about.
I would like to write
with Whitley Strieber. I have read several of his books where I was amazed at
the depth of his imagination. At the same time, one of his books was supposed
to be based on his own true story of alien abduction. It was called Communion.
He
might have some strange ideas, you can see them on his website
Unknowncountry.com, but imagine what a powerhouse partner you might have in
someone who has a scientific mind, an interest in conspiracies, and an
experience with aliens! That would be
the ultimate co-author.
My head is sore just
trying to think of questions for you JH Glaze!!
I’d like to thank you so
much for taking the time out of your busy life and being a part of this Q &
A blog for our page.
Thank you for asking me
to be a guest!
Oh wait . . . one more
thing before I leave you alone. I have never submitted an object/word for your
horror challenge stories, so I would like to offer you one: Possessed
cowgirl hat
I
will add that one to my list!
Thanks so much, Anne and Jeff! If you want to know more about JH Glaze's writing; here is where you can stalk him.:)
