Title: Spiritwood
Author: G.J. Wise
Publisher: Damnation Books
Release Date: 1st December 2014
BLURB from Goodreads
The town of Spiritwood gets its name from an Indian legend that tells of spirits living in the woods surrounding the town…the thing is, the legend is true.
There is an evil held captive in the vast wilderness surrounding the town of Spiritwood. When Jed Guiness buys a place and moves to Spiritwood from Chicago, he accidently unleashes that evil. Now, he and a handful of others must try to re-capture that evil before the entire town is destroyed.
There is an evil held captive in the vast wilderness surrounding the town of Spiritwood. When Jed Guiness buys a place and moves to Spiritwood from Chicago, he accidently unleashes that evil. Now, he and a handful of others must try to re-capture that evil before the entire town is destroyed.
PURCHASE LINKS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
G.J.Wise lives with his wife in Silver
Lake, Wisconsin. He’s been writing for
many years, seriously for the last few and has short stories published in both
print and electronic anthologies and periodicals. His debut novel, Spiritwood, was
released December 1st. G.J. Wise is
currently at work on his next book length dark offering as well as many more
short stories. If you want more
information about current or upcoming works, please visit his author page on
Facebook (www.facebook.com/GJWise2) or Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/author/g.j.wise)
, or feel free to contact via e-mail at GJWisehorror@yahoo.com
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
What is your name,
where were you born and where do you live now?
My Name is George J. Wise and I write
under the by line of G.J. Wise. I was
born in Joliet, Illinpois in the USA and currently live in Silver Lake
Wisconsin, also in the USA
Did you always
want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be?
For me, every time I read a book a
really enjoyed, I wanted to be a writer and I periodically played around with
it throughout my life. I didn’t actually
start taking it seriously until recently, but now I take it very seriously and
make time to write every day.
When did you first
consider yourself as a "writer"?
I think I felt like I
could write well long before I actually considered myself a writer. Even now, I seem a little unqualified when I think
of “a writer” as it relates to me. I’m
more of a storyteller.
Did it take a long
time to get your first book published?
Well, I wrote my novel before I wrote any of the short stories I have
published. When I finished Spiritwood, I
thought to myself, I don’t really have
any credibility in this industry and should probably write and publish some
short stories before I start submitting this. So, that’s what I did, I wrote
a few short stories and sent them out for publications over about a two year period
of time. Then, at my wife’s insistence, I sent out Spiritwood. I was fortunate to have the first publisher I
sent it to offer me a contract.
Do you work
another job as well as your writing work?
Yes, I work as a Sales Engineer for
Loudspeaker Components, LLC, in Lancaster Wisconsin.
What is the name
of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it in less than 20 words what
would you say?
The title of my latest novel is
Spiritwood and it is a story about how an ancient evil, held captive by the spirits
of some Native American Shaman, escapes from its prison to reeks havoc on the
small town of Spiritwood.
Who is your
publisher?
My Publisher is Damnation Books (www.damnationbooks.com) in Santa Rosa, California.
Do you have a
"lucky charm" or "lucky routine" you follow when waiting
for your book to be accepted by a publisher?
No lucky charms or anything… generally I
find my luck improves the harder I work at something.
How long does it
usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing
it?
Considering
this is the first novel length piece I’ve written and I had quite a few stumbles
along the way, I think the actually writing time took about 6 months. The next one should be shorter, but probably
not by much.
What can we expect
from you in the future?
I am currently working on a collection
of short stories titled “Smoke and Mirrors” which I plan to have ready for
submission by the end of January.
They’re all on the same genre. I am also working on my next novel,
“Garden of Innocents” which should be ready for submission by the fall of 2015.
What genre would
you place your books into?
Horror, paranormal or supernatural
horror.
What made you
decide to write that genre of book?
It is what I enjoy reading most and so
I’m generally inclined toward writing in that genre.
Who or what
inspired you to write?
I am inspired by the stories I read and
the writers who wrote them. Stephen
King, Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, Richard Matheson, Harlan Ellison… and many,
many more.
Do you have a
certain routine you have for writing?
I generally sit in a comfy chair in the
living room with my laptop on my knees, while my wife has something on TV. I try to pound out between 1000 to 2000 words
a night.
Do you have
anybody read your books and give you reviews before you officially release
them?
I had my wife (who has a bachelors in
English and Master’s in Legal Studies, as well as being a writer of Romance
Novels herself) read it first and make some recommendations. Then I had a very close friend (who is a very well read individual) and my daughter
(who is an English teacher at a local high school) beta read before I s send it
out.
Do you gift books
to readers to do reviews?
Yes.
Do you read all
the reviews of your book/books?
Yes.
Would you ever ask
a reviewer to change their review if it was not all positive about your
book/books?
No… reviewers have their right to their
opinion. I may not like it, but I don’t
have a right to ask them to change their opinion.
How do you come up
with the Title and Cover Designs for your book/books?Who designed the Cover of
your books?
The title (like most of my titles) just
came to me. There was a lot of thought put
into it, it came with the story as the name of the town. The cover I had a general concept and passed
it along to the publisher who assigned an artist (Ash Arceneaux) who took my
general idea and came up with a stunning design.
Do you choose a
title first, or write the book then choose the title?
In the case of Spiritwood, the title
came with the story. In the case of the
current novel I’m working on “Garden of Innocents” the title came to me (I
think I heard a news story about a cemetery for children called this) and the
story developed around it.
Do you basic
plot/plan for your book, before you actually begin writing it out?
I have a basic idea of
plot and character when I begin the story, but they plot changes and the
characters develop as a am writing the story.
How do you
market/promote your books?
Social media, direct mailing
(e-mailings), book fairs, trade shows, book signings, interviews and book
reviews as well as though any means suggested by my publisher.
What do you think
makes a book a really good/bestseller ?
A really good story that a lot of people
can enjoy. It has to be well written,
dramatic, and well developed, believable characters. Then, it has to get enough exposure that
enough people can read it.
Have you ever
suffered from a "writer's block"? What did you do to get past the
"block"?
Yes, it’s a terrible, frightening
thing. Well, I struggled for awhile, but
found that the only way I could really get through it was to keep writing. That solved the problem because once I
allowed myself to quit over-thinking and just let the story come, I got over it. My writers block was a result of self editing
too much and causing me to run into a wall within a story because I couldn’t
write it good enough. I’m not saying
that everyone’s writer’s block is due to this, but for me that’s exactly what
it is. Once I gave myself permission to
just write it(even if it was crap) I was able to get past it. A lot of what I wrote was crap, but I was
able to go back an fix it to my satisfaction later. If I had continued to try to fix it without
writing past it, I never would finish a story.
Which format of book
do you prefer, ebook,hardback, or paperback?
I personally prefer print versions, hard
cover or paperback, but I do buy and read electronic copies. They are less expensive and in many ways much
easier to handle, but I’m still drawn to the print versions.
What is your
favourite book and Why?
I couldn’t pick on favorite, but some of
my favorites within the horror Genre are:
The Stand (Stephen King), They Thirst (Roberto McCammon), Strangers
(Dean Koontz), Shadowland (Peter Straub), Dark
Have you read it
more than once?
Yes, I’ve read many all of these more
than once, and many others more than once.
Do you think books
transfer to movies well? Which is you favourite/worst book to movie
transfer?
Yes,
but I have to qualify that statement.
They transfer well for the writer, director and much of the viewing
public. What doesn’t transfer well is
what a person reading the book envisions for the movie. That is often difficult to rationalize as a
reader. As a reader, you‘re virtually transported to another place and
time, with people and settings and smells and tastes, so when you see a film of
what you read. You’re getting the director’s vision of what he or she read in the
screenplay, so it is very difficult for it
to even remotely what you saw in your mind’s eye while you were reading
the story.
What are you
currently reading? Are you enjoying it? What format is it?(ebook, hardback or
paperback)
I am currently reading “The Kansas NCO”
by Joe Campolo. I have “Soul Man” by
Ronald Paxton and “Specimen” by Peter Kahle right behind that, then “House of
Leaves” by Mark Danielewski and “Bird Box” by Josh Malerman right behind
those. The first is a print copy from a
writer I know personally. “Soul Man” and
“Specimen” are both e-books. “House of
Leaves and “Bird Box” are both print copies.
Do you think
ebooks will ever totally replace printed books?
No, I think they will replace most print
books, but not all.
Did you read a lot
at school and write lots of stories or is being a writer something newer in
your life?
I did a lot of reading when I was in
school and some writing, but not much until college. Then I won a creative writing award and got a
small scholarship for my writing.
Did you have a favourite
author as a child?
As a small child,
Rudyard Kipling. As a middle schooler,
S.E. Hinton, high school started my fascination with horror and I found Stephen
King, who lead me to many other writers.
Are there any New
Authors you are interested in for us to watch out for?
Michael Knost
and Why should we watch out for them?
Because he’s a very good writer.
Is there anything
in your book/books you would change now if you could and what would it be?
Probably… I find that for me, I will continue to find things about
my writing that I will want to change.
Once I get to a point where I think something I’ve written is good
enough to send out, I try not to look at it, until it is either accepted for
publication or rejected outright. If it
is accepted, I don’t read it again, because I know I will find things that I
want to change. If it’s rejected, then I
take another crack at it.
What do you think
about book trailers?
I think they’re interesting… not sure if
they bring any readers to a book, but I find them interesting. I did one for Spiritwood and got a lot of
good comments about it.
What piece of
advice would you give to a new writer?
Write every day… develop a habit of
writing so when you don’t do it, you miss it.
Do you or would
you ever use a pen name?
I use my initials instead of first and
middle name.
Where can readers
follow you?
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/GJWise2
Goodreads author
page: G.J.Wise.com
Twitter: @wise-gj
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/g.j.wise
Other: (e-mail) GJWisehorror@yahoo.com
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