On 21 October, 2018, April Grey's latest horror anthology, Hell's Heart: 15 Twisted Tales of Love Run Amok was published. In response to promoting the anthology, I am joined by Phillip T. Stephens, whose story Soul Music was published in Hell's Heart.
Phillip T. Stephens Writes:
If I were to promote one of my novels right now, it would be Seeing Jesus. Sara Love’s parents drag her to a small Texas town where no-one accepts her except a homeless man named Mr. Fisher. To make matters worse, no one else can see him and everyone thinks she’s crazy. Sara relies on the wisdom Mr. Fisher shares to save her father’s failing business and the Christmas play.
Phillip T. Stephens Writes:
If I were to promote one of my novels right now, it would be Seeing Jesus. Sara Love’s parents drag her to a small Texas town where no-one accepts her except a homeless man named Mr. Fisher. To make matters worse, no one else can see him and everyone thinks she’s crazy. Sara relies on the wisdom Mr. Fisher shares to save her father’s failing business and the Christmas play.
The story explains the many ways which we use to bully others, intentional or not, a topic that became even more urgent in the political climate that developed since the book’s release.
When I released the YA edition in 2016, I intended to follow up with an extended adult version that included discussion question for parents to work through with their children or in book groups. But my illustrator bailed and it will most likely be next Christmas before the release.
I also made the mistake of releasing the print version on CreateSpace, which is now gone, and Kindle insists I resubmit in a new format. I made the mistake of using CreateSpace’s ISBN as well, which means library sales are tougher.
I withdrew the paperback version from Kindle last month and will re-release it in January using Ingram Spark.
Genre: Young Adult
Length: 274 p.
You can find most of my current writing at Medium where I write political satire and fiction. I post the satire three or four times a week and short stories two or three times a month. I also opened an account at Curious Fictions, which allows readers to subscribe to help support my writing. As with Medium, some of my features are free, others require a subscription.
Bio:
Carol and I live in Oak Hill, Texas. We built a habitat in the shade of our oaks and cedars to house cats we foster for Austin Siamese Rescue. We’ve successfully adopted more than 300 hundred cats during the last twenty years.My work appears in more than two dozen anthologies, online and print magazines, and peer-reviewed academic journals, including:
horrorwriters.net, Literally Literary, The Cerurove, CQ International Magazine, Flash Fiction Magazine, Art Ascent, Art Times, The BeZine, The International Journal for Religion and Spirituality in Society and the Hell's Grannies, Hell's Kitties, Hell's Bells anthologies.
Books include: Poems, Parables and Prayers for the 3rd Millennium (Plain View Press), cigerets, guns and beer, Raising Hell and The Worst Noel (Two Bright Girls Press).
Links:
Free Wheeling Free Association and the Theme Park Rangers of Death (originally published in Hell’s Grannies)
