• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Connect With Me
    • Request An Honest Review
    • Beta Reading Requests
    • Testimonials
  • Book Review Archive
    • Book Review Archive
    • Audiobook Review Archive
    • Spooky Children’s Book Review Archive
  • Interview Archive
  • Referral Links
  • Podcast Recs
  • Policies
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter

Erica Robyn Reads

a horror book review blog

Interview with J.C. Michael

April 13, 2021      Erica Robyn      6 Comments

Interview with JC Michael hosted by Erica Robyn Reads

I’m so excited to be sharing this interview with the amazing horror author, J.C. Michael!

I have been reading stories and drabbles by this author for a few years now. When I heard that he had a short story collection coming out, I couldn’t wait to dive in! You may have read that review already as I just posted it recently, but if not, feel free to click here.

Let’s dive in to the interview!

Interview with J.C. Michael, author of Everything’s Annoying, and much more!

Who is J.C. Michael?

His debut novel, Discoredia, was published in September 2013 and re-released in 2018 under the new title – Pandemonium. He has featured in the Double Barrel Horror series from Pint Bottle Press and co-authored the novella, You Only Get One Shot, with Scottish writer Kevin J Kennedy.

A number of his short stories have been published in various anthologies from a variety of publishers, as well as within his recently released collection, Everything’s Annoying.

Citing Stephen King, James Herbert, and Clive Barker, as his greatest influences, Michael’s work sits firmly within the horror genre.

What is your first memory of writing for fun? 

I remember way back, I must’ve been 9 maybe, when I wrote a story about a space battle at school and the teacher read it out as if she were reading to the class from an actual book. The only issue was the book she placed my work in to read from clearly had a cover that was nothing to do with the actual story. By secondary school writing wasn’t really fun as my teachers didn’t approve of such bad language and violence from someone my age, so creative writing took a back seat until I started writing a pretty scandalous, probably libelous, staff newsletter at work a good few years later. Properly writing for fun though really started in 2007 when I was challenged to write a novel “if I thought I was clever enough”. The result, at 90,000 words, was Discoredia, and even if it seems a little flawed now, in particular that first draft, I think it stands up well as a “first attempt”.

How many books have you written (this can be extended to stories & drabbles as well!)?

I’ve written two novels: Discoredia, now published as Pandemonium, and the sequel which was self published for a brief period but is now filed away under “badly needs revising”. Alongside that there’s the novella I co-authored with Kevin Kennedy, You Only Get One Shot, and quickly counting along my shelf I’ve featured in 33 different anthologies with pieces ranging from drabbles to short stories of various lengths, as well as a nonsense poem drabble and a horror remix of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Nine of those stories were then republished in my collection Everything’s Annoying, which also included a couple of new pieces not available elsewhere.

What are some of your other interests outside of writing?

Nothing that exciting I’m afraid. I spend too much time on my PS4, and too much time watching T.V. That’s when I’m not busy looking after my son, although now he’s getting older he’d sooner be gaming with his friends than playing with his Dad. I also love the countryside and often head out for a wander about, I’m lucky to live in a quiet rural area, as well as travel further afield where I’ve been fortunate enough to visit quite a few different countries in Europe as well as Africa, the United States, and Mexico.

Are you also a reader?

I think you have to be if you’re going to be a writer, but I don’t read anywhere near as much as I did when I was younger. If I’m honest I think part of that is because it’s harder to read purely for fun now. I always find myself analysing the story, or picking up on things I would have approached differently. I do however always read everything I feature in cover to cover, and like to have a couple of good books with me when on holiday for by the pool and when I’m away from all the other distractions there are at home.

What genres do you reach for the most?

Nearly always horror, although I’ve revisited some classic fantasy books, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and Chronicles of Narnia, when reading them to my son.  

Do you have an all time favorite book or author?

Favourite author has to be Stephen King, as there’s nobody else whose work I’ve read consistently over the past thirty plus years. He can write short stories or absolute epics like The Stand, and can write out and out horror as well as thrillers, crime, and pieces that draw on a number of other genres. As well as that he’s created characters that have become an integral part of modern culture, and to me his impact is simply without parallel. If there’s one “dream come true” goal I have with regard to my own writing it would be for Stephen King to read something of mine, and say something complimentary about it.

Book Related Questions

I believe that the first time I read some of your work, it was the story You Only Get One Shot, which you wrote with Kevin J. Kennedy. What was the process like teaming up on that project?

It was fun, it was interesting, and it was challenging. Kevin’s a great bloke, and we worked well together, but I did struggle with having a vision that was then taken in directions that didn’t come from myself, but from someone else. Giving up that creative control was difficult, and the suspicion I had that I might struggle with that is one of the reasons I pitched the concept of stories within a story to him when he suggested we co-author something. That way we were working together, but wrote our own pieces, with the stories within the novella coming from either me or Kev rather than being co-written. Even the shared overarching story was written in chunks with each of us taking a section rather than truly co-writing. To be fair it was a first attempt at a collaboration for both of us, and we’ve never met beyond emails and chats despite how closely we’ve worked together, but I still think we put together a great story. We do actually need to meet and share a Buckfast at some point, as we were supposed to this at Stokercon last year but obviously things didn’t quite pan out as we all expected during 2020.

You’ve written various short stories, drabbles, and full length novels! Do you have a favorite format to write, or do you enjoy them all equally?

I prefer short stories for a number of reasons. One, they are easier to keep track of – less characters, less plotlines to tie up and interweave, and less scope for continuity errors. Two, and the flipside of one, is that when I wrote Discoredia it became very intense. I had notes upon notes of names, ages, backgrounds, details, sub-plots, and snippets of dialogue I’d come up with throughout the day. It was all I could think of for months on end and it was very draining, working during the day, then writing well into the night. Don’t get me wrong, a good short story can get its hooks into you as well, but that might be a week of thinking about it, mulling it over, and then a couple of days writing followed by a day revising it once it’s sat a while. So just as intense, but over a far shorter span when writing a 4,000 word piece as opposed to 90,000. Drabbles at the other end of the scale are a bit of fun, but 100 words is obviously limiting. Then as a final note there’s the practicality, as options for getting a novel polished up and published are a lot less than the options you have for subbing a decent short story.

Your latest release, Everything’s Annoying: A Collection of Dark Fiction & Horror, was just published on April 7th of this year. In this collection, you have re-released stories that had been previously published along with two brand new tales. First, how did you choose the stories to include here? And second, do you have plans to put together another solo collection in the future?

I’m a practical guy, so I started with stories from anthologies that were either out of print, not selling, or were released a good while back and sales have slowed right down. I then added in a couple of new pieces to freshen things up. I avoided anything published by KJK, as those anthologies are either seasonally themed so still sell, or are relatively recent / have good sales, and also decided not to use the two stories published by Pint Bottle Press as they are available as a “Double Header”. It didn’t seem right to effectively kill that as a product by including them. 

I also discounted a few stories which I’ve written and which have their basis in local ghost stories or legends. My aim is to do a second collection based on these, and dedicated to my grandparents from where I heard a lot of those stories as a child. I’ve already written some additional pieces for this, and although they aren’t all retellings of tales people local to me would recognise I know that the genesis of the ideas come from my past and local area. I guess that covers off the second part of your question, and hopefully Everything’s Annoying will do well enough that there will be some interest in such a second collection in the not too distant future.

Just one last question; Where can readers find you? 

Best place to find my work is on Amazon, or if anyone wants to find me as opposed to just my books then Facebook is the place to go.

You can also get me on Twitter and Goodreads , but I’m not on those as much.

And I’d also like to wrap up by thanking you for the chance to be interviewed, and for taking a look at Everything’s Annoying.


Thanks for reading!
And major thanks to J.C. Michael for taking the time to do this interview! I have to say that I was ecstatic when he said he would be interested. If you haven’t read any of this authors work, I highly recommend doing so!

Related Reading:

  • Everything’s Annoying by J.C. Michael
  • You Only Get One Shot by Kevin J. Kennedy and J.C. Michael

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Olivia-Savannah says

    April 14, 2021 at 10:43 am

    That is such a nice first writer memory with the space battle story and having it read out. My first writing memory is quite similar. The encouragement of having your work selected sticks with us. Interesting about how he reads less now than when he was younger to writing.

    Reply
    • Erica Robyn says

      April 15, 2021 at 8:54 am

      <3

      Reply
  2. ShootingStarsMag says

    April 20, 2021 at 7:41 am

    Great interview! It’s interesting that he prefers to write short stories.

    -Lauren

    Reply
    • Erica Robyn says

      April 25, 2021 at 6:39 pm

      <3

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hello there!

Erica Robyn of Erica Robyn Reads
I run on hot tea, good books, and loud music. She/Her.
 

Search This Blog

Sign Up For Post Notifications


Loading

Recent Popular Posts

  • [Book Review] Try Again by Wesley Southard
  • [Book Review] Shades of the Black Stone by Wile E. Young
  • 7 July 2022 Book Releases I Can’t Wait To Read
  • [Book Review] The Razorblades in my Head by Donnie Goodman
  • [Book Review] H is for Hell Anthology

An Easy Guide to Locating Horror Reviews Without Losing Your Mind created by Lori of Barks At The Ghouls
Shirley's Book Blogger List
Ultimate List of the Best Book Review Blogs by Kindlepreneur

Categories

ericarobynreads

Sickness Is In Season by Aiden Merchant has everyt Sickness Is In Season by Aiden Merchant has everything a horror fan craves! From light and spooky, to full-blown spine-chilling terror, this collection of short stories is a killer mix.

No matter what your personal favorite sub-genre of horror is, you’ll be sure to find something that sinks its teeth into you within this collection!

#supporthorror #promotehorror #sicknessisinseason #aidenmerchant #crossroadspresss #horrorbookrecs #horrorshortstories #horrorbookstagram
My April book haul 😍🖤🙌 My April book haul 😍🖤🙌
NH friends! Don’t miss the book event with @greg NH friends! Don’t miss the book event with @gregorybastianelli.author tonight in Exeter at @waterstreetbooks! 

I’m SO peeved my back pain flared up and I can’t drive out… but I am so excited that Waterstreet Books sent a signed copy my way! 😍

I can’t wait to see photos from the event!!
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling is a totally The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling is a totally captivating but nerve-wracking tale that is certainly not for those that fear tight spaces… While reading this tale, I felt so horribly claustrophobic. But I couldn’t stop. I had to find out what happened next!

#supporthorror #promotehorror #ladiesofhorrorfiction #horrorbookstagram #horrorbookrecs #theluminousdead #caitlinstarling
The Workshop of Filthy Creation by Richard Gadz is The Workshop of Filthy Creation by Richard Gadz is a chilling gothic horror story about what it means to be human. In these pages, you will see plenty of the darkness that humanity can create, but you will also see the light!

Ready to dive into a dark and dreary tale about gruesome medical practices set in Victorian London? Go pick up The Workshop of Filthy Creation today! I can’t wait for you all to meet Maria!

#supporthorror #promotehorror #gothichorrorreads #horrorbookrecs #theworkshopoffilthycreation #richardgadz #horrorbookstagram
Max is one of the most hilarious people that I fol Max is one of the most hilarious people that I follow on Twitter! I originally learned who he was after seeing him participate in the KillerCon 2020 Virtual Event. I went to follow him and his publishing house, Perpetual Motion Machine (that he runs with Lori Michelle), immediately after his reading.

Within the PMM publishing house, they also have the imprint, Ghoulish Books, which launched in January of 2022. Max’s latest book, Maggots Screaming!, launched today April 12th, 2022 from that imprint. In celebration, I’m so excited to be sharing this interview with Max!

Check out the full interview on my blog today! 

#horrorauthor #horrorauthorinterview #maxboothiii #supporthorror #promotehorror
Diaries of the Damned by Ivan Radev is a collectio Diaries of the Damned by Ivan Radev is a collection of tales that span numerous dark fears. But as always, even in the darkness, there’s a bit of light.

In the foreword, the author warns that this is a book of fears, and boy does he play on fears wonderfully! Each tale is presented to readers in the first person to really get readers in the characters shoes. Please use caution here when you dive in. The author does not shy away from the darkness.

Phew, this read will take readers on quite the journey! It was the perfect read for a dark and rainy spring weekend.

#bookreview #horrorbookreview #horrorbookstagram #diariesofthedamned #IvanRadev #horrorbooks
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 Erica Robyn Reads