Guest Blog

Guest Post: L. Bachman Interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: L. Bachman

What is your favorite thing about being a writer?
The most satisfying part is when someone reads and enjoys my work. I love hearing that something I’ve spent a large part of my life working on ends up satisfying and entertaining someone.

What genre(s) do you write and why?
Dark fantasy and horror, I never meant to write in these genres, it just happened what I was writing fell into these categories.
What was the most difficult part of writing your most recent book?

Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I’m a purger. I have a method I use where I just purge entire ideas until I get a better idea of what I want and somehow that helps me. I discovered that this method is also called ‘brain dumping’, but purging fits better for me. I can keep on task pretty well then.
What do you feel your books offer readers?

How long have you been a writer?
Professionally, a few years, but I’ve been writing since I was young.

What was the first book you ever had published? How much time did it take from writing your first book to having it published?
The first work I ever published is the first I unpublished; it took two months to write it. The first one that’s remained and is considered my truly first published is The Blasphemer Series: Maxwell Demon

What other careers have you had?
Not so much careers as jobs, things I had to take to pay the bills.

Do you write under more than one pen name? Why?
I write under the L. Bachman penname, but it’s very known my real name. I plan on publishing under my real name for non-fiction projects I’m working on.

When you create characters, do you base them on real people?
Not entirely.

How would you describe yourself if you were “speed dating” your readers?
The Nightmare Queen, writing stories that will haunt your sleep.

What’s something fans would find fascinating about you?
I didn’t start off thinking I was writing horror. I was writing stories that didn’t scare me, so I didn’t think they fell in that genre.

How do your family and/or friends feel about your book or writing venture in general?
Supportive and proud. I was very surprised by this, but glad that was the reaction.

Where are you from?
Born in Dallas, Texas, but currently living in northern Alabama.

How do you come up with the titles?
That’s a loaded question. Sometimes it’s something from inside the story itself and sometimes it’s just comes to me.

What do you do for fun?
Read and spend time with my family.

Has your life changed significantly since becoming a published writer?
I stay busy and not as bored. Other than small things like people knowing me by name still surprises me.

Do you work on one project at a time? Or do you multi-task?
I multi-task, I have to as I don’t just write I do graphic work so I’m juggling lots of things a lot of the time.

What kind of kid were you? Which social path did you take?
I was quiet most of the time. I was forever the new kid as we moved around a lot so it became hard to fit in no matter what I did. By high school, I’d given up on a social life.

Do you have any pets?
Yes. An adopted elder female cat with attitude we refer to as diva.

If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you travel?
New Orleans.

Do you have siblings? What was it like growing up with them?
I have a brother that passed away as an infant.

Do you have a favorite beverage that you drink when you write?
Hot honey tea or coffee (usually coffee).

What genre of books do you enjoy reading? Do you have a favorite author?
I like reading a lot of non-fiction, true crime, occult, paranormal, classics, or historical. I’ll read lots of things, but those are the ones I’ve found myself attracted to most.

 

LINKS

BRIEF AUTHOR BIO:
At a young age, L. Bachman started creating stories and art. This form of expression led to becoming a published author with the stories Maxwell Demon, Human Ouija, and Harvest. She has also been included in several anthologies. In March 2016, her short story, The Painting of Martel, was included in the anthology Painted Mayhem. Following its release, she was once more included in an anthology, And the World Will Burn: A Dystopian Anthology, with her work The Gaze of Destruction. She will once again be included in a December 2016 anthology called Crossroads in the Dark II: Urban Legends with a short story, A Farmhouse Haunting.  Full bio here: http://lbachman.com/about

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The Painting of Martel is considered a solid ‘quick read’ short story.

The synopsis: Items and oddities connected to the occult make for quite a dangerous atmosphere, but Damon can’t help liking what he likes. Kenneth, his roommate, finds it all strange and has been keeping more and more to himself as Damon’s obsession grows in intensity. Coming across a book about a clown entertainer and serial killer known as the Painted Face Killer, Damon is smitten with the fact that the killer was also an amateur painter. It was this pastime that helped investigators locate many of the Painted Face Killer’s victims with the help of his final artwork, but it was the painting itself that captured Damon’s attentions.

After discovering the painting is for sale, Damon wants it more than any oddity ever collected, but after purchasing it, he begins having nightmares of the killer speaking to him. James Martel has been looking for the perfect vessel—any willing one—and Kenneth suffers Damon’s obsession, paying the ultimate price.

BOOK EXCERPT:
Damon opened the book and began reading aloud. “‘The painting was used as evidence in convicting the murderer, James Martel, also known as the “Painted Face Killer.” Within the painting, investigators found that Martel had left clues, taunting the Newtown Police Department, as to where he had hidden the bodies of his many victims. One by one, they were discovered, each marked with a clue that coincided with the artwork.

More disturbing still, each victim’s mouth had been jaggedly cut horizontally across the mouth and vertically across the eyes, mimicking the clown make-up Martel wore during his performances as Huggo Funtimes, a fun-loving, clumsy alter ego Martel described as “my escape from the zoo the world had become.” When asked why he killed so many and how he chose his victims, he replied, “Adults make the world a sad place. I would never hurt a child. That’s true insanity! I’m not a monster, but this isn’t the last you’ve heard of me, either.”

“What are you mumbling on and on about now, Damon?” Kenneth asked, glancing from the television over to his roommate. “What are you reading there?”

“I’m doing research. I think I’m going to buy this painting some killer clown did. Listen to this. ‘Although it’s only speculation, some have said the painting also held demonic incantations that, if deciphered correctly, would bring Martel back from the dead so he could continue his serial killer ways. Oddly enough, after Martel’s execution, he gained a great deal of followers who believed he was the only true child protector in a world that had become very violent. After reports began to surface that several of his victims had indeed harmed a child in some way, it seemed to solidify in the minds of his cult-like following that he was not a villain, but a hero.’” Damon’s eyes turned from the pages he had been reading to the face of his roommate. “Do you think it’s possible to not only be a villain but also a hero?”

Steph is an award winning and bestselling author of thrilling steamy and paranormal romances, dark urban fantasy, occult horror-thrillers, cozy mysteries, contemporary romance, sword and sorcery fantasy, and books about the esoteric and Daemonolatry. A Daemonolatress and forever a resident of Smelt Isle, she is happily married and cat-mom to three pampered house cats. Her muse is a demanding sadistic Dom who often keeps her up into the wee hours of the morning. You can contact her at swordarkeereon@gmail.com

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