Amber Hollow by Edgar Swamp

Please welcome Edgar Swamp author of Amber Hollow

Edgar Swamp will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Amber Hollow

by Edgar Swamp

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GENRE: Horror

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INTERVIEW:

What or who inspired you to start writing?

The first thing I recall writing was a holiday-themed play in second grade to gain the favor of a girl I liked. I cast myself in the lead role of Santa and offered her the part of Mrs. Claus, which she accepted. Suffice to say, she didn’t reciprocate my affection, but the seeds of writing had been sown! I later ventured into short stories, poems, and song lyrics, then by the age of 13, I attempted my first novel, a sequel to “The Stand” by Stephen King. I only wrote about 90 pages before I crapped out … I’m sure it was brilliant but I had all these, you know, “legal” issues to deal with, what with it being “unauthorized” and all. OK, you got me: we settled out of court, and I am adhering to the strict allowances of the restraining order.

How did you come up with your idea for your novel?

I’m from a very small town in rural Wisconsin, and our house was at the outskirts, next to a giant cornfield, beyond it nothing but cow country. This little alcove was home to all of my paranoid delusions and nightmarish meanderings, a place I felt like I was trapped in as a child, then a teenager. With “Amber Hollow,” I wanted to write a novel that incorporated a small town (in this case a village) and showcase the claustrophobic vibe of someone trapped in a situation they couldn’t comprehend or escape. I wanted the reader to feel “stuck” in the situation, with no real idea about where the story was going and mount the tension until it was at a fever pitch before the gruesome conclusion.

What expertise did you bring to your writing?

“Amber Hollow” takes place in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and I was born nearby, in DePere, so I know the area really well. The police department investigating the crime is the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, and my father worked there for more than 30 years, rising through the ranks and retiring as a captain and head of the SWAT team. Because of his position, I had valuable inside knowledge of how the county sheriff’s department worked and the hierarchy within. I also received a free lesson in munitions and ballistics for various firearms, as well as the police codes used for crime scenes. Although I used these details very subtly, all of the information is authentic.

What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

Because I made the unwise decision to drop out of college after only two semesters and play/travel with various hard rock/metal/grunge bands, I was forced to do whatever I could to eke out a living after that dream didn’t pan out. I am a factotum, having worked in (and learned) more industries than I can remember. I’ve worked in factories, restaurants, retail, warehouses, did house painting, telemarketing, drove an 18-wheeler, sold vacuums door to door, took tickets at a movie theater, parked cars, drove a delivery van for a liquor store, and finally landed in the veterinary field when I answered an ad to clean dog kennels and was trained on the job to become a veterinary technician. Because of all this life experience, I can create characters with a working knowledge of many industries to make the narrative more realistic.

As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

I’ve written about a dozen books, four of which I self-published because print on demand seemed to be a viable option for someone with no industry contacts nor agent representation. My first published effort was an environmental horror novel called “The Gyre Mission,” in which a group of disposable losers get stranded on an island of garbage and have to fight off mutant humans and animals to survive. It is my intention to re-edit and re-release it if “Amber Hollow” proves to be successful. The reasoning behind that is because readers of my work cite it as one of their favorites, but it was too long with too many subplots and back stories. I’m going to streamline it into an all action-packed quick read for all of those like me who have ADHD!

Can you give us a sneak peek into this book?

“Amber Hollow” is literally a sanctuary within the realms of a very disturbed mind, a place where anything can happen because of bad decisions made that cannot be taken back. It is an allegory for contemporary life as I see it, in a political climate geared toward misinformation. This novel explores themes of child abuse, misuse of power, classism, and misogyny but does so in a manner in which its up to the reader to figure out who the “real” bad guy(s) is/are and who, exactly, is/are the victim(s). The narrative develops like a mystery whodunit, slowly introducing elements of horror, fantasy, and suspense. My goal was to confuse the reader with so many unreliable narrators that it would be nearly impossible to guess the ending. But once the reveal happens, it is my intention to give the reader the satisfaction that those who had it coming got it in a big way, and the innocent are redeemed. I liken it to a modern fairy tale.

When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

I spent 12 years bashing away on a guitar, screaming my brains out, writing songs and performing, ultimately to find that the dream had eluded me. Crushed, and not knowing what else to do, I fell back on my original passion, which was writing stories and books. In my 30s, I wrote my first novel, an absolutely dreadful piece of crap, yet bolstered by youth and stupidity, I moved to Southern California from the Midwest so that I could pitch the idea in Hollywood. I tried to sell it to anyone who would listen, tried to send it anywhere, and after dozens of rejections, I eventually realized it was garbage and I needed something better. I then decided to focus on getting a short story published but found that in the 2000s, short stories were no longer the financial commodity they once were. Online markets were the only places that were receptive, so I joined a website called Writing.com, and there I submitted for critique short stories ranging from drama, horror, science-fiction, and dystopian. Once I started getting good reviews there, I began to submit the stories to online magazines, and after many failed attempts, I got a story published, then another, then another. Encouraged by finally “selling” some stories (the pay was incredibly low, sometimes just a free copy if it was a print magazine) I decided to write another book. Three crappy books later, I wrote one that I felt was strong enough to self-publish (the previously mentioned “The Gyre Mission”) and I have been trying to sell them ever since.

What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)

I was advised by an editor to use the name “Edgar Swamp” instead of my real name “Brian Martin” because he thought it sounded cooler for a horror writer, and I think that was a great piece of advice. My legal name is as generic as “John Smith,” so I believe it stands out on the book covers because it looks/reads oddly.

The worst advice I ever received was to avoid writing comedy; an editor told me it was too hard of a sell and that publishers would overlook it. I’ve been incorporating humor into all of my books from the beginning, and I enjoy doing it because it breaks up the tension I create within the realms of my stories. That said, I’ve never written a full comedy; I’ve merely used comedic elements within the genres of horror, science fiction, and drama. Maybe that editor tainted me for life! I love reading comedies, books by Charles Bukowski, David Sedaris, Carl Hiaasen, and Tim Dorsey. Laughing is good for you.

How do you maintain your creativity?

I am one of those fortunate people who always has an idea. Anything can trigger an idea for a story or a novel for me — anything. I presently have more ideas than I do the time to write them all. In fact, when choosing one of them to write, I make sure I pick the strongest one with the likeliest probability of being liked by other people, not just something I would enjoy. If given the time, I could easily write two books a year if I kept them short. In answer, I maintain creativity by waking up every day and slapping the keys.

BLURB:

On July 15, 1991, an isolated village in Northern Wisconsin is ground zero for an unprecedented, fiery tragedy. Of the community’s 600 residents, there are only five survivors. Detailed accounts by the victims contradict each other; the only link is a man named Anthony Guntram, but because he is presumed to be dead, this claim can’t be verified. Further investigations reveal a culture enshrouded in mystery. What are the survivors hiding?

Only the villagers know the secret of Amber Hollow, a place where sanity is checked at the town line and the parameters of reality become blurred. An unconventional horror story by design, Edgar Swamp delivers an action-driven page-turner that will keep readers guessing until the calamitous ending.

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EXCERPT:

The call came when they were five blocks from St. Mary’s, blaring from the radio in a raucous hiss of static that made both of them jump. Sadie looked at Jeremy, and the confusion in her eyes would be almost comical if the situation wasn’t so dire. He grabbed the handset on the radio, pressed the button.

“This is Detective Jeremy LeFevre. Please repeat the transmission.”

“There is a ten fifty-six A in progress on the Tower Drive Bridge, I repeat a ten fifty-six A.”

“We’re two miles from that location,” he said calmly, although his nerves suddenly felt as if they were live wires spitting enough electricity to power the entire city. “We’re en route.”

“Ten four,” the dispatcher said, and Sadie flipped a switch on the dash that fired up the siren. She then grabbed the bubble next to her, rolled down her window, and tossed it onto the top of the car where the magnet on the bottom held it firmly in place. For some reason, she always felt like she was in an episode of Starskey and Hutch when she did that.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Jeremy asked his partner.

“What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know, maybe I’m jumping to more conclusions, but somehow I think this is one call we need to take.”

Turned out, he was right.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Edgar Swamp is the author of the “Gyre Mission,” “Glitch in the Machine,” and “Blackout.” His short stories have appeared in Alienskin, Macabre Cadaver, and Urban Reinventors. When he isn’t holed up in his office playing online poker, he likes to dig up the recently deceased and make furniture out of their skin. He lives and works in San Diego, California.

LINKS:

Website: http://www.edgarswamp.com/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0578496445/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/47170769

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Edgaraaronswamp

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Edgar Swamp will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

RAFFLECOPTER:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3243