Dark Waters

By Dark WatersArts Books

Dark Waters episodes

July 15, 2022 All Things Violent/Love and Other Criminal Behavior aka Schrodinger's Dating Profile
The amazing Nikki Dolson joins us to talk about her latest works, the best way to exorcise dating frustrations, and "the hard truths of children and writing." We also get a sneak peek at one of her newest stories and discuss the importance of creating three-dimensional characters.
Nikki Dolson is the author of the novel All Things Violent and the story collection Love and Other Criminal Behavior. Her stories have appeared in Vautrin, TriQuarterly, Tough, ThugLit and other publications. Her fiction has been nominated for a Derringer award and her story "Neighbors" was selected for Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021. She lives in Las Vegas, NV with her children. Find her at NikkiDolson.com and as @NikkiDolson on Instagram and Twitter.

Want to submit your writing or be a guest editor? Email [email protected]
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.

1 hr 29 min
July 04, 2022 Grit. Black. Blood. aka I never said you should trust me, either
The incomparable Ashley Erwin joins us to discuss the art and importance of oral storytelling, Kentucky politics of the 1930s-1990s, many tangents, and hatred of red pens.

Ashley Erwin writes Southern Pulp. Sometimes, she does it well. Mostly, she peddles bourbon until the day comes that she doesn't. Living in sunny Los Angeles with the Man and her cat, who started out with a name and ended up Motherfucking BooBoo. All other things undecided. She has a Forthcoming novel about a bunch of Bad'ns from Kentucky coming from Shotgun Honey November 2022! Be on the lookout and follow Ashley on Twitter.

Want to submit your writing or be a guest editor? Email [email protected]
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
1 hr 24 min
June 14, 2022 Song of the Red Squire/River Street Rhapsody aka The Dad Joke Point Scale
The ever-wonderful C.W. Blackwell joins us to discuss using fiction to cultivate empathy for societal issues, the crisis of homelessness in America, and various forms of writing self-care. We also discuss his new and upcoming works River Street Rhapsody and Song of the Red Squire.

C.W. Blackwell is an American author from the Central Coast of California. His recent work has appeared with Down and Out Books, Shotgun Honey, Tough Magazine, and Fahrenheit Press. He has been a gas station pump jockey, a rock musician, and a crime analyst. He is a 2021 Derringer award winner. His debut poetry collection, River Street Rhapsody is currently available from Dead Fern Press. His fiction novellas Song of the Red Squire and Hard Mountain Clay are also forthcoming.

Preorder Song of the Red Squire here, and check out his other work here.

Want to submit your writing or be a guest editor? Email [email protected]
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.

1 hr 48 min
May 28, 2022 Living the Gimmick aka Take a Flying F*** at a Rolling Doughnut
In which we chat with Bobby Matthews about the hidden singular southern small town, analyzing the complexities of relationships against different socioeconomic backdrops, and what can only be described as brilliant speed writing. We also discuss his new release Living the Gimmick.
Bobby Mathews is a writer and journalist based in Birmingham, Alabama. Over the past two years, 22 of his short stories have been published in magazines, websites and anthologies of various stripes, and he was a finalist for a 2021 Derringer Award for flash fiction. A native Southerner, his work often deals with people learning to (hopefully) survive in a slowly changing South. His novel, Living the Gimmick, was released in May 2022 from Shotgun Honey, while Magic City Blues is slated for publication in Spring 2023. When he's not writing fiction, he's covering sports in suburban Birmingham and being a parent to two amazing sons. His recently published work is 'The Swahili Word for Hope,' a literary crime story, was also recently published in The Dillydoun Review.
Find him on Twitter and his Website.

Buy Living the Gimmick here.

Want to submit your writing or be a guest editor? Email [email protected]
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
1 hr 34 min
May 20, 2022 Blood Trip aka Kill All Sense of Shame
We kick off season 4 by chatting with Jesse Hilson about trying to ignore that family members will read your bloodiest scenes, adhering to genre rules, and using other creative outlets to help push through writing. We also discuss his novel Blood Trip.
Jesse Hilson is a writer and comics artist living in the Catskills in New York State. His writing has appeared, or will appear, in AZURE, Maudlin House, Pink Plastic House, Pulp Modern, Punk Noir, Misery Tourism, ExPat Press, Murderous Ink Press, Orchid's Lantern, Zin Daily, and elsewhere. His comics have been published or will be published in Misery Tourism, Bear Creek Gazette, and Excuse Me Mag. Two books of his will be published in 2022: BLOOD TRIP, a novel, from Close to the Bone, and HANDCUFFING THE VENUS DE MILO, a poetry chapbook, from The Sparrow's Trombone.
Find him on Twitter and his Website.

Buy Blood Trip here.

Want to submit your writing or be a guest editor? Email [email protected]
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
1 hr 40 min
March 25, 2022 The Maidens aka Book Club #3
So, we really loved The Silent Patient.

We talk about Alex Michaelides 2021 release The Maidens, the trappings of having too many ideas in a piece, unsatisfying endings, universe tie-ins, mental health, and Facebook statuses.
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
1 hr 2 min
March 16, 2022 God Is A Killer aka Bring on the death cults
We're joined by Max Thrax to discuss religious indoctrination, originality in writing, classic noir characterization, and proper terms for apocalyptic death cults. We also discuss his upcoming release God Is A Killer.
Max Thrax is a poet and novelist, living in Boston. His work has been published in Bristol Noir, Punk Noir, Expat, Apocalypse Confidential. His novella God Is A Killer (Close To The Bone) will be published in May 2022. Find him on Twitter.
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
1 hr 10 min
March 11, 2022 The Paradox Twins aka We're all made of dinosaur stardust
We're joined by Joshua Chaplinsky to discuss the fallacy of human memory, incorporating scientific theories into fiction, and the happy medium between finding inspiration from and trying to copy our favorite authors. We also discuss his novel The Paradox Twins.
Joshua Chaplinsky is the Managing Editor of LitReactor.com. He is the author of The Paradox Twins (CLASH Books), the story collection Whispers in the Ear of A Dreaming Ape, and the parody Kanye West--Reanimator. His short fiction has been published by Vice, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Thuglit, Severed Press, Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing, Pantheon Magazine and Broken River Books. Follow him on Twitter. More info at joshuachaplinsky.com and unravelingtheparadox.com.
Want to submit your writing or be a guest editor? Email [email protected]
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
1 hr 10 min
February 22, 2022 A Therapeutic Death aka Politely, go kick rocks
We're joined by the immensely talented J.B. Stevens, and talk about balancing humor in dark fiction, getting through the slush pile, edits worth listening to, and certain types of infinity loops. We also talk about his new release A Therapeutic Death: Violent Short Stories.

You can him on his website and on Twitter.

J.B. Stevens lives in the Southeastern United States with his wife, daughter, and Yorkshire terrier. His work in crime fiction is widely lauded. He’s published with dozens of websites, magazines, and anthologies. He was a finalist for the Claymore Award and won Mystery Tribune’s inaugural micro-fiction contest.
In addition to fiction, J.B. is a poet. His verse focuses on returning from war and pop culture. His war poetry was a finalist for the Colonel Darron L. Wright Award. His comedy poetry was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His war poetry led him to be LitReactor’s featured National Poetry Month writer. The Best of America Cannot Be Seen, his pop-comedy collection, was a summer 2021 release with Alien Buddha Press.
As a reviewer and interviewer, he works for St. Martin’s/Criminal Element. His critiques are widely cited, and he is a “must contact” for numerous literary publicists.
Before his writing career, J.B. was a United States Army Infantry Officer. He was honorably discharged as a Captain. He is a veteran of the Iraq war and earned numerous awards, including a Bronze Star.
Prior to the war, he was an undefeated Mixed Martial Arts Fighter. He earned a black belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu and was the longtime manager of Alliance, the world champion Jiujitsu team.
J.B. graduated with a bachelor's degree in Psychology from The Citadel and a master's degree in Management from Troy State University. He is currently a Chief Deputy United States Marshal.

Want to submit your writing or be a guest editor? Email [email protected]
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
1 hr 9 min
February 15, 2022 Enemy of the Enemies aka I told you, I contain multitudes
We are joined by the wonderful and wonderfully cynical Allison Sutton to discuss Nathan's WIP, Enemy of the Enemies, the need for emotional support Diet Coke, making crude scenes cruder, and the intricacies of Catholic funerals.

Allison Sutton is a former gifted kid turned art student turned corporate drone. She is the mother of fourteen house plants, one cat, and unknowable unfinished drafts. She is currently working on both short historical horror and historical romance because she contains multitudes. Her motto is “actually” and she has strong opinions on the great lakes. She is also awake, but at what cost?

You can find her on Twitter.
Special thanks to Chase Potter for helping with the audio editing of this episode. You can find him on his website and on Instagram.

Want to submit your writing or be a guest editor? Email [email protected]
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
1 hr 34 min