The ARC Party

Find Danielle’s books here, on my bookshop Danielle Trussoni List

Once upon a time I was a host on a podcast called Booked. I was doing this podcast when Danielle published her last book, THE ANCESTOR. We were working on having Danielle on to talk about THE ANCESTOR, and for reasons I don’t recall, it just never happened.

Cut to a few months ago. I catch wind that Danielle has a new book coming out. I’m excited. Then I see the cover. I’m even more excited! Then I read the summary. Then, I realize that there’s no way I’m going to miss another interview.

We had a wonderful discussion about so many thing, as this book consists of so many things. Puzzles! Consciousness. Horror. Thrillers. So much! I’m excited for people to hear Danielle talk about her book, and I'm even more excited for people to get it in their hands.

As a special treat, Danielle has shared with me a photo of the porcelain doll that has been passed down through her family generations, which was the inspiration for the “haunted doll” that’s in the book.

YouTube video:

I saw that cover, read about the story, and knew I had to get this dude on the podcast. Probably my favorite thing about Twitter is when exciting new things get hyped, and I see a community supporting something they love.

It’s Adam’s first novella release, and as luck would have it, his first podcast. I am honored to be able to bring you this conversation about his book. I hope I gave him enough time to talk, and didn’t talk over him too much - I was excited to say stuff about Narcissus!

Adam did a great job creeping me out, and I think the unstoppable consequence style of story that this is is very effective. It is a quick and entertaining read, and reads very cinematically. I was seeing it play in my head, which isn’t always the case when I read. All in all it’s awesome, and I appreciate the opportunity to pick Adam’s brain about it.

YouTube video version will be available soon, for those of you that are into the visual experience.

The book releases in less than a week, so as soon as you see this, you should be ordering Narcissus!

Most importantly: Here’s my Bookshop.org list for Frank Bill, where you can pre-order BACK TO THE DIRT, and pick up all of Frank’s other books, too. BTTD drop 5/9!

I first met Frank Bill in his home town of Corydon Indiana, on September 10th, 2011. It was the book release party for his first book, CRIMES IN SOUTHERN INDIANA. It’s also where I first met Donald Ray Pollock, Matthew McBride, Scott Phillips, Jedidiah Ayres, Kyle Minor, and (in person) David James Keaton. It’s also where I first met Waffle House. It was a significant trip for me.

Since that time, I’ve done reviews for all of Frank’s books, and interviewed him several times. I have a long history with this author, and I really enjoy his writing. So, when I got wind of his new book releasing, I was so excited that I had a podcast to invite him on to!

What follows is a little over an hour of discussion about war, mental illness, drugs, and other things that can erode and destroy a person. You may think that, because Frank is a crime author, we dig into the dirty grittiness of life. Honestly it’s more about the devastating effect all of these things can have on people, families, communities, and a national identity. We talk about how it’s important to honor family and history, and to make an effort to understand people - especially people who come from different backgrounds. It was a great conversation that I hope you enjoy.

For anyone viewing the YouTube video: There was an issue with the video file on Frank’s side, so about halfway in to the recording, his feed goes to a still photo. The audio is fine, thankfully. We just lost some of the video. Apologies for making you look at my face more.

YouTube video:

It’s party time once again! This time around, we’re celebrating something in the woods that’s not quite right.

Jessica Leonard has joined me to talk about her second book, CONJURING THE WITCH (Ghoulish Books, 5/2/2023). If you’re into a rural setting, a church that’s driving its people to do bad things, creepy houses, creepy woods, and feminist rage, this is likely a book you’ll enjoy.

Come for the witch talk, stay for the dinosaurs! That’s right, Jessica is hooked on Jurassic Park, so once our book chat was done, we spent some time talking about a movie that was groundbreaking then, and holds up amazingly well even today.

If you’re catching this episode as it drops, you still have a few weeks to pre-order this book. You can do so HERE with my affiliate link, or HERE through Ghoulish, where you’ll get a signed book sticker.

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Max Booth III has been tearing things up on the horror scene for a while now, and his latest contribution to the mayhem is a new short story collection, ABNORMAL STATISTICS. It’s dark, bleak, weird, and concerningly autobiographical.

Michael David Wilson is the founder of This Is Horror, and the main host of the This Is Horror podcast. He’s been a crucial contributor to the horror book world for over a decade, with his website, podcast, awards, and his own writing.

As this is a crossover episode, the format is slightly different. Michael often leads the conversation. but don’t worry! There’s still plenty of me. Also, after the main discussion, there’s about 17 minutes of weird, and likely offensive, outtakes.

This is the first of two episodes covering Max’s book. We had so much to say that we needed to break up the conversation over multiple recordings. This means that, in the near future, you’ll be getting more talk about the stories in this collection, and probably more bragging about our longevity in the business.

This podcast is about supporting our beloved creators, and so here is your opportunity! ABNORMAL STATISTICS is available now, so pick up a copy, and check out other publications from Max’s publishing company Ghoulish Books.

While you’re at it, Michael has a couple books out that are available for purchase, so please check them out and buy them as well! And don’t forget to check out the This Is Horror podcast, with almost 500 episodes to choose from. I’d guess I appear in about five of them, if that helps.

Thanks as always for listening! The video episode will be available soon on my YouTube, with chapters/timestamps, if that’s your thing.

It’s party time! This episode, we’re celebrating the carnage a mermaid and her young wreak.

Cassandra Khaw was generous to spend about an hour chatting with me about their upcoming book THE SALT GROWS HEAVY. It’s a splendidly grim fairy tale that I highly recommend.

We talk about lots of themes that I pulled out of the book, including exploitation, a violent reaction to that exploitation, and love. Specifically, and this tickles me, we got to talk about what I’ve termed “friendship as relationship” storytelling, where love is a component but not necessarily in a romantic context.

Additionally, we get into topics like language, upcoming books, and Richard Kadrey punching a horse.

THE SALT GROWS HEAVY releases 5/2, and you can pre-order it now. Here’s my affiliate link at bookshop.org, for convenience.

THE SALT GROWS HEAVY by Cassandra Khaw

It’s time to celebrate another great book, and it’s even greater author!

This time, Zoje Stage (BABY TEETH, WONDERLAND) joins me to talk about her upcoming release, MOTHERED, along with special guest Becky Spratford.

I last had the chance to interview Zoje when her book WONDERLAND was released, but I’ve been an avid reader all along. It was great to catch up with Zoje about this new book, and talk about her journey in publishing. And I gushed a bunch about her amazing dark fairy tale THE GIRL WHO OUTGREW THE WORLD.

Becky. Well, I could talk to her all day. She’s so ebullient and so knowledgeable about the world of publishing. She gave a glowing review to MOTHERED, and we had a moment in a previous podcast where we both geeked out over Zoje’s book WONDERLAND, so I knew she needed to be a part of this episode.

It was a great conversation, and we talked about some really interesting things, so I hope you join us in celebrating Zoje and her books!

Be sure to pre-order MOTHERED now, and while you’re at it, grab all of Zoje’s books! (Here’s a handy list I created: https://bookshop.org/lists/zoje-stage)

If you’re looking for video versions of my episodes, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thearcparty

Thanks, and let’s get this party started!

Table of Contents:

00:51 - Head Cleaner release information

02:15 - What is ARC Party?

08:55 - Film digression #1

18:47 - Head Cleaner

41:42 -  Dave's animal obsession

46:22 - Film digression #2

51:36 - Editing notes for Head Cleaner

53:57 - Dave ranks the animals from his books

58:09 - Significance of the last thing made

01:00:23 - Film digression #3 - Scarface

01:06:49 - Film digression #3 continued - Beastmaster

01:09:53 - Movies referenced in Head Cleaner

01:15:53 - Movies in the book - watch them first?

01:18:22 - Dialogue - is Keaton good at it?

01:25:39 - Film digression #4 - underpopulated film

01:27:40 - Dialogue continued

01:30:46 - Planning new books, and genre

01:34:07 - Themes in Dave's stories

01:36:40 - Stephen Graham Jones digression

01:41:34 - Knife digression

01:44:29 - Pandemic hobbies

01:46:38 - Drug digression?

01:49:09 - Coffee

01:53:26 - Video Store stolen valor

01:56:40 - More coffee

02:01:36 - Tony McMillan comic books

02:06:06 - Books we're excited about

02:11:03 - Thanks, and good night