This week, Fika with Vicky asks the question…an isolated island and an old cottage…what could go wrong? I can’t tell you that, because of spoilers, but I can tell you what could go right. Jeff (J.C.) Vande Zande. An Author, Poet, Screenwriter and Filmmaker, Jeff has an eclectic and engaging collection of work.
In this episode, we’ll be focusing on his first Horror novel, “The Dance of Rotten Sticks,” There’s a lot to embrace in this work, but I especially found the dialogue within family relationships authentic. And of course, when there are children involved, it makes everything much more intense. I want to say this would be a great book to take on vacation and read by the side of a lake for the atmosphere, but on the other hand, it may send you back to the mainland sooner than you planned. Safety first!
Please join us, as we look into this new campfire tale offering, “The Dance of Rotten Sticks.” It’s a wonderfully worthy addition to this fine tradition, and hopefully has sparked more such stories from Jeff Vande Sande.
About The Dance of Rotten Sticks:-
The Dance of Rotten Sticks tells the story of Isaac Fletcher, a recent widower struggling to raise three kids after losing his wife to a bizarre car accident. His mother-in-law, aware of Isaac’s drinking problem, threatens to take the kids. Hoping to become the father they need him to be, Isaac takes the family to their recently-purchased vacation property on Orphan Island. Strange incidents occur, culminating in their discovery of an abandoned orphanage that some say is haunted. Isaac’s youngest begins to hear voices. His eldest has horrific dreams of their dead mother. Only Emily seems to thrive, beguiling Isaac to the true danger that she faces from the island’s other inhabitants.
About Jeff-
Jeff Vande Zande teaches fiction writing, screenwriting, and film production at Delta College in Michigan. His award-winning short films have been accepted over 200 times in national and international film festivals. His books of fiction include the story collections Emergency Stopping (Bottom Dog Press) and Threatened Species (Whistling Shade Press). His novels include Into the Desperate Country (March Street Press), Landscape with Fragmented Figures (Bottom Dog Press), American Poet (Bottom Dog Press) and Detroit Muscle (Whistling Shade Press). In 2012, American Poet won a Michigan Notable Book Award from the Library of Michigan. In 2020, Whistling Shade Press released his collection, The Neighborhood Division: Stories, and in 2022 Montag Press released his novel, Rules of Order. The Dance of Rotten Sticks (Montag Press, 2024) is his first foray into the horror genre. He maintains a blog at www.authorjeffvandezande.blogspot.com.