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Tonight we’re chatting with Faye Snowden, author of the new book A Killing Rain, brand new from Flame Tree Press. About the Book: After former homicide Raven Burns returns to Byrd’s Landing, Louisiana to begin a new life, she soon finds herself trapped by the old one when her nephew is kidnapped by a ruthless serial killer, and her foster brother becomes the main suspect. To make matters worse, she is being pursued by two men— one who wants to redeem her soul for the murder Raven felt she had no choice but to commit, and another who wants to lock her away forever.

Tonight we’re chatting with Erica Friedman, author of By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga. It’s been called “the untold story of lesbian love in Japanese anime and comics.” About the Author Erica Friedman is the founder of Yuricon community, and was the first publisher of Yuri manga in English, with ALC Publishing. She holds a Masters Degree in Library Science and a B.A. in Comparative Literature, and is a full-time researcher for a Fortune 100 company. She has lectured at dozens of conventions and presented at film festivals, notably the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. She has participated in an academic lecture series at MIT, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Harvard University, Kanagawa University, and others. She has edited manga for JManga, Seven Seas and Udon Entertainment, most recently Riyoko Ikeda's epic historical classic, The Rose of Versailles. Erica has written about Yuri for Japanese literary journal Eureka, Animerica magazine, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Dark Horse, and contributed to Forbes, Slate, Huffington Post, Hooded Utilitarian, The Mary Sue, Anime Herald, and Anime News Network online. She has written news and event reports, interviews Yuri creators and reviews Yuri anime, manga and related media on her blog Okazu since 2002 and is the author of By Your Side: The First 100 Year of Yuri Anime and Manga, coming out in June 2022 from Journey Press.

Tonight we’re chatting with Ava Reid, author of JUNIPER & THORN (on sale June 21 from Harper Voyager), a gothic horror retelling of the Grimm Brothers fairytale “The Juniper Tree” and follows a young witch as she seeks to escape her abusive wizard father in Oblya, a city based on Victorian-era Odessa, Ukraine. Reid expertly weaves themes of femininity, desire, oppression, and progress into the dark fantasy of JUNIPER & THORN. Marlinchen and her sisters are the last true witches in the terrifying city of Oblya, where magic has given way to industry. Though their tyrannical, xenophobic father keeps them sequestered from the outside world, they sneak out at night to explore the city, where Marlinchen meets a dancer who captures her heart. As Marlinchen’s feelings deepen for Sevas, the threat of her father’s rage and magic grows; at the same time, a monster begins leaving dead bodies in its wake. Marlinchen must draw upon her magic to keep her city safe and find her place within it. It’s a haunting horror fantasy tale with a layered, complex heroine – amid gruesome twists and turns, Reid crafts Marlinchen’s story with compassion, exploring her trauma and building her tender romance with Sevas. And just as she did in her debut, Reid examines nationalism through the lens of magic and fantasy, combining her Ukrainian heritage and academic background to craft the city of Oblya, based on the port city of Odessa in Ukraine, and explore what it means for a city to develop and progress. JUNIPER & THORN has already been described as “darkly enchanting” in a starred Publishers Weekly review. A full list of content warnings is available here. I can’t wait for you to dive in and hope you’ll consider covering in June. Ava Reid was born in Manhattan and raised right across the Hudson River in Hoboken, but currently lives in Palo Alto. She has a degree in political science from Barnard College, focusing on religion and ethnonationalism.

This episode Jason chats with Jim Mahoney, writer and lead of GATLOPP. XYZ Films will release the supernatural comedy GATLOPP on Demand and Digital June 16, 2022. Check out the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht4vidrbk2A The film stars Jim Mahoney (Klaus), Emmy Raver-Lampman ("The Umbrella Academy"), Jon Bass (Baywatch), Sarunas J. Jackson ("Insecure"), and Shelley Hennig ("Teen Wolf”). In GATLOPP, a group of old friends reunites for a nostalgic evening of fun and games after a decade apart. After one too many, they decide to play a drinking game, but it’s quickly revealed that this game comes with supernatural stakes. Mischief leads to mayhem, and the group realizes that if they can’t come together to win the game by sunrise, they will be forced to play for eternity - in hell. GATLOPP was written by Jim Mahoney (Klaus) and directed by Alberto Belli ("The House of Flowers").

This week Jason chats James Byrne that is perfect for fans of Reacher on Prime Video! The Gatekeeper (releasing June 7th 2022) The gatekeeper of the title is Desmond Aloysius Limerick—aka Dez—a retired mercenary. When the California hotel Dez is staying in is attacked with ruthless precision by a team of highly-skilled mercenaries—out to kidnap the legal counsel of a military contractor—Dez is a one-man spanner in the works, foiling the attempt. Having saved Petra Alexandris from the kidnappers, he sticks around to help her with another corporate problem and the two fall down a rabbit hole so full of adventure (think military coups), intrigue, and nonstop action it’s worthy of Bourne, Reacher, or Orphan X. James Byrne is the pseudonym for an author who has worked for more than twenty years as a journalist and in politics.

Jason chats wiith Julia Lynn Rubin whose new book PRIMAL ANIMALS is just out from Wednesday Books/Macmillan. About the book: Midsommar meets "Yellowjackets" in this new YA horror novel where a girl gets sucked into a secret society at an elite summer program, with deadly consequences. Protect the girls Arlee Gold is anxious about spending the summer at the college prep Camp Rockaway—the same camp her mother attended years ago, which her mother insists will help give Arlee a “fresh start” after her struggles the past year; that it will “change her life.” Little does Arlee know that once she steps foot on the manicured grounds, this will prove to be true in horrifying ways. Even though the girls in her cabin are awesome—and she’s developing a major crush on the girl who sleeps in the bunk above her—the other campers seem to be wary of Arlee, unwilling to talk to her or be near her, which only ramps up her paranoia. When she’s tapped to join a strange secret society, Arlee thinks this will be her shot at fitting in...until her new "sisters" ask her to do the unthinkable, putting her life, and the life of her new crush, in perilous danger. Author Bio: JULIA LYNN RUBIN received her MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from The New School in 2017. A lover of film, psychology, and literature, Julia has been writing creatively since first grade, and her short stories have appeared in publications such as the North American Review. She currently lives in Brooklyn, where she is freelancing while working on her next book. Julia is the author of Burro Hills and Trouble Girls.

Tonight we’re chatting with Leanna Renee Hieber about her upcoming contemporary Gothic romance novel, Ghosts of the Forbidden: Glazier’s Gap Book 1, which will be released just in time for spooky season on October 11. The cover—and a special vintage-style “stepback” cover—were revealed this week at fantasybookcafe.com. Hieber’s work includes the timeslip novellas in the Time Immemorial trilogy; the futuristic, paranormal novellas in the Dark Nest Chronicles, beginning with her Prism Award–winning space opera novella Dark Nest; and the Gothic gaslamp fantasy books in the Strangely Beautiful, Eterna Files, and Spectral City series. (Plus she has written a couple of essays on Gothic fiction here, “Penny Dreadful’s Betrayal and the Complexity of Feminism in the Gothic Tradition” and “The Gothic as a Canary in Fear’s Coal Mine.”) Check out the cover reveal here: https://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2022/05/cover-reveal-for-ghosts-of-the-forbidden-by-leanna-renee-hieber/ Find the book and pre-order at Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3Ny53ny

Tonight we’re chatting with Fernando González Gómez, co-director of The Passenger or La Pasajera, in Theaters June 3, 2022 and On Demand and DVD June 28, 2022. The film had its World Premiere at the 2021 Sitges Film Festival in which it was nominated for the Audience Award. THE PASSENGER (original title: La Pasajera) stars Ramiro Blas (“La Fuga”), Cecilia Suárez (“The House of Flowers”), Paula Gallego (“Cuéntame”) and Cristina Alcázar (Cachorro). The film was co-directed by Raúl Cerezo (feature film debut) and Fernando González Gómez (Zombie World 2) based on a screenplay written by Luis Sánchez-Polack (Como Caido Del Cielo). SYNOPSIS: A group of strangers sharing a ride have their trip interrupted when the driver hits a woman hiking in the dark of night. They decide to help her, but quickly learn that something is wrong and that they shouldn’t have let her in at all.

Tonight we’re chatting with Neal E. Fischer, author of Being Patrick Swayze: Essential Teachings from the Master of the Mullet. Find it here: https://amzn.to/3MMwpq7 Neal E. Fischer is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and pop culture fanatic. Neal cut his teeth as a musician and performer on stage before ultimately transitioning behind the scenes. Neal's credits include the award-winning documentary 10 Mountains 10 Years, narrated by Anne Hathaway; #WhoKilledHeather, an innovative branded web series; and many short films and features screened at festivals around the world. Neal also directs commercials for brands such as Dunkin' Donuts, Wisconsin Lottery, and Cars.com, the latter of which was shortlisted for awards at Cannes Lions. You can hear Neal's bad impressions and obscure movie references each week on Triviality, a pub-trivia style podcast recorded under the watchful eye of its patron saint of podcasting, Patrick Swayze, whose poster proudly hangs in the studio. He lives in Chicago, IL.

Tonight we’re chatting with Russell Owen, writer and director of Shepherd, in theaters May 6 and on Demand and Digital May 10th. In the film, a young Scottish an takes a job as a shepherd on a desolate island following the death of his wife, where he is haunted by loneliness, guilt, and increasingly nightmarish and haunting visions.

Tonight we’re chatting with Keoni Waxman, writer/director of The Ravine, which is released in theaters and on demand and digital from Cinedigm on May 6. The film stars Eric Dane (“Euphoria"), Teri Polo (Meet the Parents), Peter Facinelli (The Vanished), Byron Mann (The Big Short), Leslie Uggams (Deadpool) and Kyle Lowder (“Days of Our Live”). In THE RAVINE, when an unspeakable crime rocks a peaceful community, family and friends are left to wonder if they overlooked the murderer among them or if there might be more to the story. Inspired by true events, this haunting thriller stars Eric Dane, Teri Polo, Peter Facinelli, and Leslie Uggams.

Tonight we’re chatting with Chris Cullari and Jennifer Raite, directors of the new film THE AVIARY which Premieres April 29 In Theaters and Digital and On Demand From Saban Films — The film follows two women (Malin Akerman and Lorenza Izzo) on the run from an oppressive and controlling cult led by Seth (Chris Messina), and the lingering hold it has on them despite the distance they so desperately try to put between themselves and the desert facility they used to occupy.