To-Read: Afraid by Jack Kilborn

My to-read pile has officially gotten too large to actually fit on the shelf as a pile. One of the books that I’m in the midst of reading is Afraid by Jack Kilborn. I don’t know if I’ll finish it. I’m not very far into it, since I’m a wuss and won’t read it in anything other than broad daylight. But considering my heart was pounding from what I was reading while sitting in the dentist’s waiting room (and I was only on like, page 10), I figure there will be a point where I won’t be able to continue. We’ll see if I can tough it out without getting all crybaby.

Speaking of Afraid, yesterday, I was supposed to post a fun little blog thing for Joe Konrath, but apparently I have no concept of time when I’m off at a writers retreat. So I forgot what day it was and it didn’t happen. So, a day late, it’s here.

My name is JA Konrath. It’s also Jack Kilborn.

For the month of March, I’ve been blog touring, to promote my new horror novel Afraid, and my new thriller novel Cherry Bomb.

During this month, I’ve appeared on close to a hundred different blogs.

I’ve been asked a lot of questions. A whole lot. So now I’m going to ask myself The Questions I Haven’t Been Asked Yet

Q: You’ve got a bunch of ebooks on your website that people can download for free. One is a How to Get Published ebook, four are novels, and one is a collection of 55 previously published short stories. Which is your favorite novel and short?

A: My favorite ebook of mine is Origin. It’s about Satan being studied by the government in a secret research facility. Naturally, all hell breaks loose.

My fave short story is Street Music. I just love the last line.

Q: You know, that really wasn’t a question. That was more like an infodump.

A: That’s not a question either.

Q: So, are you sick of this blog tour thing yet?

A: Not at all. I’ve been able to do guest posts unlike what I normally do on my blog. So this has been a lot of fun.

Q: You aren’t running out of things to say?

A: Not even close.

Q: Have you ended the Jack Daniels series?

A: No. After Cherry Bomb, the sixth books, comes out in July, Jack Daniels is taking a little vacation. But she’ll be back. Probably. Maybe starting one of those online petition things will make her come back quicker. Though it hasn’t worked for getting episodes of “Flo” released on DVD. That Flo sure was funny, saying “kiss my grits” all the time. Did she carry the grits around in her purse, do you think?

Q: I never watched Flo.

A: She was the redhead with the beehive from “Alice.” Don’t you remember Mel the cook? And Vera?

Q: Oh, yeah. I didn’t like that show.

A: How can you not like “Alice”? It was a classic sit-com.

Q: I liked “Barney Miller.” I wonder if that’s on DVD.

A: Try Googling it. If it’s not, maybe you can find bootlegs.

Q: That’s how I got my collection of “Space Giants.” Remember that show?  Goldar, Silvar, and Gam? Fought giant rubber monsters?

A: One of my favorites from my childhood. They released Ultraman. The first series. Not the spin-offs.

Q: I know. Got them all. They aren’t as much fun as I remembered, though.

A: That’s because you were a kid when you saw them. Lower standards. How’s the nostalgia factor?

Q: So-so. Fun, but not giddy fun.

A: For our age group, remembering and romanticizing our childhood has become a recreational activity.

Q: I know. Sometimes I spend hours on eBay, trying to find all the toys I had as a kid. Some of them are worth a fortune.

A: I had a game called Dark Tower. That sells for a fortune now. So do Micronauts, and Shogun Warriors. Any books from your youth you remember and want to read again?

A: I remember three. The Sky Rocket Powered Chicken Hawk. The Pumpkin Giant. Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls.

Q: You can find them on www.abe.com.

A: Thanks. So, uh, you have any more questions? Maybe something about my new book?

Q: The scary one?

A: Yeah.

Q: Nope. I think you’ve answered them all already. We know it’s really frightening. We know that a quarter of the people who start it will be too terrified to finish it. We know you wrote it under a pen name because it’s a different brand than your Jack Daniels series. We know you can read an excerpt at www.jackkilborn.com.

A: Did you know I wrote the entire book while huffing paint thinner fumes?

Q: Isn’t that dangerous? Burns a whole in your septum?

A: Septums are overrated. Do you even really need them? Aren’t they unnecessary, like the appendix, or the right ventricle?

Q: I’m not even sure what a septum is.

A: I never learned how to type.

Q: Because of the paint thinner?

A: I was joking about the paint thinner. But you’ve run out of questions. so I thought it would be interesting to admit that I’m a writer who never learned how to type.

Q: I think you mentioned that already.

A: I did?

Q: On another blog.

A: Oh.

Q: Wasn’t very interesting then, either.

A: Hmm. Maybe I am running out of things to say.

Q: How about ending this with something inspirational? Something for newbie writers all over the world?

A: Okay. How about, “Don’t dream it. Be it.”

Q: Isn’t that from the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”?

A: Did I mention I’ve been on a hundred blogs this month? I’m kinda burned.

Q: There’s a word for a writer who never gives up.

A: Burned?

Q: Published.

A: You say that all the time.

Q: It’s true though. If you want to succeed, you have to keep at it. You have to want it so badly you’re willing to give up everything for it.

A: This was a pretty schizophrenic interview.

Q: Go buy Afraid. It comes out March 31.

A: Shogun Warriors were cool.

Q: They sure were…