Rick Carufel on Come In, Sit Down, Tell Us About...

For you that are new, please read our intro now printed in Blue - for our returning guest feel free to jump to the text in black:
This blog is a meeting place for authors and others in the arts .... each week as others are directed to our door or just stumble on by, they come and leave  information about themselves - telling about their new books or drawings or photos or to tell us about their new blogs. ****PLEASE be sure your comments are appearing on the latest most timely blog insuring your inclusion in the sending off to Google plus land at the end of the week.*****


Here is the link to Gwen’s site: http://indieauthornetwork.weebly.com/ G.D. Steel's blog is free promoting of your arts. As I am wont to say {as does Facebook} our site is free to comment and share and always will be free.  This is a great site to join and to become interactive with guest blogging.  It gives you a chance to step out of your box and be whatever you  wish.


Another blog that I have a close tie is CRYPTO and CO.  Please pop over and check out all their pages.


I have been off doing business and my blogging, unfortunately, falls by the wayside.  There is so much news to tell and swamping tends to cross eyes and brain fog off... so only a few links on today's news.


If we thought last month was busy, this month got off to a plunge into new adventures of  editing, writing, publishing, promoting, and social interaction.

The Rain Cloud's Gift written for Children's Charities by our group The Peacock Writers' is on it's way to the NYC BOOK FAIR at the JACOB JAVIT'S CONVENTION CENTER.   No mass books or signing, just books displayed for industry professionals, stars, editors, publicists, publishers, and acquisition teams for the movie industry.  Gwenna D'Young has an Angel who was so impressed with the book, and has given us the money and backing to have the book appear in the line up.  We are also in the process of releasing a full, pictures included, limited edition.


Our next book in this series will celebrate the fall season and we are recruiting writers {1 each} from  India, Japan, and Philippines - America has Halloween and Thanksgiving, Great Britain has Guy Fawkes - we would like stories that reflect fall traditions or holidays for these other cultures as well.  The stories would remain the sole property of the author and their use as a donation would only occur for the book collection for Children's Charities. The story is to be written on a level where a child could either read it or have it read to them - our age goal for readers is 0 through 12.  Please contact me at  https://www.facebook.com/paula.shene  if interested in being considered.


May 24 Interview with Rick Carufel

Today I am happy to introduce one of the more outspoken, interesting artists, and an author of Horror, Rick Carufel


What inspired you to write?

My inspiration to write was a long time coming. I have been an avid reader since the late 1950s. I was inspired first to be an artist. That happened when I saw the Frank Frazetta paintings on the Robert E. Howard Conan Paperbacks. They say you can't tell a book by its cover but Frazetta proved that the cover can sell the book. I actually met him at the 1969 World Comicon in NY. After seeing his art up close I was hooked. I had always been good at art so I studied art for the next ten years.

I moved from Rhode Island to California in 1977 and started my art career.  I lived in tourist traps for many years selling art to tourists in California, Oregon, Arizona and Hawaii. All the time I was reading. In 1997, I left Hawaii and moved to Minnesota. It was here that I began to toy with the idea of writing. By then I had read most everything that interested me and realized that a good portion of the second choice books I was reading were simply not that good and I thought I could do at least as well. I had long been a fan of Lovecraft and Howard, and decided to try my hand at it. Certain story lines had been fermenting in my mind for decades and I decided to finally write them down.

So with the advent of the new millennium, I became a writer.

I still do art and occasionally do book covers for friends, and did a piece for Wendy Reakes, one of our favorite up and coming writers, recently as well as my own covers.


Do you have anyone you show manuscripts to and get advice from or are you a loner doing it all yourself?

I don't write manuscripts, I write all my stories in book format. I haven't submitted a story to a publisher. I do have several friends online I confide in and they read my stuff. There is no-one where I live in Minnesota that I know in literary circles. I did take some English classes at the local Community College. I am active in writer groups and sites online but mostly I am a loner.



What genre do you normally write in? Also, is there a genre you've always wanted to write in, but don't feel you could pull it off?

I normally write Horror, be it supernatural horror, sci-fi horror or erotic horror. I have often thought of writing a children's book or a book on philosophy. In my half century of reading I have read much on mysticism and metaphysics. I am a big fan of the late Joseph Campbell. My story, "Phospheindz" taps into that area of my experience.

I almost did a philosophy with a story I called "A New Direction" as a start, but got sidetracked by political intrigue and rigged contests on a website I used to contribute.

But a children's book has been roiling in my brain for quite some time.

Do you ever base your characters on people you know?

I do - not so much their characters - but certain traits and I use a lot of names from my school days.


What advice would you give to someone who was just starting off in writing?

Self publish, don't play the Agent/Publisher game, they are all a bunch of self-righteous crooks. Write, write and write, read, read and read, the more you read and write, the better you get. I had a very hard time with self editing at first but recently I edited several books by William C. Anderson best know as the author of "Bat 21" that was made into a movie. The publisher loved my work.


Do your stories tend to have morals, or special messages, included within them?

Some do, some don't. I like to keep the reader guessing as much as possible. "A New Direction" surely has a message as does "Fukushima Blues."


This question was posed by a fellow author and I loved it so much I decided to throw it into the mix ~


Oh no! One of your characters has escaped. Luckily, I have caught them! I will interrogate them with the help of a lie detector. Welcome!Take a seat, make yourself comfortable. You will be returning to your book once this is over. What's your name, where are you from and what is your role in the book?

"I am Dagon, your god, worship me and serve me or perish. I am an ancient one and ruled this planet long before humanity crawled from the dirt. I destroyed many races and civilizations over the millenniums and although the puny humans thought me destroyed in "The Dagonites" one of my loyal priests preserved enough of my being to regenerate and rise again to challenge the rule of man."

Tell us why we would enjoy reading your books?

My books are designed to be disturbing in a horrific way. If that is what you like, then you will definitely enjoy my writings. They combine the most terrifying aspects of writers like, Lovecraft, Barker, Koontz and King. Most have some sexual aspect as either a romantic element between the characters or horrific violation. What's not to love?

give me links:

"A new Direction" and "Fukushima Blues" are currently not available online but will appear soon in an anthology I am preparing for publication.

"Phospheindz" can be found here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005A7ABOS


"The Dagonites" here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00790GBPC

Thank you, Rick for stopping by