Lisa Diane Kastner’s protagonist finds a new family in the sequel to “Cure”’

Let’s face it, family can be a challenge. But when that family is a group of supernatural shapeshifters? Well, that’s a horse—or a wolf—of a different color.

In our newest Citywide Bytes interview, I talk with author Lisa Diane Kastner for her recently-released book, “Family Pack,” the sequel to her 2022 release, “Cure.” The book continues the story of Luna Auber, whom after her brother dies suddenly learns that she is both a shapeshifting lycanthrope and the descendent of a legendary female Viking warrior.

In “Family Pack,” Luna’s epic journey continues amidst a conflict between The Lycanthrope Society, which believe that humans and lycanthropes should exist in harmony, and The Righteous Group, which believe that lycanthropes are intended to rule over all other species.

Lisa talks about the series got its start on a dare from fellow author and New York Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry, and full disclosure, I nerd out quite a bit here. When one of the greats of the writing world dares you to do something, you just gotta!

We also go into how Luna’s progressed on her journey in this new life and the conflict that she’s about to be a part of. Lisa talks about Luna’s powers and how she adapts to this new world as well as how the character and author parallel one another.

And if anyone out there wants to make my dream of Citywide Blackout cookies happen, I’m here for it!

Citywide Bytes-Matthew Daddona dives into his own backstory for new book

Our next guest for the Citywide Bytes interviews has just dropped his first novel, “The Longitude of Grief,” a coming of age story about a boy named Henry and his attempts to escape a world of betrayal.

But for author Matthew Daddona, it’s far from his first foray into the literary world—in fact, he’s been working in the publishing world for years for such companies as Penguin Random House and Dey Street Books/Harper Collins, so he knows a thing or three about getting a book out there.

In this interview, Matthew shares what inspired this book, which he worked on for six years. We go into how it changed over that time and what’s different in the final version. We also talk about how working as a book editor helped him during the writing process and get the story behind his main character, Nick Manero.

This interview comes to us through the good folks at Books Forward PR, and you can learn more at www.booksforward.com

He’s back! Jon Merz returns to talk vampire books and the changing industry

It seems like he was just here, but nevertheless, we welcome back Jon Merz, this time to talk about his lengthy writing career. Standing above his many, many titles has to be the Lawson Vampire Series, now being developed into a television pilot. This series began with the first book, “The Fixer” in 2002. Now, 35 books later, it’s still going strong.

Jon and I dive into the story behind the story, how it all kicked off and why it was originally intended to be just one book. Things changed, however, and we look at the expansion of the series and the different adventures the main character has been on.

Speaking of which, meet Lawson: vampire by birth, Fixer by trade. His mission: preserve the secret existence of living vampires by any means necessary. Jon and I take a walk through the vampire world, Lawson’s role in it and how he’s changed over 20 years.

It's no secret that writing today is a very different industry. An author can’t expect to make it with just print or even e-books, and Jon shares some of his insight and what led him to pursue different avenues to make his writing career pay off.

Michael Harris Cohen collects years of horror tales in new book

• 
  An aging TV star’s murderous plan to rekindle her glory days
• A father who returns from war forever changed
• Human lab rats who die again and again
• A farmer who obeys the dreadful commands of the sky

These are just a handful of the 22 short stories that you can find in Michael Harris Cohen's recently released book, “Effects Vary.” We talk about the history behind them, what led to releasing the collection, and the careful process of deciding their order.

Part of the publishing process is unfortunately getting rejected and Michael shares some of the “No's” he's received, including the rares time when a publisher gave some insightful feedback. Michael teaches creative writing and literature at the American University in Bulgaria and we talk about the lessons imparted to the students and tips about getting their work seen by the world.

Kevin Lucia talks about the new arm of Cemetery Dance Publications

As we close on Halloween, it makes perfect sense to welcome back one of my favorite horror authors, Kevin Lucia. This time, we're diving into the small press industry with a look at his role as e-book and trade paperback editor at Cemetery Dance Publications. It's a significant change for the press and one that's upped their status in a big way.

In this episode, we talk about what this means for the company and the work that made it happen. Kevin addresses the publisher's past issues with making deadlines and the complete turnaround that he's witnessed.

But that's not all! Kevin has some new projects in the works, including “The Horror at Pleasant Brook,” out this Halloween. Along with a look at the story, we talk about the kill factor in horror books and some of his best methods to end a character. Hey, it's a horror episode, what did you expect?