I recently sent C.D. Gallant-King a list of five questions. In his upcoming book, Hell Comes to Hogtown, a comic book nerd and a pro-wrestler try to clear their names in a kidnapping while evading a bloodthirsty demon hobo…
I’m most happy with how polite all the reviewers were, and I’m unhappy with everything else.
Seriously though, overall I think the book had a lot of good ideas (and I think I surprised a few people), but structurally the pacing was way off. I could pick it apart for hours but the short version is the first act was too long and the third act was way too short. I’m honestly considering giving it a thorough revision.
Knowing nothing of African culture or folklore, I’m going to say it’s an aggressive clan of piranha people who are plaguing the river and pillaging the land, but they’re secretly controlled by a hive-mind swarm of termites that are the true villains. The hippopotamus definitely dies in a heart-wrenching scene.(Do they have piranhas in Africa? If not, replace them with some kind of trout or tilapia.) [Editor’s note: No, there are no piranhas in Africa, but I found something just as good.)
I have a brand new novel out July 1st. It’s called Hell Comes to Hogtown and it’s about a comic book nerd and a pro-wrestler trying to clear their names in a kidnapping while avoiding a bloodthirsty demon hobo.It’s a horror comedy, sort of in the vein of Christopher Moore (Practical Demonkeeping, You Suck: A Love Story, and many others). I am really excited about this one. If you like black humour and don’t mind a few cuss words (okay, a LOT of cuss words) this should be right up your alley.
She probably doesn’t need my plug, but some of the best Indy stuff I’ve read lately is Celine Jeanjean’s The Viper and the Urchin series. Ostensibly it’s a YA steampunk fantasy, but really it’s a series of fast-paced mystery/thrillers with a pair of mismatched buddy cop-style antagonists. It’s entertaining, the characters are really enjoyable and the story moves along really well – it’s not at all bogged down by extraneous world-building or backstory, which I appreciate immensely. The second book just came out and it’s doing really well. The third book should be out later this year.
Writing seems to go hand-in-hand with game-mastering, doesn’t it? Most writers I know of use their gaming to develop their story’s background, sending their players through their fantasy world to test out their ideas. I much prefer my games to be a joint effort between the players and game master to write the story together – with everyone taking part equally. You get way more interesting outcomes this way, the players are more invested, and I don’t have to listen to my own stupid ideas in BOTH my writing and my gaming. So if anything I try to keep my “author voice” out of my games.
THE BOOK!
Title: Hell Comes to Hogtown
Author: C.D Gallant-King
Genre: Comic Horror
Length: 65,000 words
Cover Art: Jason Salvatori and Max Covers
Editing: Amy Allen-MacLeod
Release Date: July 1, 2016
Fitz is a broke night manager for a grubby comic book store. His only friend Dee is a drugged-out, womanizing pro-wrestler. Together they’re the most pathetic losers on the face of the planet. Their lives cannot possibly get any worse.
And then they’re implicated in the kidnapping of the prime minister’s wife.
On the run from the cops, Fitz and Dee discover there is something far worse than the RCMP stalking the dark streets of Toronto. They are being hunted by an ancient demon of unspeakable evil with an insatiable taste for blood… or maybe it’s just your run-of-the-mill giant murderous hobo?
Either way, life in prison might be better than whatever the creepy drifter has in store for them…
Writer, tabletop gamer, pro-wrestling aficionado. Dad.
C.D. Gallant-King is an independent writer originally from Newfoundland, Canada, though he’s not fond of fishing and hates boats. He moved to Toronto to study theatre, and then later moved to Ottawa where he does absolutely nothing related to theatre.
He hangs out on Twitter and Facebook, and blogs at Stories I Found in the Closet and Rule of the Dice.