Welcome Today's Featured Author
Josh Matthews!!!
Hell Gate (Volume 1) by Josh Matthews
Sixteen-year-old
Jason McCreary is living a nightmare within a nightmare. Not only is
he trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by demons
from Hell, he also shoulders the burden for humanity’s fate as it
was his mother who opened the gates in a scientific experiment gone
wrong.
In
a last ditch effort to redeem his family
name and erase his guilt, Jason joins a squad whose mission is to
travel to Paris and close the Hell Gate. Once there, they discover an
environment more frightening than anything they could imagine and
demons more terrifying than they had ever encountered before.
Time
is now against them.
Can Jason gain his redemption along with
the respect of his peers, or will a new web of lies threaten to rip
apart his world and jeopardize his team’s only chance for success?
About Josh Matthews:
Josh Matthews is a
former New Englander who now lives in north Florida with his wife,
teenage daughter, and four lovable but exasperating pets. Josh used
to work for the U.S. Government where he had the opportunity to
travel around the world and be exposed to numerous cultures, many of
which will appear in the Hell
Gate
saga. He has always been a fan of horror novels and monster movies,
and sees the Hell
Gate
saga as his way to share that love with a new generation of fans.
Amazon Author's page:
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01M5C8E53
Interview With Josh Matthews:
- Can you tell us a little about your books?The Hell Gate saga is a young adult series that centers around sixteen-year-old Jason McCreary who is trying to survive in a world overrun by demons from Hell. It’s essentially a story about coming of age during the apocalypse. Jason is trying to figure out who he is as an individual while the world around him collapses. Yet he still must deal with normal teenage angst, the excitement and uncertainty of his first romance, and somehow manage the guilt he feels because his mother caused the end of the world. Throughout the series he will learn about redemption, duty, and honor, and will be forced to make life-and-death decisions most adults will never have to face.
- How did you choose the genre you write in?I love the science fiction/horror genre because it gives me freedom to write what I want. As a former CIA officer, I dabbled years ago with espionage novels and techno-thrillers, which were fun to write, but everything in the plot had to be accurate and realistic or I ran the risk of losing my credibility and, as a result, my readers. With science fiction/horror, I can be as bizarre as I want, and can let my imagination run wild when creating demons or coming up with terrifying situations to drop my characters into.
-
From a twisted and over-active imagination. The original idea for the novel came from a make-up design from the SyFy Channel series Face Off of a Red Riding Hood-like character brandishing a minigun; she became the inspiration for Sasha. I didn’t want the main characters battling typical monsters like zombies or vampires, so I developed the concept of invading Earth with a demonic horde from Hell. I’ve had fun coming up with these monsters, some of which are simply variations of things that already scare us, such as giant insects. In later books in the series, I plan to introduce some original and truly horrifying monsters.
- Do you have a favorite spot to write?In my old house, my office used to look out over the front lawn, which was peaceful. The cats used to enjoy it as well; they would sit on my desk and watch the birds and squirrels all day. Though I did have issues with swishing tails sliding across my computer and opening/closing various applications.
- Do you listen to music while you write?Only when I’m writing action sequences. Then I listen to a mixture of rap, hard rock, and heavy metal. My playlist title is Music To Hunt Monsters By.
- What is a usual writing day like for you? How is it structured?My usual routine is to get up at six in the morning and read my email and Facebook while having breakfast, and then take my daughter to school. Once I get back, I spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon writing. My goal is to write 2000 words a day (or 10,000 a week). If I don’t get the 2000 words done in the morning, I often stay up after the family has gone to bed and continue writing.
- If you were a super-hero, what powers would you have?The ability to control people’s minds. Although, I readily admit I would use that power for nefarious purposes. (“Officer, you don’t really want to give me a speeding ticket, do you?”)
- What are writing projects are you currently working on?I just heard from my publisher, Burning Willow Press, that the second book in the Hell Gate saga has been scheduled for release for 21 October, so I will be spending the next few months editing the final manuscript. Currently, I am finishing the first draft of the third book in the series and am outlining the plot for the fourth.
When
Liz Gavin was in Second Grade - just a couple of years ago, really -
her teacher told her mother the little girl should start a diary because
she needed an outlet for her active and vivid imagination. She was a
talkative child who would disrupt the class by engaging her colleagues
in endless conversations. She loved telling them the stories her
grandfather used to tell her.
