Email: jonathanjanzwrites@gmail.com
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Jonathan Janz 
Just finished The Sorrows as the first writing of yours I have read. I must say that although horror is not a genre I commonly read, I found this book totally absorbing. But far better than the story was the writing. Beautifully written! Good thing I was reading it on my Kindle. I needed the dictionary function on almost every page. AWESOME! I love it when a writer adds to my vocabulary. I also found it most interesting how you changed your style of writing to mimic that which was seen 100 years ago or so when you wrote the parts from the “journal”. That could NOT have been easy. It put me in mind of the language used in one of my favorite television series: Deadwood. Beautiful language. Why was it ever lost?
I look forward to reading all the rest of your works (already downloaded) and look forward even more for the books you will write in the future.
Very impressed,
Todd Clark
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Wow, Todd. What a wonderful and very humbling message. Thank you so much for reading my work and for appreciating it! I can’t tell you what that means to me. I hope you like what you read in the future, as well.
Your note made my week, Todd. Seriously, THANK YOU!!!! 🙂
JJ
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Jonathan, I posted a comment over at Brian Moreland’s blogspot site, after reading his interview with you. I’ve recently been checking out the new Samhain Horror line and bought both THE SORROWS and Brian’s novel for my Nook. I really enjoyed both your site and his, and the aforementioned interview was great. Look forward to reading your novel soon…and future works!
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Hey, thanks, Chris. I really appreciate your reading my book! I’m glad you’re getting into the Samhain line. There are some outstanding writers and books in it, and I’m not just saying that because I’m a part of it. Brian Moreland, for instance, is unreal. Dead of Winter is epic, dread-inducing horror.
Thanks again, Chris, and I look forward to hearing more from you.
JJ
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Just finished reading The Sorrows on my kindle fire. really enjoyed it and all the twist and turns. The only puzzling sentence for me was your very last one… that Claire prayed that the baby in her womb was Ben’s. Did I miss something or is that going to be revealed at a later date… just was curious because Claire didn’t really sleep around in the book with anyone else. Great book and looking forward to more of your works…
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Hey, James! Thank you very much for visiting my blog, and thank you VERY much for reading my debut novel. I really appreciate your giving my work a chance.
*Spoiler alert for those who haven’t read the novel*
The last line of the novel–“And prayed the baby in her womb was Ben’s”–does seem to come out of nowhere. There is one bit of foreshadowing early in the book that subtly sets up that ending. In the scene in which Ben and Claire are in the graveyard on the blanket (the scene in which Claire tells Ben about her weird childhood experience involving her mother picking her up early from a church camp because of nightmares Claire was having), Claire shifts uncomfortably and thinks about the terrible dreams she’s having on the island and the soreness she’s been suffering after the dreams. When you put that discomfort next to the experiences Eva has with the “beast” in her dreams–the dreams that turn out to likely be real–you learn that Gabriel might very well have been visiting Claire in her dreams, too.
So, Claire isn’t sure if her baby is Ben’s or…the beast’s.
Hope this makes sense, James, and I want to thank you again for reading my work. It means a great deal to me! 🙂
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Maybe I missed something?????? I just finished The Sorrows am curious why Clair hoped the baby is Ben’s?????? Good book. I look forward to reading more by you! Thanks! Wendy
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Never mind! I just read the comment above mine. Lol
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Hey, Wendy! Thanks so much for reading THE SORROWS and for posting here on my blog. I see you already found the answer you were looking for, but I wanted to tell you that my wife had the same reaction you did. So you weren’t alone. 🙂
Thank you again for reading my debut, and I hope you check out HOUSE OF SKIN. I think you’ll enjoy that one just as much (and perhaps more).
JJ
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Read The Sorrows a few weeks back & just finished House of Skin! All I can say is AMAZING! I am a diehard horror fan, movies, books etc. I found you because I read Edward Lee, Laymon, Bentley Little, John Everson, Jack Ketchum etc. On Amazon they recommend things based on your previous orders & they recommended you, so happy they did! I finished House of Skin in 3 days! When is your next book coming out? Plot? I am looking forward to reading whatever you have coming out! Brilliant!
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Wow, thank you so much, Stacey! What a wonderful message to open at the end of my day. Even if you hadn’t liked my work, I’d have to comment on how great your taste is in authors. Ketchum and Laymon are two of my very, very favorites, and the other names you mentioned are great writers too. I’m so happy that you gave my work a chance and even happier that you enjoyed it.
My next novel is coming out in April of 2013 from Samhain (the same company that published my first two novels). It’s called THE DARKEST LULLABY and I think you’ll find it wonderfully creepy. A couple moves into a tall black house in the middle of a two-thousand acre wooded estate. The couple soon learns that the house and land once belonged to a ghastly couple who created a monstrous, violent cult that thrived on blood, human sacrifice, and much, much worse. Ellie Crane (the young wife and my main character) wants more than anything to get pregnant, but when she learns about the land’s history she begins to suspect that the long-dead cult leaders might have plans to return. Plans that might involve Ellie…and her unborn child.
So that’s the next major project that’ll be coming out. I have two shorter works being released in March, and I’ve also got something big coming in late summer 2013, though I have to wait to announce that one (though I should be able to soon).
In case you’re interested, I have two other stories out now–both novellas. They’re called Old Order and Witching Hour Theatre. If you liked the novels, I suspect you’d like the novellas, too, particularly Old Order.
Sorry for writing so much, and thank you again, Stacey, for giving my stuff a chance. Have a great night! 🙂
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Will definitely check out the novellas & will preorder your new work when it becomes available on amazon! Thank you for commenting back, I think that is incredibly cool of you! Until then I am checking out Brian Keene & John Everson. My husband always asks me how I can sit still for hours & just read! This time I explained it by showing him House of Skin! He is very understanding of my horror obsession but doesn’t share in it so he told me you were definitely up my alley!!
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Awesome, Stacey. I hope you enjoy the novellas, and enjoy the Keene and Everson too. I’m reading A Gathering of Crows by Keene right now.
Your husband sounds a little like my wife. She puts up with my horror/reading addiction, but she doesn’t quite understand it. People like you and I are just a little bit strange, maybe (in the best possible way). 🙂
Thanks again for your kind words about House of Skin, Stacey, and I’ll talk to you soon!
JJ
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Just finished The Darkest Lullaby. Wow, you didn’t disappoint. A nice creepy story just how I like them. Right you there with The Sorrows. The book had nice pose and flow…thanks for the awesome read!
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Sorry, should say. ( right up there with The Sorrows).
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Wow, thanks Danny! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully, Savage Species will keep things rolling. Either way, your note was a great way to cap my weekend, my friend. Have a good one! 🙂
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Reading Witching Hour Theatre right now. Good old-fashioned horror at its best.
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That’s awesome to hear, Mike. Thank you!
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