Q: If you could have a fantasy pet, what would you have and why?
A: I have to go with the dragon, regardless of how common that answer may be. A noble, loyal flying creature that can also breathe fire at its enemies? Sign me up, amigos!
Q: What type of music best describes your writing?
A: Classic Rock. I try to keep the complexity and timelessness of an album-oriented rock track and still surprise the reader when the story goes from light and melodic to heavy and terrifying at the shift of a drumbeat.
Q: Tell us about your writing office/space and why it’s special to you.
A: I tend to write anywhere inspiration hits. I’ve been known to pull my car over to the side of a busy freeway to type out a few paragraphs I don’t want to forget. Sometimes I’ll keep a window open on my computer while at my day job and work out some plot points. I’ve even written long passages and outlines while on a machine in my gym.
I suppose my favorite place to write is in my leather recliner with my lap desk, just in the comfort and coolness of my living room surrounded by my Beatles images.
Q: What is your favorite piece of visual art that has inspired a story or two?
A: I have cowritten an upcoming story in the Hand of Doom anthology called “La Maison Infernale” that took some inspiration from German Renaissance artist and woodcarver Michael Pacher’s painting The Devil Presenting St. Augustine with the Book of Vices. I was looking for a terrifying demon for this cursed house and I was inspired by his representation of hell spawn. The anthology contains stories inspired by Black Sabbath, so I didn’t base the story on Archbishop Pacher’s work, but he definitely influenced it.
Q: If you didn’t write full-time what would your day job be? Is writing a hobby for you?
A: Writing has been my lifelong passion, and I wouldn’t call it a hobby. It’s more of a necessity for my soul.
Until I hit high points on the bestseller list, I still have my day job as a computer programmer. Finishing programs isn’t the same as finishing a novel but it still feels great and some of the same effort goes in. If only a missed plot point would result in “SYNTAX ERROR”!
Q: What is your writing schedule and how many words do you write in a sitting?
A: I’ve noticed a lot of writers monitor how long and how much they write and stick to that. It could be my severe ADHD, but I never really could do that. When I’m inspired, I write. When I’m blocked, I don’t. I’ve tried forcing myself to write and it doesn’t work for me. So, sometimes I’ll write nothing at all. Other days, I’ll get twenty-five thousand words in and will only stop when my head hits the keyboard in exhaustion.
Q: How do you celebrate publishing a new story?
A: Usually, I’ll post about it on social media and tell a few people, but I stay low key on these things. I try to dive back into the next story as quickly as I can.
Q: How do you balance your outside life with your writing life?
A: It’s never easy, especially when people want to talk as soon as I start writing.
I have to prioritize my day job to stay alive, my workouts to stay healthy and my family, of course, because they’re my heart. That’s probably why I write in such strange places and times. When it has to come, it has to come.
Q: Write your eulogy in three sentences.
A: “They said he couldn’t be killed. They said he would last forever. Oh, shit, they were right, he just got up and left!”
Q: What project are you most proud of completing?
A: Definitely The Black Dahlia (2024) from Spellbound Books, LTD.
I have been lucky that my best writing has been my most recent writing. Good short stories are flowing. But my latest novel The Black Dahlia took so much time and effort and actually came out satisfactorily that I’m proud of every page of that book. Readers love it too so far.
Q: Do you have any projects you would like to tell your readers about?
A: I am editing the anthology Symptom of the Universe: A Horror Tribute to Black Sabbath. I have over thirty great stories (including some by me), all inspired by the music and lyrics of Black Sabbath. Very exciting stuff. It’s coming this summer.
Q: Who is your favorite character from any of your stories and why? If you had to choose a popular author to continue writing this character in another book, who would you choose and why?
A: Jake Slater, Private Investigator, has become my favorite character. He’s a flawed human being with his fair share of issues and he’s far beyond merely “driven” to solve his cases the best way he can. That doesn’t mean he always wins. Many of his victories are Pyrrhic. What he does do is fight through every obstacle so that his clients (living or dead) get their wins.
You can see this play out in The Black Dahlia.
Q: Where can your readers find you on social media?
A: Instagram @Kneumsi https://www.instagram.com/kneumsi/
Twitter @kneumsi https://twitter.com/Kneumsi/
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/JakeSlaterMystery/
My GoodReads author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15259619.J_C_Macek_III
My Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07111NTNF
Bio: J.C. Maçek III is a professional journalist, novelist, columnist, interviewer, critic, actor, musician and producer. Since creating WorldsGreatestCritic in 2003, he has written thousands of reviews and historical articles. This led to his work at PopMatters, one of the largest Arts and Culture magazines in the world, where he writes the popular film column The Next Reel. At PopMatters he also conducts celebrity interviews (with the likes of Aerosmith, Faith No More, Judas Priest, The Zombies, The Cult and more) and has written hundreds more reviews, articles and film history features. He has been syndicated to such print publications as The Sacramento Bee and has also contributed reviews for SpectrumCulture and political articles for The Hill. His first novel Seven Days to Die: A Jake Slater Mystery was published in 2016 and has met with acclaim. The J.C. Maçek III produced motion picture thriller [Cargo] was released in 2018 and a novelization of the [Cargo] motion picture by J.C. Maçek III was published by Bloodhound Books on January 21, 2018. After [Cargo], J.C. returned to Jake Slater’s mysteries with 2022’s The Antagonist: A Jake Slater Mystery. His latest novel is The Black Dahlia, a meticulously researched True Crime thriller based entirely on real life events. He currently resides in Southern California with his wife and family.
She Writes Fast 