Category Archives: Ramblings

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Ramblings, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – RPL JOHNSON

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We’re edging close to halfway with our Author Spotlights, with me wanting to spotlight every two days before print publication (ebook and Audible are already available)… which means I’m gonna have to ramp up the blog frequency – the math just ain’t mathing (if you know me, that will come as no surprise).

So, moving on from my clear lack of numeric aptitude…  We’ve another Aussie stepping onto Cohesion Press’ stage for Author Spotlight #7, and he’s someone you’ve likely read before. Richard has been in a number of SNAFU editions – the man knows how to freak us the fuck out, and his tale for SNAFU: Contagion is no different.

But let him tell you a little about himself while I skulk off and cry into my calculator…

Richard Johnson is an award-winning short story writer and independent novelist. He won the Gold Award at Writers of the Future in 2011 and the Jim Baen Memorial Award in 2012 and has been a finalist in the Aurealis  Awards with one of his many stories for the SNAFU series of military horror anthologies from Cohesion Press.

In addition to his novels and short stories, Richard has also worked closely with Blur Studios in the USA on the Amazon Prime TV show Secret Level, the video game Exodus, and an as yet undisclosed feature for Warner Bros.

He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two sons.

For SNAFU: Contagion, Richard showed us the fragility of reality with: CONSENSUS BREAK: The hospital wasn’t an asylum, it was a prison for those who—

(See what I did there? 😏)

You can find Richard on his website, Facebook, and Twitter.  

If you want to read more of Richard’s work (you really should!) he has a YA sci-fi novel The View from Infinity Beach (I’ve read it, it’s excellent!), and a short story collection, Skull Candy.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU, Uncategorized

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – DYLAN DEMASI

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Brrring! Brrring!

Brrring! Brrring!

This is Cohesion Press calling for the next in our SNAFU: Contagion Author Spotlight!

(Stop rolling your eyes. As much as I love onomatopoeia, sometimes it reads ridiculously, but let me have this! There’s method to my madness! I swear.)

Moving on…

Today, we’re up to Author Spotlight #5, and dialling it in with Dylan Demasi! So, rather than me trying to pun my way through the rest of his intro, I’ll hand you over to the man himself…

Dylan Demasi is a US writer and digital marketer based in Los Angeles. A lifelong storyteller, he began his writing career in comics, first as a proofreader, then as a ghostwriter, and eventually as a credited author for Kickstart Entertainment/Kickstart Comics. His professional work includes leading digital marketing campaigns in the entertainment industry for brands such as Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, HBO, and America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Outside of writing, Dylan is a lifelong horror fan, a frequent visitor and supporter of big cat sanctuaries, and a brief, accidental voice actor in late-night cult favorites like Sharknado 2.

He is currently at work on his debut novel.

Dylan’s most excellent sacrificial offering for SNAFU: Contagion is: THE RED PHONE: The outbreak was a nightmare. The military response was worse.

(The beginning of this post makes sense now, yeah? Doesn’t make it good, just has it make sense… right? Right?)

 You can find Dylan on Facebook and Instagram.

As you noticed at the end of Dylan’s intro, he’s working on his debut novel, and if The Red Phone is anything to go by, then watch that space!

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU

A LITTLE BIT OF SPRUCING AND A TOUCH OF CONTAGION

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<<clears out cobwebs; side-eyes spiders as they pack their bags in a huff (that squeal wasn’t me, I swear…)>>

<<dusts bookshelves, trying not to summon demons (it’s touch and go)>>

<<taps mic, winces at feedback, *sighs*, assesses life choices>>

<<TAKE TWO!! (Shh, that other post was a figment of your imagination…)>>

Well, it’s been a while, folks. Had a crazy-busy year with much happening on the home and work front. Also, how is it almost October already? Someone is most definitely stealing my days (months, they’re stealing my months.)

As someone who is particularly shite at social media, this was one of the easiest things to let slide this past year (gotta say, it did wonders for my stress levels, but that’s a post for another day). That being said, I’ve put on my big-girl pants because SNAFU: Contagion from Cohesion Press is coming out at the end of next month, and I’m immensely proud of the authors and the stories within… not that we’ve trapped the authors inside the pages – I’m pretty sure that’s illegal (and I don’t have the right alchemy).

It’s been quite the ride to get to this point, more so this time around as we had to factor in audio-processing time, and with a slush pile that was filled with plethora of incredible stories, it had the decision-making process one of the most difficult in the SNAFU series to date.

(Oooh, look! Shiny new cover! Like, the right one this time. Shh. It’s been a long day…)

This is reflected in the size of the tome. SNAFU: Contagion is packed with eighteen stories, coming out at over a whopping 400 pages. Yep, you read that right. Over. Four. Hundred. Pages. This baby packs a punch! (And much pew pew pew!)

This is the biggest SNAFU of Cohesion’s flagship series since inception, and we’re extremely chuffed to have a Joe Ledger Adventure Tale from the esteemed Jonathan Maberry, that features the one-and-only Mr Church, and the kick-arse Grace Courtland. Alongside this novella, are amazing stories from authors around the world: Australia, Germany, US, UK, Belgium, India… it truly is global.

In the lead-up to release, we’re going to Author Spotlight our amazing writers so you can get to know them a little better, see what they’re up to on the writerly-front, and have them give you a little somethin’ somethin’ about the SNAFU tale they penned for us. Without our authors, there is no book, and we can’t thank them enough for entrusting their stories to us, and allowing us to present them to you all.

So, starting in October, this blog will get quite the work-out as we introduce you to some new names while getting you reacquainted with a few of our stalwarts.

You can pre-order SNAFU: Contagion here, and if you’re not familiar with the series and want to see what it’s all about, you can go to Cohesion Press’ website, and sign-up for the newsletter (we will not spam you, we understand how that can suck), and you’ll get a free copy of SNAFU: Comms, which is only available on sign-up. No pressure, of course. But… free book!

With that out of the way, all I can say is that with SNAFU: Contagion, you’re in for a hell of a ride. So, lace up your combat boots, prime your weapons, make sure your gas masks are secure and sealed…

…We’re about to breach…

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, SNAFU

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: JAMES A MOORE

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And here we are! The last in our SNAFU: PUNK’D author spotlight. Tomorrow is THE. DAY. this edition goes live. We’ve cranked the juice, and will be electrifying this baby to life… not the author, the book. THE. BOOK. I swear.

So, settle in to learn you some stuff for the storyteller rounding out author spotlight for SNAFU: PUNK’D. The very kind sir that is JAMES A MOORE!

James A Moore is a best-selling fantasy and horror author. He has been nominated for the Bram Stoker award four times and won the Shirley Jackson Award with Christopher Golden, for editing The Twisted Book of Shadows anthology. He has written novels for the Aliens franchise, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Predator, in addition to writing extensively for the award winning World of Darkness roleplaying games and for Marvel Comics. His original fiction includes the Blood Red series of vampire novels, the Serenity Falls Trilogy with his recurring anti-hero the immortal Jonathan Crowley, the critically acclaimed Seven Forges series of fantasy novels and the grimdark Tides of War trilogy and, with Charles Rutledge, the Griffin & Price series of crime-horror novels, along with multiple standalone novels, including the Lovecraftian Deeper, and weird western Boomtown. He is an active member of the Horror Writers Association, where he was both secretary and vice-president for multiple terms, the International Association of Media Tie- In Writers, the International Thriller Writers Association and Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. He is the author of over forty novel-length works in horror, fantasy, science fiction, crime and westerns. He writes for adults and young adults.

Jim’s authorly sacrifice for SNAFU: PUNK’D is INFERNAL ENGINES: Who hunts the Hunter?

You can find Jim on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/james.a.moore1/

Jim has just finished work on his latest novel. KORIGAN GRIMN: WARLORD, which is the first in a new series, THE FORGOTTEN. 

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, SNAFU

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – KIRSTEN CROSS

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Not long now! That’s right, SNAFU: PUNK’D is just days away from publication, which means we’re closing in on the last of author spotlights. We at Cohesion Press have snagged many a great author here for this edition, and we wanted to give you a gander at abyssal imaginings of our storytellers, a pimp of their tales, and to shoo you over to their other authorly shenanigans.

If you’d just follow us down to the dungeon… er, I mean, the green room… you can find our next author for SNAFU: PUNK’D: KIRSTEN CROSS!

Kirsten (Kes) Cross has reached her fifth decade and hasn’t quite worked out how the hell that even happened yet. She spends her days in a little cottage on Exmoor in Devon with roses around the door (no, really) writing web content to pay the bills while she builds up a bespoke jewellery business.

In between, she writes the occasional scary-as-all-heck stuff and has been a regular contributor to SNAFU from the very first outing. Her story, Sucker of Souls was included in the Emmy award-winning Love, Death & Robots. Again, seriously, no idea how that happened. It was fun being sprinkled by a bit of Hollywood magic for a while, though.

When not writing or making shiny things, she spends the rest of her time travelling around the country on her beloved British Army Armstrong motorcycle, occasionally stopping and pointing at the scenery for no apparent reason.

Kes’ latest offering in SNAFU: PUNK’D is BROKEN SOULS OF THE EMPTY SPACE:  a steampunk extravaganza complete with dirigibles (briefly, they don’t half go bang easily…), cigar-smoking centaurs, and Stonehenge. Sometimes, it’s hard to know who the real monsters are…

You can find Kes on Facebook, over at Instagram if you like shiny things, and on Amazon if you like wordy things.

Keep an eye out for Trading Bullets With The Devil, her first novella created in cahoots with the insanely talented Mark Steensland, coming soon from Cemetery Dance.

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – DAMIEN MCKEATING

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SNAFU: PUNK’D is powering toward publication at the end of this month. Yay! Ahem. So, we at Cohesion Press have introductions to make, where we shove (not literally… well, not reeeaaally literally… maybe) into an author spotlight. Take a glimpse into their dark imaginings, pull up a chair for a tease of their tales, and follow the pointy-finger for a look at their other authorly pennings.

Now, before we move on, please sign the form that releases us from any responsibility for where you’re going next. Ta so much!

Right, let’s go!

With a gentle shove into the SNAFU: PUNK’D author spotlight, give a hearty welcome to DAMIEN MCKEATING!

Damien is a UK writer with a life-long love of fantasy and the supernatural. Childhood days were spent reading, writing, playing tabletop roleplaying games, engaging with the popular ball-related sports of the day, and trying to communicate with the dead. He would eventually set aside necromancy and sports, and go onto study film and writing at university. After a stint as a copywriter for radio, he moved into SEN teaching and realised how easy all of his previous employment had been. Over the years he has had short stories published across different magazines and anthologies, for adults and children. He has also written for comics and radio, and the peculiar folk-band Hornswaggle. He’s fond of corvids and is currently the oldest he’s ever been. Sometimes he remembers to blog about writing.  

For SNAFU: PUNK’D, Damien has lit the flares of solarpunk with his tale LIGHTBRINGERS: In a solarpunk apocalypse ravaged by demons, a squad of marines discover the true cost of war and survival.

You can find Damien on his socials below:  

Website: skeletonbutler.wordpress.com

Facebook: Damien Mckeating (Author)

Damien’s debut novel, Tallulah Belle, is a supernatural coming-of-age story set within the walls of a fantasy burlesque theatre, and is due for release in 2024.

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: GREG CHAPMAN

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Ooh, the next edition of SNAFU: PUNK’D is so very close to ‘sploding into the world. So, we at Cohesion Press would like to lead you down the horror-filled paths of our storytellers’ dark imaginings with a tease of their tales, a glimpse into their abyssal corners of their grey-matter, and information on their other authorly shenanigans.

Please grab a torch from the table, ensure all your valuables are secured, and for the love of all things unholy, do not pet the authors…

Next up in SNAFU: PUNK’D author spotlight is GREG CHAPMAN!

Two-time international Bram Stoker Award-nominee®*, Greg Chapman is a horror author and artist based in Queensland, Australia.

Greg is the author of several novels, novellas and short stories, including his award-nominated debut novel, Hollow House and collections, Vaudeville and Other Nightmares, and Midnight Masquerade.

He is also a horror artist and his first graphic novel, Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times, (McFarland & Company) written by authors Rocky Wood and Lisa Morton, won the Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel category at the Bram Stoker Awards® in 2013.

He was also the President of the Australasian Horror Writers Association from 2017-2020.

* Superior Achievement in a First Novel for Hollow House (2016) and

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction, for “The Book of Last Words” (2019)

For SNAFU: PUNK’D, Greg has sprinkled his cyberpunk tale with some biopunk to give us A GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM: When a soldier’s soul is ripped from the Afghan desert into a nightmarish hellscape to entertain a conglomerate, she sets out to tear it all down

You can find Greg on his socials below:  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GregChapman.Author/

Bluesky: @gregchapman.bsky.social 

Instagram: @gregschapman76

Threads: @gregschapman76@threads.net

Greg’s new collection, Midnight Masquerade is out on October 31 – https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Masquerade-Greg-Chapman-ebook/dp/B0CDKXQFZ3

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: PAMELA JEFFS

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Boom! The next edition of SNAFU: PUNK’D is very close to landing and we’re excited!. To that end, Cohesion Press is laying out the red carpet for our storytellers with an author spotlight where we lead you carefully… or carelessly (it’s a fine line) into their imaginariums (please ignore the creatures in the corners), a tease of their story, and info on their other authorly spawnings.

If you’ll come this way, we’d like to guide you into the lair of our next SNAFU: PUNK’D author: PAMELA JEFFS!

Pamela Jeffs (she/her) is an Australian speculative fiction author with a background in Interior Architecture and Design. She has published five short story collections and has 90+ short stories featured in various publications including Midnight Echo Magazine by the Australian Horror Writers Association and in two SNAFU series books by Cohesion Press. Pamela’s work has shortlisted for multiple awards including nine Aurealis Awards and three Ditmar Awards.

When it comes to SNAFU: PUNK’D, Pamela has stoked the hold with a lil steampunk tale, STOKEHOLD: A young stoker aboard a battleship tries to save his superior officer, but all is not as it seems…

You can find Pamela on her socials below:  

Facebook: @pamelajeffsauthor

Twitter: @Pamela_Jeffs

BlueSky: @pamelajeffs.bsky.social

Website: www.pamelajeffs.com

For more of Pamela’s amazing work, her new book, Precarious Waters and Other Dark Tales, a collection of dark fiction short stories, is due for release early November. (No pre-orders yet)

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: RICHARD BEAUCHAMP

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The latest edition of SNAFU: PUNK’D is stepping proudly toward publication at the end of October (we’re excited!). As such, Cohesion Press is all about lauding our authors for the stories they’ve spawned. To that end, we’re shoving them into an author spotlight (no sticks were used in the shoving) to give you a glimpse into their imaginariums (you’ve been warned), a tease of their story, and info on their other authorly pennings.

Please form a disorderly line… and please do not feed the authors after midnight…

We’ve hit double-figures with the tenth author in the SNAFU: PUNK’D spotlight: RICHARD BEAUCHAMP!

Hailing from the lush, verdant foothills of the Missouri Ozarks, Richard Beauchamp is an author of horror and dark speculative fiction. Often casting his stories in the wild settings of his own backyard, Richard’s fiction has been published in such esteemed publications as Dark Peninsula Press’s Negative Space Survival horror anthologies, Timber Ghost Press’s Along Harrowed Trails anthology, and The Other Stories podcast series from Hawk and Cleaver Audio. His debut short fiction collection Black Tongue & Other Anomalies was a nominee for the 2022 Splatterpunk Awards, and his short story, The Sons Of Luna, was a 2018 Pushcart Prize nominee. 

When he isn’t tucked away in his office pecking away at his keyboard, you can find him traversing the Ozark Mountains, hiking, camping, and fishing every chance he gets. He lives with his fiance, their dog, and way too many cats. 

For SNAFU: PUNK’D, Richard has bent time and space to fire-up the steampunk with his alternate-history telling of A RIVER RUNNER’S TALE: In post-civil war America, a riverboat captain and his daughter are sent to investigate the illegal manufacturing of the energy source known as “ephemera”. Navigating the hostile waterways of a mutated Mississippi river, they discover this lucrative industry has an insidious source. 

You can find Richard on his socials below:  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RichardBeauchampOfficial 

Instagram: r_b_author

Website: richardbeauchampauthor.com

Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Richard-Beauchamp/author/B0B2Z645C1?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: AMANDA BRIDGEMAN

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SNAFU: PUNK’D is powering toward publication at the end of October, so we at Cohesion Press are launching our authors into the sphere (not literally, that’s surely illegal) via an author spotlight that takes you on a trip (ne’er truer words spoken…) into their imaginariums (please mind the step), a tease of their story, and their other authorly shenanigans.

If you’ll come this way…

On your left, behind the plexiglass, you’ll find the ninth author in this SNAFU: PUNK’D spotlight: AMANDA BRIDGEMAN!

Amanda is a two-time Scribe Award winner, a two-time Tin Duck Award winner, an Aurealis and Ditmar Awards finalist, and author of several novels and short stories. She is also a screenwriter. Her original fiction includes the sci-fi crime thriller The Subjugate, which is being developed for TV by Anonymous Content and Aquarius Films, and is being studied at two German Universities (Düsseldorf and Cologne) as part of a program on Australian speculative fiction, in conjunction with the Centre for Australian Studies. Amanda’s media tie-in fiction includes that written for Marvel (X-Men), Black Library (Warhammer 40k), and Z-Man Games (Pandemic).

For this edition of SNAFU, Amanda has taken us on a hell of a cyberpunk ride with her tale ROGUE T.R.A.I.N: A specialist military unit must stop a deadly AI-controlled runaway train before it hits the city, but they aren’t the only ones on board… 

You can find Amanda on her socials below:  

Twitter: @Bridgeman_Books / Twitter

Instagram: @bridgeman_books • Instagram

Facebook: Amanda Bridgeman | Facebook

Threads: @Bridgeman_Books

Blue Sky Social: @amandabridgeman.bsky.social

If you’re wanting to read more of Amanda’s work (and you should!), check this out:

The Spud Compton novella trilogy (The Darkest Cargo, The Deepest Jungle, The Deftest Deceit) is out now. Best described as Firefly meets Alien with a touch of Predator, these are short, fun, action-packed reads.

Spud Compton #1 – The Darkest Cargo – Amanda Bridgeman