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

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – L.J. VISSER

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FOUR!

That’s the Author Spotlight number we’re up to for Cohesion Press‘ SNAFU: Contagion, and we’re kicking this Spotlight off with our second Aussie in the series, he of the very cool name: Loki (L.J.) Visser!

Now, before we go any further, there’s been a bit of an update on the publishing side for this edition, with Audible currently available for listeners, the ebook being released tomorrow (October 8), and print on Halloween. This means we can now reveal that Loki’s tale is our opening story for SNAFU: Contagion.

All that being said, I’ll now pass the microphone over to LJ so he can tell you a little somethin’ somethin’ about himself.

L. J. Visser is a Melbourne-based author who writes at the edge of psychological suspense, dystopian noir, and science fiction horror. His stories unravel in the shadows where control, obsession, and survival collide – whether through the eyes of haunted paramedics, grieving fathers chasing conspiracies, or soldiers battling horrors in corporate research facilities. A lifelong Dean Koontz devotee and collector of vintage sci-fi paperbacks, he lives with his partner, two daughters, and the family ragdoll, Dixie. When he’s not writing, he dives into open-world RPGs, supports local charities through Freemasonry, and advocates for child protection and mental health. His work draws equally from a fascination with the strange and the scars of his own past, offering readers dark, immersive worlds where nothing is ever as it seems.

For SNAFU: Contagion, LJ Visser sliced and diced for us: IRON ROT: When an ice-world research outpost goes dark, a catastrophic containment breach changes the game.

You can find LJ on Facebook, and via is Amazon page.

He also has a science fiction thriller short-story, Future Shadows, where a grieving father, obsessed with uncovering the truth behind his daughter’s death while infiltrating a powerful corporation, is pulled into a conspiracy that blurs the line between memory, identity, and the machinery of control. Which is out-now on Kindle.

Whispers of a paramedic thriller have also been drifting our way, so keep an eye out (or both eyes – you do you!) for LJ Visser’s imaginings!

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Editing, publishing, Reading, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – AYSLINE MCGRATH

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Roll up, roll up!

Our third Author Spotlight for SNAFU: Contagion is here, and we’re trotting over to the other side of the globe to meet Aysline McGrath. I mean, I’ve met her (virtually, of course), and she was brilliant to work with. Now you get to meet her. Huzzah!

So, without further ado, give Aysline a big round of applause as she takes the stage…

Aysline McGrath is an author who calls a quiet Belgian town home, where she crafts stories that span from heart-warming romance to spine-chilling horror. Already established in the Dutch literary scene with a published thriller and feel-good novel, Aysline is expanding her reach with her highly-anticipated English debut.

Her new adult romance, released September 21st, marks an exciting milestone as she introduces her storytelling to English-speaking readers. But romance is just one facet of Aysline’s repertoire. Drawing from a lifelong fascination with action and horror that began in childhood, she seamlessly weaves between genres.  

October 2025 will see the release of Echo, her cosmic horror novel that promises to take readers into the darkest corners of the unknown. Whether she’s crafting tender romantic moments or heart-pounding scenes of terror, Aysline McGrath brings the same passion and dedication to every story she tells, proving that the best authors are those unafraid to explore the full spectrum of human emotion and experience.

For SNAFU: Contagion, Aysline very much pulled from horror fascination with her offering: ONE BULLET: An impossible choice – contain an ancient contagion or become the monsters you’re fighting to stop.

You can find Aysline on Instagram, Facebook, and her website.

Her cosmic horror novel Echo is due out at the end of October, and can be preordered here.

Go take a look, you know you want to!

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, publishing, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – BENJAMIN SPADA

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Look who’s back in town!

Not only our next Author Spotlight, but the man behind it. Benjamin Spada is currently squatting in Australia. We’ve allowed it. He writes good stuff. Ben’s up north a-ways for a time. It’s hot and there are crocs (the reptilian kind, not the shoes), so we’ve given him temporary Aussie-status while he’s here. If he correctly applies the ‘yeah-nah’ and ‘nah-yeah’ patois, we’ll stamp him Aussie good and proper.

But I digress (I do that a lot).

Some readers might be familiar with Ben as he’s written a few stories for Cohesion Press’ flagship series SNAFU, and he upped the ante with his tale for SNAFU: Contagion (which you can pre-order here).

Right, so now my little introduction is done, we’ll let Ben introduce himself and all that he’s about.

Born and raised in California, Benjamin Spada had a lifelong passion for storytelling.

He is a dedicated taco aficionado, self-described ‘Professor of Batmanology’, proud Fil-Am and lumpia enthusiast, and has made a career as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He has been a Martial Arts Instructor, been assigned as a Section Leader in the Wounded Warrior Battalion for our nation’s wounded, ill, and injured, and served overseas to train our foreign military allies in defense against chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. He has trained Marines, Sailors, Federal Agents, and other friendly forces in individual survival measures for everything from nuclear attacks to deadly nerve agents. Despite these grim assignments, he has carried on with equal amounts of sarcasm and stoicism.

When out of uniform, Benjamin is an avid sci-fi and horror movie fan, tattoo collector, comic enthusiast, and two-time holder of the Platinum Trophy in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.

Benjamin lives with his wife and their four daughters in Oceanside, California.

Ben’s oblation for SNAFU: Contagion is: A CASE OF THE GIGGLES: They say laughter is the best medicine, but in this case, it’s fatally infectious.

You can find Ben on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (the now stupidly-named X), and his website.

Want to read more of Ben’s work? (You really should.) He has two books available in his Black Spear series: FNG and The Warmaker. His third entry in the series, Project Darkheart, is due for release this upcoming January.

Get it in your eyeballs!

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Editing, publishing, Reading, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – MARTIN LIVINGS!

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Hola!

The countdown for the release of SNAFU: Contagion has begun! And in the lead-up for the October 31 spawning, Cohesion Press is gonna fan-girl (yes, Geoff too) our way through the amazing authors who’ve made Contagion what it is – fucking awesome! (Yes, I do the swears. They’re verbs.)

With SNAFU: Contagion being the biggest edition to date of our flagship series with over four hundred pages of kick-arse military horror and wickedly-cool monsters, there’s much for you to sink your teeth into (toothpicks not provided). And as per my previous post about this tome being nothing without its storytellers, the first of our Author Spotlights is here.  

(Just a quick note: the order of the Author Spotlight doesn’t reflect the Table of Contents order – this is more your author lucky dip… and I may just have to rethink that phrasing…)

Ahem.

So.

Making their way to the stage is the first of our Australian authors. So, please give a hearty welcome to MARTIN LIVINGS!!!

Perth writer Martin Livings has had over a hundred short stories in a variety of magazines and anthologies both locally and internationally. His first novel, Carnies, was initially published by Hachette Livre in 2006, and was nominated for both the Aurealis and Ditmar awards, and his short story – collection, Living With the Dead, was published in 2012. Both are now available from Amazon, along with the follow-up collection Light Falling From a Long Dead Star, novellas Rope and The Final Twist, along with his novels Skinsongs, Sleeper Awake, An Ill Wind, The Temp and The Obituary.

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Martin’s sacrificial offering to SNAFU: Contagion is MOLOTOV ANGELS: What malignancy burns deep in the cold heart of Afghanistan?

You can find Martin on Facebook and Instagram and over at his website.

Martin’s horror novel, The Obituary, was released (or escaped!) earlier this year, and is a steal at just 99c on Amazon.

Go read his stuff!

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: 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

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: DAVID W. AMENDOLA

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As Cohesion Press edges ever-closer to the release of SNAFU: PUNK’D at the end of October, we are on a mission of regalia for our authors and the tales of the fantastique they’ve created. Which basically translates to promotion time for all of our storytellers with an author spotlight that gives insight into their imaginariums (back away sloooowly), and a tease of their story.

Let’s get to it!

Please give a hearty welcome to our eighth author in this SNAFU: PUNK’D spotlight… DAVID AMENDOLA!

David W. Amendola has been a pulp fiction fan and epic history nerd since his teens, and his stories combine both. He writes science-fiction, fantasy, horror, westerns, military adventure, mystery, and mashups of all these genres. He also occasionally writes about non-fiction topics such as family genealogy, history, and numismatics. He has a Bachelor of Arts in World Military History and a Graduate Certificate in World War II Studies, both from American Military University. He served in the U.S. Air Force for 21 years. 

Six of his short stories have been featured in SNAFU anthologies and one, The Secret War, was adapted into a feature for the first season of the Emmy-winning Netflix animated series Love, Death + Robots. 

For this edition of SNAFU, David has meshed together a cyberpunk tale with BRAINJACKED: A cyborg team is sent by the U.S. Space Force to retrieve a crashed satellite. Bounce in, secure the wreckage, and bounce out before anybody knows they’re there. Piece of cake. Until they get brainjacked… 

You can find David at his website:  http://dwamendola.wix.com/authoramendola

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – CJ GOLDBERG

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The release of SNAFU: PUNK’D is stalking with very little stealth toward the world, and we at Cohesion Press are getting the stage lights all set up for our authors and the tales they’ve forged for this edition. Which means it’s promotion time for all of our storytellers with an author spotlight that gives insight into their imaginariums (use the stealth when approaching, my friends), and a tease of their story. Buckle up!

For our sixth instalment of the SNAFU author spotlight, put your claws together for CJ GOLDBERG!

As a kid, C.J. spent his days exploring the Montana woods, reading horror, and watching scary movies. He soon discovered that storytelling was his passion.

After graduating from The University of Montana with a degree in Acting, C.J. worked as a professional poker dealer for 14 years in Montana bars. During that time, he never gave up on his dream of becoming a horror author. He studied writing craft extensively through books, courses, and workshops, and in 2017 he moved to Glasgow, Scotland while his wife attended graduate school. This allowed him to focus full-time on his writing career.

He now lives in Petaluma, California, with his wife and two kids where, when not changing diapers, he is writing his debut novel, a cosmic horror story set in a remote Montana town.

Cohesion Press is chuffed to bits that we will be presenting to the world CJ’s first published story.  For SNAFU: PUNK’D, CJ has dipped his hands into all that is bio-punk with FACTORY OF FEAR: A mercenary and her team search for her team search for her missing brother in a monster-infested bio-factory.

You can find CJ on Bluesky: CJWritesHorror.bsky.social