Blog - DIGITAL MEDIA GHOST

Search the site...

Author of the Week: Craig Holt

11/20/2018

PHOTO: CRAIG HOLT

by Will Viharo

Every writer discovers and explores different methods, and substances, to fuel his or her creative drive and imagination.

Here is Seattle, the two most famous consumable muses are pot and coffee. Craig Holt prefers the latter. And apparently, it’s working for him as a writer, but more importantly, his readers, the true beneficiaries of his stimulating body of work…

Author of the Week: Joel Landmine

11/13/2018

PHOTO: JOEL LANDMINE

by Will Viharo

Hip-hop brought street poetry into the mainstream, but via the medium of music. Few if any people read rap lyrics, but the emphasis on words has influenced new generations to value the power of literature, even if it’s conveyed via a different medium.

Actual poets haven’t fared as so well in the mainstream, since hearing takes less effort than reading, which is why the (relative) survival of savvy souls like Joel Landmine in today’s fractured cultural popscape is an inspiration to any that still loves the written (or simply spoken) word…

Author of the Week: C.R. Jahn

11/6/2018

by Will Viharo

I am wrapping up this series by year’s end, and what I’ll miss most about it is interacting virtually with people I only know via social media. Sure, I still connect on Facebook, but there’s something deeper and more insightful when I send them customized questions for them to answer directly, on a subject we have in common, even if we approach it differently.

That’s what makes life, people, and writing so interesting, though. At least to me. Here’s an interesting case in point…

Author of the Week: Betty Rocksteady

10/30/2018

IMAGES AND PHOTO: BETTY ROCKSTEADY

by Will Viharo

You meet the most interesting people online. Doesn’t matter who they are or where they live. Sometimes you just feel this creative connection with a complete stranger.

This is how I immediately felt when I virtually encountered the nightmarishly beautiful work of Canadian artist/author Betty Rocksteady. We also share an affinity for animals. I’m so glad we had this chance to chat…

Author of the Week: Mark Slade

10/23/2018

PHOTO: MARK SLADE

by Will Viharo

Many writers share similar influences, but what gives each distinction is how we choose to implement these subliminal forces into our creative work.

Author/editor/podcaster Mark Slade is someone with whom I share certain sensibilities, but he is a unique force of nature unto himself.

Author of the Week: J. David Osborne

10/16/2018

PHOTO: JAMES OSBORNE

by Will Viharo

First, an announcement: I’ll be wrapping up this series at year’s end. I’ve had the honor and pleasure of interviewing dozens of fantastic writers with varying voices, backgrounds, and agendas. It’s been a real education for me and hopefully for you.

I’m especially proud that I’ve been able to virtually chat with writers like J. David Osborne, whom I’ve never met in person, like most of this series’ subjects. I know him a lot better now, and I’m better for it.

Author of the Week: Owen Laukkanen

10/2/2018

PHOTO: OWEN LAUKKANEN

by Will Viharo

It’s very instructive for writers to interact with one another and to feel a part of a broader community, whether online or in person or both. This way one doesn’t feel completely isolated from society, even if the act of writing itself is often like being stranded on a desert island, waiting for one's ship to come in.

Especially illuminating are the perspectives of those whose ship has sailed, but with them at the helm. They cast a beacon of hope for all of us left behind.

But then you discover that even popular authors like Canada’s Owen Laukkanen feel like they remain far, far from their desired destinations…

Author of the Week: Lisa Brackmann

9/25/2018

by Will Viharo

I wish I interviewed more female writers for this blog. I just don’t have as many in my social media circles, but I am working to change that. I feel it’s important to be inclusive when it comes to gender and racial identity in a world with such complex, eclectic demographics. But particularly in the arts, since that’s my ‘hood.

Lisa Brackmann did me the honor of answering a few questions. I say I’m honored because she is a true literary success and inspiration. She does her kind proud, and no, I don’t mean “women,” though she’s an emblem of strength in that department, too.

Author of the Week: Anthony Neil Smith

9/18/2018

by Will Viharo

The link between academia and art has a lengthy, complicated history. While the literary establishment tends to elevate and reward those who “play by the rules” by formally studying before commercially practicing their craft, the fringe elements of the industry often praise and promote the independent rebels.

Then you have writers like Anthony Neil Smith, who keeps a foot planted firmly in both camps while doing his own thing his own way, earning respect from both publishers and peers.

Author of the Week: Axel Howerton

9/11/2018

PHOTO: AXEL HOWERTON

by Will Viharo

Writers draw upon a variety of sources to fuel their fiction, whether it’s their real life experiences or popular culture or both.

For Canadian author/editor/publisher/all-around-good-guy Axel Howerton, it might be a combination, as it is in my case, or maybe he fully inhabits the creative worlds on both sides of his brilliant brain’s border between reality and fantasy.

In any case, we’re the beneficiaries of his boundless imagination.