What is the first book in “The Revengist” series, Drug Wars Part 1: Lethal Dosage, about?
Lethal Dosage is about detective Frank Malone, River City’s toughest and most violently over the top cop as he battles the most dangerous drug ever let loose on the streets. He takes on the mob with a series of partners until he gets face to face with the source of the poison. Tongue in cheek and full of insane action, Lethal Dosage is one part Dirty Harry and one part The Naked Gun but with a Canadian twist.

What inspired The Revengist?
I was a big fan of a trash fiction website (Glorious Trash) that looks at the 70’s and 80’s men’s action/adventure book series like The Executioner, The Butcher, The Assassin, The Penetrator (!), etc. and from there started to pick up the more insane sounding ones at used book stores. Luckily they’re usually cheap and a gold mine of wtf moments. You had writers working with brutal deadlines and little oversight sneaking in some of the most bizarre moments; like one where the author had his character go off on a rant about a certain model Ford for having a faulty carburetor, or another having his character visit the Olive Garden and complain about the food. While lots of those books are garbage, you get some real gems and the schlocky nature fits my sensibilities perfectly. I’d been working on a screenplay about a younger Frank Malone from my movie The Killing Death and decided to switch it too a book series instead. It would be way cheaper that way. So The Revengist is basically an insane 80’s action movie full of one-liners and ludicrous moments like a team-up with a Robot Mountie, fusing ninjas, a gun armed Russian assassin, killer babies, you name it. Pierre Trudeau even makes a cameo! The series is set in 1981 with lots of era topical humor and a Cannon movie vibe.

The series is set in the same universe as my movies and films, so there’s some connections for anyone that’s dived into the whole thing, but you aren’t required to have any more knowledge if you just wanted to enjoy this pulpy thriller. If you always wanted to know what a hyper violent Naked Gun would be like, The Revengist is your answer.

We learned a bit about you, I. D. Russell, in our first book spotlight (Indie Book Spotlight: Heart of Stone), but please tell us a little bit more…
I’m busy. I make movies, I write books, I put out YouTube content, I read, I practice martial arts, I’m a Dad, I’m a gamer, and I have way too much knowledge about retro pro-wrestling. I’ve always got something on the go and have loads more books and movies in the pipe. Stay tuned for some wild stuff! I grew up in the 80’s so I love that era of action movies, horror movies, comedies, etc. Everything I’m working on is mixing in bits of what I came up with, like The Monster Squad, Police Academy, Transformers, Night of the Creeps, The Naked Gun, kung fu movies, video games, and schlocky pulp books, etc. At some point, I hope people start to notice.

How can we read The Revengist Book 1: Drug Wars Part 1: Lethal Dosage?
You can find the entire Revengist series on Amazon and my website:

• Amazon (Book 1: Drug Wars Part 1: Lethal Dosage)
• Amazon (Book 2: Drug Wars Part 2: Blood Money)
• Amazon (Book 3: Drug Wars Part 3: Iron Curtain)
• Ringo Jones Website

What is your book, The Curse of Odin, about?
It’s a steampunk adventure, set in an alternative version of Victorian London, and revolves around a teenage pickpocket named Blink, an inventist (not inventor) named Thaddeus Q Abernathy, and a 2,000 year old woman by the name of Lady Talány. An anarchist called Legren plans to attack the city as part of a nefarious plot. Blink, while attempting to steal from Abernathy one night, but gets caught up in the hunt for the terrorist, and in doing so, uncovers a secret world of myth and monster hidden beneath the London of man and machine.

What inspired this story?
Honestly, there’s a few things. I’m a massive fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories and read them once a year. There’s something appealing about anti-heroes like Holmes and the chaotic good they represent, so without a doubt, those stories were a big inspiration for me. I’m a history nerd at heart, and while I love sci-fi and fantasy, stories of Britain from yesteryear were hugely important to me. They allowed me to create a world which was driven by mechanical devices, but still had the feeling of a recognizable historical time-period (even if it’s an alternative one).

Tell us a little about you. Who is Jo Kutya?
I don’t know what to say. I’m a gardener, film-buff and history lover, a bit of a world traveller, and an objectively terrible cook!

How can we read The Curse of Odin?
It’s available on Kindle and paperback from Amazon, along with other absolutely fantastic titles from the other authors in the Shadow Spark Publishing roster.

Purchase links:

• Shadow Spark Publishing
• Amazon UK (Kindle) (Paperback)
• Amazon UK (Kindle) (Paperback)

What is your book, City of Toys, about? 
Well, it’s about four beautiful women who seek fame and fortune in Hollywood, the City of Toys, where actresses are like dolls, playing pretend on the big screen.

• Marlo: a former child actress from New York City.
• Rhonda: a small-town beauty queen.
• Kim: a “nice Jewish girl” with a painful childhood.
• Guyla: a “serious actress” with a debilitating, stress-induced illness.

Marlo, Rhonda, Kim, and Guyla become friends living in the same apartment complex, in the city where dreams and disasters go hand-in-hand. They come to rely on each other as they deal with sexual come-ons, crazed stalkers, jealous starlets and the constant pressure of trying to make it in showbiz. But when the pressure gets too much, will their friendship save them or will the City of Toys break them? City Of Toys is a Valley Of The Dolls for the #MeToo era.

I am also excited to announce that my film/TV treatment for City Of Toys – it would make a great movie or series – has been an official selection for two screenplay competitions: Script Summit and Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship. I am still shopping my treatment around!

City Of Toys has also been recently released on Audiobook.

What inspired this story?
It was inspired by my years as a struggling actress when I was living in Hollywood. It’s a work of fiction, but inspired by actual events. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart. Lots of scary and disturbing things happen to my four lead characters, as they did to me.

I was the typical aspiring starlet with stars in my eyes, and I was pretty naive about the mechanics of the movie industry. Again, I can’t mention the actual names of the strange people I encountered, so I created a fictional account. The story is very gritty and real, I pull no punches. Fasten your seat belt when you read my book! The famous and powerful are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. The one-person operations who run their office out of a steaming hot room in North Hollywood are just as bad, if not worse. It’s pretty frightening what goes on out there.

Tell us a little about you, who is Lindy S. Hudis?
I’m a graduate of New York University, where I studied drama at Tisch School of the Arts. I also performed in a number of Off-Off Broadway theater productions while living in New York City. Then I just starting writing.

I am the author of several titles, including a romance suspense novel, Weekends, and a crime novel, Crashers. I write a bit of erotic romance including The S&M Club, The Backstage Pass, Guitar God, The Guitarist, and The Mile High Club.

Back during my acting days I appeared in the television daytime drama Sunset Beach, also Married with Children, Beverly Hills 90210, and the feature film Indecent Proposal.

My hubby and I, Hollywood stuntman Stephen Hudis, live in California with our two teenagers, four cats, and one crazy Chihuahua! When I’m not writing I’m running the kids around to their gymnastics lessons, music lessons and football practice. My daughter wants to be a model and my son wants to be a rock star! Go figure!

How can we read City of Toys?
City of Toys is available to purchase at these links:

• Amazon (Kindle & Paperback)
• Kobo
• Audible
• Nook
• Scribd

What is your book about? 
Rise of the Sidekicks is about a group of kids with superpowers and their fight against a nefarious villain trying to take over their city. At the start of the story, the kids are training to become sidekicks for the city’s elite group of superheroes, the Guardians, but when mysterious circumstances lure the famed heroes out of the city, a new threat emerges. A villainous man calling himself the Hero Smasher declares war on all supers, taking Nexus City hostage with his mind control abilities and an army of robots. With the Guardians out of the picture and time quickly running out, it’s up to a group of super-powered sixth graders to rise up and find the courage within to take on a super villain before their city is lost forever.

What inspired this story?
My family watches a lot of Marvel movies, so unsurprisingly superhero themes work their way into my writing. But in most superhero movies and books, the main hero (usually an adult) is the one that defeats the story’s villain. My idea for this book came about when I was thinking what if the main superheroes were somehow out of the picture and it was up to the sidekicks to save the day instead. I also pictured the sidekicks as kids, still coming into their powers and counting on the adults to stop the bad guys. The idea grew from there and I wrote it as a middle grade level book for my son, who the main story character is inspired by — Ethan Parker (Ethan, my son’s first name and Parker, the last name of his favorite superhero).

Tell us a little about you, who is Charity Tober?
As it is with many authors, I can list writing, reading, and an unhealthy love of coffee as some of my most defining qualities. Watching movies, doing puzzles, and visiting theme parks with my family (central Florida has no shortage of those!) are other ways I like to pass my time. And cats, I love cats, just ask my husband! Rise of the Sidekicks is my first middle grade novel and I’m working on several more, to be released later this year and next.

How can we read Rise of the Sidekicks?
Rise of the Sidekicks is available on Amazon (eBook, Paperback, and through Kindle Unlimited).

• Rise of the Sidekicks on Amazon Kindle Unlimited
• Rise of the Sidekicks Paperback

What is your book about? 
Heart of Stone is about teenager Samantha Abraham, a picked on outcast at school who falls in love  with a strange new foreign exchange student named Joshua. He’s great at hockey, gorgeous, and might just be a golem. Together with her equally unpopular best friend Duckie, they navigate the social  hierarchy, dodge the mean girls, and try to uncover the truth about Joshua’s origins. The book is a little bit Sixteen Candles and a dash of Young Frankenstein with some paranormal/horror elements. 

What inspired this story?
I wanted to write an 80’s inspired teenage horror story that was both current and offbeat. Initially I was trying to write the most out there version of the Twilight style YA trend, taking the logical  progression of Dracula -> Werewolf -> Frankenstein. I thought, those kind of stories usually have fairly shell-like characters designed for the reader to imagine themselves in the role, so what’s more shell-like than a golem? I wanted this to be a parody, but loose enough that it can still work in a serious way.  The series builds as it progresses into more comedic areas, easing in more appearances from the crazy cop Frank Malone, who appeared in my movie The Killing Death, which Heart of Stone is set in the same  universe. 

Tell us a little about you, who is I. D. Russell?
I’m a bit of a jack of all trades kind of guy. Film buff, martial artist, Dad, indie filmmaker, author, gamer, retro pro-wrestling enthusiast, reader, collector, and YouTuber. I can’t sit still and I’m always either working on another book (I’ve got 25 more written in various stages of editing), writing a screenplay (lots on the go that will hopefully be up on screen in the future), reading five or more books at once, training in BJJ or Hapkido… you get the idea. I’m an 80’s child and that’s where my sensibilities come in terms of action movies, horror movies, comedies, etc. Everything I make blends a bit of what I came up with, like The Monster Squad, Police Academy, The Naked Gun, Bruce Lee movies, video games, and schlocky pulp books. Eventually I hope someone notices. 

How can we read Heart of Stone?
Heart of Stone is Book 1 of the “High School Hell” series. You can find the whole series on Amazon: 

• High School Hell Book 1: Heart of Stone
• High School Hell Book 2: Heart of Clay
• High School Hell Book 3: Heart of Flesh

The series is also available on the Ringo Jones website and in select stores in Winnipeg.

Coming soon we will be spotlighting a variety of Indie Books and we could not be more excited! Check out our recent Twitter Post for more details and for you to share your books/links with us.

We are super excited that MHD friend, author, and wrestling expert David Creighton has a an all-new anthology book and will be hosting a virtual book launch tomorrow on Halloween!

Here are the official details about the event:
This Halloween, Trent Radio host a virtual book launch with local author, and mental health advocate, David Creighton. Hear excerpts from his new book “Tales from Other Realms” and learn more about his struggle with Bipolar Disorder. 

I’ve known about this book being in the works for a while, and even was able to read preview/early versions of the time travel centric “The Grassy Knoll”, the space based “Logic Problems”, and the DND inspired “11”. The shorts are well written and engaging. I highly recommend the book for fans of fantasy, magic, and general wonder.

Here is a rundown of the seven stories that are part of this anthology collection:

METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING
Being an Avatar of a trickster god isn’t always easy, or even fun.

ZORRO
A new take on the classic legend.

THE GRASSY KNOLL
A time traveler is the last hope of a dying future. Can he save the world, before it is annihilated?

TO KILL THE DEAD
A Paladin follows his sworn answer, a powerful necromancer, into a deadly swamp. But, the swamp’s residents are just as dangerous, and not very friendly.

JESUS CHRIST: VAMPIRE HUNTER
Fanciful, modern horror starring the bad-ass messiah himself.

LOGIC PROBLEMS
A man. A machine. A battle against time to solve an unsolvable problem. A lone astronaut, and a damaged AI, must fight not only to save their mission, but their lives. A tense. cerebral, space thriller for those who value the mind over the body.

11
A gaming session hangs on one roll of the die.

The event will begin at 3:00pm pst (6pm est and edt) on Trent Radio, which streams live online at TrentRadio.ca. I can’t wait to hear what David has to say about these new stories!