How did you hear about the Kindle All-Stars project?
From Laurie Laliberte @LaliberteLaurie on Twitter. She tweeted out “Who wants to be part of KAS2?” And I replied “I do! I want to be part of KAS2.”
Tell us a little bit about your own work outside of the Kindle All-Stars.
My first book, Lillian Alling: the journey home, was published by Caitlin Press (www.caitlin-press.com). It’s a true story of an immigrant who wanted to go home. She was from Eastern Europe, living in New York city. But instead of taking a ship back to Europe, she decided it would be better for her to walk to Siberia and head home that way. So she did. She started out from New York in 1926, and ended up in Alaska in 1929. Amazing, gritty woman.
After the success of that book, I was encouraged to write more. So I’ve been working on a short fiction collection that should be out as an ebook this year. And I’m also working on another non-fiction history book about a mule train packer who lived a long and colourful life in the wilds of British Columbia.
I’m intrigued by regular people who do irregular things. Weird things. Inexplicable things.
Sometimes I write stories about these people.
What’s your favorite cryptid?
If I MUST pick just one, it’s The Ogopogo, a locally sourced cryptid. He lives in Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. I don’t find him very scary. Or at least not as scary as the Loch Ness Monster. I also love another local cryptid: the Sasquatch. I SWEAR I saw one when I was 12, walking into the bushes near my house.
Tell us about your story – what’s it called and what’s it about?
My story is called “The Ogopogo Club.” It’s about a regular everyday woman who is living a life of fear, and overcomes that fear with a little help from The Ogopogo Club.
What was your process for writing your addition to CARNIVAL OF CRYPTIDS?
I took certain hideous characteristics from people I know, and turned those characteristics into two characters that were total dicks, plus one woman who was a composite of a few women I’ve met. Though I never mention the lake directly, it’s based on a real lake—Quesnel Lake—that is supposed to be the deepest fjord lake in the world and is like the world before humans. It’s terrifying. Silent. And deadly.
What have you learned about the many different cryptids of the world as a result?
I was shocked when I saw the list of cryptids that was available for us to choose from. Who knew? So many. I knew about the Yeti, but the others were new to me. I’ll never be the same again.
Moving on from CARNIVAL OF CRYPTIDS, what are you working on now?
I’ve got a fiction anthology coming out in ebook form later this year. Once again, it explores the more gruesome side of human nature.
I’m also researching some rather bloody historical crimes.
Finally, if you had one shot at selling this collection to a stranger in the street, what would you say?
“Step right up! You pays your nickel and you take your chances! Win a house, win a car! Come and see the Carnival of Cryptids!” And then I’d crawl back into my painted caravan. Yeah. That’s what I’d do.
Website: http://www.susmithjosephy.com/
Twitter: @susmithjosephy
Publisher: www.caitlin-press.com
Links to Books: http://www.susmithjosephy.com/lillian.html
Tony Healey 