Review Fix Exclusive: Joshua Tarquinio Talks The Rogue Mountains

Review Fix chats with author Joshua Tarquinio, who discusses his upcoming book, “The Rogue Mountains.”

About The Rogue Mountains:

A monster hunter arrives to help a rural town after it’s overcome by outlandish beasts, but the seething hell spawn become the least of his problems. The three lone mountains are home to a powerful witch and a primordial, maddening beast. It’ll take more than one man to eradicate the “invasive species,” but the townspeople have problems (and secrets) of their own. With man no longer at the top of the food chain, everyone begins to wonder what their place in nature truly is.

Review Fix: What inspired this book?

Joshua Tarquinio: I had written a short story about a woman who dreams she splits like a dividing cell, then in the morning takes a joyride and crashes into herself. As I worked out how that could have been possible, this novel mutated out of it. The original premise is only loosely included in the book.

Review Fix: What authors did you read as a kid? How did they affect you?

Tarquinio: I’m sure he’s over-referenced to the point of rolled eyes but Edgar Allen Poe. I couldn’t understand or even get through all of his stuff when I was a kid. I think it was probably the atmosphere he created that I liked. I was always fascinated by fear, the macabre, and the morose. Something about it seemed romantic. Or maybe it was that I liked the reactions the strange elicited from people.

Have to mention Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammel’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark collection. The stories are the perfect level of scary for children, I think. And the images are so frightening, they challenge readers of every age.

Tolkien a little bit. Deep lore. Tons of fantastic settings and characters. Whether I knew it or not, it taught me the added value of having a well-constructed world.

Isaac Asimov. Logical, yet still outside the box. Brilliant. He showed me the box in which we think can be stretched.

Review Fix: Why do supernatural stories still matter?

Tarquinio: To me, they’re kind of like the science fiction stories of the unexplained. I think part of the function of sci-fi is to get us thinking, “What if?” in regards to technology and our future. “What if AI decided humans were obsolete?” “What if we had to wage war with aliens?” “What if the police started using psychics to help them stop crimes before they happen?”

With supernatural stories, yeah, you get your Twilight and your Underworld, but at least with my story, it’s about trying to dissect and logic out the unexplained. “If ghosts DO exist, then how do they work?” “How do we explain accounts of fairies and gremlins but no one being able to catch them?” “What kind of plan does an infinite being have for us?”

Review Fix: What was your research process like for this?

Tarquinio: Little bit of Google maps. Little bit of driving through the Laurel Highlands. Asked facebook friends for advice on what type of guns characters would likely carry. Watched youtube videos to see how said guns behave. Little bit of Googling and Wikipedia-ing monsters of different eras, cultures, and regions.

Review Fix: What did you learn?

Tarquinio: I learned what kind of guns a farm girl would’ve carried in the 1970s.

I learned that my average daily word count output (when I have a full day to write) is higher than Stephen King’s.

I learned I’m not so much a horror writer as I am a supernatural thriller writer. I was going to call my book a horror fantasy until someone gave me the other label.

Review Fix: How would you describe your writing style to someone who’s never read you?

Tarquinio: Direct. I’m of the “less-is-more” mindset. I try to paint the picture with only as many words as necessary while still maintaining a voice. Except dialogue. My dialogue is where you’ll find my characters’ personalities. Vivid but not overdone. I always hated books that went on for pages about some guy I don’t care about yet before they get to anything good. Put the action at the front. Start with the fish being hooked, not the guy waking up and tying a fly. Then when the fish is caught I’ll be turning pages until I get to the next one.

Review Fix: What makes this book unique?

Tarquinio: I think the things that make my book unique are the lore and the theme. 20 years before the book begins, the biblical apocalypse had come and gone, leaving everyone wondering if God had left, and if that were the case, with or without him, what’s man’s purpose now?

I touch on mysteries that will carry over  (and maybe answered) in the nine-part prequel.

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy it the most?

Tarquinio: I think young men who like anything to do with Halloween and or Comicon will enjoy it. I wouldn’t count out the girls with similar interests though either. Because even though the book is about an archetypal male hero hunter, the book has a lot of strong females as well.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone read it?

Tarquinio: Because it’s got everything. Man vs. monster. Sex and violence. Humor. Strong female characters. And it’s the Halloween season!

Review Fix: What’s next?

Tarquinio: The first of a 9-book prequel is mostly written already.