Book Name and Description: ABYSMAL FEAST: An Agglomeration of Anthropophagic Atrocities – This is a short story collection of some of my sickest tales, to the theme of anthropophagy… or more commonly, cannibalism. Definitely not for the squeamish or easily offended.

Interview Questions:

What gave you the idea for Abysmal Feast?

ThisAbysmal Feasthas been simmering in the Luniakk pot since the beginning of the year. Cannibalism seems to pop up a Helluva lot in my stories and so it was only natural they be thrown up into a casserole of carnage. There have been a few collections in line before this one at Luniakk Publications and there are more to lurk as the year progresses, but for now…WE FEAST!  

 What got you into writing in this genre?

Horror is in my blood…Horror and Metal. Eye started writing nearly 30 years ago when my first band inspired me to write song lyrics. Then, in 2014, my lyrics found their way into the first Rejected For Content anthology from JEA as poetry. It opened the door for my first published book, which was a Horror soaked Dark Fantasy.

How long have you been writing?

Lyrics/Poetry – 30 years. Prose; short stories and novels/novellas – 7 years.

Tell us about your past books and stories?

My first book, The Scarlett Curse, has a massive story to go along with it, but we don’t have a novel’s length of space here haha. So, in short, 2011 eye began to write a story based on a song from one of my bands, The Sacred Blade of Profanity by my band, Chaotic Impurity. The book took me 3 years to write (long story) and barely made it out of ‘short story’ haha, clocking in at just over 15k. People loved it though and it left a lot of questions unanswered. It needed a sequel, or more to the point, a prequel, so Joshua’s Folly was summoned. Book 2 only took about 4 moons to write and is considerably larger than TSC at 40k words; still, barely a novel but there was definite growth as a writer coming through in this one. Eye do seem to be more comfortable in the novella range.

Next, amongst a whirlwind of short story submissions to countless anthologies, eye somehow managed to conjure up a brutally Extreme Psychological Horror novella about a circus clown who gets bitten by a feral kid and gradually transforms into a werewolf over the course of the book. Blood Moon Big Top contains a lot of the aforementioned anthropophagy and is a very strong indication of the style eye feel most comfortable writing.

Then came Wolvz: Whispers of War. This book was the last novella eye wrote and was part of a massive project at JEA. The book itself is some of my best writing, and eye never tire of quoting a review description of it: “A melodic slaughter. Crimson honey for your mind.” That has to be the most morbidly beautiful thing anyone has ever said about my work. The project that Wolvz was a part of however, Project 26, drained the life and creative spark out of me over the year and a half it was being put together. It was a contributing factor to me stepping away from JEA and the massive workload eye already had there, and starting Luniakk Publications. Here, eye can do things at my own pace and work towards getting my writing mojo back. P26 burned me out big time.

So, while eye slowly recover my ability to summon more book demons, eye have been compiling my short stories from the past several years into themed collections. First was ‘Flash of Darkness’ – a short collection of dark and morbid flash fiction. That was a kind of ‘testing the waters’ release. My first time self-publishing something, which eye could never have done without my beautiful dark goddess, Mar Garcia. She’s made my covers, formatted the books, and helped me through every stage of the process of getting them up and out there. ‘Psychotic Interlude’ was next, a short story collection about, you guessed it, psychos and psychoses. And the last was ‘Of Nightmare Realities’. Can you guess what that’s about? See? My titles are pretty self-explanatory haha. Finally, eye just released a standalone short titled ‘QUAD’. This is being turned into my first audiobook release by Night Sky Book Services. Been wanting to go down this route for quite a while so this is very exciting!

What is the writing process like for you? What is your writing day like? What have been the biggest influences on your writing?

The process is long and torturous, but necessary. Whereas music and performing live was a consistent and much needed release for many, many moons, that part of my life seems to have ground to a halt in recent years. We all have a certain amount of darkness within, some more than others. People find various ways to release that darkness so it doesn’t consume them. Some never find that release, which is tragic. Creativity is the best way to allow your demons to run free and keep them distracted enough that they don’t devour you. Eye have found my passion, my release, and that is in the telling of horrific tales. It doesn’t always come easy though, so my writing day is as haphazard and chaotic as the words eye write and the demons eye dispel. The biggest influences on my writing come from the above, but also from the encouragement of readers who have enjoyed my work and are keen to see more. You all keep me writing and help keep my demons fed!

How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
Slowly but surely haha. Seriously though, eye have learned a lot since first entering the published world. Sharpening my skills through many anthologies (my short stories and poetry are in something like 40 of ‘em so far!), plus the several years as an editor and even running my own anthologies at JEA has given me a much deeper knowledge of the craft.

Disclaimer: This gets mentioned in most of my interviews, but for the benefit of any new readers (and authors) here, ‘eye’ write like this sociallyas a quirk because eye am a weirdo like that. It is in no way an indication of illiteracy and is never reflected in my published work or in my skills and abilities as an editor. ‘I’ can and do write conventionally when called for. ‘Eye’ just like to stomp to my own beat otherwise. Just so ya know 😉

Oh, and eye sometimes might replace a ‘c’ with a ‘k’ in some words, simply because the ‘k’ is more pointy and vicious looking than the soft and curvy looking ‘c’. Again, not illiterate, just unorthodox and only in a social setting. Never in my work.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?
First and foremost, a thick skin. You will hear that maybe a thousand times throughout your career and it is an essential tool in the author’s arsenal. You are going to face rejection, criticism and downright shitty attitudes along the way. You can’t let these things knock you down. Aside from the shitty attitudes (may those pricks choke on their words – there’s a shitty attitude for ya hahaha), you must take the criticisms and rejections onboard and use them to better your craft, instead of curling up into a ball and breaking down because somebody has pointed out a fault, valid or not. They are actually the reality check many of us authors sorely need.

Perseverance. That goes without saying. No matter the hurdles, no matter the failures and setbacks, learn and move on if you really want to succeed. These books aren’t gonna write themselves.

You must also have a willingness to learn and listen to those who are more knowledgeable than you. There have been a few authors in my editing experience who can barely string a sentence together, and although eye have edited their work several times, and advised them on how to use proper grammar or punctuation for instance, each new story that comes my way still carries the same mistakes along with it. It’s a harsh thing to say maybe, but some people just don’t have what it takes to be writers.

Lastly, and most importantly… COFFEE

For those who haven’t read any of your stories, what story/book of yours do you think best represents your work and why?
As mentioned above, Blood Moon Big Topprobably best defines my style, or maybe Wolvz: Whispers of War. Eye like to play with words a lot, and give my writing an almost poetic feel. Eye would never liken myself to the great Poe, but he is one author who eye am strongly influenced by as a writer. Plus, werewolves are my spirit animal haha

What are you doing next?

Well, as mentioned just above, werewolves being my lifelong favourite Horror creature, my next release will probably be my werewolf collection, though eye do have an Occult Horror novella nearing completion, so that may take precedence. We’ll just have to see who wins that race.

What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Thicken that skin, learn as you go, and WRITE ON!

bio:

Toneye Eyenot hails from The Blue Mountains in Australia. Although writing horrible tales for the better part of 30 years, 2014 saw his first published work in REJECTED For Content – Splattergore through J. Ellington Ashton Press.

His first extended story, in the form of a Dark Fantasy/Horror novella, THE SCARLETT CURSE is book one in the SACRED BLADE OF PROFANITY series, released through J. Ellington Ashton Press. Book II in the series, JOSHUA’S FOLLY was released in 2016. Book III in the series is currently being conjured. BLOOD MOON BIG TOP released Oct. 7, 2016 – a werewolf/clown Horror novella, followed by WOLVZ: WHISPERS OF WAR in September, 2017.

His stories appear in all 6 REJECTED FOR CONTENT editions, as well as dozens more anthologies. Eyenot is also the editor for a werewolf-themed anthology series – FULL MOON SLAUGHTER 1&2, and several other anthologies.

This year sees the author emerge from the muse with terrifying results as Eyenot branches out with Luniakk Publications, in collaboration with The Bold Mom and Disturbing Drawings, so far with the release of FLASH OF DARKNESS, PSYCHOTIC INTERLUDE, OF NIGHTMARE REALITIES and QUAD. Take a walk thru the mind(s) of a luniakk…

Links:

Website: https://luniakkpublications.com/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Toneye-Eyenot/e/B00NVVMHVA/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toneyeeyenothorror/

Facebook (Luniakk Publications): https://www.facebook.com/luniakkpublications/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toneye-eyenot-965a67164/

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Twitter (Luniakk): https://twitter.com/luniakkpub

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