{"id":15319,"date":"2021-03-12T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T12:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=15319"},"modified":"2021-03-09T22:43:41","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T03:43:41","slug":"interview-douglas-wynne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/interview-douglas-wynne\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Douglas Wynne Talks Technology and Terror"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8771\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/interview-victoria-price\/cd-gen-interviews\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CD-Gen-Interviews.jpg?fit=830%2C120&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"830,120\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Cemetery Dance Interviews\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CD-Gen-Interviews.jpg?fit=830%2C120&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-8771\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CD-Gen-Interviews.jpg?resize=830%2C120&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"banner graphic that says Cemetery Dance Interviews\" width=\"830\" height=\"120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CD-Gen-Interviews.jpg?w=830&amp;ssl=1 830w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CD-Gen-Interviews.jpg?resize=350%2C51&amp;ssl=1 350w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CD-Gen-Interviews.jpg?resize=768%2C111&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 984px) 61vw, (max-width: 1362px) 45vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15321\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15321\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15321\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/interview-douglas-wynne\/douglaswynne\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/douglaswynne.jpg?fit=200%2C149&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"200,149\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"douglaswynne\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Douglas Wynne&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/douglaswynne.jpg?fit=200%2C149&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15321\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/douglaswynne.jpg?resize=200%2C149&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"photo of author Douglas Wynne\" width=\"200\" height=\"149\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15321\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Douglas Wynne<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Douglas Wynne wrote his first novel as a teen, but his creative path detoured through the music industry before returning to his literary calling. He now crafts dark fantasy that indulges the author\u2019s curiosity in shadowy cults, conspiracies, and the occult, including his SPECTRA Files series (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Red Equinox<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Black January<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cthulhu Blues<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Devil of Echo Lake<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Steel Breeze<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which pitted resilient characters against malevolent forces inciting catastrophe. Wynne\u2019s work flourishes from a postmodern approach to eldritch tales, where elder gods and demons infiltrate the contemporary world and wreak havoc on twenty-first century life, often through song, a devilish way for the writer to remain connected to his musical roots.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15259\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-his-own-devices-douglas-wynne\/hisowndevices\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hisowndevices.jpg?fit=304%2C445&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"304,445\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"hisowndevices\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hisowndevices.jpg?fit=304%2C445&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-15259\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hisowndevices.jpg?resize=239%2C350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"cover of His Own Devices by Douglas Wynne\" width=\"239\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hisowndevices.jpg?resize=239%2C350&amp;ssl=1 239w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/hisowndevices.jpg?w=304&amp;ssl=1 304w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 239px) 85vw, 239px\" \/>Wynne\u2019s latest, the techno-horror <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-his-own-devices-douglas-wynne\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His Own Devices<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, melds technological paranoia, psychological manipulation, and supernatural phenomena, converging in the intricate world of online gaming where a young gamer, a popular YouTube personality, and a struggling mother are entangled in a conspiracy invoked by a cabal bent on chaos. The ambitious story is grounded by complex, relatable characters whose traumas inform their choices, making them vulnerable to the alarming threats mobilizing in the virtual world, and weaponizing their very emotions. The harrowing tale invites deep examination of our contemporary culture, where many have become dependent on tablets and smartphones for education, social interaction, and their livelihoods. Wynne\u2019s tale cultivates chills from the collective anxieties triggered by our devices, conjured by invisible forces conspiring against us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In light of our recent political history, the premise of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His Own Devices<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is astonishingly timely. Cemetery Dance spoke with Mr. Wynne about technological fears, tenebrous agencies, and the importance of multi-dimensional characters in high-stakes speculative fiction that hits frighteningly close to home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>(Interview conducted by Chris Hallock)<\/p>\n<p><b>CEMETERY DANCE: <\/b><b><i>His Own Devices<\/i><\/b><b> deals with frightening events provoked through our technology, but isn\u2019t necessarily anti-internet or against the use of electronic devices. Where do you stand on technology in general? You don\u2019t seem like a Luddite at all, and judging by your online presence, you enjoy engaging with your readers through social media.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DOUGLAS WYNNE: Like a lot of people these days I\u2019m addicted to tech and probably too dependent on it. Which is part of why I wanted to examine that relationship in the book. It&#8217;s definitely a love\/hate relationship for me. I wrote my first novel with a pen, but these days I&#8217;m just as comfortable using voice recognition and Scrivener software. Whatever gets the job done, but I will sometimes choose low-tech tools specifically to avoid distraction. On the one hand, digital technology has empowered me as an indie author trying to reach an audience, and on the other it&#8217;s endlessly distracting and interferes with reading, thinking, and writing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What prompted you to immerse the story in gaming culture? It feels so authentic and detailed. Are you a gamer yourself, or someone in your family? How did you do your research?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The story was mostly inspired by watching my son play Minecraft and becoming enthralled with the whole culture of gaming YouTubers. I absorbed a lot from listening to him and his friends and overhearing way too many hours of that kind of YouTube content. But then I also relied on him as my main fact checker about gaming related stuff in the revision drafts. When he was younger, I worried more about the social dangers that come with a kid interacting with strangers in shared game worlds and chat spaces. And, of course, we had some restrictions on that. He\u2019s thirteen now and I think he has a good head on his shoulders about it. But as a horror-thriller writer, it&#8217;s just a habit for my mind to go to the most far-fetched and terrifying paranoid scenarios.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>A lot of your work centers around secretive agencies at work in the shadows. Where does your interest in cults, cabals, and other strange factions originate?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15322\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/interview-douglas-wynne\/believe\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/believe.jpg?fit=494%2C741&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"494,741\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"believe\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/believe.jpg?fit=494%2C741&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-15322\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/believe.jpg?resize=233%2C350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"poster showing a hovering flying saucer over the words I want to believe\" width=\"233\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/believe.jpg?resize=233%2C350&amp;ssl=1 233w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/believe.jpg?w=494&amp;ssl=1 494w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 233px) 85vw, 233px\" \/>I&#8217;m not really sure. I think it might just be part of my personality that I&#8217;m attracted to mysteries and causes of things that might be secret or hidden. I definitely enjoy those kinds of stories as a reader, where there\u2019s some ambiguity about what&#8217;s going on behind the scenes. Like most of my generation, I was a big <em>X-Files<\/em> fan. But I also read a lot of news, nonfiction, and current events, and there&#8217;s no doubt that conspiracy theories have become much more prevalent in recent years. So I&#8217;m interested in the psychology of that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think when a conspiracy plays to some of our personal biases, it&#8217;s easy for most of us to seek comfort in the notion that a chaotic world is actually under someone&#8217;s control, even if that someone may have nefarious motives. Somehow that&#8217;s more reassuring than the idea that life is random and unpredictable. I think that also has something to do with the inert religious impulses of a modern secular society. In the absence of belief in a supreme being controlling everything, we\u2019re projecting some of those same anxieties onto people who seem to have supernatural powers of wealth and technology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The story is set in 2016, and I believe your author\u2019s note says you worked on it over a period of a few years. It feels extraordinarily timely, maybe even more so than you anticipated. How did your experience of our tumultuous political landscape over the past four years help shape the story, if at all?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Quite a bit. Writing and editing this book, there was a weird tension between feeling like I had to get it published before the cultural moment changed too much, but also seeing that the longer I worked on it, the more events in the news were moving toward the same themes. The cool thing was when I realized I could keep it set in 2016, which I think of as an inflection point, and steer the final drafts in a way that makes it look like the story foreshadows and sets up everything that we now know happens next.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Minecraft is such an innocuous and adorable video game. Why did you choose it to lay the foundation for the terrifying events that unfold in the story?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s something about that juxtaposition of innocence and evil that tends to work in horror, don&#8217;t you think? Like creepy dolls or clowns or evil lurking beyond the white picket fence. It\u2019s more unsettling than straight up undisguised evil. So I guess this is a digital version of that. Also, I had been thinking about how shared digital spaces lend themselves to urban legends like Slender Man or Momo and all those creepy pasta stories. And then all of that synched up with a Minecraft urban legend I&#8217;d heard &#8212; that there was this character roaming the game called Herobrine, who could defy the laws of the game. It was a hoax that some players became terrified of, believing he represented a ghost or a bad omen. That <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">really<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> got my wheels turning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>It\u2019s quite a challenge to meld technology with the occult without seeming hokey or ham-fisted. You keep things fairly ambiguous in this regard, and some details are based on real occult history. How did you come by the supernatural elements that accentuate the story?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s always the easy part for me. I\u2019ve been collecting obscure occult books since I was a teenager, so I always know where to reach when I need those details. I like weaving things in that are a little off the beaten path of the typical occult horror clich\u00e9s.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And I\u2019m glad to hear that the crossover of what\u2019s technology and what\u2019s supernatural comes across as ambiguous. That\u2019s very much intentional. We&#8217;ve all become dependent on these forces greater than ourselves that remain mostly mysterious to us. You know that famous Arthur C. Clarke quote about any sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic. Programmers probably have a better track record for producing results in our lives than the village shaman or court astrologer did, but we are still uncomfortably aware that they\u2019re in command of powers we don&#8217;t quite comprehend. Powers that can probe our deepest secrets and upend our lives. There\u2019s this pervasive feeling that the glowing talisman in your pocket could miraculously change your life for the better at any given moment or utterly destroy it if you offend the wrong gods.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Because of the subject matter, techno-thrillers can often be cold and alienating, but your book is imbued with tremendous humanity, especially the relationship shared between Jessica, Gavin, and Matt. Even Rainbow Dave &#8212; who is a catalyst for many terrible things happening in the story &#8212; is relatable. How do you go about balancing the characters\u2019 strengths with their flaws when it comes to their actions in the story?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thank you. I\u2019m always interested in characters first and whatever weird plot device I\u2019m writing about second. And I\u2019ve never met a person who was just one thing; we\u2019re all complicated. I don\u2019t plan much in advance, so I figure if events are driven by character emotions consistent with how they see themselves, (especially if that\u2019s conflicted) then the story will at least have a chance of working out in a way that feels organic and authentic. I also like the juxtaposition of big, catastrophic events with deeply personal motives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The story is complex and layered, but reads very streamlined and accessible. How did you manage to impart so much information about internet\/gaming culture, as well as the psychological operations at play, without compromising the pace? Were earlier drafts larger in scope?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yeah. It was tricky finding the right balance. The book did go through a lot of revisions. Oddly, I think the technical stuff was pretty streamlined from the start. As with writing occult horror, a little bit of technical detail can go a long way and suggest enough to feel real. If anything, the character development was more cumbersome in the first half in the early drafts, which slowed things down too much for the urgent pacing you want in this kind of book. Finally, at my wits\u2019 end after a lot of rejection, I showed it to my author friend Philip Fracassi, and he was like, \u201cIsn\u2019t this supposed to be a thriller? Cut all this boring shit out and make it fly.\u201d I needed to hear that. And it was good advice because by the time you\u2019re cutting 15,000 words from a final draft, the stuff you\u2019re removing is baked into the rest of the book enough to still enhance the characters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>One of the underlying themes is the toll of fame, experienced through the perspective of YouTube celebrity Rainbow Dave. Were you trying to use his character as a means of examining the rise of demagogues in the digital age?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15323\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/interview-douglas-wynne\/echolake\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/echolake.jpg?fit=400%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"400,600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"echolake\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/echolake.jpg?fit=400%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-15323\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/echolake.jpg?resize=233%2C350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"cover of the devil of echo lake by douglas wynne\" width=\"233\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/echolake.jpg?resize=233%2C350&amp;ssl=1 233w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/echolake.jpg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 233px) 85vw, 233px\" \/>Yes? And thanks for making me sound smarter than I am! Fame has become accessible to almost anyone with an internet connection, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in theory<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It seems like the ultimate fantasy to my son\u2019s generation that you could get paid millions of dollars to play video games all day, but there\u2019s always a price. There are always heavy psychological pressures that come with it. And the people who are driven enough and charismatic enough to thrive under those conditions often have some kind of underlying wound. At least, that\u2019s my armchair observation as a fiction writer with no psychological training. My first novel (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Devil of Echo Lake)<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is about a haunted rock star who deals with some of the same problems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>There\u2019s also a prequel to the book called <\/b><b><i>Random Access<\/i><\/b><b>, which you\u2019re giving away free to subscribers of your website. How did that story come about?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I didn\u2019t want to resolve all of the questions about the forces controlling Rainbow Dave at the end of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His Own Devices<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Leaving that somewhat open ended instead of tying it up with a bow felt right to me. But I did have a favorite theory about how he became what he is. An origin story. So when I was looking to write a self-contained novella as a newsletter sign-up reward, I realized that was the perfect vehicle to tell more of the story. It sets up the novel for people who haven\u2019t read it yet, but it may be even more rewarding for those who have already read <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Devices <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">because of the new clues it drops and some of the blanks it fills in.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Did any particular authors or techno-thriller works inspire your path here?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not so much in the pure techno-thriller genre, but where it overlaps with horror, yes. Stephen King\u2019s Bill Hodges trilogy was an influence. Paul Tremblay\u2019s novels, which have strong postmodern themes about media, identity, and ambiguity. And on the sci-fi end of the spectrum, William Gibson\u2019s more recent books. I may have also slipped in a cameo by a Joe Hill character. It\u2019s subtle. He knows and hasn\u2019t sent lawyers yet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What\u2019s in store for you and your readers on the horizon? Any exciting upcoming projects you can discuss?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I just released a horror\/noir novella last month with Crystal Lake Publishing. That\u2019s called <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crystallakepub.com\/product\/the-wind-in-my-heart-by-douglas-wynne\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Wind In My Heart<\/a>. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s an occult detective story with a Tibetan twist. And I\u2019m currently writing some new short stories and thinking about doing a collection. It\u2019s shaping up to be a busy year.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Douglas Wynne wrote his first novel as a teen, but his creative path detoured through the music industry before returning to his literary calling. He now crafts dark fantasy that indulges the author\u2019s curiosity in shadowy cults, conspiracies, and the occult, including his SPECTRA Files series (Red Equinox, Black January, Cthulhu Blues), The Devil of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/interview-douglas-wynne\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Interview: Douglas Wynne Talks Technology and Terror&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[1107,1313,307],"class_list":["post-15319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-chris-hallock","tag-douglas-wynne","tag-interviews"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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