Joel Arnold's work has appeared in over sixty publications, with work accepted by venues ranging from Weird Tales and Cemetery Dance, to Amercian Road Magazine and Cat Fancy. Many of his short stories are available as free podcasts at Pseudopod.org, and all of his short story collections, as well as his novels Death Rhythm and Northwoods Deep, have been made available as e-books. He recently received a 2010 MN Artist Initiative Grant, which provided him with funds for the travel and research needed to complete his next novel.
Northwoods Deep
Bakadewin: The Ojibwe word for hunger.
Bakadewin: an ancient evil guarded by an old man in a mosquito-ridden forest.
Five children and their adult chaperone set off on a hike along the Mesaba River. All vanish without a trace except for one, too traumatized to speak. Local Ojibwe claim the Maymaygwayshi - mischievous spirits who live in the rocks along the river - stole the children.
Six years later, Carol and Brenda Gunderson embark on a canoe trip on the same river. When their canoe capsizes, they discover a cabin in the woods occupied by an old man hiding a terrible secret.
Augustus Meyer has become complacent as the guardian of an ancient evil that resides below his cabin. In a cavern piled high with the bones of its victims, it feeds off the souls of the living and rewards Meyer with mind-blowing hallucinations.
Carol's ex-husband Mitch has been secretly following her, and will stop at nothing to possess her once again. Their brother Jack searches for them while battling his own demons. Allen Gunderson reluctantly accompanies his son in an attempt to stop the remnants of his family from falling apart.
All of them merge in the deep north woods at Meyer's cabin, brought together by a calculating evil whose hunger grows as it seeks out a new guardian.
What will e-readers like about your book? Northwoods Deep is as much of a family drama as it is a horror novel. It also involves different levels of horror – there’s the more obvious visceral horror of Bakadewin and its keeper, but there’s also the horror of loss; of both family and control of oneself. And let’s not forget about my favorite stalker, Mitch, who keeps the Gunderson sisters on their toes!
Why did you go indie? I’ve read a lot of positive things about the indies, and right now, the positives seem to outweigh the negatives by quite a bit. It’s been fun being in charge of all aspects of my output, from overseeing cover design (which my wonderful wife does) to pricing to formatting. The community of indie authors has been wonderful, too. Plus, how can you read J.A. Konrath’s blog and not get all starry-eyed about the indie scene?
Who are your favorite authors in your genre? Although this is probably the most boring and clichéd answer possible, I have to give it up for Stephen King. He got me hooked on horror ever since I read The Shining back in the 8th grade. That was about twenty-seven plus/minus years ago, and I’m still a big fan. Also, my parents not only encouraged my love of reading, they also got me a subscription to Twilight Zone Magazine when I was fifteen. There was always great fiction in there. There are so many other wonderful horror authors out there now, too, like Norman Partridge, Dan Simmons, James Moore, Joe Hill, some guy named Scott Nicholson…I could go on and on.
Northwoods Deep on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UHVXCE
Northwoods Deep on Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/18433
Joel’s blog: http://joelarnold.livejournal.com
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