Emerian Rich is a kindred soul, albeit with a much better fashion sense than mine. We’ve gone to conventions together, we’ve poked around graveyards together… This year we’re going to the Sinister Creature Con together!

I interviewed Emerian in 2017 about her book Dusk’s Warriors. She’s got a brand-new anthology out, so it was time to talk again.

Emerian Rich is the author of the vampire book series Night’s Knights and writes romance under the name Emmy Z. Madrigal. Her romance/horror cross over, Artistic License, is about a woman who inherits a house where anything she paints on the walls comes alive. She’s been published in a handful of anthologies by publishers such as Dragon Moon Press, Hidden Thoughts Press, Hazardous Press, and White Wolf Press. She is the podcast Horror Hostess of HorrorAddicts.net.

Her new book is Kill Switch: A Horror Anthology, edited with Dan Shaurette:

As technology takes over more of our lives, what will it mean to be human, and will we fear what we’ve created? What horrors will our technological hubris bring us in the future? Join us as we walk the line between progressive convenience and the nightmares these advancements can breed. From faulty medical nanos and AI gone berserk to ghost-attracting audio-tech and one very ambitious Mow-Bot, we bring you tech horror that will keep you up at night. Will you reach the Kill Switch in time? Edited by Dan Shaurette and Emerian Rich, with authors Chantal Boudreau, Garth von Buchholz, Bill Davidson, Jerry J. Davis, Dana Hammer, Laurel Anne Hill, Naching T. Kassa, Tim O’Neal, H.E. Roulo, Garrett Rowlan, Phillip T. Stephens, and Daphne Strasert.

Did something in the real world inspire Kill Switch, A Horror Anthology?

Yes, actually: the scary prospect before us of wanting to create a technologically convenient world, but at the same time building machines that have the possibility of ruining, running, or destroying our lives. When Dan Shaurette brought the idea of tech horror to my attention, I was all in.

What is your favorite scene in the book?

There are so many terrifying scenarios in this book, it’s hard to choose, but one of my favorite stories in the book is called “Mow-Bot.” It’s about a guy who buys Roomba-like mower that will do his most hated chore for him so he can enjoy his weekend instead of spending it gardening. Everything is hunky dory until the neighbor’s cat disappears and he finds fur stuck in the Mow-Bot’s wheel. This story is so “right-now” you can imagine it really happening today.

My story in the book is called “SoulTaker 2.0” and is about a game programmer in the final stages of launching a new version of the MMORPG “SoulTaker,” who finds out his employer is actually REAPING souls digitally.

What was your editing process like as you put the book together?

At HorrorAddicts.net Press, we work as a team. We have a four-person submissions team. Once the top stories are chosen, we have two people edit in depth and connect with the authors. When we are ready to go to print, our whole press reads the work, which is about five people.

What was the best thing that happened during your promotion of the book?

This is going to sound a little sad, but the best thing hasn’t happened yet. Let me explain. Our previous Head of Publishing, Dan Shaurette, thought up this book theme a few years ago and was so enthusiastic about it. Last year, he suffered a medical trauma which made him unable to complete it. We decided to go ahead and complete his dream of publishing this book. The fact that we have finished it for him makes me sad that he was not able to be involved very much, but it also fills me with happiness that we could see it through. The best thing about this book promotion will be when I am able to hand him the print copy when I see him this summer and watch the elation in his face as he realizes his dream has come true.

What do you have planned next?

Our next submissions call is for Dark Divinations, which is a horror anthology involving Victorian-era divination stories. It closes Halloween 2019. All the submission requirements can be found here: https://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/current-submission-calls/

Pick up a copy of Kill Switch from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Qzdgvv

Or check out HorrorAddicts.net Press: http://www.horroraddicts.net