Who: JM Guillen

What: Supervillain (and author)

Where (to stalk him):

• www.irrationalworlds.com/
• Facebook:  www.facebook.com/thedireoverlord
• Twitter: @JM_Guillen
• Instagram: jm.guillen

Why:

So everyone has that one friend who seems hellbent on taking over the world, enjoys brainwashing the masses, has a fanatical cult of followers, plays chess with the Elder Gods, and collects corpses for necromantic rituatls…

Wait, they don’t? What do you mean they don’t?  Is that just me?? CRAP

I’ve known JM Guillen for nearly twenty years  (yes, for those counting at home, since I was about 8…. *coughs* ish?). He’s always been a creative sort, and remarkably good at rallying people to do incredibly silly things. But that’s what friends do, right?

He started writing many years ago, though this is the case with all writers… for all the ones I’ve met, they’ve been writing for eons before they get their first book completed.  So allow me to rephrase…

He published his first book a number of years ago.

There. Better.

And he’s never stopped.  He has quite a few books out, with several series going.  For the complete list, check out his Amazon page here.  They all have a dark edge of horror to them, which I personally find positively delightful, but he plays with different genres.  He has sci-fi, urban fantasy, pure fantasy, even some steampunk.  Take all of that, and mix in a bit of Cthulhu.

Psh. Don’t balk – you’ll be fine.

My top favorite of his has to be his Herald of Autumn.  It is truly beautifully written.  Give it a peek. I would certainly qualify it as an Urban Fantasy (horror), playing more heavily on the fantastical elements.  It’s pure poetry. No, not literally. Each step along the way is graceful and eloquent.  It’s a short read, and whole-heartedly worth it to me.

The first book of his that I read his was On The Matter of the Red Hand. Again, highly enjoyable read! I wouldn’t have kept reading JM’s books otherwise.  How does he phrase it?  This is a fantasy noir horror.  The voice itself is different from that of Herald, but a wonderful book just the same. He pulls you into the world, trotting along in Thom’s tracks as he searches for answers.

Sign up for a newsletter on JM’s site (at the bottom of his first page).  You’ll get an ebook for your trouble, not to mention highly entertaining newsletters on a monthly basis.

And he was not threatening my family in order to say that…

Now the BIG why…

When I started writing Wake Up Call, I wasn’t expecting it to amount to much.  I was writing it to prove to myself that I could finish a story.  It wasn’t until it was done that I sat back and went ‘Hey, this is actually decent’ quickly followed by ‘Holly crap! What am I supposed to do now??’

That’s where I called JM for assistance.

As any good friend, he sat back, pointed, and laughed at my freak out, but then he – along with Ben Reeder – mentored me along what to do next.  Even now, we talk regularly about next steps, advertising, what works, what doesn’t.

I consider JM Guillen a dear friend (please never tell him that… I’d never live it down!!) and a valued mentor to me throughout this process. Without he and Ben, I’m not sure I would have known what to do in order to publish my books.

(Now please, let me out of the Monday room, J…)