Deep, Dark, & Flirting With Insanity: Toneye Eyenot, Author of Fangtastic Tales of Werewolf Savagery talks to Kendall Reviews.

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 JEA Press. His debut Dark Fantasy/Horror novella, THE SCARLETT CURSE is book one in the SACRED BLADE OF PROFANITY series, released in 2014 through JEA, is now unpublished to be re-released through Luniakk Publications. Book II in the series, JOSHUA’S FOLLY was released in 2016. Book III in the Sacred Blade of Profanity series is currently being conjured; all of which also await republishing through Luniakk.

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. 2018 saw the author emerge from the shadows with terrifying results as Eyenot branched out with Luniakk Publications.

So far, titles released include FLASH OF DARKNESS, PSYCHOTIC INTERLUDE, OF NIGHTMARE REALITIES, ABYSMAL FEAST: AN AGGLOMERATION OF ANTHROPOPHAGIC ATROCITIES, WOLVZ: WHISPERS OF WAR, and FANGTASTIC TALES OF WEREWOLF SAVAGERY.

Toneye’s obsession with werewolves, blood, coffee and Death, along with Eyenot’s relishing of darkness and the many realms of insanity, merge together to manifest as pure evil on the page. Take a bewildering stumble through the minds of a luniakk.

KR: Coffee?

KR: Could you tell me a little about yourself please?

Eye am a 49 year old Metalhead from the Dirt Down Under, obsessed with wolves, addicted to coffee, the occult, horror – particularly Werewolves, and all things dark ‘n’ disturbing. Eye scream bloody murder in Extreme Metal bands, Chaotic Impurity (currently in the throes of an extended dirt nap – not dead, just biding our time) https://soundcloud.com/user-119216506 and Infinite Black (preparing to release a full length album) https://infiniteblack616.bandcamp.com/

Eye have a son, a total guitar god. He’s been playing his whole life, since he was 3, and is currently killin’ it with his band, Kvlts of Vice – Check ‘em out for some dirty, dark R’n’R https://kvltsofvice.bandcamp.com/

Eye also have a thing for eyes (you may have already noticed), and despite what this first answer might leave people thinking, ‘I’ am not illiterate hahaha.

KR: What do you like to do when not writing?

Read, and make horrible noises that would send a shiver up a dead man’s spine.

KR: What is your favourite childhood book?

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton was my favourite book as a teen. Must’ve read that over a hundred times.

KR: What is your favourite album, and does music play any role in your writing?

Bathory – Under the Sign of the Black Mark. Been my favourite band since 1986. Music is what got me into writing.

Eye have been writing song lyrics since ’89, after my first band Nomenclature Diablerie inspired me. https://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/album/888 My guitarist and band founder wrote all the lyrics/music for ND, and after we disbanded, eye began to write my own. It got my foot in the door to the published world years later (2014) after eye submitted some lyrics as poetry to an anthology. My first book, a novella, had just been completed and was given a shot with the publisher after they saw my poetry. Haven’t looked back since.

KR: Do you have a favourite horror movie/director? 

Too many movies to be able to pick just one. Eye do love the movies by Guillermo del Toro. Pan’s Labyrinth is definitely up there in the faveosphere.

KR: What are you reading now?

At the moment, Hellhound by Lou Yardley. It’s a fangtastic Werewolf novel!

KR: What was the last great book you read?

‘Four’ by P.J. Blakey-Novis. It’s a campfire tales style collection of four shorts, told by four friends around a fire, all weaved into one very dark story. Brilliantly written, the way he seamlessly shifts from one ‘voice’ to the next. He’s one author you should definitely look into.

KR: E-Book, Paperback or Hardback?

Paperback, definitely. Although, a lot of my reading happens on E-book these days, eye much prefer to go ‘oldskool’ and hold a slab of tattooed dead tree flesh in my hands.

KR: Who were the authors that inspired you to write?

My biggest influences would have to be Poe and Bradbury. The Pit and the Pendulum was the first Horror eye remember reading, and it scared the shit out of me haha. That’s when eye knew Horror would always be in my blood.

KR: Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer to just see where an idea takes you?

Pantser, all the way. One of my current WIPs though, eye am on Book 3 of a series and finding it very difficult to get through it without some kind of structure. The first 2 books were published in 2014 and 2015, so it’s been many moons between words for this series. Making sure there’s consistency and no contradicting plot lines is proving to be a huge challenge as more characters and sub-plots have been introduced. Might have to drop the pants and make an outline for the rest of this one.

KR: What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Little to no research goes into 99.9% of my work. Writing Horror and Dark Fantasy, the worlds, characters and scenarios eye create are either far removed from reality and subject to the suspension of disbelief in the reader, or they are so terrifyingly real that if anyone were to question the validity of something, well…they must be a lot sicker in the head than me.

There is one story from one of my collections – ‘The Sadistic Nurse Emilie’ from Abysmal Feast: An Agglomeration of Anthropophagic Atrocities, where eye did do quite a bit of research over several weeks. It is based (loosely, of korpse) on a real nurse eye was talking to on FB and she provided me with a lot of information on her profession. It’s based in Austria and begins at the end of WW2, so a little digging into the Nazi occupation of Austria and the reported experiments conducted around that time was necessary for that one.

KR: How would you describe your writing style?

Deep, dark, and flirting with insanity.

KR: Describe your usual writing day?

Sporadic, at best, lately. Eye spend a lot of time staring blankly at a blank screen, and far too much time on social media. With five books currently published, and a sixth in preorder, just about to drop, eye spend more time marketing my books than writing these days. On a good writing day though: coffee, Metal, arse in seat, eye can sometimes knock out a few thousand words. Eye need more days like this. Too much shit on my mind often stifles my creativity and the words just don’t come.

KR: Do you have a favourite story/short that you’ve written (published or not)?

Another difficult question hahaha. Probably ‘Blood Moon Big Top’. It’s a Clown/Werewolf Horror novella, unpublished a year ago and is now about to be rereleased through my brand, Luniakk Publications as part of my Werewolf collection, Fangtastic Tales of Werewolf Savagery. Eye really enjoyed writing this one. Marbles the Clown is one of my most complex characters, and gradually destroying him, both physically and mentally throughout the book was a lot of fun.

KR: Do you read your book reviews?

Oh, hells yes. Reviews are a valuable resource for an author to better the craft of writing. Eye love getting 5 star reviews and seeing that readers love my work, but when the odd critical review pops up, eye take it onboard and use that to improve. There is always room to improve. Blood Moon Big Top got a few critical hits on Goodreads when it was published, and eye addressed each issue when revising it this time around. Hopefully reviews will be more favourable now. Had a few ARC reviews already and they all seem to be pleased with ol’ Marbles. Must’ve done something right this time haha.

KR: How do you think you’ve developed as an author?

Slowly but surely. Over the past few years, eye have written and released 3 novellas, one short novel (juuust made it into range at 40k words), 5 short story collections, and appeared in around 40 anthologies.

Novellas seem to be my ‘sweet spot’, but eye plan to get Book 3 in my Sacred Blade of Profanity series up to the 60k mark. It’s proving very difficult though. Eye pulled all my books from my recent publisher at the beginning of last year and set up Luniakk Publications as a platform to rerelease them all independently. 2018 was a good year. Hoping this year gets better. It’s been a bit of a bumpy start, with life getting in the way, but eye am resilient and determined.

KR: What is the best piece of advice you’ve received regarding your writing?

Find a good editor and don’t cut corners in order to get published. You do yourself, or the indie community at large, no favours that way.

KR: What scares you?

My son in some kind of trouble or danger and eye can’t be there to help him.

KR: Can you tell me about your latest release please?

Fangtastic Tales of Werewolf Savagery is a collection of lycanthropic mayhem, featuring the abovementioned Blood Moon Big Top, as well as several short stories to beef things up a touch. The cover was created by the fangtastic Mar G-A. She has made all my Luniakk covers and formatted all my books for me.

There’s ‘Hunter’s Moon’ – What do a pack of Werewolves get up to in the Blue Mountains of NSW, Australia? This is set in my home town, with my bandmates – wolfbrothers. We have ‘acquired’ thirteen unwilling participants for our annual ‘Great Hunt’ beneath the Hunter’s Full Moon. This was a favourite of one ARC reviewer.

Dire’ tells the story of a cat burglar who finds himself in all kinds of trouble, when he discovers his client is not all he seems to be.

Human Skin’ is a gruesome lil’ tale about two private investigators and one unlikely suspect. The results are catastrophic, to say the least.

The Tomb of Legion’ pulls Vampires and witches into the mix. A shaky, 70 year truce between Vampires and Werewolves is unceremoniously shattered when the Vampire Lord, Legion is set free from his tomb by a coven of duplicitous witches.

At the end, eye included Chapter One of ‘Wolvz: Whispers of War’ with a link to the book on Amazon, as a hook for any readers who haven’t yet read it.

Very excited to release this one. Werewolves being my ‘spirit animal’, so to speak haha.

You can grab it by clicking the book cover below

KR: What are you working on now?

An Occult Horror novella, tentatively titled ‘Still, Silent, Black’, and the ongoing struggle with Book 3 of my Sacred Blade of Profanity series. Waiting to finish that one before rereleasing the first two books, and in two minds about releasing them all separately, or combining them to release as one book. If eye do that, finally, a substantial novel release can be added to my portfolio. If Book 3 reaches the intended 60k mark, the three combined will make it a 120k word novel.

KR: You find yourself on a desert island, which three people would you wish to be deserted with you and why?

You can choose…

  1. One fictional character from your writing.

Scarlett from The Scarlett Curse – Book 1 in The Sacred Blade of Profanity series. Who wouldn’t wanna be stuck with a hot 300 year old woman who knows how to wield a blade, right? Also, her ability to transcend Time and Space would pretty much solve the whole ‘deserted’ dilemma haha.

  1. One fictional character from any other book.

Annie Wilkes. Gotta have someone there to keep me writing.

  1. One real-life person that is not a family member or friend.

Cardinal George Pell. Eye could think of no better way to while away the hours/days/weeks/months on a deserted island, than to sadistically torture that kiddie fiddlin’ parasite to within an inch of his life. Then start all over again. Practice for when he gets to his Hell.

KR: Thank you very much Toneye.

Toneye Eyenot

You can find out more about Toneye by visiting his official website www.luniakkpublications.com

Follow Toneye on Twitter @toneyeeyenot

Fangtastic Tales Of Werewolf Savagery

La Lluna Plena – the Full Moon – that beautiful and mysterious celestial body which stirs within us all those deep, dark emotions we do our best to subdue and control. For some of us, her influence runs deeper, much deeper. We all walk beneath her maddening rays, yet, while most may shrug off the notion that inside us all resides a beast – a savage wolf – there are those of us who embrace the monster within and ride that lunatic wave with abandon each time she casts her gaze upon us.

Some see it as a blessing, others…a curse. To be bitten, and fall prey to murderous urges beyond our control, or to have the good fortune to be born into the pack, or perhaps even to whisper words of spell in order to evoke the lycanthropic gift, there are more than a few ways to cast aside the human skin and let loose the wolf within. Those ways are explored throughout this collection of werewolf terrors.

Suspend disbelief, dear reader, because whether you care to admit it, or continue to live in ignorant bliss, we walk among you. We smell the blood as it courses through your veins and taste your fear on the breeze. We long to see the life drain from your quivering flesh as we gorge. Beware the Full Moon, as you are about to enter the world of the Werewolf.

You can buy Fangtastic Tales Of Werewolf Savagery from Amazon UK Amazon US

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