159 – Alexander James & An Encounter in the Woods

Why do we keep heading back to the woods? WHY?? Nothing good ever happens there.

Alexander James would argue otherwise, but he’s clearly made of sterner stuff than me. In his debut novel, The Woodkin, Alex parlays his love of the wild outdoors into a story that heads toward a familiar backwoods nightmares, before veering far off the beaten trail into something stranger and even scarier. 

In this episode we talk about his love for the woods of the Pacific Northwest (and yes! I ask him about Bigfoot of course). We cover the controversy surrounding an earlier title choice, the influence of D&D on his writing and the trick to realistically depicting fear in fiction.

It’s a happy hike into darkness. 

Enjoy

The Woodkin was published August 22nd by CamCat Books

Other books mentioned in this episode include:

• Dark Mountain (1992), by Richard Laymon
• Offseason (1980), by Jack Ketchum
• Mexican Gothic (2020), by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• The Hacienda (2022), by Isabel Cañas

I'm a Search and Rescue Officer for the US Forest Service, I Have Some Stories to Tell

CritStupid Podcast (Alex's D&D podcast)

Support Talking Scared on Patreon

Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com