The Writers Chair

In this episode, Daniel sits down with Jennifer Barnes — managing editor of Raw Dog Screaming Press, longtime champion of off-kilter horror, and a key force behind two decades of cross-genre, boundary-pushing publishing.

Together, they dig into what it really takes to keep a small press alive for twenty plus years, how Raw Dog Screaming Press grew out of the early online zine era, and why “gatekeeping” is a more complicated conversation than most people want it to be.

They talk sustainability over hype, why small presses collapse when they overextend, and how Jennifer protects quality (and her sanity) by scaling releases to reality. The conversation also hits horror poetry, novellas, writing craft, the rise of AI, and why community energy often comes more from writers than readers.

This is a grounded, honest look at the publishing side of horror — full of practical insight, hard-earned perspective, and the kind of transparency writers wish they heard more often.

💀 In this episode you’ll discover:

• How Raw Dog Screaming Press began from the Dream People zine era and a love of cross-genre work

• Where the name “Raw Dog Screaming Press” came from, and how language shifts over time

• Why the “gatekeepers” conversation is more nuanced than it used to be

• The biggest reason small presses burn out or implode, and how to avoid it

• Jennifer’s approach to sustainability, self-sufficiency, and not overcommitting

• Why horror poetry mattered to Raw Dog’s legacy, and how it helped shape the scene

• What Jennifer looks for in standout horror, voice, craft, and character

• The reality of novellas in the market, and why they’re gaining traction again

• Why AI is unpredictable, and why she’s sticking to the same quality-first plan

• What excites Jennifer most right now, including the upcoming Abandoned: Asylum anthology

Links & Resources:

Raw Dog Screaming Press: https://rawdogscreaming.com

Raw Dog Screaming Press on socials: @RDSPress

Horror Writers Association (mentioned): https://www.horror.org

Abandoned: Asylum (edited by James Chambers): https://rawdogscreaming.com/book-deal-abandoned-asylum-anthology/

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📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@devilsrockbooks

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📚 About the Guest

Jennifer Barnes is the managing editor of Raw Dog Screaming Press, a small press publishing off-kilter, cross-genre books for more than two decades. She began her editing career in the early 2000s as an editor for Dream People Literary Magazine, and later helped build Raw Dog Screaming Press into a respected home for dark, distinctive fiction and award-nominated work.

She is also an accomplished graphic designer, a longtime advocate for horror poetry, and co-chair of the Maryland Chapter of the Horror Writers Association. Jennifer graduated from the University of Maryland with a BA in English and a concentration in poetry, and she continues to work across editing, production, and publishing with a focus on craft, originality, and quality.

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In this episode, Daniel sits down with speculative fiction powerhouses Tiffani Angus and Val Nolan — writers, educators, and co-authors of the bestselling Spec Fic for Newbies series from Luna Press.

Together, they dive deep into the ever-expanding world of speculative fiction, exploring how genre works, why it matters, and how writers can better understand where their stories fit. With the release of Spec Fic for Newbies Vol. 3, this conversation blends craft, teaching, collaboration, and a whole lot of joyful nerdiness.

From academia to publishing, pandemic-era book deals to writing about pirates, space procedurals and dark academia, this is a lively, insightful look at what it means to write across genres — and why speculative fiction remains one of the most exciting playgrounds for storytellers today.

💀 In this episode you’ll discover:

• How Spec Fic for Newbies began during the pandemic and grew into a three-book series

• Why understanding genre can transform your writing (and your confidence)

• The role academia and teaching played in shaping the books’ accessible approach

• How speculative fiction overlaps with crime, romance, fantasy, horror and beyond

• Why joy, curiosity and “nerdiness” are essential tools for writers

• The realities of writing collaborative non-fiction — and keeping it fun

• How the series helps writers who don’t have access to formal creative writing education

Links & Resources:

Tiffani Angus website: https://www.tiffani-angus.com

Val Nolan website: https://illusorypromise.wordpress.com/

Luna Press: https://www.lunapresspublishing.com

Spec Fic for Newbies series (Luna Press): https://www.lunapresspublishing.com

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If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow writer or genre fan.

📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@devilsrockbooks

🎧 Listen on your favourite app: https://pod.link/1829723468

💬 Join the community: https://www.devilsrockbooks.com/podcast

📚 About the Guests

Tiffani Angus (PhD) is a multi BSFA- and BFS-award finalist for her debut novel Threading the Labyrinth and for non-fiction (with co-author Val Nolan) for Spec Fic for Newbies: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Subgenres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Vol. 1 (2023) and Vol. 2 (2024), both of which also made the Locus Recommended Reading List. Volume 3 launches March 2026. She spent over a decade teaching creative writing at universities in the US and UK, most of that time as a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and Publishing at ARU in Cambridge (UK). She works as a freelance editor and proofreader, runs the typesetting/formatting business Book Polishers, leads various writing workshops in person and online, and is currently at work on novel, a novella, and a scandalous secret project.

Val Nolan is the author of Neil Jordan: Works for the Page (UCC Press, 2022) and co-author of the Spec Fic for Newbies trilogy (Luna Press Publishing, 2023, 2024, 2026). He has published academic articles in Science Fiction Studies, Foundation, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comic Books, Irish University Review, Irish Studies Review, symplokē, and Dictionary of Literary Biography. His fiction has appeared in Year’s Best Science Fiction, Best of British Science Fiction, Unidentified Funny Objects, the ‘Futures’ page of Nature, Andromeda Spaceways, ParSec, and Interzone (for which he also writes the ‘Folded Spaces’ column about the history of Science Fiction criticism). He has been shortlisted for the Theodore Sturgeon Award (for his story ‘The Irish Astronaut’), twice been a finalist for the BSFA Awards, and twice shortlisted for the British Fantasy Awards. He is currently a research fellow at Aberystwyth University in Wales where he was awarded Lecturer of the Year in 2022. His next project is Space Opera: The First Hundred Years, due from Luna Press Publishing in 2028.

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In this episode, Daniel sits down with Tim Lebbon — award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty novels across horror, fantasy, thriller, and tie-in fiction, including The Secret Lives of the Dead, The Silence, and novels set in the Alien, Predator, Firefly, Conan, and Halo universes.

Tim returns to the chair for a wide-ranging, candid conversation about building a long-term writing career, finding community in horror, and staying creatively sane in an increasingly noisy, online world. They discuss book tours, conventions, imposter syndrome, drafting chaos, novellas versus novels, and why horror writers might just be the nicest people you’ll ever meet.

This episode is a grounded, generous look at the realities of writing over decades — the wins, the doubts, the friendships, and the work that keeps you going.

In this episode you’ll discover:

• How The Secret Lives of the Dead evolved from a crime novel into folk-tinged horror

• Why horror conventions and community friendships can make or break a writing career

• How Tim navigates imposter syndrome — even after thirty years in publishing

• The difference between writing novels and novellas (and why novellas may be his best work)

• What drafting actually looks like for a “panster” — and why the first draft is really the plan

• The realities of writing tie-in fiction for Halo, Alien, and Conan

• Why social media is becoming less useful — and how to protect your creative focus

• Tim’s advice for new writers trying to find their place in the horror community

Links & Resources:

Tim Lebbon’s website: https://www.timlebbon.net

The Secret Lives of the Dead (Titan Books): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Lives-Dead-Tim-Lebbon/dp/1789099732

British Fantasy Convention: https://britishfantasysociety.org

StokerCon (Horror Writers Association): https://www.horror.org/stokercon

Frank Turner (mentioned): https://frank-turner.com

Subscribe to The Writer’s Chair

If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow horror fan or writer.

📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@devilsrockbooks

🎧 Listen on your favourite app: https://pod.link/1829723468

💬 Join the community: https://www.devilsrockbooks.com/podcast

📚 About the Guest

Tim Lebbon is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author with a career spanning over three decades. He has written more than fifty novels, dozens of novellas, and hundreds of short stories across horror, fantasy, and science fiction. His work includes original novels such as The Silence (adapted into a Netflix film) and The Secret Lives of the Dead, as well as tie-in fiction for Alien, Predator, Hellboy, Star Wars, Firefly, Conan, and Halo.

Tim lives in South Wales, writes daily, walks his dog every morning, and firmly believes horror is where we work our darkest thoughts out — so we can be kinder everywhere else.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.