We're joined by the amazing Alex Segura to discuss his books Alter Ego and Secret Identity, dive into comic book (and other) nerdoms, and writing about an industry without asking readers to sit through a 101 crash course. We also get a sneak peek of Alter Ego, discuss the process of writing a stand alone sequel, juggling different projects, and Alex's triple pisces energy.
Alex Segura is the bestselling and award-winning author of Secret Identity, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller and a New York Times Editor’s Choice and an NPR Best Mystery of the Year. He's also the author of the Pete Fernandez series, as well as the Star Wars novel, Poe Dameron: Free Fall, and a Spider-Verse adventure called Araña/Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow. He lives in New York City with his family.
Dark Waters vol. 1 & 2 are available to order! To get a copy, head over to our linktree
Want to submit to be a guest author? Emaildarkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
We're joined by the fantastic A.M. Adair to discuss her novella Origin Story, translating fiction into different mediums, and diving headfirst into a character's frame of mind. We also get a sneak peek of Origin Story, representation of women in fiction, and the therapeutic benefits of creative outlets.
A.M. Adair retired from active duty as a Chief Warrant Officer of the United States Navy, having spent over 21 years in the Intelligence Community, specializing in counterintelligence and human intelligence. She has been to numerous countries, including multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her experiences have been unique and provided her imagination with a wealth of material to draw from to give her stories life. A lifelong fan of the genre, she is an International Thriller Writers associate member. Shadow Game was her debut novel and the first book in the Elle Anderson series. Her second novel, The Deeper Shadow, was a Distinguished Favorite in the 2021 NYC Big Book Awards thriller category. In 2023, her third novel, Shadow War, won in the Action/Adventure category of the Independent Press Awards and was a finalist for the 2023 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award. Her fourth novel, A New Game, won an Independent Press Award and NYC Big Book Award in 2024 for Action/Adventure, and it was a 2024 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion finalist. Her first novella, Origin Story, released at the end of 2024, became an Amazon bestseller. She lives in Tennessee with her husband Jake, daughter Arya, and son Finn.
Dark Waters vol. 1 & 2 are available to order! To get acopy, head over to our linktree
Want to submit your writing? Emaildarkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinionsof the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
We're joined by the lovely Lina Chern to discuss her novel Play the Fool and it's recently released sequel Tricks of Fortune, as well as neurodivergent co-morbidities, being "ready" for an editor, and vice fueled fury. We also get a sneak peek of Tricks of Fortune and touch on writing with a series in mind.
Lina Chern’s debut mystery novel, Play the Fool, won the 2024 Mary Higgins Clark Award and was nominated for the 2024 Lefty and Anthony Awards. Tricks of Fortune, (Katie True #2), was released July 1, 2025. Her shorter work has appeared in Mystery Weekly, The Marlboro Review, The Bellingham Review, Black Fox Literary Magazine, and The Coil. She lives in the Chicago area with her family.
Dark Waters vol. 1 & 2 are available to order! To get a copy, head over to our linktree
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
The phenomenal S.A. Cosby joins us to discuss his newest book King of Ashes, stepping into darkness as a writer, and exploring trauma and family ties through fiction. We also get a sneak peek of King of Ashes, the cameos in the S.A. Cosby universe, and touch on the dichotomy of the art vs business of writing and publishing.
S. A. Cosby is a New York Times bestselling writer from southeastern Virginia. He is the author of All the Sinners Bleed, which was on more than forty Best of the Year lists, including Barack Obama’s, as well as Edgar Award finalist Razorblade Tears and Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner Blacktop Wasteland. He has also won the Anthony Award, ITW Thriller Award, Barry Award, Macavity Award, BCALA Award, and Audie Award and has been longlisted for the ALA Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence. His upcoming novel King of Ashes is set to release on June 10 2025.
Dark Waters vol. 1 & 2 are available to order! To get a copy, head over to our linktree
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
Our guest Libby Cudmore treats us to discussions on stories inspired by dessert dreams, lots of music references, and a dive into her latest book Negative Girl. We also get a snippet of her short story "We Hunger" published in Dark Waters Vol. 2, talk about actors escaping their teenage roles, writing across genres and different types of relationships, and various types of body horror.
Libby Cudmore is the author of Negative Girl (Datura 2024), The Big Rewind (William Morrow 2016), and the Wade & Jacks P.I. series in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Tough. Her short fiction has appeared in The Dark, Smokelong Quarterly, Monkeybicycle, Shotgun Honey, Stone’s Throw and HAD, as well as the anthologies Mixed Up, Welcome Home, Hanzai Japan, A Beast Without a Name and Lawyers, Guns & Money: Crime Fiction Inspired By the Music of Warren Zevon (co-edited with Art Taylor). She is the 2018 recipient of the Oregon Writer’s Colony prize, the 2023 Shamus award for best P.I short story, and the 2023 Black Orchid Novella award.
She is the current co-host of the OST Party and Misbehavin’ podcasts and the former co-host of The Shattered Shield podcast, and teaches short fiction through The Writer’s Circle.
Dark Waters vol. 1 & 2 are available to order! To get a copy, head over to our linktree
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
We're joined by Josh Mendoza to discuss switching between screenwriting and novels, $1,000 lego sets, and finding light in the darkness. We also get a sneak peak of his book Shadow of the Eternal Watcher, the fun parts of editing, and creepy Twilight Zone episodes.
Josh Mendoza is a screenwriter, director, producer and author. Mendoza is the founder of Strike the Sun Entertainment, and his movie work has been recognized by film festivals and competitions alike. Mendoza’s debut novel, Shadow of the Eternal Watcher, was released in January 2025. The novel is a noir detective mystery that spirals into a science fiction adventure. The novel has already received positive reviews from Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews. It was recently featured as one of the best upcoming sci-fi books for 2025 in New Scientist. Prior to his writing career, Mendoza received a BA in English and Creative Writing from Stanford University and an MFA in Film and Television Production from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. He was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona and lived for over 15 years in Los Angeles, California. He splits his time between the deserts of Arizona and the city of angels with his wife and two children.
Mendoza is currently developing multiple feature-length scripts and writing his next novel.
Dark Waters vol. 1 & 2 are available to order! To get a copy, head over to our linktree
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
Thomas Trang joins us to discuss nuances in villainous characters, balancing exposition in narration, and his book Dark Neon & Dirt. We also get a sneak peek of the book, talk second-person narrations, and the geopolitical considerations of Jafar.
Thomas Trang is a French/Vietnamese writer currently living in the UK after stints in Australia, New York, and Singapore. His stories have previously appeared in FutureQuake, Full House Literary and the Revolutions 2 anthology. He is currently working on a SF trilogy which mixes cyberpunk with the gritty realpolitik of The Wire and Cold War spy fiction. His novel, Dark Neon & Dirt, was released by Shotgun Honey in March 2025.
Dark Waters vol. 1 & 2 are available to order! To get a copy, head over to our linktree
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
The audio recording of our crowdcast for Dark Waters Vol. 2 - the podcast's second anthology of dark fiction.
Guest host Bobby Mathews comes on board to talk through the anthology, and we're treated to some guest readings by several of the anthology's authors.
We would also like to extend our congratulations to Jacqueline Freimor, whose story "Cruel to Be Kind" will appear in Best American Mystery & Suspense 2025, as well as DW authors Mary Thorson & Victor De Anda, whose pieces from other publications will also be included.
Dark Waters vol. 1 & 2 are available to order! To get a copy, head over to our linktree
Bobby Mathews is a novelist, short-story writer, and journalist who lives in Birmingham, Alabama.
He currently has two books under contract with independent publisher Shotgun Honey. Living the Gimmick, a crime novel set against the backdrop of 1980s professional wrestling, published in May 2022; Magic City Blues, a noir love story set in Birmingham, was released in 2023.
His collection Negative Tilt was released in 2024, with the title story having won a Derringer award in 2023.
Also featuring Mary Thorson, Victor De Anda, Joel Nedecky,Gabriela Stiteler, Stanton McCaffery, Jacqueline Freimor, and Dannye Chase.
Are you an author with a release you'd like to discuss on the show? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
The wonderful Wes Browne joins us to discuss finding new books in unexpected ways, the perfect Bouchercon experience, and his new book They All Fall the Same. We also get a sneak preview of the book, touch on finding the ideal segments for author readings, and how taste can be incredibly subjective.
Wes Browne lives within the Kentucky River Basin in Madison County, Kentucky. He has practiced law as a criminal defense attorney, prosecutor, and public defender in Appalachia for over 24 years. He also helps run his family's pizza shops. His novel They All Fall the Same was named one of 2025’s biggest mystery or thriller releases by Goodreads and one of 2025’s most anticipated books by Book Riot Read or Dead. His debut novel Hillbilly Hustle was named one of 17 recommended lockdown reads by Merriam-Webster in 2020.
Dark Waters vol. 1 & 2 are available to order! To get a copy, head over to our linktree
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
Noah Rymer joins us for a lively discussion of Catholic literature and morality, Flannery O'Connor fandom, and selecting the least-bad vices. We also get a sneak peak of denouement, now available from Anxiety Press.
Noah Rymer is a poet, editor, and prose writer who runs the literary outhouse Pere Ube as editor-in-chief, and whose debut novella denouement was released in March 2025 from Anxiety Press. He usually writes within the suburban gothic, and these dreadful narratives can be found within most magazines of ill-repute, such as APOCALYPSE CONFIDENTIAL, BRUISER, DO NOT SUBMIT!, and other similarly sordid sleaze-rags. You can often find him spiraling slowly into madness or chasing the specters of early modernity out of his closet.
Dark Waters vol. 1 & 2 are available to order! To get a copy, head over to our linktree
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
We're joined by the talented Nick Kolakowski to discuss his upcoming release Where the Bones Lie, stylistic choices for author readings, and dive into various rants including Chuck Palahniuk photographs, the 2008 writer's strike, and being shouted out of imposter syndrome. We also get a sneak peek at Where the Bones Lie, talk about the importance of having/building writing communities and dive into the "undermess."
Nick Kolakowski is the author of several horror and crime novels, including Absolute Unit (Crystal Lake Publishing) and Where the Bones Lie (Datura, coming out 3/25). His short stories and nonfiction essays have appeared in various anthologies and magazines, including House of Gamut, Mystery Magazine, Shotgun Honey, Rock & A Hard Place, and Best American Mystery & Suspense 2024. He lives and writes in NYC.
Dark Waters vol. 2 is now available to order! To get your copy, head over to our linktree
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
We're joined by the awesome Jaima Fixsen to talk about her new book The Specimen, steminist literature, and 19th century medical ethics. Also, how to balance the supernatural and the human in stories, Edinburgh history, and the Pythagoras math cult.
Jaima Fixsen is a USA Today and International best-selling author living and writing in Alberta, Canada. Her novel, The Girl In His Shadow (co-authored under the pen name Audrey Blake), was selected as Libby’s 2022 Big Library Read, and has been translated into six languages.
Jaima studied Occupational Therapy at the University of Alberta, and her experiences learning anatomy and dissecting cadavers began her fascination with the history of medical science, which often figures in her stories. Her debut crime novel, The Specimen, was released this year. Jaima still works in health care, supporting children with disabilities and their families. She loves history, snow, reading, snow, and spending as much time as possible in the Canadian Rockies.
Dark Waters vol. 2 is now available to order! To get your copy, head over to our linktree
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
We're joined again by the incredible Jordan Harper to discuss the US release of The Last King of California, writing the stories you want to write, and having an impromptu meeting of the S.A. Cosby fan club. We also get a sneak peek at The Last King of California, discuss publishing across different countries, and whether or not the UK has a valid excuse for not understanding the word "shotgun."
Jordan Harper is the Edgar-Award winning author of She Rides Shotgun, Everybody Knows, the short story collection Love and Other Wounds, and The Last King of California. Born and educated in Missouri, he now lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a writer and producer for television.
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
Host note: This episode was recorded prior to the publication of Vanity Fair's piece on Cormac McCarthy and Augusta Britt. The Dark Waters team does not condone the actions of McCarthy in regards to his relationship with Britt.
We're joined by the lovely Rob D. Smith to discuss his debut novel, numerous short stories, and French etymology in book titles. We also get a sneak peek of Good-Looking Ugly talk about editing for a press, the relevance/importance of humor in dark fiction, and how Rob became dubbed the "Funkle."
Rob D. Smith is a common man attempting to write uncommon fiction out of Louisville, KY. Currently an editor at Rock and a Hard Place Press, his work has appeared in Apex Magazine, Shotgun Honey, Pyre Magazine, Thriller Magazine, Tough, Thicker Than Blood, Vautrin, and several other crime, horror, and speculative magazines, anthologies, and online publications. Good-Looking Ugly is his debut crime novel. Find his work at https://robdsmith.carrd.co/.
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
Debut novelist Sean Jacques joins us to discuss his book Doe Run, reading lists for high schoolers in 2024, the importance of indie publishing venues, and glimpses into the minds of former theatre kids.
We also get a sneak peek of Doe Run, and touch on whether or not Into the Wild is tragic, turning diaries into movies, and the effects of children's dystopian stories on millenial minds.
Sean Jacques was born and raised in the Missouri Ozarks. Currently, he resides in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles with his wife, two daughters, and a bird dog named Rye. He is a literature teacher and author after previously working in the film industry as a screenwriter and script analyst. His short stories, plays, and poems can be found in several noir and grit-lit publications. Doe Run is his debut novel.
You can find him on his website, twitter, and instagram.
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
We're joined by attorney and author Russell W. Johnson to his Mountaineer Mystery series to discuss some of our favorite topics - dark fiction in dark times, dealing with rejection, and whether Jessica Lange was secretly the real killer all along.
We also get a sneak peek at the second book in the series, The Mountain Mystic, and discuss character morality, conspiracy theories, and Ron Earl Phillips covers.
Russell W. Johnson is an attorney who got so sick of billable hours he started writing crime fiction. His first story was published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and won the Edgar Awards’ Robert L. Fish prize in 2015. Since then, he’s had stories published in a number of outlets, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and won the West Virginia Writers’ Pearl S. Buck Award for Writing for Social Change. His Debut Novel, The Moonshine Messiah, won the West Virginia Writers’ First Place prize for Book Length Fiction.
Dark Waters is OPEN for submissions for our second anthology. Check out our website www.darkwaterspodcast.com, our Twitter, or our Instagram for more info.
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
We're joined by HWA NY chapter coordinator James Chambers and discuss his body of work, using horror as a way to process the world, and Lovecraftian writing in contemporary settings. We also get a sneak preview of his collection A Bright and Beautiful Eternal World and collectively wonder at how certain stories find their place in the children's section.
James Chambers is a Bram Stoker Award® and Scribe Award-winning author and a four-time Bram Stoker Award nominee. He is the author of the short story collections A Bright and Beautiful Eternal World, described as “stellar” by Publisher’s Weekly, On the Night Border and On the Hierophant Road, which received a starred review from Booklist, which called it “…satisfyingly unsettling”; the novella collection, The Engines of Sacrifice, and the novellas, The Devil in the Green, Kolchak and the Night Stalkers: The Faceless God, Three Chords of Chaos, and many others, as well as the original graphic novel, Kolchak the Night Stalker: The Forgotten Lore of Edgar Allan Poe. His short stories have appeared in anthologies and publications in multiple genres, including crime, fantasy, horror, pulp, science fiction, steampunk, and more. He edited the Bram Stoker Award-nominated anthologies, Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign and A New York State of Fright as well as Even in the Grave, an anthology of ghost stories. He has also written the comic books Leonard Nimoy's Primortals, "The Revenant" in Shadow House, and The Midnight Hour.
Dark Waters is OPEN for submissions for our second anthology. Check out our website www.darkwaterspodcast.com, our Twitter, or our Instagram for more info.
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
We're joined by the fantastic Jahmal Mayfield to discuss his incredible debut novel Smoke Kings, as well as the beauty of rom coms and Japanese philosophers.
We also get a sneak preview of Smoke Kings and discuss tunnel vision in looking at political/socio-economic issues, and having honest conversations through a fictional lens.
Jahmal Mayfield writes gritty crime novels that touch on large social issues. He was born in Virginia but currently resides in New Jersey. In addition to writing, he serves as the director of a nonprofit program that provides employment support to people with disabilities. Mayfield is a husband and father of two young adults who are both embarrassed by his frequent forays down the rabbit holes of YouTube to view old 90s hip hop videos. Smoke Kings was inspired by Kimberly Jones’ passionate viral video, “How can we win?”
Follow him on Twitter and pre-order the audiobook of Smoke Kings at Barnes & Noble.
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
Our audio recording of our crowdcast with editor Barbara Byer and writers from Motel: An Anthology, celebrating the it's release.
Featuring contributors:
and M.E. Proctor
Barbara Byar is a working-class American (CT and CA) writer living in Ireland for over 25 years. Her critically acclaimed collection of stories: Some Days Are Better Than Ours (Reflex Press) was short-listed for the Saboteur Awards. Her short fiction has been published and prize-listed widely. She was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Irish Short Story of the Year in 2023 and longlisted in 2021. A recipient of an Irish Arts Council Literature Bursary and an Agility Award, she is a Fiction Editor at Variant Literature and is currently writing a novel set in motels. Find her at her website, or on Twitter.
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
Our audio recording of our crowdcast with the crew from the fantastic mag Rock and a Hard Place celebrating the release of their anthology The One Percent: Tales of the Super Wealthy and Depraved
Featuring the editors:
and Rob D. Smith
And writers:
and C.W. Blackwell.
Want to submit your writing? Email darkwaterspodcast@gmail.com
Intro/Outro music: www.bensound.com
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed are the opinions of the participants and not of the organizations or institutions with which they are affiliated.
