Friday, June 24, 2016

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Co-writers Jack Keely and Briar Lee Mitchell


Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome co-writers Jack Keely and Briar Lee Mitchell.

Jack Keely
Jack Keely

Some claim that Jack Keely is the son of a celebrated spiritualist. Others insist that he grew up in the wagons of a traveling carnival. In any case, he has always been an aficionado of the arcane, the peculiar, and the eccentric. He spent four years exploring the haunts of H.P. Lovecraft in the historic city of Providence while obtaining his degree in illustration from Rhode Island School of Dsign. After an additional two years of study at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Keely began a long and checkered career illustrating dozens of books, including the best-selling "Grossology" series by Sylvia Branzei. He recently completed the cover art and interior illustrations for The Whistlebrass Horror, a tale he co-authored with Briar Lee Mitchell. The duo is currently at work on a sequel, The Whistlebrass Stormwatcher. Jack Keely is said to spend most of his time behind the chained gates of the Keely family manse. Although the moldering old house appears to be abandoned, a light can often be seen at night in the library windows. On such evenings, if their hearing is supernaturally acute, passersby are likely to hear the rhythmic thwack of a typewriter or the scratch of a pen across a sheet of drawing paper.


Briar Lee Mitchell
Briar Lee Mitchell

“Write what you know” is the classic advice given to authors. Briar Lee Mitchell definitely seems to adhere to that maxim. The polar setting for Briar’s "Walking on Mars" serial echoes her experiences in the world’s coldest climate as a guest at McMurdo Base in Antarctica. Warming up on Andros Island in the Bahamas helped her set the scene for Dark Lights. She and her dive partners were offered $100 rewards from the Navy base there should any of them find a live torpedo out on the reefs. The Big Ass Shark author recently donned a wet suit to climb into a shark cage in the northern Pacific. Then Briar and her stalwart search and rescue dog, Thor, patrolled the Georgia woods and succeeded in helping the police locate and recover a missing person. The experience will no doubt fuel her future fiction. When not engaging in her edgier pastimes, Briar creates digital paintings for a diverse list of clients ranging from Warner Bros. to the U.S. Air Force. Her work has been featured in films, video games, and exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. She also spends a lot of time floating in her Florida pool watching clouds drift by and imagining mayhem.

Their Books:

Whistlebrass Horror

Apparitions

Whistlebrass Storm Watcher (coming October)

Their Links:

Jack's Website
Briar's Website
Briar's Facebook

From Today's Show: Europa May Have Enough Energy to Support Life.





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