Hell’s Kitties and Other Beastly Beasts has been released!

And all of the authors are blog hopping.

Welcome to Amy Grech, who contributed the story 

Bruised and Battered Nevermore

What was your inspiration for your story in Hell’s Kitties?

The atmospheric writing of Edgar Allan Poe, especially his narrative poem “The Raven” inspired my tale, “Bruised and Battered Nevermore”. They both feature ravens, albeit my story takes place in modern day New York City…

What projects are you currently working on?

Right now, I’m writing a crime story based on actual events that took place in my neighborhood of Park Slope. A couple of years ago, young women walking home at night during the wee hours of the night were being robbed by young Hispanic man brandishing a pistol. The Police eventually apprehended the treacherous thug. he young woman in my story has a gun permit and she’s packing heat, a hot pink, leopard print Conceal and Carry Glock she uses to one-up her attacker.

What is the scariest or funniest thing that has ever happened to you?

When I was a little girl growing up on Long Island, I was enjoying summertime with my friends on a real scorcher of a day, so we were sucking on ice cubes while running around. I choked on mine and blacked out. My friend’s mother had to perform the Heimlich maneuver. To this day, I have an aversion to ice cubes.

Why did you become a writer?

I grew up reading Stephen King’s novels—I got hooked at the age of 13—and started writing seriously in high school. I studied English/Creative Writing at Ithaca College in Update New York. I started selling my stories to small press magazines while I was still in school—14850 Magazine was my first.

When I first started writing, rejections didn’t discourage me, especially since I started getting personal responses from Editors early on; their encouragement motivated me find my unique voice and hone my craft, creating complex characters capable of anything.

Amy Grech has sold over 100 stories to various anthologies and magazines including: Apex Magazine, Beat to a Pulp: Hardboiled, Dead Harvest, Detectives of the Fantastic, Volume II, Expiration Date, Fear on Demand, Fright Mare, Funeral Party 2, Inhuman Magazine, Needle Magazine, Reel Dark, Shrieks and Shivers from the Horror Zine, Space & Time, Tales from The Lake Vol. 3, The Horror Within, Under the Bed, and many others. New Pulp Press recently published her book of noir stories, Rage and Redemption in Alphabet City.

She has a story forthcoming in Creepy Campfire Quarterly. Amy is an Active Member of the Horror Writers Association who lives in Brooklyn. Visit her website: http://www.crimsonscreams.com. Follow Amy on Twitter: http://twitter.com/amy_grech.