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 an story that heads towarda 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. EnjoyThe Woodkin was published August 22nd by CamCat BooksOther books mentioned in this episode include:Dark Mountain (1992), by Richard LaymonOffseason (1980), by Jack KetchumMexican Gothic (2020), by Silvia Moreno-GarciaThe Hacienda (2022), by Isabel CañasI'm a Search and Rescue Officer for the US Forest Service, I Have Some Stories to TellCritStupid Podcast (Alex's D&D podcast)Support Talking Scared on PatreonCome talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show