Nameless Digest: Author Spotlight: Ray Garton

Next up in our Author Spotlight series (this month we are featuring contributors to Cycatrix Press’s upcoming anthology, A Darke Phantastique) is Ray Garton.

Garton’s “Lizard Man Dispatches” combines a giant talking iguana with the ability to predict the future and a few of your favorite conspiracy theories:

“Lizard Man had been pretty weird lately, but now he was talking suicide, and we couldn’t let that happen.
He wasn’t actually talking about it, of course, he was writing about it on his blog, Lizard Man Dispatches. It had become wildly popular in a short period of time, popular enough to get a prominent mention at The Huffington Post and a joke from Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show. The Lizard Man, whose real name was Richard Gedrick, had not expected his new-found fame and didn’t seem to be handling it well. We were concerned…”

He admits in his story notes:

“I am fascinated by crazy conspiracy theories. I grew up believing some of them because they were actually taught in the private school I attended. I grew up believing in the Illuminati, for example. These weird conspiracy theories have bled into mainstream culture and are now oozing out of the woodwork. I wanted to incorporate some of them into a story and carry them to their inevitable conclusion. The result was ‘The Lizard Man Dispatches.’”

Ray Garton has been writing novels, novellas, and short stories for thirty years. His work spans the genres of horror, crime, and suspense. His latest thriller, Frankenstorm, is available now from Pinnacle Books. His short fiction has recently appeared in such anthologies as Nightscapes, Volume 1, Dark Visions: A Collection of Modern Horror, Volume 1, and Horror Library 5. You can see his bibliography and keep up with new releases at his website, www.RayGartonOnline.com. He lives in Northern California with his wife, Dawn, and is currently at work on his next novel.