The Big Machine Eats: Stories by Beau Johnson

Life has never been easy. Life has never been kind. It is always hungry. It is never full. Enter the struggles within the pages of THE BIG MACHINE EATS. Where fathers clash with sons, cannibals turn on cannibals, and sometimes sandwich meat is far from the worst choice a person can make.

These stories, along with the continuing adventures of Bishop Rider, make up the bulk of this collection. They are not for the faint of heart. They are not for those who fail to believe one should get what one deserves. We must help ourselves. We must help those who find themselves unable. If not, it’s as the sign says: The Big Machine Will Eat.

The Big Thrill caught up to author Beau Johnson to discuss his latest book, THE BIG MACHINE EATS:

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

That you can’t get away with what you want. That you will be found out and dealt with. Sometimes with a hammer. More times with a belt. Either, The Big Machine will Eat.

How does this book make a contribution to the genre?

Ah, my stuff is just popcorn in the big bag of stories. Little fun times to pass the day away. If anything, my goal has just been to have fun.

Was there anything new you discovered, or that surprised you, as you wrote this book?

A few things, yup. One, a main protagonist I thought I was done with reared his grizzled head: i.e., it seems he was not yet done with me. Two, I can write stories one handed!*

*most of this book was written in a La-Z-Boy, the author down one collarbone and writing as he healed.

No spoilers, but what can you tell us about your book that we won’t find in the jacket copy or the PR material?

You will believe body parts can fly.

What authors or books have influenced your career as a writer, and why?

King. Always King. As for why? Fate, I believe. That my brother was more into his guitar than reading and failed to open Misery, the book I had bought him for his thirteenth birthday. Undaunted, I picked it up and long story short, I haven’t looked back since.

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Beau Johnson lives in Canada with his wife and three boys. He has been published before, usually on the darker side of town. Such fine establishments might include Out of the Gutter Online, Spelk Fiction, Shotgun Honey and the Molotov Cocktail. Besides writing, Beau enjoys golfing, pushing off boats and certain Giant Tigers.