Josh Reynolds is easily one the most entertaining fanfic writers working today and the following interview is just as much fun and as thrilling as one of his stories….

HEROES: Who Is Josh Reynolds?

Josh Reynolds: An enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a Doc Savage t-shirt and paint-stained Levi's. An ex-girlfriend once told me I was larger than life and twice as nasty. That sounds as good as anything else I could write. It'll probably wind up on my tombstone.

H: What’s Your Background?

JR: Terrifying. I come from a long proud line of warlocks, witch hunters, highwaymen, prostitutes, rumrunners, gangsters, mercenaries, Zulu warriors, Seminole guerrillas, Irish terrorists, and Scottish cattle rustlers. And one judge. But we don't talk about him much. My family reunions are like episodes of America's Most Wanted except without John Walsh or cash rewards.

H: Where do you live?

JR: South Carolina Low Country baby! More Baptists, Voodoo cults, moonshiners, and monsters per square mile than anywhere else in the country!

H: When did you start writing fan fiction?

JR: Right after high school I think...or maybe the middle of my freshman year of college.

H: How did you get involved with fan fiction?

JR: Well, to be honest, completely by chance. I was bored and sick and plundering around on the computer when I somehow wound up on the now sadly defunct Cosmic Powers Unlimited website and caught myself reading the fiction posted there. To this day, I believe that stuff was some of the best fanfic I have ever read. Pretty much all of it was either Silver Surfer or Quasar related, but damn could those boys and girls write! I ended up becoming addicted to this sprawling epic storyline called the Twilight War Saga by a cat named Warren Entros. Basically, it pitted Thanos against EVERYBODY. Then it spiraled off into Foundations Forged Before Nightfall and ended in War Waged At the Stroke of Midnight. This storyline made me want to write so bad I could taste it. So I did. The result was the strangely popular Infinity Conquest and it's sequels now up at AV2K. But before that, they were up at Cosmic Powers Unlimited, which I thought was just the coolest thing. And people sent me letters! I got fan mail! That's why I stuck with it I think. For the first time, people actually liked the stuff I was putting on paper.

H: Tell us about War Of The Kingdoms. How did that amazing project come together?

JR: Basically, if I remember correctly, Nate Charles talked to Tug Baker about forming a DC Horror-based site and wanted Tug to come up with something for the continuity capper. Tug and I tossed around a few ideas at work one day and he talked me into helping him write the monster. Granted I didn't need a lot of convincing, but it's nice to be asked. From there, Nate had a few major plot points he wanted us to cover-Batman needed to be prominent, the JLA needed to disband and dark magic needed to inundate the DC Universe. After that it was pretty easy. It was one of those stories that just seemed to flow out of our heads and onto the paper. And, best of all, it had all the classic elements of a DC crossover...betrayal, tragedy, an impossible fight against all odds with an omnipotent demi-god. Damn that was fun! Me and Tug need to write another one of those..

H: What are your influences?

JR: Too many to list really in regards to writing. Manly Wade Wellman would be number one. Joe Lansdale a close second with Alan Moore and Robert E. Howard tied for third. All writers who, for me, epitomize the central principal of writing...tell a damn good story first, worry about mechanics second.

H: What other writing projects of yours should we check out?

JR: Hmmm. I think everyone who'll read this interview is pretty familiar with my fanfic efforts, so I'd say the few short stories I have floating around the Internet. Mostly at Pulp & Dagger webzine (www.pulpanddagger.com for those of you who are interested...), but a few are up at HORRORFIND.com and Nightscapes. Oh, and I'd be obliged to anyone who picked up copies of Cyber-Pulp Publishing's forthcoming anthologies because I have a few stories loose among their ranks as well. Other than that, the stuff I did for the Frontier Anthologies is all I can think of really.

H: Hobbies? Other interests?

JR: Well...writing for one. I also read way too much for my own good. Watching badly dubbed Mexican horror films. Eating babies. Killing drifters for their pocket change. Teaching pre-schoolers to curse.

H: When did you start writing?

JR: The day I learned to hold a pencil straight. I was always shooting off little one, two page drabbles of ideas I'd had, usually during church or class. Around about high school is when it got serious though...and I think that's more due to my creative writing teacher than any spark of inspiration. She was this young goddess who always wore black, had skin the color of butterscotch and hair so brown it was black. Eyes like little puddles of amber. Tall, slender and stylish. Probably the only reason I started to try my hand at any sort of writing was because I was trying to impress her. Thank you Miss Cooper, wherever you are. And if you're still single, give me a call...

H: What attracted you to fan fiction?

JR: Honestly, the same reason that probably draws a lot of folks...I thought I could do it better than the professionals. Granted, this was before Bendis, Ellis and the rest of those big shots suddenly took over every damn book on the market, otherwise I would never have room really for complaint. But I honestly thought I could do a better story than what was out there, and I set out to try. Not too egotistical hunh?

H: What’s a typical Day In The Life Of Josh Reynolds like?

JR: Not as interesting as some would think. I get up, write a bit, go to work until midnight, come home, write a bit, fall asleep and start it all over again the next day. If I'm lucky, I get a full day off and get to go do some research for a short story or crank out one of those fanfic books I'm late on. If I've got all that done, or just decide to ignore, I either call up one of the many strange young women I somehow am lucky enough to know and go out, or fall asleep watching Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension for the thirtieth time.

H: What do you consider to be your best work to date?

JR: Oooh. That's a tough one. As far as fanfic, probably Werewolf By Night over at the sadly defunct Marvel Darklore. First 'real' fanfic series I did, and the one I've felt the most satisfaction with when I go back and read what I wrote. Maybe Suicide Squad over DCDS, just for sheer brutality content. On the non-fanfic front, I've gotta say The Lucifer Mask, the single longest original short story I've ever written (16,000 words. Practically a novella!), which I am currently trying to find somewhere to place. Hint hint. Anybody? It's got Arabic demons, Egyptian ghost jackals, Hungarian cowboy sorcerers and stuff in it!

H: What excites you the most about writing?

JR: The story-telling aspect I think. I like causing chills to run up people's spines or make them bust out laughing or any reaction really. I like to entertain and writing is the best way for me to do that. That and the sense of accomplishment when I get done with a big project. I have so many ideas I have to get them all on paper before they dissolve into a chaotic morass in my brain and when one of them successfully makes that transition intact, I feel like jumping for joy. Usually I just get a beer instead, but you get my meaning.

H: What do you like to read?

JR: Anything really. I have phases I'll go through...nothing but sci-fi one month, horror the next, mystery the next, then westerns, then anthropological treatises. It's really just a question of what catches my eye. Right now I'm on an occult detective kick so I'm reading the Jules Le Grandin stories of Seabury Quinn, the Anton Zarnak stories of Lin Carter (and others), Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series and all of CJ Henderson's stuff and William Hope Hodgson. Plus a little bit of Hellboy thrown in for color. I think I'm gonna try tangling with Conan next since some company or other is re-releasing all of Howard's original stuff...

H: What’s your opinion of the current state of fan fiction?

JR: Mixed. One the one hand, it seems like all the old guard are kinda withdrawing, dropping titles and moving on to other things which is sad in a way cause hey, no more fanfic from them, but exciting in another way because hey! We'll see a book real soon with their name on it! On the other hand, we've got a lot of new writers coming in most of them good, some rough around the edges who will take up the slack. I'll miss reading the previous 'generation' of authors, but I'm also looking forward to seeing what the new faces come up with. Like I said mixed. But on the whole, a positive mixed. Things change. Sometimes not for the better, but that's life.

H:What 5 fan fic or original series should everybody be reading?

JR: Just five? Geez...make it hard on a guy hunh? Okay, in no particular order: Pendragons by Barry Reese, Deadpool by Mike Rasbury, Dillon and the Legend of the Golden Bell by Derrick Ferguson, Luna Court by Mike McGee and...and...aargh there's too many! Probably Exiles of the Dire Planet by Joel Jenkins. Defenders by Munn and McGee at Strange Tales. I know that's six! I can put six if I want, it's my interview!