Some Thoughts with ... Adrian M. Gibson (A Murder Most Fungal)

1.- Welcome back to Jamreads; if you don’t mind, could you introduce yourself for new readers?
Hello, everyone! My name is Adrian M. Gibson, and I’m an SFF author, designer, illustrator, co-host of the SFF Addicts podcast, and stay-at-home father. My debut novel was Mushroom Blues, which is the first book in The Hofmann Report series, a murder mystery set in a city of fungal people, and now I’m set to release my second book, A Murder Most Fungal, very soon!

2.- Your debut, Mushroom Blues, had quite a good reception. How did you feel about it?
I feel incredibly fortunate for a) how positively Mushroom Blues has been received by readers, and b) how well the book has performed and sold. I went down the publishing path with tempered expectations, because I didn’t know how it would pan out. (This was an experiment for me, after all!) But then the book was released, and I marketed the hell out of it for a long time, hoping my efforts would make a dent. The result? They very much made a dent—it kept selling and selling and selling, and readers, bloggers and content creators kept spreading the word about it.
So, here I am, two years later, with an incredible foundation for my writing career, built upon the success of Mushroom Blues. But it didn’t come without sacrifices. I put a lot into that book’s post-launch to get it into readers hands, maintain visibility and market in unique ways across various platforms. The sacrifice came with my creativity, which took a nosedive for the rest of 2024 and a good portion of 2025. It involved a lot of willpower to switch my brain off of “marketing mode” and back to “creative mode,” or least finding a healthier balance between the two.
Regardless, I’m grateful for what I experienced, cause I learned a lot right off the bat, and it was a trial by fire. Going forward, I can lean into a greater focus on the actual act of writing, because Mushroom Blues is now its own “snowball effect” kind of marketing machine.

3.- Mushroom Blues also placed as SPFBOX finalist, getting the same score as the winner. How would you describe your experience with SPFBO and would you recommend it to indie authors?
SPFBO was an incredible experience, but it also came with its own challenges. I can equate a good deal of Mushroom Blues’ success to tying for first in the competition (ultimately taking 2nd place in a tie breaker), but it was a long, anxiety-inducing ride. From start to finish, SPFBO was in my life for nearly a year, from May 2024 until the end of April 2025. That’s a lengthy time for a competition to exist in your mind, and every book that was cut or review that was posted would trigger a little death knell in the back of my head.
All that to say, I couldn’t be happier with the result, and I’m thankful to Mark Lawrence for running the competition, as well as all of the judges who put in a ton of time and effort, but I personally won’t ever do it again. 
That doesn’t mean I don’t recommend it to indie fantasy authors, though. As far as self-publishing competitions go, nothing will boost your book more than SPFBO, and if you go into it prepared for the anxiety and the endurance, or the absolute devastation you might feel when your book is cut, then do it. It’s 100% FREE to submit your book, so it’s a no-brainer in that sense. But if you’re also mentally and psychologically prepared beforehand, you’ll be much better off.

4.- You’re also part of the SFF Addicts podcast. Could you introduce it to the readers?
Sure! SFF Addicts is the podcast that I co-host along fellow authors M.J. Kuhn and Greta Kelly. The three of us interview a variety of sci-fi, fantasy and horror authors in a two-part format: part one is a chat with the author about their latest book, their career trajectory, approaches to writing craft, publishing, marketing and things like that, whereas part two is a chance for the author to delve into a topic they’re really nerdy about in the form of a writing masterclass. 
Those masterclasses can take the form of craft stuff like writing in X genre, how to outline, approaches for editing, writing endings, characterization, worldbuilding or dialogue, but then it can also be career topics (publishing in different genres, marketing 101, crowdfunding) or more thematic things (the role of technology in SFF, global history, memory and time, heroism and villainy). We like to think about it as one episode for the author to promote their stuff and connect with readers, and a second episode for them to give back to the writing community. 
New episodes are released every Tuesday on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts or wherever else you like to listen to podcasts. 

5.- What was the idea for this return to the Fungalverse with A Murder Most Fungal?
After the burnout I experienced with Mushroom Blues, I honestly wanted something a little different, without the expectations of being a direct sequel, or writing about the same characters. It was kind of like a respite, but in the form of a crime thriller about a fungal chef ha ha.

6.- How would you pitch this novel?
The story is set a few months after Mushroom Blues (but you can read it entirely on its own without having that book spoiled for you), and takes place in the city of Neo Kinoko, the capital of Hōppon. The fungal nation is reeling in the aftermath of a war and a subsequent occupation by human colonizers, with the main character, Pocho Jiro, running the kitchen for the leader of this occupation, Duncan MacArthur..
Once the most renowned chef in all of Neo Kinoko, Pocho was destitute during wartime, and took the chance to reclaim the successes of his past by cooking for the enemy. The trouble comes when Pocho is blackmailed by fungal gangsters into gathering confidential information for them, but it worsens when they deliver a new, more dire demand: to kill Duncan MacArthur and his military top brass or the gangsters will kill Pocho’s sister.
Now, Pocho must take up his knife and do something he never could have imagined in his worst nightmares, to commit murder with his food.

7.- Apart from writing and podcasting, you also offer services for interior formatting. Could you tell us more about it?
Yes, so on top of writing and podcasting, I’m an illustrator and book designer, doing cover design and interior formatting. This is something I tried out for the first time with Mushroom Blues, and I fell in love with the process of “beautifying” books. I don’t like the adage that “people don’t judge books by their covers,” because they absolutely do! So, in August 2025, I launched a freelance book design business, and have found a lot of success doing that for covers, interiors, special editions and crowdfunding campaigns (including my own campaign with a group of friends for The Book of Spores fungal SFF anthology).
But on top of the freelance stuff, I recently started a job at Grimdark Magazine, where I am heading up their line of novellas as a project manager. Essentially, taking the novellas from start to finish, from receiving manuscripts from authors, going through the editorial process, working with artists and designers on the books, then carrying them through to promotion, publication and beyond. It’s a very exciting opportunity, as I get to apply skills I’ve acquired from my own writing, design and self-publishing, as well as community-building and networking through SFF Addicts and editorial lessons from The Book of Spores.
At the end of the day, my goal is for every book I work on to be as incredible a product as I can possibly make it, such that the lines between a traditionally published book and a self-published book are blurred more and more. Even beyond that, self-published books can do things no publishing house would allow, so we have a huge advantage to give readers so much more than just a story.

8.- What can we expect from Adrian M. Gibson in the future?
There’s a lot that I’m working on that I know people are going to be excited about, including projects in mediums beyond just books, as well as anthologies. But that’s all hush-hush for the time being. At the very least, you’ll hear more from me soon, and know the second book in The Hofmann Report series is in the works, so readers can look forward to that in 2027!

You can already pre-order A Murder Most Fungal! Check the following links:

-Amazon eBook preorder: https://a.co/d/07WM0Crf

-Signed hardcovers preorder via The Broken Binding:

Numbered only: https://www.thebrokenbinding.co.uk/product-page/a-murder-most-fungal-numbered-adrian-m-gibson

Singed only: https://www.thebrokenbinding.co.uk/product-page/a-murder-most-fungal-adrian-m-gibson

The Hofmann Report 2-book bundle: https://www.thebrokenbinding.co.uk/product-page/the-hofmann-report-2-pack-adrian-m-gibson