Antoine Dode, interviewed by me at Ravenous Monster

 

This one is pretty cool in my mind, as I have been a huge Crow fan since my Dad told me I couldn't see the movie. (In his defense I was in 5th grade)  Click either image to read the full interview.

Were you a fan of The Crow franchise before your work on The Crow Curare?  If so which incarnation or elements struck you the most?

I think I was 16 when I saw The Crow. I loved the Alex Proyas movie with Brandon Lee straight away. I went to see it twice at the theatre. The comic was released in France after the huge success of the film.

Working as an artist on a Crow story written by James O’Barr is a dream come true. Actually, the first comic I did, Armelle et l'Oiseau (Armelle and the Bird), which was inspired a lot by The Crow. That’s not the same kind of story. It’s more like a kind of fairytale; it’s about a little girl who loses her mom, and ends up befriending a strange bird.

How did you come to work on The Crow Curare?

What happened is I met the artist Miran Kim in Anougleme a few years ago (during the biggest comic convention in France). She used to do some Crow covers in the late 90s (she also painted that amazing variant cover for the first issue of Curare). I told her I was planning to do some Crow fan art, and she suggested that I send some to James O'Barr. I was crazy lucky because...

M.R. Gott's Interview series...Jonathan Janz

Please Welcome Jonathan Janz to Cutis Anserina...

What reader’s do you think House of Skin will most appeal to?

Though I think horror lovers and fans of ghost stories will enjoy the book a great deal, I think the themes of this story are universal enough to resonate with non-horror fans, too. Paul Carver and Sam Barlow (two of the three co-protagonists) desperately want redemption. Paul has allowed alcohol and poisonous relationships to stain his existence; Sheriff Sam Barlow was unable to prevent a tragedy (a series of tragedies, actually) from occurring. The idea of these men wanting to redeem themselves is something just about everyone can relate to. Add to these characters the relationships in the story—particularly the one between Paul and Julia (the third co-protagonist), and I think there’s something to appeal to just about any reader.   

In House of Skin Myles Carver’s life provides the backstory for the Watermere estate.  How important do you think a backstory is for a haunted house?

I think backstory is absolutely crucial in this type of tale. The Gothic construct places as much emphasis on the history that brought a place or the characters to a given point as it does on the contemporary storyline. Richard Matheson’s Hell House wouldn’t be as powerful without the past story of Emeric Belasco. The events from the Chowder Society’s past are what endow Peter Straub’s Ghost Story with such a powerful terror. Similarly, the backstory of how Watermere became haunted, in my opinion, is what makes the book resonate. 

Do you think of House of Skin as more of Julia Merrow or Paul Carver’s story primarily?  Why?

Great question(Why Thank You)—you’re the first one to ask me that, actually. Though Paul seems to be positioned as the titular protagonist (and obviously he’s a main character), I see House of Skin more as Julia’s story. She’s the one with the history with the house. She’s the one who knows Annabel and what Annabel did. She’s the one who has sort of kept watch over Watermere all these years, wondering about Annabel and awaiting her return. And even if Julia isn’t aware she’s waiting, I think the fact that she never moves away speaks volumes about her desires, even if she’d not own up to them were they stated aloud.

How did the character of Annabel, Myles Carver’s wife develop?

There’s power in femininity. There’s a raw species of energy that is totally unique to the female gender. That power and energy can be a beautiful thing, or it can be a horrible thing. Most men have had women in their lives that they sort of felt worshipful about; most men, whether they’d admit it or not, have met women who were downright scary. Annabel is an ethereal looking creature, but she’s also an embodiment of evil, of selfish desires, and of the dark side of sensuality. She’s rage incarnate, and I suspect she’s an amalgamation of all the women I’ve met who’ve either beguiled me or frightened me. Oh, and she was also inspired by the Romantic poets (Shelley, Keats, and Byron, especially).  

How is House of Skin different from your debut novel, The Sorrows?

The Sorrows is like an indoor roller coaster with multiple twists and turns. The kind that whips you around when you least expect it and scares you with its sheer audacity and surprise. House of Skin is a roller coaster, too, but it’s more like the old-fashioned, wooden, outdoor roller coasters that feature a long, slow climb that takes the rider higher, higher, higher, the chain beneath him going chik-chik-chik-chik…until the breathtaking descent that sucks the rider’s heart up into his throat and makes his stomach queasy. Both novels are fun rides, but House of Skin is more of the gradually unfolding kind.

Who are some current genre authors you are following?

Stephen King will always be my favorite. I love Jack Ketchum and Joe R. Lansdale. Others I’ve gotten turned onto in the past five years or so are Brian Keene, Tim Lebbon, and several of my fellow Samhain authors.

There is a great deal of emphasis placed on horror villains and antagonists, but what is one of the best conceived protagonists in a horror tale to you?

Hmmm…I think the ones we love the most are the ones we either relate to directly or the kind we simply admire. A few I really love and relate to are Hap Collins in Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard books, Abner Marsh from George R.R. Martin’s Fevre Dream, and Avery Ludlow in Jack Ketchum’s Red.(Great Answer, huge fan of the book and movie) Protagonists I really admire would be Special Agent Pendergast (Preston and Child), Levi Stoltzfus (Brian Keene), and any number of Elmore Leonard’s cool-as-ice protagonists (like Stick or Valdez or Mr. Majestyk). And then there’s the combination of the two kinds, where you relate to the character and you want to be more like the character. For this combination, I’d say Stephen King’s Roland Deschain (from The Dark Tower series) takes the prize for me.

What was the first truly frightening novel you remember reading?  Was your reaction to bury it in the closet, or run out and find other stories like it?

The first novel that really scared me—I mean, really kept me up at night—was probably ‘Salem’s Lot, which I read back in high school. By the time I read that one, I was already a total Stephen King fanatic, so it won’t be surprising to know that I continued to devour King’s books with, if possible, an even greater fervor and voraciousness.

Your work Savage Species is going to be released this summer in serialized form.  How did this project come together?

Ah, this is one I’m incredibly excited about. I had written about, oh, sixty percent of the book when my agent Louise Fury told me that she’d had a conversation over dinner with Don D’Auria (my amazing editor at Samhain), and two other people at or near the top of the Samhain Publishing company hierarchy. At that dinner the idea of a serialized horror novel materialized (uttered first, I think, by Louise, but then adopted with enthusiasm by the other three present), and soon after that I received a call from Louise wanting to discuss “something.” If I remember correctly, she told me about the idea and asked if I had anything that might work with the serial format. It just so happened that I’d been working on Savage Species (then called Native) and felt the novel was really taking shape nicely. We went back to Don, who thought the book idea was perfect for the format (Louise and I obviously felt that way too), so I proceeded to write the rest of the novel with the serial format in mind. Strangely enough, only a few things were changed because of the format. Breaking places between installments did shift somewhat (to maximize the “cliffhanger” aspect of the book), and I eventually added a prologue to ensure the piece a “grabbing” opener. But it was really a story that was perfectly suited to the serialized format, so I’m beyond pleased that it worked out so well. I’m also glad that Don D’Auria liked the title Savage Species more than the other titles I was considering, because I really think it’s a perfect title for the story.

Thanks so much for having me as a guest, M.R.! I’m excited to check out some of your fiction too!

Jonathan Janz

M.R. Gott interviews...Werner A Lind

Please Welcome Novelist Werner A. Lind to Cutis Anserina...

Your novel Lifeblood is a century-spanning vampiric romance; what were the challenges in creating the various time periods?

Yes, Lifeblood begins in 17^th-century England, but shifts quickly to modern-day Iowa, where my vampire heroine is re-animated.  Then there are a couple of flashbacks, interspersed with the modern-day plot, that show some key events in 17^th-century Transylvania, where she originated.  Of course, creating the modern setting in Iowa wasn’t too hard; I was raised there.  But the 17^th-century settings required more research, especially the Transylvanian ones, although of course I already had some general knowledge.  (Luckily, I’m a history major.)  Much of what I found on Romanian life and culture (Transylvania is part of modern Romania) was from a later time, but a lot of the details would have been the same in the 1600s, too –the features of the traditional culture don’t change much over time.  The juxtaposition of time periods created opportunities as well as challenge; I had fun in some places with Ana’s total ignorance of modern culture and technology.  (It was a bit of a time travel story, too, in that respect.)

How did the character of Ana Vasilifata emerge?

Well, I knew at the outset that I wanted my vampire character to be female (that fit into the symbolism of the tale).  I also wanted her to come from peasant stock, to be a more normal person, as it were, than the typical aristocratic vampires of literature, who grew up with a silver spoon in their mouths and maybe don’t relate very well to ordinary people as equals.  And because of the type of plot I created, I wanted her to be the kind of person who could both feel love for, and attract the love of, a worthy guy; that shaped some of the kinds of personal qualities she has.  I’m attracted to strong heroines who can fight if they have to, so portraying her that way came naturally (and fits in with her physical vampire strength).  And her Transylvanian roots were something I wanted, both as a nod to Balkan vampire folklore and literary tradition and to give her a touch of the exotic.  From there, it was a matter of honing the character over the 20 years or so that it took me to write the book.

What sets your novel apart from the plethora of vampire centered romance novels in the market today?

Good question, M. R.!  The basic idea of the novel was born in my mind back in the mid-70s, well before the current explosion of vampire-themed romance novels, and for me the romantic aspect was never an end in itself.  It was something I wanted for its inherent power as a literary symbol or metaphor for the Christian gospel, the idea of salvation through the blood of Christ from the sin that corrupts our nature.  Being a Christian, that’s a message that’s important to me to present in my work, whenever it can fit naturally into the story, without being forced in.  (And here, of course, the fit is natural, because the whole concept of the premise and plot is built on it.)  So if it’s a “romance” novel (and I suppose it is!) it’s one that wasn’t self-consciously written to romance genre expectations.  (So, don’t expect sex and “Her bones melted at his touch!” prose!).  It’s also, for want of a better term, “wholesome;” I’ve found, interestingly, that it appeals to quite a few readers who say they usually don’t like vampire books.

What vampire work was the most influential to you as an author?

Actually, before I started writing Lifeblood, I’d only read two vampire works: a dumbed-down kid’s version of Dracula (which even in that form made a real impression on me!) and Les Whitten’s Progeny of the Adder.  (During the 90s, when I was writing the book, I read the original Dracula, and I’d read some of Stoker’s The Lady of the Shroud earlier, as a kid –the title character there isn’t really a vampire, but some details of Balkan culture from that novel found their way into mine.)  I was really mainly influenced by the TV series Dark Shadows, where Barnabas and the other vampires are people with moral sensibilities and free will, not automatons of bloodthirsty evil; the former model is the one I gravitated to.  So my conception of the vampire, in my work, is a combination of Stoker’s and that of Dark Shadows –pretty traditional, in terms of Undead physical characteristics and powers/weaknesses. Once I started the writing process, I deliberately didn’t read any vampire fiction by other modern authors, because I didn’t want to be influenced; I wanted to write the novel with my OWN voice.  (I’ve read and enjoyed quite a few modern vampire works since finishing the book!)

Are there any other classic horror creatures you would like to play around with?  If so, which ones?

My short story “Wolf Hunt” (which is available on Smashwords for 99 cents) deals with the werewolf mythos.  Someday I want to tell that story from the werewolf’s point of view, which will require expanding it into a novel; but that’s a project for a later time! 

Who is your favorite fictional character?  How has this character impacted you over the years?

It would be really hard for me to pick one single favorite fictional character; there are so many that I like!  As a kid, I liked the Hardy Boys, Tarzan, and Sherlock Holmes; as an adult, I discovered Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John, and some of Robert E. Howard’s marvelous creations; in recent years, I’ve come to really admire Harry Potter and his friends, Bella and the Cullens from the Twilight Saga, and Sarah Tolerance, the sword-wielding “agent of inquiry” in Madeleine Robins’ alternate Regency London.  And there are many others, too numerous to mention!  A common thread that tends to bind all of them together, though, is that they’re brave and capable, and that they use their courage and ability to set right what’s wrong and stand up for those who need a defender.  I think they’re pretty good role models on that account; I don’t know how much they’ve impacted who I actually am, but they’ve shaped the way that I’d like to be.

What was the first truly frightening novel you remember reading?  Was your reaction to bury in the closet, or to run out and find other stories like it?

For me, the first novel I found truly frightening was the Hardy Boys book, The Flickering Torch Mystery.  Obviously, now I’d find it pretty tame!  But for my nine-year-old self, the silent, sinister hooded and black-shrouded figures, moving through the pitch-dark tunnels and recesses of a menacing cavern, and signaling who knows what with torches against the night sky, scared the bejabbers out of me and haunted my childhood dreams.  My reaction was to bury myself under the bedclothes at night –AND to keep reading every Hardy Boys mystery I could.  That’s the same reaction I had to the episodes of Boris Karloff’s old TV show Thriller, at that age and younger; I’d pull the covers over my head at night in the hope that if I couldn't see the ghoulies, they couldn't see me –but I’d be glued to the screen the next time it came back on!

What current genre authors are you following?

I’m following all the books of Krisi Keley’s On the Soul series as they come out, and finding them VERY rewarding.  The series opener is On the Soul of a Vampire; the prequel is Pro Luce Habere, which was originally published in two volumes because of its length, and the conclusion to the trilogy will be Genesis.  Hers is, IMO, the best Christian treatment of the vampire mythos I’ve ever read (and I include my own in that comparison!).

What current trends are you finding in the horror field?  Do you find them positive or negative? Why?

Truth to tell, I don’t see myself as a “horror” reader, or writer.  I’m fascinated by the fiction of the supernatural, and all the range of literary possibilities it opens up.  But not all of those are horrific; and while they certainly can be, and I like that approach if it’s well done, it’s not the be-all-and-end-all of my interest.  Horror for its own sake doesn’t interest me that much, particularly when it’s horror that’s evoked through grisly, in-your-face violence, perversion and torture porn.  That kind of thing is sort of a trend that I see in contemporary horror, from reading reviews and so forth –the whole splatter-punk school—and I do see it as a negative trend.  Another is the shift from traditional situational horror, where the horrific events are an aberration in the universe, to contemporary existential horror (reflecting modern nihilism and existential pessimism), in which the structure of reality itself is horrific and there’s no hope for deliverance.  (Those are trends that Lifeblood bucks.)

Do you have new projects coming down the pipeline you would like to share with us?

One of my friends on the social network Goodreads really liked the character Lorna, who appears in my short story “The Gift” (also available on Smashwords).  She’s begged me to write another story featuring Lorna, so I’m working on one.  I’m also a bit more than half done with my second novel (which I’ve been working on for about six years –I’m hoping it doesn't take 20 years to write, like the first one did!).  It won’t be a sequel to Lifeblood, but rather a totally different tale with different characters, set in Appalachian Virginia where I live now and drawing on the themes and premises of H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos (though with a more optimistic outlook than his).  Finding time to write, in the midst of a full-time day job and lots of family responsibilities, is the real challenge that makes finishing any work such a slow process!  But like all writers, it’s something I do because I love doing it; and that’s what makes me persevere.

Thanks so much for interviewing me, M.R.!  I appreciate it a lot.

And thank you for the kind thank you, all the best...

M.R. Interviews...Michael Brookes

Please Welocme to Cutis Anserina Michael Broookes

When writing The Cult of me did you know that there was going to be a sequel?

Yes, the story has always been intended as a trilogy. 

What was the original idea that brought The Cult of Me to life?

The idea stemmed from Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost is the greatest story ever told and but it has some odd aspects. The most obvious is the less than flattering light is portrayed, while I'm sure this wasn't Milton's intention it did seem interesting to me. I originally intended to write the story from God's perspective, then changed my mind. I needed a human protagonist and The Cult of Me was the creation of that character.

What can readers expect from Conversations in the Abyss?

They can expect the revelations of how the universe came to be and the arrival of the apocalypse. It also features a man, made immortal by stealing Lazarus's miracle, now sealed with the walls of monastery.

When writing to do you write would you would like to read, or do you have a specific audience in mind?

Yes, I write for myself. If I don't enjoy the story I have created then I don't publish it.

What character do you most identify with in either The Cult of Me or Conversations in the Abyss?

They feature mostly the same characters. I had fun writing them all, but Friar Francis is my favourite character. He is bold, well educated and dedicated to his purpose.

What active genre authors are you currently following?

Ian M Banks and Clive Barker are my current favourite authors. In fact Excession by Ian M Banks is my favourite novel (http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/excession-my-favourite-novel.html).

What was the first book you remember being genuinely scared of? Was your immediate reaction to run out and find more, or lock the offending text in your closet and never breathe a word of it to anyone?

It was James Herbert's 'The Rats' that first gave me  my horror book scare. It's a very visceral horror that I'd not encountered before. I immediately looked for more books in this vein.

‘Conversations in the Abyss’ is the sequel to the supernatural thriller ‘The Cult of Me’

Stealing Lazarus’s miracle gifted him immortality. Combined with his natural ability of invading and controlling people’s minds this made him one of the most dangerous people on Earth.

But the miracle came with a price. His punishment was to be imprisoned within the walls of an ancient monastery and tormented by an invisible fire that burned his body perpetually. To escape the pain he retreated deep into his own mind.

There he discovers the truth of the universe and that only he can stop the coming Apocalypse.

Buy now from Amazon:

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BCP08JU/

US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BCP08JU/

About Michael Brookes

Michael Brookes is an Executive Producer with a leading UK games developer. Working in games and writing are two of his life passions and considers himself fortunate to be able to indulge them both. He lives in the east of England, enjoying starry skies in the flattest part of the country. When not working or writing he can sometimes be found sleeping. Which is good as that is where many good ideas come from.

Other Books by Michael Brookes

The Cult of Me

For too long he dwelt apart, watched those who passed him by. With his unique abilities he entered their minds and inflicted terrible suffering upon them. They didn't even know who he was. The game has lasted for years, but now the game has become stale. On an impulse he decides to make a final and very public last stand. After surrendering himself to the police he enacts his plan to seize the prison for his final bloody act. 

There he discovers that he's not as unique as he once thought.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Cult-Third-Path-ebook/dp/B008O7ZVXW/

An Odd Quartet

A quartet of dark short stories (10,000 words) to thrill and chill.

The Yellow Lady
Grave robbing is a dirty business, in more ways than one. When he disturbs the grave from a childhood scary story he discovers it's not always treasure to be found.

This Empty Place
At the heat death of the universe, Death contemplates his existence.

Forced Entry
Terrorists seize an average suburban house. A Special Forces hostage rescue team is sent in and encounter more than they were trained for.

The Reluctant Demon
A young demon prepares to take his possession exam.

http://www.amazon.com/An-Odd-Quartet-ebook/dp/B009QJMMPC/

M.R. Interviews....Sumiko Saulson

Please Welcome Sumiko Saulson 

Your novel solitude has many apocalyptic elements. What sets your book apart from the apocalypse books that are growing in popularity?

 Apocalyptic fiction is growing in popularity? I had no idea, to be very frank... the closest thing to any recent popular apocalyptic fiction I can think of is "The Hunger Games" and that is post-apocalyptic. It is hard to answer your question without giving away too much and having to issue spoiler alerts for my own novel. I can say this: although as you mention, the story has apocalyptic elements, it is not necessarily apocalyptic. An apocalypse occurs on a global scale, for one thing, and the reader soon finds out that the elements of "Solitude" are very local, isolated to one city, San Francisco, where all of the action takes place. Although the story neatly rides the borderline between horror and science-fiction, incorporating elements of both genres, another, unspoken genres present and perhaps most convincingly celebrates it from apocalyptic horror: and that is mystery. The reader and the characters alike will spend the first third or half of the novel not really knowing what is going on.

 

 In Solitude where did the characters of Angela, Jordan and Margo come from?

 

 Angela comes from San Francisco, and Margo comes from Los Angeles... remember? Okay... right. I'm being facetious. I realize you are asking me what inspired them, and I learned my character development skills in film school, so I always sort of dislike those kinds of questions because the trick of character mixing is that people should in no way, shape or form be able to identify any resemblance to any actual person. Ever. While I do have quite the imagination, I like anyone else am inspired by actual events and real people who I know and have contact with on a day to day basis. All of my characters are very blended, though... none of them is inspired by one single individual, to my mind that would kind of be cheating. One of my friends who read the book and knows me very well did mention the fact that he notices that there is a bit of me in every single one of my characters: possibly including the chihuahua,I didn't really ask. I put a little me in them to help prevent them from to closely resembling someone I know: even accidentally. It also helped me to develop their thinking processes. So I can honestly tell you where they came from: they came from me.

 

 Is there a particular character you feel the most attachment to? How so?

 

The chihuaha, Crazy. I feel particularly attached to her because she is the first character in any of my books that another human being start to talk to me about as if that character *really* existed. It is the most amazing feeling in the world as a writer to find out that a character stuck with someone so much that they are talking about her as if she was a real dog somewhere. I even started a fan page for her, and did a month worth of promoting chihuaha adoptions in her honor. It was only when my friend Beth's chihuaha "Jackie Dog-butt" died that I realized she was one of the characters mixed in the dog - that the dog had a character mixing process like my other characters. My neighbors have a neurotic one-eyed poodle named Repulsa, which means Repulsive. She went into Crazy, too, definitely inspired the name - which at one point was going to be "Loco". And of course there was some of me in there, as eventually there was a scene where we get into the dog's head, which is a defining moment for a character. Both of her canine real-life models were geriatric dogs, even though Crazy was a young adult. Beth named her new puppy "Josefina Dog-butt" aka "Crazy" so she's named after the story dog and one of the dogs the story dog was named after. Ironically, Josette was Crazy's original human name's, and Josefina was the name of the person who gave the puppy to Beth. A year AFTER Crazy was written. So spooky. Okay... enough for ironic canine coincidences and giving myself the chills.

 

Solitude deals with both the internal and external struggles of your characters. How did you balance these two elements?

 

 Because the characters spend so much time alone in the story, I had a lot of time to develop their internal lives and make them real to the reader. This was an intentional choice, because when I began writing prose many, many years ago, I was told that I had a gift for writing characters. My characters were stdrong when I was an eighteen year old in a writing workshop, but it would take another twenty or more years before I would be able to master the other elements of storytelling. Therefore the character-driven nature of the plot allowed me to get over that hurdle and complete the novel. Then, later, in editing, I was asked to increase the amount of external conflict. Scenes like the one where Gerald was being chased by the pack of wild dogs were added in the first round of editing. It is going through yet another round of editing, to draw out the final action at the end of the book.

 

How does your background in poetry impact your writing as a novelist?

 

I have the tendency to be very sense-oriented in my descriptives. My writing often uses rhythmic structures: something for which I am very greatful now that I am starting to do public book readings to increase the local paperback sales. It is a sort of subconscious tendency, very deeply ingrained. I am happy with the characters and the lyricism and I am working on increasing my tendency to use action and show, show, show the reader what is happening. Speaking of lyrics, I write lyrics for my alt-rock band "Stagefright", and I guess that the whole time I was writing the book there was a rock soundtrack running in the back of my mind.

 

What is your favorite fictional character? How has this character impacted you over the years?

I am not the sort of woman who has one favorite fictional character: I am the kind of avid reader who has an entire universe populated with a diversity of characters. When I was in 3rd grade, it was Pippi Longstocking. When I was in 4th Grade, it was Charlotte from Charlotte's Web. But by 5th grade it was Loki in the Norse mythologies I was reading at the library - or perhaps it was Psyche in the Greek, I really can't say. I read Toni Morrisson's "Song of Solomon" and fell in love with Pilate. I read... and I read... and I read. And perhaps my favorite character became in each of these stories the omniscent narrative voice... the character who can peek in and out of these character's minds, that puppetmaster you are not supposed to see, but I always did manage to envision. I saw her in the work of another and I became her in Solitude. That makes me ever the more convinced she - he - or it must be my favorite fictional character of all.

 

What was the first truly frightening novel you remember reading? Was your reaction to bury it in the closet, or to run out and find other stories like it?

 

 I *could* say it was "Ghost Story" by Peter Straub, since I read it - aloud - to my little brother one summer when I was in the sixth grade, and I read it just the way one tells spooky campfire stories. But it did not truly terrify me. The first novel to give me nightmares was Frank Herbert's "Dune Messiah". I read "Dune" first and it was scary... but "Dune Messiah" struck every chord of subconcious fear over the nature of men and religious zealots, of governments, of predestination in my pubscent mind. Yes, I was in the seventh grade when I read "Dune" and "Dune Messiah" but it might not have been age appropriate. I put it down and started reading "Chronicles of Narnia" instead. You see, being intellectually advanced does not make one emotionally mature enough to process such things. The nightmares were about nuclear war. I would resume reading the Dune series five years later.

 

 What current genre authors are you following?

 

 It depends on what you mean by "Current". How current? The most current writer I began to follow was L.A. Banks, and on a deeper level it was reading her novels that made me feel that I could write one: you see, as an African American woman I was, as so many of us are, given the faint impression that if I wanted to write I would have to have a voice like Toni Morrisson or Alice Walker. The idea that  is acceptable to be a genre writer: not all women of color must be literary writers in America, it is a new one. People like L.A. Banks opened that door for me. But growing up I read Stephen King, Anne Rice, Peter Straub, Frank Herbert - a lot of short stories in Asimov Fiction and Fangoria - so I have been a long-time genre fan.

 

What current trends in the horror genre do you find encouraging?

 

As I mentioned before, it is really great that it is becoming increasingly acceptable within the black community for write genre fiction, including science fiction and horror. That's a really big deal. I also think that self-publishing is making it so more and more new authors are out there. So are e-Readers like Nook and Kindle.

 

What current trends do you find disparaging?

 

When I was in English class and I was hosting a reading lecture on the classic tale "The Monkey's Paw", I noticed that the majority of the students were making references to horror movies - not novels or even short stories. I am a bit concerned that people are reading horror less and watching it instead.

 

 Do you have anything else coming down the pipeline you would like to share?

 

I have a book of short stories called "Things That Go Bump In Your Head" coming out on Halloween - right around the corner! A.L. Peck, the author of "Abstract Murder" is writing the introduction for it and it is in final editing as we speak. It contains horror, dark fantasy, and science fiction shorts and was inspired by my life-long love of the Dell Magazine short fiction stories and the kind that they always profiled in the comics like Tales from the Crypt.

Sumiko Saulson is a horror novelist, published poet and writer of short stories and editorials. Her novels include "Solitude," "Warmth", and "The Moon Cried Blood". A native Californian, she was born and spent her early childhood in Los Angeles, moving to Hawaii, where she spent her teen years, at the age of 12. She has spent most of her adult life living in the San Francisco Bay Area. An early interest in writing and advanced reading skills eventually lead to her becoming a staff writer for her high school paper, the Daily Bugle (McKinley High, Honolulu, HI) one of the nation's only four such daily High School papers at the time. By the time she moved to San Francisco at age 19, she had two self-published books of poetry and was a frequently published poet in local community newspapers and reading poetry around town. She was even profiled in a San Francisco Chronicle article about up-and-coming poets in the beatnik tradition. Over the years she's written numerous articles for local and community papers, non-profit and corporate newsletters, poetry and lyrics and novels.

M.R. interviews...Philip Hemplow

Please Welcome to Cutis Anserina a man who knows his folklore...Phillip Hemplow

What was the catalyst for writing The Innsmouth Syndrome?  What was the process like working to extend the legacy of Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth?

The idea began brewing a long time ago, when I was studying microbiology. I found myself wondering what an epidemiologist would make of the Innsmouth look, and how they might explain it. The actual writing didn’t happen until I found myself between jobs, and needed something to fill the time. This was before I’d ever heard of self publishing, or indie publishing - and I knew the length made it pretty much useless to a traditional publisher - so after one half-hearted attempt to place it in a genre magazine I pretty much forgot about it. It wasn’t until I coincidentally came across some people talking about Kindle Direct online that it occurred to me to upload it.

I knew from the outset that I wanted to try to write something that would add some new ideas to the Innsmouth story. If anyone was ever likely to read Syndrome, it was going to be people who’d already read the complete works of HPL, and probably a lot of spun-off stories by other writers, too. It’s a story that’s been explored so thoroughly that injecting some new characters and some new threats was essential if I was going to hold the interest of, well, people like me. I also wanted to see if it was possible to shift the focus of the story off HPL’s preoccupation with miscegenation, and turn it somewhere else. Being British, I chose to try and invoke distaste based on snobbery and class prejudice, rather than racialism. The Innsmouth population in Syndrome is made up of poor, sub-working class people, because, while racism is widely condemned these days by anyone vaguely well-adjusted, for some reason it still seems to be acceptable to sneer at poverty. Turn on the TV today and you won’t have to surf too many channels before you find a fly-on-the-wall `documentary’ that invites you to mock the poor, or the ill-educated, or the unsophisticated. A few years ago, we had the phenomenon of Bumfights. So, I thought that it might be possible to hinge the horror of Innsmouth upon peoples’ fear of poverty. Especially during a global recession.

When writing Sarcophagus was there any concern in exploiting the Chernobyl tragedy for entertainment value?

It was a constant concern. I did a lot of research for Sarcophagus, and did a lot of very sobering reading about the disaster, and about the astonishing bravery and selflessness of the troops, scientists and workers in the aftermath. Sometimes plot ideas would occur (such as making the babushka who shows up in the middle of the story a ghost, or hinting that the lost souls of Chernobyl had been devoured by the entity at the heart of the story) that would have worked – that would probably have worked quite well – but would have been pretty tasteless. I felt it was important to be accurate too, insofar as possible. With Syndrome, I happily redesigned elements of the geography, the canon and anything else that got in my way. For Sarcophagus, I reflected the actuality as closely as I could. An American researcher was good enough to share some interior maps of the reactor shell (though I did have to get a little extemporaneous there, in some places), and I downloaded thousands of photographs of the site, taken over the last few decades, to try to make sure I got the details as accurate as I could. And the last words in the author’s note at the end of the book are dedicated to the sacrifices made by so many absurdly courageous people in the wake of the 1986 disaster; so that, hopefully, the reader can’t fail to take that message away with them.

How did you create Dr. Victoria Cox the protagonist of Sarcophagus?

I think that she evolved out of the role I needed her to fill. She had to be a well-qualified nuclear scientist, of a certain age and relationship status, so initially that was what defined her. Oddly, I think I modeled her more on some of the nurses I’ve known and worked with, than scientists. Possibly because I’ve seen nurses under stress more often than I have scientists!

Russian folklore plays a pivotal role in Sarcophagus.  Was this something you had a background in or had to research?

I’m a huge folklore enthusiast, and have been since childhood. As a kid, I loved classical mythology – mainly for the monsters and swordfighting - and ghost stories. I could recite hundreds of ghost stories! These days I flatter myself that my interest is a little more sophisticated than that. People tend to think that folklore is a thing of the past, but you can read it in the tabloids every day. The themes have changed with the times, and the age of instant communication has driven it in strange new directions, but both historical and contemporary folklore are still a map of our fears, our prejudices and our psychology. Whether its flayed Viking skins nailed to church doors, bat creatures over Chernobyl, or asylum seekers eating swans, it’s still with us, and it’s still fascinating.

I knew some of the folklore I incorporated into Sarcophagus before I embarked on the project, but I learned a lot more about it in the process of writing. Czernobog and the Kaptar were already familiar, but some of the other elements and the historical background were new to me. As a writer (can I call myself that with only two books to my name?) of Lovecraftian fiction, folklore isn’t just intriguing, it’s incredibly useful. If you write a vampire story, or a werewolf story, or a Father Christmas story, you can ground it in a mass of received wisdom and shared understanding that helps the readers accept the more outré elements. Vampires may not be literally real, but they are literarily real. One reason the Lovecraft Mythos is so great to work with is that it fulfills a similar role – you can root your story in a vast body of preceding work. Folklore, though, stretches back even further, and can help you in the same way. Plus, as I say, it’s really damned cool.

H.P Lovecraft is a clear influence on your work.  How did you come to read him, and why does his work resonate so much with you?

I think I first knew of him as an influence on other writers that I’d read, who all seemed to admire him. Then, as a teenager, I started to hear references to his stories in song lyrics and video games – probably still a route that brings a lot of readers to his work – and started to build up preconceptions about his Mythos. When I actually sat down to read it, I found that it was even better than I’d anticipated. I can still remember exactly where I was when I read At The Mountains Of Madness for the first time; and the sudden feeling of disorientation that came over me at the climax of The Shadow Out Of Time. I think what really stands out about Lovecraft’s Mythos fiction is the constant implication, beyond the slime and the monsters and the insanity, that mankind is doomed and without hope, and utterly dwarfed by the maleficent void that surrounds it. His primary weapons for provoking a reaction in the reader of those stories were space and time (and racism, at times, admittedly). When it works - and it frequently does if you’re reading him for the first time - the effect is amazing. He’s often compared to Poe, for some reason, but in a lot of ways they were polar opposites. Poe’s fiction looked inside people, while Lovecraft’s looks out, beyond them, as if they’re almost a distraction. If he’d lived longer, I can’t begin to imagine what he’d have been inspired to by the Holocaust, nuclear weaponry, or the space race.

What was the first truly scary novel you remember reading?  What was your immediate reaction; to bury it in the closet and forget it, or hunt out similar stories? 

Dracula! It scared the pants off me, and I loved it. My immediate reaction was to read it again, before it was due back at the library!           (Personal Favorite as well)

Who are some current genre authors you are following?

I’m a big fan of Tim Curran. He’s one of the relatively few Mythos authors who  - I think - really gets what Lovecraft was trying to do when he wrote. He tackles the same big themes, big ideas, and big landscapes, and writes some really decent set pieces.  I tend not to read much fiction when I’m actively writing though, because I’ve caught it bleeding over into my own stuff.  I am looking forward to reading Tim Reed’s Bakerloo Line Train on a journey I have to make next week, since I’ll be away from the keyboard for a few days.

Do you have any other projects summing down the proverbial pipeline you would like to share with us? 

My current project is a bit of a departure, in that it’s not exactly a horror story. It’s a serial killer thriller, though it does have some rather surreal, Grand Guignol elements. It’s also going to be a full length novel. It’s an idea I’ve wanted to get to grips with for ages, so now I’m doing it. After that, there are (currently) a couple of more Lovecraftian stories I’d like to write - but I have a whole list of themes and plots I want to address. If I could give up the day job, I’d stand more of a chance of keeping up. As it is, the list only ever gets longer!

M.R. Interviews...Isabelle Rowan

Please Welcome Isabelle Rowan to Cutis Anserina 

What was the process like converting Ink from its original novella form into a larger story?

It was a strange process and one I deliberated over for quite a while. ‘Ink’ was always going to be a novella length story, but I had a niggle that it wasn’t finished. The characters weren’t fully formed and their stories still had to be told. The original story hinted at Dominic’s maker and I really wanted to explore that aspect. Galen, the antagonist in the tale, actually became one of my favorite characters to write. 

Basically, I let Galen wander around my head for many months until I knew where and when he came from, and how I could introduce him into the story. I also listened to a lot of old school Marilyn Manson during that process!

Once I have the characters straight in my head, I try to plot out main action points and a possible ending. I did that with ‘Ink’, but it certainly didn’t end the way I planned it. Galen just wouldn’t let that happen. My writing tends to be very organic and I’m often surprised at what comes out when I’m clicking away or scribbling in my notebook. I wrote an entire chapter and tried to force the story a certain way, but had to scrap it because the muses wouldn’t go in the direction I wanted.

At some stage I would like to do a short story about Galen’s life and preparation to become a ‘night spirit’ - that would be more horror and less romance. I am a member of the Australian Horror Writers Association so I’d like to explore that a lot more.

Ink the tattoo parlor and central location for the story was incredibly well realized.  How did this setting make it into your novel?

I have a passion for tattoos and frequently add to my own collection, so Ink is an amalgamation of a few tattoo parlors. Many of the aspects, however, are based on an actual parlor on Chapel Street where ‘Ink’ is set. It had the purple walls and industrial band posters, and yes, there was a tattooist with blue dreads. I got many of my tattoos there. Unfortunately, it was gutted in a fire and the new parlor simply didn’t have the personality of the old one, but that also gave me an ending.

Michael Chapman was a great protagonist for this story.  He realized what being with Dominic would mean, and consciously moves into this situation.  What was it like writing Michael?

Michael was very easy to write because he always acted on instinct. Where Dominic over-thought consequences, Michael does what his heart tells him. He knew he needed to be with Dominic despite being pushed away and despite the whole supernatural threat. He’s a smart guy with a definite will of his own. Michael is also the ‘humanity’ of the book who has to show Dominic and Galen that they still hold their humanity.

Abby the tattoo parlor’s owner was a well-placed and incredibly deep secondary character.  What were your thoughts while you were creating her?

One of my aims when writing an extended story is to have a supporting cast who are just as interesting as the main characters.  Abby and Scott have a small, but pivotal role in the narrative. In fact, there are times where they drive the story. But more than that, I also wanted to make them characters that readers cared about and not just regarded as plot points. Abby is almost the heart of the book. She is Michael’s sounding board who would listen to him, believe him and perhaps guide him to follow his heart and not necessarily his head. Towards the climax of the book her strength really comes into play when she is forced to ignore her fear to help the people she loves.

I have a friend who I believe is a very old soul and I had her in mind when writing Abby. She is a wise woman in the true sense of the word. I hope some of her essence comes across in my words.

Ink’s prose created an incredibly rich atmosphere.  Was this something you were conscious of while writing it?

When we think about childhood memories do we remember them as a series of events? Or do we smell the geraniums and feel the spongy grass under our bare feet? That’s how books are to me.

I teach high school in my day job and I always remember a boy saying to me with absolute amazement one English class, “I saw it in my head miss”.  That struck a chord because reading should be a visual or perhaps visceral experience. As a reader I need to be drawn into a world that I can see, hear and smell. As a result, I try my best to create that experience in my books. I’m not sure if I always succeed, but I always try.

Who do you think the perfect target audience for Ink?

That’s a tough question. ‘Ink’ fits into a few genres. It is a gay romance, but also a vampire book so there has to be elements of horror. Perhaps the perfect reader is one who is willing to step outside the usual vampire scenario and enjoy a different setting. Keep an open mind and give ‘Ink’ a try!

What fictional character has had the greatest impact on you?  How so?

In her novel ‘Lost Souls’, Poppy Z Brite wrote a character called Ghost. I read this book many years ago, but Ghost stays with me. He is an ethereal character who, although human, seems to exist between worlds. He is a true innocent and for some reason that struck a chord for me.

What is your favorite horror novel?  Why?

Wow, that is almost impossible to answer. Not only because there are so many of them, but also because my tastes overlap fantasy, horror and even science fiction. Okay, I’ll give it a try.

Obviously I love vampire books and one of my early passions was Anne Rice - Ignore the movie and forget that  portrayal of Lestat. Her books were always so rich in detail and ‘The Vampire Lestat’ totally suckered me in. However, my absolute favorite vampire novel would have to be ‘Lost Souls’ by Poppy Z Brite. Sure many of the music references are dated now, but Zillah and his gang sang to me as they drove around in their van. They were the first vamps I discovered in a modern setting – other than the Hammer Horror movie ‘Dracula AD 1972’ when I was 12 (yep, I’m that old).

Other books would include ‘Weaveworld’ by Clive Barker –for his creation of a whole world. Similarly, I love Stephen King’s ‘Dark Tower’ series.

See, I warned you I couldn’t pick one… ‘Vampire World’ – Brian Lumley, ‘The Raw Shark Texts’ – Steven Hall, anything by Neil Gaiman….

Do you have anything else coming down the pipeline you would like to share with us?

I always have works in progress! Most don’t fall into the horror genre, but I plan to write another vampire story soonish. My new novella is a mm romance called ‘The Road to Byron’.

Also, I’m going to be heading to the UK to travel on some intercity trains to research a serial killer tale that is swirling around my brain.

Oh, and there’s that dystopian future monster one too….

M.R. Interviews Die Booth and L.C. Hu

The Re-Vamp project began in October of 2010, how did you and L.C. Hu go about setting this up?

DB – Me and LC had worked together before on various little projects and had always talked about doing a proper horror project together. We met online in a horror writing community and it was a shared love of the genre that first got us talking. One of the things we found ourselves talking about increasingly though was how sick we were of paranormal romance and the angsty teenage vampires and buff young werewolves that were pervading books and film. It seemed that the truly frightening monsters of old had all but disappeared under a sheen of Hollywood dazzle and that was what made us decide to try and resurrect them.

At first we intended to just write a story per month each, but as we kicked ideas back and forth and came up with having a bi-monthly monster theme and maybe keeping a work-in-progress journal, the idea snowballed until it became a full-on audience participation journal where we posted each story as it was written, ran polls and discussions and competitions and invited guest writers to contribute stories to the final anthology.

Was the response what you expected?

DB – I think the response was far greater than we ever expected! The journal was initially just for us and we thought a few friends might leave a comment or two, but people really engaged with it – especially our Choose Your Own Adventure story that we wrote week-by-week for the Werewolves section.

LCH -Though we didn't get stories from everyone we solicited (alas) we were actually bowled over by the stories we did receive, and by the fact that many of the authors even wanted to write for more than one theme.  And the contest response was literally overwhelming; we expected a few stories from our friends and got many lovely subs from exciting authors we'd never met.

What do you think is the greatest success of the Re-Vamp anthology?  What can readers expect from this collection? 

DB – I think the greatest success is the final print book. It’s such a beautiful book, with it’s gorgeous cover by Leah Jay, it’s illustrations and the sheer quality of the writing in it – it would be an achievement by any standards but we’re particularly proud of the fact that it was self published and brought together writers and artists from right across the globe who would otherwise maybe have never had contact with each other. That aspect, and the year-long online project that preceded the launch of the print and e-book anthology, really created a sense of community that I think can be lacking in these days of sitting staring at a screen - which is ironic really considering a lot of the contributors have only had contact via electronic means!

LCH - The sheer variety of takes we got on the various monsters and the passion evident in all the works.

What do you think the common trait for timeless horror icons or creatures is?  Why do they last through generations and various incarnations?

DB - That’s an interesting question and I think a difficult one, because there are so many different reasons that themes endure. The monsters we chose really are iconic creatures rooted in folklore but now made popular through books and film to the point where they’re ingrained in social consciousness almost. I think there are several common traits running between them – body horror, the fear of death and decay, or worse, decay before death with zombies and vampires. The fear of a loss of control – both in the sense of not being able to control yourself in the case of werewolves, but also the horror of the everyday world becoming an unknown quantity.  There’s a fear of the unknown too, of things totally alien to our understanding.

LCH -I think they speak to shared fears, taboos and longings.  For instance everyone's experienced creepy feelings they can't explain from time to time, or listened to strange moanings in the night, and inevitably started wondering what's out there.  Ghosts and spirits seem as reasonable an explanation in the dark of the night as the house settling.    And who among us doesn't have a part of themselves that is a little monster, a little uncontrollable burst of temper or a nasty impulse we want to disclaim--the secret werewolf?

What fictional character has had the greatest impact on you?  How so?

DB – Wow, I’m not sure.  In terms of horror? I’m having to really think about that - I do think that a lot of horror is situation rather than character driven, now I’m thinking about it. I think Nell from Shirley Jackson’s ‘Hill House’ is beautifully and subtly characterised, wishing for her own cup of stars. Her loneliness and desire to belong certainly stuck with me.

Likewise, Ambrosi from Susan Price’s ‘Ghost Song’ with his determination to be known by his own name, to follow his own dreams and to stick by those he loves despite all odds really struck a chord with me.

What was the first book you remember that truly frightened you?  Was your response to toss it in a closet and forget it?  Or seek out other dark tales?

DB - I was obsessed with ghosts as a child. One of my favourite books is still Lucy M Boston’s ‘Children of Green Knowe’ - re-reading my disintegrating 80s copy gives me a guaranteed cosy winter feeling. One scary tale I can remember clearly was a short story called ‘Nule’ by Jan Mark which still terrifies me to this day, the is-it-or-isn’t-it-real thing invading their house. There are a few more stories that really disturbed me but which I can’t remember the titles of. I remember one about a boy who was bullied and his bullies killed a swan and tied its wings to his arms – how horrible, and it had a great impact on me! Another was about a boy who built a long, skinny creature called Skin as a Bonfire Night Guy and I swear that thing still haunts my nightmares. Another story that gives me the raging heebs is ‘The Flat Man’ – which is a primary school book that I first read about aged 25 when I worked in a library and it scared the hell out of me then! Thinking about it, most of the books that have really affected me at any age are classed as children’s books. Very few adult horror books have deeply affected me in that way; I think they try too hard to be scary. The ‘grown-up’ stories that have scared me that spring to mind are Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Haunting of Hill House’, HG Wells’s ‘War of the Worlds’ and the short story ‘The Red Lodge’ by H. Russell Wakefield which, I don’t quite know what it was about it, but I almost had to sleep with the light on after reading it. It’s those quiet tales that seem innocuous at first but really take root at the back of your mind and only remind themselves to you when you’re alone with the lights off that I’m really interested in.

LCH - I hate to say it but it was probably a religious text on demonic possession and how the "faithful" are tested by demons coming to harass them!  Or at least that's the first thing I can recall sticking in my head and scaring me for some time after.  Demons or malicious spirits have always been terrifying to me because there is nothing you can do to placate them.  They're just out to get you. Period.  And they're just vague enough to almost truly believe in...
But I love being scared so obviously I've kept seeking out scary tales!

What current genre authors are you following?

DB – I’ve already mentioned Susan Price and Chuck Palahniuk. I’m also a big fan of Martin Millar, who customarily writes more fantasy than horror but is currently penning a series of ‘Lonely Werewolf Girl’ books that have been labeled Young Adult . They’re very much the pulp style of writing – fast paced, lots of characters, deceptively simple writing style, but they’re so charmingly written, dry and witty and entertaining, like supernatural soap opera. It’s pulp done well.

I have to confess, I’m reading back over MR James and Roald Dahl more than I’m reading new horror, but I’m slowly finding my way around Goodreads so hopefully will pick up some great new literary horror recommendations there.

LCH - Die will probably laugh me out of the park but I love Stephen King actually.  Don't take my horror-lover credentials away! (DB - Haha, don’t, I sound awful! I read a Stephen King short story called ‘Gramma’ recently that I really enjoyed!)

What is your take on modern horror at this juncture?

DB – I think that, probably due to the influence of popular films, the genre of horror is a bit maligned. When people think ‘horror’ they think slasher films and lurid tales high on gore and low on quality and I think that can make horror a bit of a hard-sell to your average reader. Or people now associate the genre with paranormal romance, which again isn’t the whole story. It’s a real shame because there are so many incredible writers out there creating beautiful stories that could well get passed by because of the genre tag. Susan Price, who wrote the introduction for Re-Vamp, springs to mind. Her writing is classed as children’s fiction, however there are a lot of her stories that have given me the shivers like nothing else; they are beautifully written, subtle horror. And on the other end of the scale are writers like Chuck Palahniuk, who write guts and gore beautifully. Horror as a genre is not all terrible pulp (some of it is brilliant pulp!)

Do you have anything new coming down the pipeline you would like to share with us?

DB – Where do I start! I’ve got a few short stories due out soon, one called ‘Waifs’ in ‘Bloody Fabulous’ which is due out in October from Prime. My story ‘To be heard’ is going to be part of Crooked Cat’s two part ‘Fear’ anthology which is also due out in October and all proceeds from that go to charity (Barnardo’s and Medecins sans Frontieres) so I’m especially looking forward to that one. I’m also lucky enough to have a piece called ‘Phantoms’ in the next issue of ‘The Fiction Desk’ which is a quarterly anthology of new fiction which I can’t recommend enough – the quality of the first few issues is phenomenal and their ethos of discovering and sharing new gems is brilliant.

I’m also involved in a project that Sarah Grant, who edited ‘Art from Wonderland’ (another really fantastic DIY publication) is running, retelling and illustrating classic fairytales. I’ll be tackling Beauty and the Beast and hopefully doing it justice in time for the book’s Christmas release – and again, all proceeds from that go to charity, this time it’s the British Library Conservation Fund.

And finally I’m working on my debut novel, provisionally titled ‘Embedded’. It’s a very British horror-adventure romp centered around a hospital and I’m hoping to have it out in 2013, all being well.