From artists and authors to RPG line developers, Flames Rising specializes in bringing you interviews with professionals from all aspects of the fiction, gaming industry and beyond. Our mission has been to interview both creative professionals that are top names within the entire entertainment industry, as well as and up-and-coming people to watch for as they embark on their horror-ific career. We invite you to read these interviews to learn more about these talented folk, and are happy to entertain suggestions for new people to interview.

Elaine Cunningham – Author (September ’08)
Matt Forbeck – Author (August ’08)
Z. A. Recht – Author (August ’08)
Jess Hartley – Author & Game Designer (August ’08)
Tad Stones – Screenwriter (August ’08)
Judd Karlman – Game Designer (August ’08)
Jeff VanderMeer – Author (July ’08)
David Drake – Author (July ’08)
Andy Looney – Game Designer (July ’08)
James Lowder – Editor “Worlds of Their Own” (June ’08)
Chuck Wendig – Hunter Developer (June ’08)
Ed Wetterman & Preston DuBose – Game Designers (May ’08)
Tad Williams – Author (April ’08)
Yasmine Galenorn – Author (March ’08)
Paul S. Kemp – Author (March ’08)
Martin Klimes & Aaron Acevedo – Game Developer & Artist (February ’08)
Ralan Conley – Author & Freelance Guru (February ’08)
Nathan Tucker – Author (February ’08)
Eddy Webb – Developer & Game Designer (September ’07)
Rich Thomas – Artist & Creative Director (August ’07)
James Lowder – Author & Editor (October ’06)
Joseph Vargo Artist & Musician (September ’06)
Laurell K. Hamilton – Author (June ’06)
R.A. Salvatore – Author (May ’06)
Brett M. Bernstein (May ’06)
E.E. Knight (May ’06)
Cathy Wilkins – Artist (March ’06)
Joseph Nassise – Author (March ’06)
Jonathan Ridd – Game Designer (February ’06)
Scott Glancy – Author & Publisher (February ’06)
Jennifer Rodgers – Artist (January ’06)
Dominic St. Charles – Musician (December ’05)
Caitlin R. Kiernan – Author (December ’05)
Kelley Armstrong – Author (November ’05)
Malcolm Craig – Game Designer (October ’05)
Amber Benson – Actress & Author (October ’05)
Gavin Goszka – Musician (October ’05)
Christopher Golden – Author (September ’05)
Patrick Younts – Freelance Writer (September ’05)
Aaron Dembski-Bowden – Freelance Writer & Game Designer (September ’05)
Clash Bowley – Game Designer (September ’05)
Michael Tresca – Freelance Writer (June ’05)
Krister M. Michl – Freelance Writer (June ’05)
Elizabeth McCoy – Editor & Developer (May ’05)
Greg Stolze – Author & Game Designer (March ’05)
Wil Upchurch – Freelance Writer & Game Designer (February ’05)
Keith Senkowski – Artist & Game Designer (February ’05)
Shane Coppage – Artist (January ’05)
C.J. Carella – Game Designer (January ’05)
Stuart Renton – Game Designer (January ’05)
Derek Stoelting – Freelance Writer (January ’05)
Richard Lee Byers – Author (December ’04)
Ken Meyer Jr. – Artist (December ’04)
Andrew Bates – Artist & Managing Editor (December ’04)
Melissa Uran – Artist (December ’04)
Veronica V. Jones – Artist (December ’04)
Scott Mitchell – game Designer (December ’04)
Michelle Lyons Author & Editor (November ’04)
Justin Achilli – Author & Developer (November ’04)
Toren Atkinson -Artist & Musician (November ’04)
Talon Dunning – Artist (October ’04)
C.A. Suleiman Author & Developer (September ’04)
Ron Edwards – Game Designer(July ’04)
Shane Hensley – Game Designer(July ’04)
Jason L Blair – Author & Game Designer (June ’04)
Monte Cook – Author & Game Designer (June ’04)
Micah Skaritka – Game Designer & Musician (May ’04)
Robert Baxter – Freelance Writer (May ’04)
Richard E. Dansky – Author (May ’04)
Stefan Petrucha – Author (May ’04)
Kraig Blackwelder – Author (May ’04)
Matt Forbeck – Author & Game Designer (May ’04)
Bruce Baugh – Author (May ’04)
Sam Chupp – Author (April ’04)
Dav Harnish – Author (March ’04)
Pat Loboyko – Artist (March ’04)
Fred Hooper – Artist (March ’04)
Heather Grove – Author (March ’04)
John Tynes – Author (March ’04)
M. Alexander Jurkat – Editor (January ’04)
Sarah Roark – Author (January ’04)
Mark Bruno – game Designer (December ’03)
Echo Chernik – Artist (December ’03)
Jackob Klunder – Freelance Writer (December ’03)
Ann Koi – Artist (December ’03)
Matt McFarland – Author & Developer (December ’03)
Robert McLaughlin – Game Designer (December ’03)
Lucien Soulban – Author (December ’03)
R. K. Post – Artist (December ’03)
Ari Marmell – Author (December ’03)

For more information about interviews on Flames Rising, please feel free to e-mail flamesrising01@yahoo.com.

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1. Spread the Flames with New and Improved Flames Rising Gear!
2. From the Editor’s Desk: Thank You from Flames Rising
3. Previews on Flames Rising

One of the best things about my role at DriveThruComics.com is working with an amazing group of authors and artists that are producing some awesome comics. One of our publishers has a universe shattering series going on now and I recently had the chance to talk to Artifacts series author/architect Ron Marz about it. This interview was originally crafted for the DriveThruComics Newsletter, so I wanted to do things a little differently. I did some “crowd-sourcing” for questions from folks reading the series. I added those suggestions to my questions and fired them off to Ron.

Artifacts was originally a limited series that involves the bearers of 13 mythological items such as the Witchblade and The Darkness. Recently it was announced that Artifacts will continue past issue 13 and the affects on the Top Cow Universe will be lasting. Here Ron tells us a bit more about the series…

If you had to rank the 13 bearers from most to least favorite for you, how would it go?

Well, I don’t really think of them in terms of “favorites,” I think of them in terms of the story possibilities inherent in each. My favorites would include the Witchblade, the Darkness and the Angelus, as well as the Spear of Destiny.

How difficult is it to balance air time for signature characters in this story?

It’s always a juggling act to make sure that everyone gets their fair share of screen time. Every character is somebody’s favorite, so you want to be sure that each one gets a moment in the spotlight. But I have to balance that against making sure there’s a spine running through the entire story. In the case of Artifacts, the spine is Sara, Jackie and Hope, so their story is what we keep coming back to. It very much began with them and it will definitely end with them.

How is the crossover-event impacting the storytelling going on in the individual comic lines?

We’ve tried to make sure the monthly books like Witchblade and Darkness can be read independently. I never like storylines that put a gun to the readers’ heads and force them to buy a bunch of different series. If you just want to read Artifacts, you can do that and the story will make sense. If you just want to read Witchblade or Darkness or Magdalena, those will make sense individually as well. But by the end of the whole thing, all the series will reflect what’s happened in Artifacts.

Are readers who follow several series getting more of the goods than the folks just following Artifacts?

I hope so. We approached this so that you didn’t have to read multiple titles, but if you do read across a few series, the experience will be a little richer and you’ll pick up on some details. We wanted to reward those reading multiple titles, but not penalize anyone who isn’t.

How does Artifacts work as an introduction for new readers to the Top Cow Universe?

I tried to write the first few issues to be as new-reader friendly as possible, within the context of doing a multi-character series that explores the mythology of the Top Cow Universe. So while there’s a lot going on, I never want the audience to feel like they’ve walked in during the middle of a movie. Everything you need to know should be contained within the pages of the story. No visits to Wikipedia necessary.

What can you tell us about the artists working on Artifacts?

The plan was always to have multiple artists on the series, so we split it up in the way that made the most story sense, which is to follow the traditional three-act structure. Michael Broussard, Whilce Portacio and Jeremy Haun all bring something different to the table, and I tried to play to each artist’s strengths. And then Dale Keown is drawing issue #13, and I honestly have to say it’s one of the most beautiful issues I’ve ever been involved with. Starting with issue #14, Stjepan Seijic and I will be the regular team on the book.

What can readers expect from the ongoing Artifacts series?

Issue #13 definitely brings the initial storyline to a close. There’s very much a new status quo by the end of it. Starting with issue #14, we’ll be exploring that new status quo. You’ll see Jackie Estacado, you’ll see Sara Pezzini and the focus character for at least the first few arcs will be Tom Judge. Artifacts as an ongoing series gives us a much bigger canvas to work with. We’ll be doing much bigger, more epic-style stories, but without losing the character-driven nature of what we do.

The Artifacts and other Top Cow Universe series are available now at DriveThruComics.com.

Related posts:

1. Artifacts Issue 1 Comic Review
2. Preview of Top Cow Production’s Artifacts No. 1

Streets of Bedlam is a pen-and-paper roleplaying game in which you play characters with histories, who’ve done bad things, who may do a few more, but who have a code they stick to, fuzzy though it may be, that guides them through life and allows them to make a difference. Everybody in this town wants something but your characters are aiming higher than most and maybe, just maybe, they’ll do some good. At the very least, maybe they’ll stop some bad from happening.

Written and designed by critically-acclaimed game writer Jason L Blair, the man behind Little Fears, Streets of Bedlam will be built around the award-winning Savage Worlds ruleset published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

In this interview I ask Jason for details about the inspirations he drew from and the characters that you play in Streets of Bedlam.

What is this game about?

Ultimately, Streets of Bedlam is about desperation. It’s about what people do when they’re backed into a corner, how they fight their way out, how they overcome the impulse to sin in a world where everything is permitted (at least implicitly). It’s about crime and corruption.

It’s also about big dudes ramming their fists through some punk’s face, and S&M vigilantes who keep the citizens safe from scumbags.

What were your sources of inspiration?

Frank Miller’s Sin City graphic novels, definitely. The Boondock Saints films, Pulp Fiction, Miller’s Crossing, the Max Payne video games, every film noir I’ve ever seen. I’m pulling from a lot but not to make this a kitchen sink-setting. I’m editing to make sure things are cohesive.

What makes it a good fit for Savage Worlds?

Looking through what was available, I didn’t see anything like Streets of Bedlam available for Savage Worlds. That, and my personal affection for the system, pushed me to see what I could do with the Savage Worlds system to make it fit an ultraviolent neo-noir setting.

The two came together very well. I like Savage Worlds’ level of abstraction, the quick and easy flow of gameplay. Also, the system is very inspiring so it’s easy to write for. I love it.

One big thing though was finding ways to inject more story-focused bits into Savage Worlds, which was designed around combat. I wanted a system that could handle a street fight or highway shoot-out easily but also a system perfect for interrogation, following a trail of clues, and other detective/crime-focused systems. Savage Worlds Deluxe touches on those systems and Streets of Bedlam adds to them.

What types of characters will be in this game?

This is a neo-noir crime setting about people who do bad things. What makes the player characters different from the bad guys is the PCs do bad things for good reasons. Well, at least with good intentions.

You play criminals, ex-criminals, cops, ex-cops, ex-cops who are currently criminals. You play those marginalized by society: veterans who come home only good at war; streetwalkers who have to do whatever they can to survive; people who have been thrown out and have to carve their own way. But you also play people in power, people honestly trying to do good even if they work for a corrupt and unjust system.

Are there any heroes in this setting?

Absolutely, though they’re not your typical heroes. I’m hesitant to use the term “anti-hero” but those trying to do good in Streets of Bedlam are far from Boy Scouts. Everybody in Streets of Bedlam has a past, some darker than others, and part of the drama comes from overcoming that past.

The way I like to explain it is, the good guys and bad guys have different goals but use a lot of the same methods.

What can you tell us about the new character types?

The archetypes each explore some facet of crime and/or corruption. You have Monsters who are just brutal justice-getting machines. These are the guys who walk through doors and a storm of bullets to get their man or rescue a child from the clutches of her heinous kidnapper. Vigilantes patrol the streets, watching out for murderers, rapists, muggers, and all the other scum who prey on the innocent. Dogfaces are fixers, know-it-alls, who are go-tos if you need to find out about deals going down or some two-bit jagoff who just made bail and is walking free on the streets. You can play as cops, private dicks, reporters, anyone who is sets out on a trail to unearth corruption and expose the city’s dark underbelly.

What can you tell us about Four-Story Drop?

Four-Story Drop is the first supplement for Streets of Bedlam and it’ll include four standalone episodes that groups can use to get up and running through the setting right away. They’ll be structured similar to the Campfire Tales supplements for Little Fears Nightmare Edition. Each will be broken into scenes and will include all the major NPCs for that story.

Now that the Kickstarter is funded, why should people back this project?

Exclusives! Everyone who pledges gets thanked in the corebook and those who pledge $5 or more get turned into NPCs as well. I have a whole city to populate!

Backers at certain levels can influence future episodes, get turned into a major player in the world, get character archetypes exclusive to Kickstarter pledges, get some free dice, and more.

If the Kickstarter continues to do well, I have ideas for more backer exclusives as well so the more funds that are raised, the more things get unlocked.

Where can people find out more?

I have the basics up on the Kickstarter page along with ways gamers can secure their own copies of Streets of Bedlam, get some exclusive goods, and even help shape the world. They can also check out StreetsOfBedlam.com for updates, previews, and more as we get closer to the April 2012 release date.

Related posts:

1. Streets of Bedlam: One Day Left, New Milestone, Soundtrack?
2. Streets of Bedlam: A Savage World of Crime + Corruption Kickstarter

Author and game designer Matt Forbeck recently announced the 12 for ’12 project, in which he will attempt to write a short novel every month in 2012. We think Matt might have gone just a little crazy, but we’re also pretty sure Matt can actually pull this off…so Jeremy LC Jones had a little chat with Matt about the project.

Um, Matt, what are you thinking?

I’m thinking I want to write and I want to self-publish. I’m thrilled with my current publisher, Angry Robot, but there are some projects I’d like to do that wouldn’t work with them. That’s what 12 for ’12 is all about.

I’m a fast writer, so technically I should be able to handle writing 12 novels in a year, especially if they’re shorter ones like these. I’m shooting for 50,000 words each, which is what anyone participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this month is shooting for. That’s still 600,000 words of fiction in a year, but I’m pretty sure I can manage it.

I also can’t afford to take a flying leap on this and not feed my five kids while I’m writing these books for a year, so I’m going to set up a series of Kickstarter projects to line up pre-orders for ebooks and hardcovers for the line. The first one is up already and runs through the month of November.

What excites you about doing 12 novels in 12 months?

There’s the sheer, insane challenge of it, of course. Just standing up and saying I’m going to do it garners a lot of attention. It feels like I just stepped up onto a stage and said, “Hey, folks! You’re going to want to watch this!”

I also like the idea of getting a lot of material out there for people to read as fast as I can. I don’t plan on sacrificing quality for speed though. Most of my novels get excellent reviews, and I’ve been quietly writing them quickly the entire time.

At the end of the year, I want to be able to look back and say, “I did that.” And then I want people to be able to enjoy those books forever.

In what ways does the short novel appeal to you as a reader? As a writers?

As a writer it’s great to be able to get into the story, tell it, and get out. Most novels used to be shorter, but the publishing industry has been pushing for longer books for decades now, knowing that some readers judge the books and the price they’re willing to pay for them based not on the quality of the story but on the page count.

Ebooks turn that all on its ear. As a reader, when I purchase an ebook, I don’t care if it’s an epic doorstop or a tauter work. I just want a good read. I actually prefer my ebooks to be shorter. It means I can read more stories in the limited time I have.

How much pre-planning will you do for each novel?

I’ll have a full outline prepared for each book before I start. I’ve done that with every novel I’ve written, and it does wonders for keeping me on track. It also cuts down on the chances I’ll have to throw out chunks of the novel because I didn’t know where I was going with it.

Will this be a series or standalones? Will you have recurring characters?

I’m planning on having at least three trilogies out of this set. The fourth set of books might be a trilogy too, or it might be three standalones instead.

Which genres are you going to write in?

The first trilogy is based on my Brave New World tabletop roleplaying game that Pinnacle and AEG published back in 1999 and 2000. That’s a dystopian setting in which superheroes exist but have been outlawed for decades, unless they work for the federal government. The US has been under martial law that entire time, and the heroes are trying to set things right and restore justice to the American people.

The second trilogy takes place in a setting I call Shotguns & Sorcery, a kind of fantasy noir. I’ve written a couple shorter pieces in it already, and I’m itching to take it for a stretch with some longer works.

How will this impact your regular writing work? How’re you going to balance this with everything else?

I’m still going to be writing the Magic: The Gathering comic for IDW, and I have a couple of world-building projects I’m working on for other people that will take me through the end of this year and into the next. While all this writing will take a good chunk of my time, it shouldn’t swallow all of it.

Keep in mind that writing is my full-time job. That means I don’t have to worry about a day job getting in my way. This is my day job.

Do you have any advice for writing clean prose quickly?

Have a strong outline and characters you believe in before you start. This makes everything easier. Also, don’t pause to revise while you’re writing. Sprint toward the end as fast as you can. You can always polish your prose later.

What’re you going to do with all these manuscripts when you’re done with them?

I’m planning to publish them as ebooks and print-on-demand paperbacks. Part of each Kickstarter I’ll run for the project will be the chance to grab them in extremely limited hardcover editions too. I’d also be happy to shop the print rights around, but I want to make sure I can get these into the hands of readers fast too.

Any parting words?

Be sure to stop by my Kickstarter page for the first trilogy for more details about it and the entire 12 for ’12 project. If you don’t think I can manage this, that’s fine. I want you to dare me to give it my best shot. Thanks for your support!

Related posts:

1. Matt Forbeck tells us about Amortals
2. Preview of Amortals by Matt Forbeck
3. Discussing Eberron and Blood Bowl fiction with Matt Forbeck

Escape from Zombie City (A One Way Out Novel) by Ray Wallace has been released in Trade Paperback (the eBook is coming soon!) by The Zombie Feed Press, an imprint of Apex Publications. Below in an interview with Ray by The Zombie Feed.

The Zombie Feed: Who is your biggest literary influence, and why?

Ray Wallace: That’s a tough one. There are so many. But if I was forced to choose just one then I guess I’d have to go with Clive Barker. The Books of Blood are still some of the best horror collections ever written. I’ve always loved the way he merges the beautiful with the grotesque. And his ability to describe utterly fantastic worlds and creatures is truly awesome at times. Whenever I read one of his stories it makes me want to sit down at the computer immediately and start writing.

Have you always enjoyed the zombie sub-genre or did you just recently amble into it? Why do you think people are crazy about zombies?

I’ve been a fan of zombie movies/books/comics for quite a while now. Besides the Romero films, two of my favorite horror movies have to be The Return of the Living Dead and Reanimator. I was really into collecting the Deadworld comics when they were out. And I still consider Philip Nutman’s Wet Work and the Book of the Dead collections, edited by Skipp and Spector, to be some of the best contributions to the zombie literary sub-genre.

I think that if you’re into horror at all then you have to be a fan of zombies. Especially the concept of the undead taking over the world. It’s pretty much the ultimate horror concept: global pandemic, cannibalism, post-apocalypse survival, and a very grim and disturbing concept of an afterlife. What’s not to enjoy?

Escape from Zombie City is a modern day ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ book. Why go in this direction, instead of penning a ‘regular’ novel? What inspired you to write EFZC?

I used to love Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was a kid. And it’s always been in the back of my mind that I wanted to write one some day. When that day arrived, the concept of putting the reader in the midst of a zombie outbreak just seemed like a natural fit, a “no brainer” if you will.

EFZC is pretty fast-paced. What do you think is more scary: slow moving or fast moving zombies?

I think slow moving zombies are creepier but the fast moving ones are scarier. The odds of surviving a 28 Days Later scenario for any length of time seem as though they would have to be much lower than that presented in, say, Night of the Living Dead. With Escape From Zombie City, I thought it would be cool to include both types of creatures, try and up the scare factor a bit.

I think fans of zombie and ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books will greatly enjoy EFZC, even if they don’t particularly like one or the other. Any plans to write another in the same format?

Definitely. I’ve got plenty of ideas for further One Way Out novels. And as much fun as EFZC was to write, I look forward to the next one.

One day, after being dead and buried, your corpse is reanimated. Would you hope to retain some recollection of your former life or just enjoy going on a brain-eating rampage like your fellow undead brethrens?

I think the latter scenario would be preferable. Once you’ve been transformed into a hideous monster, it would just be too painful to remember the normal, healthy individual you once were. Better to just go with the flow and enjoy that brain-eating rampage as much as you can.

Escape from Zombie City is available now at Amazon.com in Softcover Paperback or Kindle formats.

Related posts:

1. Interview with Author Mark Allan Gunnells
2. From Zombie Celebrity to Author: An Interview with Amanda Feral
3. Zombie Week: Interview With Author David Moody

The Darkest Parts of the Forest: W. Scott Poole on Monsters in America

Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and Haunting by W. Scott Poole is that long-awaited book we knew was out there, somewhere, lurking in the darkened woods of the great Unwritten, waiting to leap out and reveal terrible truths about us all.

Both a masterpiece of scholarship and a heartfelt homage to the horror genre, Monsters in America “tell[s] a story about the dark side of American history, through its monsters.”

“I took this opportunity to use the films I love as primary sources,” said Poole, “and to chase down urban legends and think about where these bad dreams come from.”

Where bad dreams come from, indeed!

In Monsters in America, we encounter a history of America and of the American psyche that is far more terrifying than we ever imagined.

This is us, folks, plain but far from simple.

For those of us who call ourselves American, Monsters in America is our history–web-like, violent, and always lurking in the corner of our eye—up to no good, blood on its hands, hellfire in its eyes.

From aliens to zombies, Poole goes into it all. He examines Americans’ love-hate relationship with witches and the wilderness, sea monsters and slavery, the Civil War and serial killers, paranoia and the atomic bomb. Monsters in America is as compelling as it is comprehensive without being over-burdened with academic jargon or objectivity.

A self-professed “lifelong horror nerd”, as well as an associate professor of history at the College of Charleston, Poole is the author of six books, including Satan in America: The Devil We Know and Never Surrender: Confederate Memory and Conservatism in the South Carolina Upcountry. He also writes about popular culture, history, and religion for such sites at Popmatters.com and Religiondispatches.org.

Poole is no stuffy academic. The writing in Monsters in America is smooth and clean and precise, like a scalpel in the hands of a loved one.

The table of content of Monsters in America suggests a linear sprint through 400+ years of American history. Don’t be fooled. Poole masterfully slides around on the silken edge of the draglines and spokes of the spider web of the past, pulling and tugging and drawing taut meaning in the darkness.

Read this book. It will make you want to sing songs of the monsters that prey upon you, just as each page sings the song of our collective past.

“So, without further ado,” writes Poole in homage to his beloved Crypt Keeper, “let us bring on the night.”

So, first things first: Are monsters real?

Absolutely.

I do not like the language of metaphor when talking the monstrous. Look, there are lots of books out there that talk about monsters as metaphors of this or that cultural crisis or anxiety. I agree that they function in that way but I also take my monsters more seriously.

Monsters are hardwired into the American experience. It matters that Frankenstein became immensely popular at a time when medical experimentation on racial minorities had become a frightening reality in American history. It matters that the science fiction genre, and sightings of flying saucers, became common during the early Cold War when American became deeply conscious of the possibility of invasion and subversion. And the all too real serial killer stalked our popular culture at a time when we were debating questions of identity, sexuality and the meaning of violence.

Now, I’m no Fortean and certainly not a ghost hunter. I think those hobbies can also end up failing to take the monster as seriously as it wants us too. But I’m also not okay with talking abstractly about the horrific when I think its part of the cultural DNA of historical experience.

In Monster in America, you resist defining monster. So, um, care to say what a monster isn’t?

If it makes you feel safe and secure, its not a monster.

When I encountered Shock Theatre in around 1976, 1977, I spent long Saturday afternoons watching the Universal Studios cycle of monster stories. I will never forget watching the Mummy, becoming convinced that by watching it I had somehow transgressed and fallen under the Mummy’s curse and then being certain that the sudden, violent thunderstorm that hit us that afternoon was somehow part of this dark and evil magic working its will on me.

I think this helped shape my view that the monster is not safe, the monster offers no stability, the monster will not make our sleep better. This does not mean they are evil…but they are always terrible, in the Old Testament sense of the term.

If it makes things feel pleasant or gives you warm fuzzies, then it’s not the monster (I’m looking at you Stephanie Meyer).

What scares you?

Ha! I love it when I get this question. It always sounds like “what scares scary things.”

Honestly, as much as I love, and I mean freaking love, watching and reading horror, it just doesn’t give me the kind of “there is something standing behind me” fear it used to. Minor frissons, no major freak-outs.

If I want some real terror, I read some Thomas Ligotti, an author that combines what’s most frightening in Lovecraft with what is most unsettling in Kafka. Or I just read Kafka. My favorite writer, William S. Burroughs, is no horror writer but there are horrific and fantastic elements in his work that do it for me beyond what even my hero Wes Craven can pull off.

And honestly, I’m mostly scared by life. I’m scared my wife or my parents or my dogs will get sick. I’m scared we’ll keep dehumanizing the poor and marginalized while claiming that corporations are people. Other people scare the hell out of me. These things are the darkest parts of the forest where the monsters hide.

I’m really afraid of drowning, by the way.

Where did Monsters in America start?

It started in my love of the genre and, in fact, I hope horror fans see it as a kind of valentine to these films and the world of freaks that surrounds them.

I want historians to read the book. I need horror people to read it.

On the scholarly side, this is really the first study of the American monster by an American historian and its a pretty weird book in some respects. A look at the endorsements alone shows that early readers and admirers of the book include not only scholars you might expect to be reading a new work of history but also horror novelists like Jonathan Maberry.

I also have to say that the idea to write this was born out of my research on a previous book called Satan in America, where I examined the cultural history of the Devil. I came across a fascinating account of sea serpent sightings in early 19th century Massachusetts that led me to researching a whole public conversation about sea monsters in 19th century America.

What exactly do you mean in the book when you say that “history issues threats as much as it inspires reflection”?

We had one bookstore on the tour that had to back out because they were counting on some support from a local library. The library said no after somebody there took a look at the book and complained about the combination of “bad language” and “controversial ideas that we don’t want to deal with the fallout from.”

History is about a confrontation with the sources of our life and lifestyle. Why do I see monsters at every moment of the American experiment? Its because the past is boneyard and we’ve built what we’ve got on top of it.

History tends to make on the list of “things that most made me want to put a pencil through my eye in school.’ Or simply described as boring. How do you make the drama of human experience boring? You tell a story of consensus instead of conflict and that’s what my textbooks do. And too many of the teachers who use them.

Monsters and their narratives of horror don’t allow you to do that.

Are there monsters you had to leave out of the book?

This is a book full to the brim with all kinds of creatures of the night, from sea serpents to serial killers. So I didn’t leave much out. There are monsters I want to spend more time with. I’m actually working on a project about the 1950s horror host Vampira in relation to the Cold War and post-WWII notions of gender.

Were I writing right now, I probably would also spend some more time on the idea of disease vectors, viruses and contagion in general as one of our new posthuman monsters. I’ve decided it was pretty boneheaded of me to connect 28 Days Later with the zombie genre instead of our growing fears of superflus and nature taking its vengeance on us.

If American history or America were a monster, what would it look like? What would its excesses be?

Something Lovecraftian. Too big, too many eyes, tentacled. And its excess would be hunger, it would be the Thing that could not stop consuming. Some of the darkest parts of our history are all about expansion triumphing over ethics.

And, like a Lovecraftian monster, apocalyptic. The dirty little secret, that squichy Thing hiding over there in the corner, is that our current lifestyle is utterly unsustainable. Why do we love the zombie apocalypse? We are laughing on our way to the gallows.

You dedicated Monsters in America to your goddaughter. What do you hope she learns from it when she is old enough to read it? What do you hope her mother will get from it now?

Niamh Carmichael is a deeply imaginative, book-loving, intellectually curious four year old that rules the world around her. She is also going through a phase of being afraid of monsters (much to my chagrin).

I worry a little that she’ll wonder at first why I dedicated such a macabre, and in some respects gloomy, book to her. I hope by then she’ll be used to her macabre and gloomy godfather. After that though I hope she’ll see it as a way to help her understand the world and its monsters. I hope it will help her see that monsters are sometimes your friends. Though never comfortable ones.

She may be my age before it means anything to her beyond, “Oh yeah, its cool he dedicated a book for me.” You can’t predict these things.

Her mom is a classicist and one of the smartest people I know in the world. The idea that anything I write could teach her something is laughable.

If the folks at Baylor University Press and you publicity team were in a monster flick, which characters would they be?

Oh God, this is may be the best question ever asked of an author in the history of the world.

I love my press, gotta say (authors don’t always love their presses…I haven’t always loved mine) so I would make the movie one of my favs, Nightmare on Elm Street. Associate Director of the Press, Nicole Smith Murphy would be Nancy. I wouldn’t give any monster a chance against that final girl. My publicist from Dechant-Hughes, Kelly Hughes would obviously be the alcoholic mom who…Ok, I’m totally kidding. She would be the Van Helsing figure, wisely guiding our heroes…if Nightmare had one of those. Billy Collins, social media guru? I peg him as the young Johnny Depp (don’t be too excited Billy, Depp’s character bites it).

Oh, and Freddy Krueger? Obviously editor –in-chief Carey Newman. Both because I like Freddy a lot and because I suspect Carey might come back as a supernatural killer. Also, I bet he owns that sweater.

Finish the sentence: “If not for Stars War…”

“…I might never have found the latch to the door to the fantastic”

Ah, here we go, the chance to yet again show myself the melodramatic Star Wars fan. But it’s a serious question because that space fable joined with my growing interest in the monsters of the 1930s to suggest a whole universe of the fantastic. The Cantina scene still feels to me like a revelatory moment. Like some veil between worlds suddenly becoming thin.

I’d add that I could finish that sentence in two other ways “I wouldn’t have all these awesome action figures” and “I might have had better, earlier luck with girls.” Well, maybe I can’t blame the latter on the Wars really.

So if this book had a soundtrack, what tracks would be on it?

Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Tom Waits. This is the soundtrack the book was written to so it makes sense to read it with the same.

I actually say in the first chapter that most historical works aim to be a highly structured Bach concerto but that history itself is the Sex Pistols, yawping at you angrily like Johnny Rotten. It’s important to remember that when trying to make sense of historical knowledge in general.

What are you watching these days?

I thought I was done with “found footage” (or at least weary of it) until I saw the Norwegian indie Trollhunter. Not as dark as the genre sometimes is but still great fun. I haven’t seen it yet but am excited about The Last Circus. Sounds like Pan’s Labyrinth meets Grindhouse.

Reading?

Been into Theodore Roszak recently. His bizarre novels Flicker and The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein reimagine gothic horror in mind-bending ways.

I’m also reading Scott Snyder’s Severed series and loving it. I’m a big Snyder fan and pretty into the dark currents in American history he taps for his stories. I loved American Vampire.

I’m a regular reader of Kirkman’s Walking Dead. And, yeah, I’m excited about the second season of the AMC series but so is everybody else in the world so who cares.

Any parting words of advice, wisdom, or caution for fellow monster fans out there?

I guess I would say this: take your monsters seriously. Maybe you just want to be left alone with your popcorn and your movie, but you know you love your monsters more than that. How do they intersect with politics, religion, your view of society? Why do you love them so much and what does that mean?

Interview by Jeremy L. C. Jones

Monsters in America is available at Amazon.com. For more information visit MonstersinAmerica.com.

Related posts:

1. Supernatural: Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons Review
2. Magnetic Monsters Review
3. Cloverfield…monsters and movies.

Flames Rising is pleased to present you with a special interview, just in time for Sweetest Day! Earlier, we asked you to help us come up with interview questions for White Wolf Publishing developers Russell Bailey and Eddy Webb. We’re happy to share their responses as they dive into your burning questions about Strange, Dead Love, the new paranormal romance sourcebook for Vampire: the Requiem that debuts in early December. Thanks to everyone who commented and shared their thoughts on this sourcebook. The questions below were pulled from your feedback!

White Wolf Developer Interview about Strange, Dead Love

1 ) What are the inspirations behind Strange, Dead Love? Were you also influenced by television and film?

Russell Bailey: Our inspirations were primarily literary – we looked more at what you find in the fantasy section at Barnes & Noble than anything on TV. However, Dark Shadows gets a brief but very deep nod.

2 ) The concept of mimetic desire, coined by Rene Girard, seems very apropro for vampires in love. Did this theory influence this book?

Eddy Webb: Honestly, neither Russell nor I knew anything about Rene Girard until we got this question. So it wasn’t a conscious influence (although it’s possible we might have been thinking about things that this theory touches on).

3 ) Is Strange, Dead Love a book geared primarily for women? What will other types of players get out of this?

RB: There are a lot of female World of Darkness gamers, a lot of whom are romance fans, and this book’s for them. That said, I don’t think the appeal of paranormal romance is restricted to women. You don’t get a genre this big without a diverse audience, and male gamers who want to tell romantic stories will find lots to love in this book.

EW: I completely agree — I dislike the idea that a book has to be “just for women” or “just for men.” Statistically, there are a lot of women who read paranormal romance, and there were a lot of women (four, in fact) who worked on this book. That doesn’t make it a “book for chicks,” however.

4 ) Will the book cover how vampires can feel love and how that’s different from humans?

RB: For purposes of this book, I think we can assume that most Kindred experienced enough love during life to be able to recall it in death. As for Requiem in general, vampiric emotions may be echoes, but you listen to echoes real hard when you can’t hear the original sound. Vampires are capable of being driven by emotions, even though those emotions repeat the ones they had in life.

5 ) What kinds of relationships are possible in Strange, Dead Love? Mortals and vampires? Vampires and vampires? Vampires and supernatural creatures?

RB: The emphasis is primarily on romance between Kindred, and romance between Kindred and mortals. We wanted to keep a strong focus on Vampire, rather than do World of Darkness: Romance. That said, there’s a little bit about romance between vampires and werewolves.

6 ) Some paranormal romances touch on obsessed vampires who in love as a human. Will they be able to bring their dead lover back? Force an Embrace on them?

RB: We don’t talk about post-mortem Embraces specifically. However, we deal with the idea of giving up everything for love, and how that can end tragically. We also have a scenario that involves a reincarnated lover.

7 ) Will there be mechanics that prohibit clans or covenants from mating? An example would be what you did in Forsaken Chronicler’s Guide with the Uratha.

EW: Not for specific clans or covenants, although we do touch on a potential Fourth Tradition of “You Shall Not Embrace For Love,” and the political and emotional conflict that comes from that.

8 ) Can Kindred have or create half-mortal children?

EW: We didn’t touch on this, because we really wanted the focus to be on the romantic elements, not making a family. In straight-up Requiem I don’t believe this is possible, but with some of the shards we present, who can say?

9) What happens when a vampire breeds against all odds? Will multiple aftershocks be explored?

EW: Depending on which props and themes and world shards the group decides to explore with this book, that is certainly something that might be explored. However, as previously mentioned, Kindred procreation isn’t something we explicitly explore.

10 ) What inspired the project and why is White Wolf publishing this book?

RB: This is a book I’ve wanted to do for years. Simply put, I enjoy paranormal romance. I also wanted to do a different kind of Vampire book. Most of the time, we take a subject and talk about how it plays out in the World of Darkness. In this book, we take the World of Darkness and talk about how it plays out in a specific genre. I also got a chance to step away from my usual focus on vampire relationships as exploitative, and look at them in terms of other kinds of dysfunction.

It was a really fun and different way to work, and it makes for a really fun and different book.

11 ) What is sex to a vampire? Is it just foreplay for a Kiss?

EW: That’s how I’ve always seen it. Vampire can have sex, and Requiem vampire can even enjoy sex, but it’s nothing compared to the Kiss.

12 ) Will you cover how Kindred with low Humanity can love either in the text or with new mechanics?

RB: As I said above, we’ve downplayed the exploitative nature of vampiric relationships in this book in favor of somewhat more two-sided dysfunction. Instead of being about broken people, like most Vampire books, it’s about people so swept up in the experience of another person that they make questionable decisions, and feel good doing it. Next book after this, though, we’re back to horrible lizard-brain boyfriends.

13 ) How does the age of a vampire in Requiem factor into intimacy? Is there a difference between a centuries-old Kindred and one that’s only been around for a few decades?

EW: We didn’t get into that, because I don’t think it is a factor in most romantic fiction. Stories in which the centuries-old vampire suddenly falls in love with a mortal are common, and drawing a line in the sand one way or another seemed to rule out a lot of potential story opportunities.

14 ) Will Strange, Dead Love reinforce the Requiem setting and explore its bleak tone? Or, because it’s romance, will it depart from the World of Darkness?

RB: Actual, loving relationships involving vampires are definitely possible – even in the regular Vampire line. The difference is that in most books, we’d be covering the downsides of true love, the way love can make you more of a monster. There are a couple of stories in the clan books that get into that. You’ve got “Witches, Kisses and Bombs” in Savage and Macabre, the story in The Beast that Haunts the Blood about the girl in the locked room, the relationship between Ayesha and Cat in Kiss of the Succubus, and others.

I wouldn’t call it a reversal, but it’s definitely a wholly different approach.

EW: And to be fair, this book is specifically about providing different experiences that are not quite like Requiem. These are world shards, each with a slightly different take on Requiem, similar to what we did in World of Darkness: Mirrors. It’s still a Requiem book, and Russell and I had a lot of talks to make sure that it didn’t become a generic book about vampires in love, but due to the nature of the product, it’s going to feel a bit different from other Requiem books.

15 ) How deeply are the consequences of a vampire-and-mortal relationship explored?

RB: In Strange, Dead Love, we focus more on the explosive potential of love. We talk about the kind of big drama that erupts when people defy Kindred culture and the very idea of damnation in order to have a chance at love. Some of those relationships will end well, some of them badly. The uncertainty of whether a relationship will create bliss or disaster is at the center of the book.

16 ) What can we expect to see for new mechanics? Alternate rules on blood bonds, vinculums, blood sympathy? What about neonate summonings and Vitae orgasms?

EW: There are a few rules hacks in the book, but we don’t spend a lot of time on them. Relationships are complex, messy things (especially the kinds of relationships we explore in this book), and you can’t boil them down to a roll where you achieve orgasm after five successes. We do devote a fair amount of space to Storytellers, though, and give them some mechanical support to help them portray this kind of material more effectively.

17 ) Can ghouls and vampires love? Will there be coverage of what happens between the two?

RB: Unfortunately, I didn’t have space for ghouls. I adore ghoul characters, though, and I think we’ve given them short shrift in Requiem as a whole. As we do new books, I’m definitely looking for places where we can explore ghouls as people. Sexy, broken people.

Related posts:

1. Strange Dead Love Now Available For Vampire: the Requiem!
2. Help Us Interview White Wolf for Strange, Dead Love
3. Author Interview for White Wolf’s Paths of Storytelling

Many Flames Rising readers may recognize Brea Grant from her role as Daphne on the popular television show Heroes. Did you know that the multi-talented Brea also writes comics? I recently had the chance to talk comics and acting with her for the site. We talked about her upcoming comic-related projects as a comic book writer and her new role as Cassie Hack in the upcoming Hack/Slash motion comic series.

What can you tell us about your upcoming role as Cassie Hack?

I will be the voice and sort of the face of Cassie in the new animated comic. We’re using animation, rotoscoping, green screen, all sorts of stuff to make it super cool and fantastic. So it’ll technically be my face but a lot of animation as well.

What are you most looking forward to in portraying a character like Cassie?

I love Cassie because she’s independent and smart with a dark edge to her. She’s a loner and is dedicated to her work. I love women like that because I feel like I’m that way to a certain extent (although I don’t kill serial killers).

Had you read any of the Hack/Slash series before signing on the this project?

Yep. I think I’ve read most of them. I love Hack/Slash. It’s one of the first comics I always tell people to read if they’re just getting into comics because it’s accessible as well as sexy and cool. I even dressed up as Cassie last Halloween and sent the photos to Tim Seeley via twitter. Of course, they ended up all over the Internet…but I guess that’s to be expected.

There are tons of zombie comics currently on the market, what makes We Will Bury You stand out?

For WWBY, we (I write with my brother Zane) wanted to focus on heroes that weren’t your typical protagonists. WWBY follows two women, a thief and a prostitute, who must use their street smarts to stay alive, instead connections, guns, or training. It’s also set in the 1920s so if you’ve never seen a zombie in a top hat, now’s the time.

What sorts of research went into the writing for the series?

A lot actually. I read a lot about Coney Island because Issue 3 took place there entirely and I had never been there. I looked at that and at Tod Browning’s Freaks because we introduce some carnival folks as well in that issue. Other than that, I have a background in history so I mostly relied on that. There were some things I was unsure of like what kind of phones or tea kettles they might have, but for the most part, I knew what was happening politically and economically at that time and I included that.

The Suicide Girls comic is rather different from We Will Bury You, what can you tell us about it?

SG follows a group of underground vigilantes fighting against a corporate religious technocult. It’s sci-fi/fantasy/insanity. It was a very different world from writing WWBY because it’s a franchise and a lot of people had their hands in creating it and shaping the outcome. WWBY was pretty much just me, Zane, and our artist, Kyle Strahm.

Did you work on Heroes affect your comic writing in any way?

I think my acting affects my writing and vice versa. I definitely think a lot more like a character than a writer and sometimes have to step back to look at the whole story. But I think it means I inherently explore character more.

Working on Heroes affects a lot of stuff I do because it was one of the first projects I did and it means people associate me with sci-fi and comics for better or for worse. It works well for me though because I love comics and I love sci-fi and genre movies. It’s a world I don’t mind being associated with.

What comics are you currently reading?

I just finished the last trade of Chew. It’s pretty much my favorite thing on the market. I keep up with X-Factor and Hack/Slash. I just finished Witch, which is a graphic novel by Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett. I liked that a lot. I’m still making my way through my post-SDCC purchases, but I was pretty good this year about not going overboard.

* * *

I’d like to thank Brea for taking the time to chat with me about her work. Want to check out some of the awesome comic book titles or her roles on Hack/Slash and Dexter? Find out more about Brea Grant’s work at her site BreaGrant.com.

I’d also like to give a shout-out to Teren Oddo terenoddo.com for the photo.

Related posts:

1. Flash Fire Mini-Reviews: Horror Comics (Antarctic Press)
2. Eden Studios to Bring Hack/Slash to Gaming!
3. The “Death” of indie comics?

B.J. Burrow is the author of a zombie novel called The Changed, which is published by Apex Book Company. B.J. also contributed stories to Apexology: Horror and The Zombie Feed Volume 1.

Flames Rising reviewer and zombie fan, Eric Pollarine, sat down with B. J. to talk undead, writing and a few other topics…

I’m going to be terribly frank, I haven’t yet, and I use the word yet because I’d like to, read “THE CHANGED,” however I have tried to get myself acquainted with the story, but for those that haven’t read it break it down for us.

A guy goes to work one day and dies… but keeps on keeping on, if you know what I mean. And hey, he has bills to pay, so he needs his job. He has a fiancé and would still like to marry her. But there are some serious Civil Rights violations happening to the undead. To fight against this injustice, our guy launches a campaign for Senator. Vote Zombie! Power to the Decomposers!

I know a great deal of other writers and creative types read Flames Rising and would love to hear how you got started with writing?

I’ve been writing my whole life. Santa brought me an electric typewriter. I received my first rejection letter from The Twilight Zone magazine. I was thirteen years old.

How do you like to work, music on, in a busy place, in a quiet room- though I imagine with the commitments to family it would be difficult to keep a sense of quiet.

How I would like to work and how I am working are two different things. Right now, I wake up at 5:15am and start writing. At 5:30 this morning, my youngest came into the room to tell me she needed to pee, and I began laughing like The Money Pit Tom Hanks: ‘All right, 4 am! I’ll get up at 4 am! Ha Ha Ha!’

Here’s what I would like: a man cave, with serious beers on tap, a sweet television, unlimited movies, walls filled with books, the desk from Deathtrap, and an elaborate computer system that someone else set up.

No music. Quiet—except for, you know, the ocean.

The next question is one I ask all authors that have penned a zombie novel, why do you believe that the zombie (as a trope/antagonist/etc) is so popular right now?

I’m not your first zombie author? I don’t know how I feel about that.

I think The Walking Dead comics tapped into a core zombie audience that has always been there—and hey, who likes horror and doesn’t like zombies? And the caliber of that series brought in the ‘fringe’ horror fans. And it made money, which always helps. Then, quicker than you can say, ‘Here’s an idea,’ Pride and Prejudice and Zombies blew up.

We will always have zombies.

Quick Monster Rankings by Popularity: 1. Vampires. 2. Zombies. 3. Slashers 4. Aliens 5. Japanese Ghosts. 6. Demons. 7. Werewolves 8. Critters (insects, snakes, etc.) 9. Sharks 10. Big Things That Eat Cities.

That’s the list. It never changes. And before you ask, no one gives a shit about Frankenstein’s monster.

Have you always been into zombies? And if so (or not) how did you arrive at zombies as a viable vehicle for a political story?

I enjoy all monsters—I’m all monster inclusive.

I had the idea for The Changed about fifteen years ago, but my idea then was that zombies could vote, so all the electoral officials were obese. I know, an SNL sketch at best. But it stuck with me.

Then I thought, what if a kid’s father was a Senator, and he died, and the kid had to kill him?

But it still wasn’t right.

It slowly evolved into what was published, with the kid being older, about to be married. When he dies, he’s the one who forms The Zombie Party and his father is the one trying to kill him—you know, to put him at peace, send his soul to heaven. Vote Zombie!

I’ve read a few of your blogs through Apex now, and it seems as if you’re actually more of a film/cinema sort of guy, is film your preferred medium to tell a story or do you have a real preference at all?

Quick Preferred Medium To Work In Ranking: 1. (and with a bullet) Novels 2. Film. 3. Television. 4. Short Stories. 5. Comics 6. Painting. 7…. If we get to 7, I’m gonna sit on the couch and watch football.

Lightening round here we go…

Boxer, Briefs or the almighty catch all, Boxer-Briefs?

I write in Briefs—the tighter the better. The rest of the time it’s Boxers or I go Brazilian Style.

Any Pets

Two dogs. A Dachshund and a poodle mutt. I have no idea how it happened.

What’s on your Ipod, unless of course you’re a Zune sort of person, in that case how are you listening to music these days, clay cylinders?

AC/DC (a little band from Australia), Cross Canadian Ragweed, and anything New Orleans (Kermit Ruffins, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, etc.). Oh, and Mastadon.

Favorite drink Alcoholic or otherwise?

Macallan Scotch, legal age.

Ok, lightening round over…I know, it was intense.

How did “The Monster Hunter,” come about?

I wanted to make a movie with my best friend, Allen Odom. We had made several ‘films’ as kids and it was always fun. It was natural to continue in college. The thing was, we needed a good idea that would lend itself to an “independent” film budget.

One night, I woke up with this idea in my mind: What if two serial killers happened to pick each other as their next victim?

The original title of the film was Natural Selection, but apparently that moved units for shit.

Did you use a different approach when writing the film, as opposed to a novel, or did you use similar techniques?

Writing screenplays is so different than novels. So much more restrictive—you’ve got to write in such a truncated way it would make Hemmingway blush. By page 30, you are 1/4 of the way done. Period. If you go over 120 pages, your last name had best be Cameron.

I don’t know if that answers your question… I tell you one thing we did I’d never do with a novel, and that’s have people over to read it out loud. To do that with a novel—no matter how much whiskey you have—would turn brutal pretty damn quick.

A question that I’ve been tiptoeing around now for a few minutes, David Carradine? How was that news for you?

When I heard, I thought: that wasn’t suicide and he wasn’t alone in that room. I wasn’t shocked or anything—I think David would agree: everyone dies.

Can people get “The Monster Hunter,” on DVD or online anywhere?

You can que it up on Netflix, buy it from Amazon, and Apex published a series of blogs I wrote on the making of the movie.

Last but not least, any advice for other starving creative types out there?

For writers, I love Nick Mamatas’ book, Starve Better.

And really, there’s no reason to starve with Taco Bell around the corner.

And here’s the thing: in whatever artistic pursuit you chose, train every f***ing day.

About the Author
B.J. Burrow co-wrote the screenplay, The Monster Hunter, which premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel and stars David Carradine. The Changed is his first novel. he lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, Melissa, and two daughters. he has won his fantasy football league four out of ten times. He is currently working on his second novel.

Find out more at BJBurrow.net

Related posts:

1. Zombies of the World Review
2. First Look at Munchkin Zombies
3. Eric Pollarine interview with Derek Gunn

Dave Gross is the former editor of gaming magazines including Polyhedron, Dungeon, Dragon, Star Wars Gamer, Star Wars Insider, and Amazing Stories. If that wasn’t enough, he’s also written fiction in a number of game worlds, including the Forgotten Realms and, most recently, Golarion, the home of the Pathfinder gaming system. His new novel, Master of Devils, releases later this month. Dave took time out of his busy schedule of writing and watching kung fu movies to chat with us about his upcoming release.

Flames Rising: You have an impressive history in editing for gaming magazines and anthologies, and a whole run of Forgotten Realms novels for Wizards of the Coast. What was the path that brought you to writing fiction for Pathfinder?

Dave Gross: In 2008 I visited the World Fantasy Convention in Calgary. It was mainly a social trip to catch up with some old friends. Two of them were also former colleagues from Paizo, Director of Sales Pierce Watters and Publisher Erik Mona. Erik mentioned his plans to start a Pathfinder Tales line and asked whether I’d be interested in contributing. Already I loved what I’d seen of Golarion. The world was vast and varied, like the Forgotten Realms, but unburdened by a long history with the occasional apocalypse. The prospect of acting as a, well, pathfinder in a relatively fresh setting was too sweet to pass up. Since it would be another year before they were ready to solicit novels, Fiction Editor James Sutter invited me to pitch a novella for the Council of Thieves Adventure Path. He liked the idea that eventually became “Hell’s Pawns,” the first Radovan & the Count story. When it was time to launch the novels, he asked me to pitch an idea with the same characters. That became Prince of Wolves, the first book in the Pathfinder Tales line.

FR: Your upcoming release, Master of Devils, is your second novel featuring Count Varian Jeggare and his bodyguard Radovan, but it’s several novels into the Pathfinder Tales series. What should readers pick up before reading Master of Devils?

DG: Not a thing. In August the novel, a short story at paizo.com, and a new six-part novella in the Jade Regent Adventure Path all come out simultaneously. You can read them in any order without suffering major spoilers.

For fans of chronological order, the sequence is: “A Lesson in Taxonomy,” “Hell’s Pawns,” “The Lost Pathfinder,” Prince of Wolves, the as-yet-untitled web story for August, “Husks,” and then Master of Devils. The earlier stories are available at paizo.com in various formats, several of them for free.

FR: When you’re writing in the Pathfinder universe, how much do you think about tying the story into the game, or vice versa?

DG: In the beginning, I think much more about the setting than about game mechanics. It’s uninteresting to me to place any fantasy story in Golarion; I want to write a story that belongs there. So I research the setting the way I would research Medieval France if I were writing a Carolingian romance.

For Prince of Wolves, the homework started out pretty easy. The Principality of Ustalav existed in only six pages of description, but it was evocative stuff. My favorite parts of those pages went into my brainstorming notes. I knew I wanted to include the worship of the prominent deities of the region, and there was much more material on them in other game books. When I read the description of the courtly intrigue in Caliphas, I knew I had to include several noble schemers as supporting players. Virtually every character and event in the novel comes from my imagining what would “feel true” in this corner of Golarion.

At some point I start thinking of ways the game mechanics can help tell the story. For instance, Pathfinder Harrowers are fortune-tellers, usually frauds but sometimes “True Harrowers.” Deciding that one of my characters is a phony who is as surprised as anyone else when her cards prove prophetic was a fun way to suggest the hand of fate while leaving doubt in the minds of characters and readers alike. I also like to bend the rules when it adds mystery without detracting from the logic of the setting. So my unexpected “True Harrower” turns up a card that doesn’t exist in the standard Harrow deck, and one of my protagonists discovers an unorthodox method of casting spells.

Master of Devils was a different situation. The novel had to be finished before the setting was complete. Fortunately, the Paizo creative team entrusted me with one of the Successor States of Imperial Lung Wa, and I ended up contributing three countries to the setting book.  While kung fu movies inspired the action scenes, I often paused to think of whether the extraordinary moves were things characters can do in the game—like snatching an arrow out of the air or fooling an opponent with a feint. When the action didn’t fit the rules, sometimes I altered the scene to make it more “believable” to a Pathfinder player. But sometimes I left it more true to the movies and trusted that a designer would sweep in behind me and, for example, add Burning Cloud Devil’s flying fireball to a later supplement.

FR: On your blog over at the Alliterates, you’ve reviewed several kung fu movies recently as a tie in to your new release, since Master of Devils takes place at a warrior monastery in Pathfinder’s Asian-flavored setting. Could you talk a little bit about your inspiration, and about any challenges you encountered tying your cinema inspirations into the Pathfinder world?

DG: After I finished Prince of Wolves, James Sutter and I chatted about what the boys might do next. At PaizoCon 2010 we spitballed various ideas, but none of them stuck. Then I remembered that the Tian Xia setting would come out about a year later, around the time I could finish another novel. I’m a huge dork for Asian cinema, so my hand shot up like Arnold Horshack’s, “Ooh, ooh, ooooh!” We caught Erik Mona outside the lounge, he gave us his blessing, and five minute later we had a plan.

Since the Adventure Path takes characters to Golarion’s version of Japan, James preferred that I set the novel elsewhere in Tian Xia. That was perfect for me, since I love Chinese wuxia movies (let’s call ‘em “kung fu movies”) even more than samurai films.

Taking inspiration from these films was the opposite of a challenge. More than anything from Hollywood, kung fu movies capture the essence of fantasy roleplaying. Also, it was no great hardship to revisit scores of my favorite films and discover a few dozen more as I did my research. For those who’d like to explore them, I’ll post more movie recommendations on my site and others over the next weeks.

Many kung fu films include the amazing fight scenes for which the Shaw Brothers became famous. Some are more romantic, like King Hu’s classics or Zhang Yimou’s marriage of wuxia and art-house. Others are full of over-the-top magic and supernatural creatures, like the fantasy films of Tsui Hark. I wanted to reflect all three of these sub-genres, but I didn’t want to jumble a plot with conflicting tones. Thus, Radovan’s journey takes him all over the countryside, where he faces deadly martial arts masters. Varian’s story, told mostly at Dragon Temple, contains more romance and intrigue. And for the really crazy supernatural stuff … well, I don’t want to give away the surprise to those who haven’t already heard the readings, but the third point-of-view character goes places and meets beings that the other two can’t. Near the end, these separate worlds gradually blend into each other before they finally converge. The fun of plotting Master of Devils was that there is ultimately only one story, just many different paths by which to reach it.

FR: For people who aren’t familiar with Paizo’s Adventure Path monthly resource, can you talk a little bit about how the novellas you’ve written to tie into the adventure paths have worked?

DG: The novellas appear in installments within the Adventure Paths, six chapters each. The one thing the fiction and the adventure have in common is the general setting. Thus, the events of “Hell’s Pawns” take place in Cheliax, but in the city of Egorian rather than Westcrown, where the events of Council of Thieves occur. Likewise, “Husks” occurs in Minkai, but in a different city from the final chapters of Jade Regent. I know practically nothing about the adventures when I pitch the story, so any connections of theme or other elements are entirely coincidental.

FR: If you had to pick your top five kung fu movies that everyone should watch, what would they be?

DG: I use the term “kung fu movie” pretty loosely, but the dangerous word here is “favorite.” I wouldn’t necessarily recommend my favorites films to everyone, and my top picks change frequently. I’ve recommended “essential kung fu movies for gamers” elsewhere, so here are five that I can watch over and over again, in no particular order: Hero, Mr. Vampire, Reign of Assassins, A Chinese Ghost Story, and The Bride with White Hair. I’ll keep recommending other films at my author blog at frabjousdave.blogspot.com with links on Facebook and Twitter.

FR: Given your work with role-playing games, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you’re probably in a game or two right now. What games are you playing?

DG: While I have a local gaming group who’ve played in the Pathfinder setting with both D&D and Pathfinder rules, we often go on hiatus when I’m on deadline. Lately we’ve begun the first installment of the Jade Regent Adventure Path. I’m also a fan of but rarely get to play Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars Saga edition, and World of Darkness, among other systems. Usually I get my gaming fix from board games, most of them equally geeky.

FR: As someone who loves reading e-books, can you guess when readers will be able to get Master of Devils in an e-book format? (I see that most of the rest are available in epub format on the Paizo site.)

DG: Judging from recent releases, Paizo should have a PDF and ePub version of Master of Devils available for purchase at their site around the time of the physical book’s release in late July or early August. While they don’t currently distribute via Kindle, free apps like Calibre can convert ePub files to Kindle format.

FR: Thanks so much for chatting with us, Dave! Flames Rising readers, be sure to check out Dave’s essay on dark fantasy and kung fu movies as well — the two may have more in common than you think! Keep an eye out for Master of Devils, appearing soon on bookstore shelves near you.

Related posts:

1. Dave Gross on Dark Fantasy in Kung Fu Movies
2. Behind Plague of Shadows, a Pathfinder Novel
3. 30 Haunts for Houses (Pathfinder) Review

To celebrate the Munchkin 10 Year anniversary, FlamesRising.com asked John Kovalic, the main illustrator for this collectible card game, to open up the floor to questions from his fans for this interview. Every question you read here was asked by a fan on John Kovalic’s Facebook page. In his own words, find out how John works on Munchkin with Steve Jackson Games, what some of his memorable experiences are, and more.

Fan Interview with John Kovalic

How much direction do you get for an individual card?

Usually, just a line or two of text. After ten years of working together, Steve and I seem to have a weird psychic art direction bond: I know exactly what he wants with just a few words. At times, Steve will even just send along a “You know what to do, John” note.

Which card was your favorite?

Hard to say. I usually have a top 10, which seems to rotate. Recently, anything involving a toilet usually has a good chance of being on that list.

What is your most endearing “fan” memory?

At a local show, a dad stopped to thank me for signing some stuff for his severely handicapped son, and taking the time to personalize some stuff for him. The father told me about his son’s greatly reduced life expectancy, and how nice it was that playing these games made his son feel so good. That absolutely tore me up, inside – it still does. We all have inside us the power to make others happy, or to feel better about the world, even if only for a little bit. And yet we take it for granted so often…

If you could preserve and/or immortalize one card for future generations, which one would it be and why?

Probably the most recent version of the Super Munchkin (here have been three, so far), which is also the cover image on the latest edition of the basic game. It appears to have become quite iconic.

Which was the hardest card to draw? Easiest?

The hardest card I had to draw was possibly “The Churninator” from Munchkin Cthulhu 2, as I didn’t realize how Steve had envisaged that as being wielded. It should have been an easy card, but just wasn’t. Another challenging card from Munchkin Cthulhu 2 was the quite intricate “Green Reaper.” I’m surprised I have no hard feelings about Munchkin Cthulhu 2!

Easiest? Oh, I don’t know if there’s ever an “easiest” card to draw, but some of the simpler illustrations have definitely turned into some of my favorites, because the graphic design is allowed to stand out a bit more.

Why only three fingers?

Four just seems to make a hand too crowded.

What concept was the hardest to convey via card artwork?

Spitting. Spitting always seems to be difficult, whenever it pops up. Stop spitting, Munchkins!

When will we see the return of Tony Bourdain: Vampire Hunter?

Soon, I hope, in Dork Tower. He’s never appeared in Munchkin. So unless there’s a “Munchkin: Foodie” expansion somewhere down the line (HINT: There is NO “Munchkin Foodie” expansion down the line…)

What cards would you *like* to draw but haven’t yet?

I can’t tell that without revealing a huge Munchkin surprise that’s still about a year away.

Where do you get your inspiration to match the artwork to the card?

Working with Steve, in all honesty. It’s a thrill that my artwork seems to match his warped sense of humor so well. The mix was good from the start. We’re kind of like the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups of the game world. “You’ve got Cuteness in my Evil!” “Oh, yeah? We’ll YOU’VE got Evil in my Cuteness!” (I may have just aged myself, with that reference).

Are there any Munchkin illios where you realized after publication: “Wow, this could’ve been funnier/cooler if…”

Several, but I think most cartoonists always think they could have done better. Recently, though, I started using a tablet to edit and correct the cards once I scan them in. That leaves me a lot more time to make changes and variations before I have to deliver them per my deadlines. I’ve been taking advantage of the extra time and have been trying to make them funnier/cooler before sending them off to Steve Jackson Games. Munchkin 8 will be the first to benefit from this.

Have you ever come up with an idea for a card’s artwork and told Steve Jackson to find a concept for it?

Occasionally, I’ll come up with a drawing or a pun that I like so much, I’ll run it past Steve or Andrew. There’s a Cleric with a Mitre that has a cannon coming out of it. “Killer Mitre.” Get it?

Which card did you hate the most?

Easy question: the Loaded Die. I despise that card. It’s an ugly drawing. And I made it! It. Has. Run. In. EVERY. Set. EVERY one! Steve knows I hate it. I believe he keeps it in to taunt me…

What is your favorite Munchkin expansion?

Usually, whatever the last one I worked on was, but I tend to prefer the later games, as a whole. I feel my drawings drastically improved: Munchkin Cthulhu, The Good, the Bad and the Munchkin, Munchkin Booty, Munchkin Zombies.

Which alternate version of Munchkin did you enjoy the most?

I’m a Munchkin purist: my favorite game is the original, with two or three of the fantasy expansions — at the most. Did you know what happens when you combine The Good, The Bad and the Munchkin and Star Munchkin? You could make a fine game called “Munchkin Serenity”…

Believe it or not, I have never played (and will never play) a “One With Everything” Munchkin game. There are more than 3,000 cards in print. that way lies madness…

How does it feel to be recognized world-wide as an artist?

It’s delightful to be able to go to Italy or Germany and have people know ad enjoy my work. I’m a very, very lucky cartoonist.

Will we see a stand-alone Dork Tower Munchkin set one day? How about Monty Python?

Maybe. Possibly. Never say ‘never.’ But not for the foreseeable future.

Interview compiled by Monica Valentinelli

Related posts:

1. Sneak Peek at Zombie Chibithulhu, Munchkin Axe Cop, Munchkin Conan and more!
2. SJGames Week: Zombie Dice Review
3. SJGames Week: Interview with Steve Jackson

As part of our continuing coverage for Steve Jackson Games Week, FlamesRising.com is happy to offer you an interview with the President of Steve Jackson Games, Steve Jackson himself. Today, Steve shares his thoughts on game design, his company and his secret role with the Illuminati.

How long has Steve Jackson Games been in business?

More than 30 years now. Before that, starting in 1976, I was a regular freelancer for Metagaming. Before that I was gaming a lot but not professionally.

If you had to pick just one, what’s your favorite game?

I don’t have to pick just one! *smiles* I like lots and lots of games, which is one reason I have been doing this for so long.

In your opinion, what elements are crucial to great game design?

Replay value (which you can get a lot of ways). Clarity of rules. Easy enough to learn/teach that a beginner can enjoy himself quickly.

Describe your typical day.

Get up. Hate the world. Drink coffee. Feel the hate recede. Read e-mail. Go to work, whether it’s at the office or home. Meetings and/or more e-mail. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, I get to talk about actual game design, and if I’m very very lucky, I get to play something. Go home. Read, or fool with Lego. Go to bed too late.

Where do you feel Steve Jackson Games will be in five years? Ten?

Probably right here . . . Or maybe someplace with a cooler climate. I’d really like to keep growing our sales without compromising quality. Boy, I sound like a marketroid, don’t I? In all honesty, the insistence on quality, as **I** view it, has absolutely been the biggest brake on our growth year to year, but I thnk it’s also a big reason why after 30 years we’re still around. It means a lot to me not to disappoint the gamers.

What was the first game you ever worked on?

“Monsters! Monsters!” RPG by Ken St. Andre, a T&T variant in which you play monsters who come out of the dungeon and head toward the city to slay humans and take their stuff.

When did you know you wanted to sell and design games professionally?

Sometime in 1976. Though it was undoubtedy a while after that when I figured out that I wanted to do it for several decades.

Are you a member of the Illuminati?

The Illuminati do not exist. I hold a moderately senior position.

How has Munchkin evolved since it first debuted?

Tighter rules in general. Lots more card types. Balance between Races, Classes, etc. is entirely based on their own powers (in the first edition, for instance, Elves were way stronger than Halflings but there were a lot more elf-hating monsters). By doing this, we make it easier to combine different sets – which itself was a later development, because when I first did Munchkin, I had no inkling either that it would be so popular or that there would be different themes.

What game are you the most proud of? Least?

Most proud? Possibly Illuminati, in terms of original game mechanics.

Least? Hm. That would obviously be one I don’t think about as much. Hm. Okay, there was an in-magazine game in Fantasy Gamer that I could not even remember the name of, so I must not be especially proud of that one. But I don’t feel any actual shame for anything I have ever let ship . . .

What’s your favorite Munchkin card (or game)?

Favorite Munchkin card? Hee. That is hard. There are so MANY . . . How about we pretend you asked about my favorite Illuminati: New World Order card, because I definitely have one for that game: “I Lied.”

That’s the one that lets you walk away from a deal, with the illustration of the guy in a trenchcoat, shrugging and grinning and holding out his hands . . .

How often do you get to play games for fun?

Not nearly enough! And often it’s at conventions. Now, playtests are fun – or if they are not, that in itself is a problem – but I know what you mean, and the answer is definitely Not Enough.

How does it feel to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of Munchkin?

I have a lot of trouble wrapping my head around the idea that it’s been ten years!

Can you share some advice to aspiring game designers? Artists?

Game designers: Playtest, and listen to your playtesters. You don’t have to do everything they say, but LISTEN until you understand what they’re really saying and why.

Artists: What you do is a deep mystery to me. I can critique individual illustrations – and I do, just ask John Kovalic! – but the process of illustration awes me, and “how to be a good artist” is a question way beyond my pay grade. How to be a SUCCESSFUL artist? I can answer that, because I hire artists. Work hard at what you do; learn from others but don’t imitate; and if you are doing art for a client, meet your deadlines, meet your deadlines, and meet your deadlines.

Do you have a message for your fans?

Braaaaaiiiiinnnnns!

Interview by Monica Valentinelli

Related posts:

1. SJGames Week: GURPS Monster Hunters Review
2. SJGames Week: Kenneth Hite talks about GURPS Horror 4th Edition
3. SJGames Week: Zombie Dice Review

James Lowder has been active as a writer and editor sine the 1980s, most famous perhaps for authoring the novel Knight of the Black Rose for TSR, and for editing the All Flesh Must Be Eaten fiction anthologies Book of All Flesh, Book of More Flesh and Book of Final Flesh. More recently, he edited the essay collection Family Games: The 100 Best, and fiction anthologies Curse of the Full Moon and The Best of All Flesh.

I chatted recently with Jim via email about some of his most recently completed projects: Triumph of The Walking Dead – a collection of essays on the longrunning comics series and AMC network’s successful TV series – and Silent Knife and Strangeness in the Proportion, two novels from White Wolf publishing currently being serialized on the White Wolf web site and awaiting print publication.

How did you get involved with the anthology Triumph of The Walking Dead?

I contributed essays to two earlier books in BenBella’s Smart Pop line, King Kong is Back! and The Unauthorized X-Men, and we’ve discussed several projects over the past few during. Smart Pop editor-in-chief Leah Wilson and I trade emails from time to time, and during the course of one of these email chats I suggested The Walking Dead as a potential subject for an essay collection.

This was right around the time the AMC series launched. I was thinking I’d be a contributor to the book if it went forward, but BenBella decided that my work with zombie-related fiction, film, and comics made me a good candidate to edit it. The approach and tone of the Smart Pop line—commentary with some intellectual heft to it, but written in a lively, accessible style—is ideal for this topic. I never tire of the subject of zombies and my experiences working with BenBella have been uniformly positive, so taking on the project was an easy decision.

Are there any authors you wanted to have involved in ToTWD that just couldn’t work it into their schedule?

It would have been great if I could have wrangled a piece from Robert Kirkman himself, or from Charlie Adlard or Tony Moore—the people behind the comics. I tried to line those up, but they never came together. That’s not a surprise. They’re all quite busy after the incredible success of The Walking Dead in its various incarnations.

Otherwise, my initial list of potential authors was longer than the final table of contents could be. Not everyone I contacted was able to participate, but I am very pleased with the final line-up. The essayists are all critics and creators who have written about zombies in one form or another. In addition, most are writers I’d not edited before. That was another reason I jumped at the chance to shepherd the book; I knew I was going to get the opportunity to work for the first time with a lot of people whose work I admire.

Given your extensive resume with previous zombie anthologies, what makes this one different?

Zombies do indeed shamble through a lot of the things I’ve published. Many of my experiences with zombie-related projects have been with fiction, though, whether editing The Book of All Flesh or writing the living dead into my own novels and stories. Because Triumph of The Walking Dead is non-fiction, with a relatively tight thematic focus, it presented a different set of editorial challenges from the ones I faced editing the Books of Flesh anthologies. The essayists reach very different conclusions about the morality of Rick Grimes’ actions as leader, for example. If this were a collection of short stories, I could let each tale stand as a distinct, unconnected vision.

But the essays in this book are all talking about the same source material, so as editor I needed to make certain the different perspectives work together as parts of a larger dialogue, rather than as isolated, conflicting fragments. I also wanted to give readers a lot of different angles on The Walking Dead, from pieces discussing the material in the context of comic book history or the history of violence on television, to detailed explorations of specific characters and themes. This required more targeted editorial direction. For the reader, I hope this effort results in an anthology that will be surprising and thought-provoking.

Zombies were all the rage for a while, but seemed to be falling out of vogue recently; has the AMC television series The Walking Dead revitalized the zombie genre in pop culture?

The media magnates who chase fads jumped on the living dead bandwagon for a while. Now they’re off breathlessly pursuing some other hot pop-culture trend. I don’t know that the AMC television series will revitalize the zombie craze, and in a way I hope it doesn’t. So much material was pumped out during the “Zombie Renaissance” that kicked off in 2003 or so that it has sometimes been difficult for inventive, passion-driven work to find an audience. After the shelves get crowded enough, it’s too easy to dismiss it all as just more market-driven product with brain-munching dead things in it.

The Walking Dead has continued to thrive even after the zombie fad cooled because it is top-notch storytelling, both the comic and the AMC series. The fact that so many serious creators and critics had thoughtful things to say about it in Triumph of The Walking Dead is a testament to its weight. I like to think that this sort of quality work will continue to draw readers and viewers. For me, I was publishing books and stories featuring the living dead before the Zombie Renaissance and I’ll continue to do so, fad or no fad.

Silent Knife and Strangeness in the Proportion have been in the works for a while, and are currently serialized on the White Wolf website. When will those be available as print editions?

It has been a while, hasn’t it? I’ve been working on the two books as editor since 2007. Both were the result of a contest White Wolf ran for World of Darkness novels. After they selected the winning entries, Stewart Wieck and Rich Thomas brought me on board to help the two first-time novelists whip their books into shape. Initially, the plan was to publish the books in traditional print form in 2008, but changes in the book market led us to look at different approaches and the release dates shifted and then shifted again. Ultimately we settled on serializing the novels weekly on the White Wolf website. All of Strangeness in the Proportion has been posted and we’re partway through Silent Knife. Both will eventually be collected as ebooks and should also be released in print, though we’re still finalizing plans.

The changes in the publication plans for the novels have actually turned out to be an incredible boon. Joshua Doestch, the author of Strangeness in the Proportion, and David Nurenberg, the author of Silent Knife, have had the opportunity to rework the manuscripts and really make them shine. Rich Thomas and Eddy Webb at White Wolf deserve a lot of credit for turning what should have been a disappointment—no author likes to hear that his or her first book is going to be delayed in its release for a couple years—into an opportunity for the authors to hone their craft.

How did you like working in the World of Darkness?

The World of Darkness is terrific. The creative people who first imagined the world and all the talented designers and writers and artists who have added to the setting over the years have produced what has to be described as the premiere shared horror setting. What makes the World of Darkness a great place for writers and editors, though, is the way in which the White Wolf staff supports and respects their creativity.

I’ve had the pleasure of both editing World of Darkness material, with Strangeness in the Proportion and Silent Knife, and writing in the setting, with game material in Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom and short stories in the anthologies Truth Until Paradox, City of Darkness: Unseen, and The Splendour Falls. All those projects have been studies in the way shared-world publishing should work.

Having done a great deal of both, do you have a preference for being a writer or an editor?

I find editing easier. It’s not the painful process writing seems to be for me most of the time. But I enjoy writing more; it’s more fulfilling creatively. I hope to fit some new writing projects into my schedule in the next few months. I’m currently wrapping up two short stories and two comic book scripts, all of which should see print by the end of the year. It’s actually been a while since I published any fiction, so I’m looking forward to getting those stories in front of readers.

Interview by Bill Bodden

Related posts:

1. Jeremy Jones talks to James Lowder about “Worlds of Their Own”
2. Cover Art Preview of The Screaming Tower by James Lowder
3. James Lowder’s The Screaming Tower

I first met Mr. Braunbeck when I was a grunt at the Borderlands Writers Boot Camp. To Each Their Darkness is his guide for writers and in some ways it expands upon many of the gems he gave to those of us at the workshop. As one of the newest writing manuals on the market it is undoubtedly one of the best, using the personal to impart the practical. Comparable to Stephen King’s On Writing, To Each Their Darkness takes writers on a journey to discovering how to use their own dark experiences in their work, without becoming a slave to that same darkness that can hold one hostage.

But it is more than just a writing guide. And it should be read by more than just those working professionally as writers or those aiming to. Anyone that is interested in the sweat that goes into creating their favorite horror novels, short stories, or movies; anyone that is interested in the process that the writer must often go through before getting the words from his or her head-space and onto the page; anyone in a personal relationship of any kind with a writer — especially a writer of darker works — should read this book.

Gary Braunbeck has been gracious enough to take time out of his busy schedule to answer some interview questions about TETD and the writing life. Without further ado, Gary Braunbeck, in his own words.

- – -

You write about a lot of painful, personal experiences in TETD. How did you come to the decision to include them?

GB: There’s a line early in the book that states — and I’m paraphrasing here because I don’t have the book in front of me — that in order for something to stand as an actual opinion and not a simple preface to one, such as, “I liked it” or “I didn’t like it,” said prefaces have to be followed by reasons why, and in order for you to understand the reason why this person reached said opinion, you need to know something about the person who’s offering the opinion. Much of the personal information I offer in To Each Their Darkness is intended to illustrate to readers “how” I reached certain opinions about the horror field, and why those were the opinions at which I arrived. I talk a lot about other writers’ work in the book, particularly in a section that reprints about 6 introductions I wrote for others’ books, and it’s my sincere hope that by the time readers get to this section, they’ll go in with a fuller understanding of how and why I reached the conclusions and opinions that offer. (Also, hopefully, it will cause readers to seek out those books.)

Besides, one cannot write about the darker aspects of the human condition — and I won’t apologize for using that oft- and unjustifiably-maligned phrase — unless one has experienced some aspect, small or large, of it for him- or herself.

How difficult was that?

GB: The difficulty wasn’t in dredging up some rather unpleasant details from my past, the difficulty came when I began to associate these details with my own fiction in order to illustrate how a person can use horror and dark fantasy as a possible — sometimes necessary — form of self-exorcism. I’ve been carrying a lot of nastiness around for most of my life, and until I hit my mid-thirties, that nastiness defined me in my own eyes. I was not a nice person. Most days I still can’t think of myself as one of the “good guys.” To be completely honest, I write what I write in an effort to someday find a way to forgive myself. Haven’t gotten there yet but it’s been a helluva ride thus far.

How do you think writers can find balance between work and life?

GB: By knowing how to define him- or herself beyond being a story-teller. I know dozens of writers who define themselves as a parent, a sister, a friend, an in-law, an activist,etc. — and this is the manner in which they define themselves as they work to maintain the life they’ve built for themselves and their family, and they’re among the happiest, kindest, most compassionate human beings you could ever hope to meet. Calling themselves “writers” usually comes five or six lines down the list. My problem has always been that I’ve defined myself solely as a writer, so I can’t really offer you a solid answer to your question — and I’m not trying to be cute or evasive, but I’ve yet to be able to strike that balance.

What do you think is the best way writers can get in touch with the darkness in their lives in order to use it in their writing, without being consumed by it?

GB: Ah, there’s the rub, as Willy S. [William S. Burroughs] would say. But what I’ve found helps achieve that goal — that necessary emotional distance — is to view whatever darknesses from your life as simply story material. William Goldman has a great line at the end of his novel The Color of Light that goes: “Life is material, you just have to live long enough to figure out how to use it.” You have the opportunity to take events Q, R, and S and reshape them so that they enhance the story and theme of the piece. Just don’t start out by using an incident from your past whole-cloth because “…that’s the way it really happened.”

Fiction doesn’t give a shit about how something “really happened,” it’s only interested in how this thing can be reshaped to serve the story. If it doesn’t serve the story, then you can bet your ass you’ve fallen victim to creative self-indulgence and that whatever you produce is going to read more like apologist fiction, and that will cripple a writer’s resolve; there’s nothing quite like realizing that, because you forced an element or passage into a story where it didn’t belong, you have unleashed the literary equivalent of a Cleveland Steamer into the world.

You talk about lyrical styles in TETD. Can you elaborate a bit?

GB: I get so tired of reading journeyman-level prose, I really do. But at the same time, prose that is so purple dense as to be impenetrable is equally frustrating. I began gravitating toward a more “lyrical” style of prose because of watching re-runs of 1950s live television dramas, and then The Twilight Zone. Particularly in the 1950s live dramas, the writers had a damn-near impossible task: to capture and maintain the attention and emotions of a post-WWII generation that had only recently made the transition from radio to movies, and now here comes this newfangled whatchamacallit named “television,” and it promises to be just as good as the other two outlets. Problem was, the TV dramas didn’t have the bigger budgets, the studios wherein they performed the plays were, at best, the size of three janitor’s closets with a kitchenette thrown in, and — and this is the kicker — most of the directors only had two cameras to work with (some had to make due with one).

The sets were sparse and cramped, the conditions were impossible, so they had one thing and one thing only to keep viewers’ attention: the writing. And the dialogue these writers gave to their characters was wondrous; literate and brittle and sprinkled with affecting metaphors — they were like operas minus the music. And it never sounded phony — and that’s because these writers knew how give each character a definitive cadence to their speech patterns, often by employing a method of repetition that, as far as I can tell, began with the writings of Gertrude Stein and Mao Tse-tung (to this day, whenever I read something that’s been translated from Chinese, it reads like Gertrude Stein). It is an unapologetic rhetorical mode that builds everything upon repetition and the rhythm created by that repetition. When this type of prose — be it in narrative or dialogue — really catches fire, it establishes the unit of sense not in the clause or the sentence, but in the discursion — no easy feat. You can find this kind of language in the writings of Eastern mystics like Sri Chinmoy-Ghose and the Avatar Meher-Baba, but it’s also all over the Old Testament as well as the Koran and that good old standby Kahlil Gibran.

But here’s the thing: once you’ve learned to recognize this type of lyrical language, once the cadences become recognizable, you’ll realize that this form of language is everywhere, and you’ll never be able to un-recognize it. You’ll find that this form of language will find a way to merge with your own emerging voice as a writer, enriching it, expanding it, clarifying and elevating it to a level near-poetry … and yet read as naturally as everyday speech.

Upcoming works and last thoughts for this interview? Thanks!

GB: I’m currently finishing a novella for Tasmaniac Publications entitled Clipper Girls that I will have finished before my birthday, then I’m doing a novella for Delirium’s novella series, another novella for Michael Knost’s upcoming anthology Barbershop Quartet (horror/dark fantasy stories set in and around barbershops), finishing the 3rd Cedar Hill collection for Paul Miller at Earthling, and the final Cedar Hill novel, A Cracked and Broken Path for the amazing folks at Apex. There are a few other projects, but I don’t want to jinx them by mentioning them before anything’s been signed.

Thank you so much for inviting me to be interviewed. This was fun. I dug it.

Interview by Nancy O. Greene

Related posts:

1. Gary Braunbeck’s Introduction from To Each Their Darkness

FlamesRising.com is pleased to present you with an in-depth look at Paths of Storytelling, White Wolf Publishing’s latest release for Vampire: the Masquerade.

Joining us today is the developer of this product, Eddy Webb, along with the trio of authors: Jess Hartley, Kelley Barnes and Monica Valentinelli.

For your part in Paths of Storytelling, what was your goal?

EDDY: My job was to help the writers come up with something appropriately cheesy yet plausibly accurate, and then stitch all the threads together into one manuscript. I also wrote the first and last sections.

KELLEY: I was so excited to be asked to take part in the time-honored April 1st project for White Wolf. I read Chuck Wendig’s Dudes of Legend in draft form last year, and listened to critical editing discussions about the charms in Scroll of Swallowed Darkness the year before that. I was both awed and jealous of the people who were tapped for this special release. Happily, a ‘bucket list’ item on my life list can now be marked as done.

My goal with this writing assignment was to embrace the surface stereotype of the Toreador clan and roll with it and in it. Rose Motif? Check. The impossibly beautiful vampire that everyone stares at and wants? Check. Melodrama? Lots of conversation? Check again. I even tried to incorporate fallen-out-of-use vocabulary to add that feeling of grandiose self-importance – like quellazaire – but thankfully slightly over the top tendency was reigned in.

JESS: I was thrilled to have been given the Malkavian portion of the Paths of Storytelling project. One of my pet peeves throughout my experience with the World of Darkness is the mistaken perception that insanity (intrinsic in the portrayal of this clan) is goofy or amusing. Anyone who’s actually dealt with someone with a vastly different perception of reality knows that it’s not funny or silly. At its best, it’s confusing and challenging. At its worst, it’s heart-breaking and terrifying. I really wanted to represent that, in the Malkavian Paths of Storytelling section.

MONICA: When I was asked to do the project, I couldn’t stop bouncing for weeks. Before I wrote anything for the Gangrel path, I poured through all my old material for Vampire: the Masquerade — including the TV show. I felt that matching the voice and the feel of the setting was crucial to the joke’s believability, which was part of the reason why I dropped in signature characters like Karsh, El Diablo Verde and a few other familiar faces. It was really fascinating for me to map out, because the goal was to introduce Vampire: the Masquerade to a fictitious reader, all the while knowing that the person most likely reading it would be someone who knew the setting. So in this path, the reader doesn’t just become a Gangrel, they get introduced to Vampire: the Masquerade.

How integral was the design to your Clan?

JESS: Since the most common identifying feature of Clan Malkavian is their madness, I wanted to be able to represent that in the design of the project right from the start. So the first choice (after opting to become Malkavian) that the reader is faced with determines whether they will spend the rest of their path-options dealing with Paranoia or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. While I never specified the derangements specifically, the Malkavian paths really separated at that initial choice and each of the two paths was written as if the reader was seeing the world through the filters of their particular derangement.

It made the story more challenging to create, I think. Without a lot of opportunity for doubling back to loop into previous options, I had essentially half the number of words available to get the reader from starting point to satisfactory ending. I did cheat a bit, there’s one point where the two derangements streams cross, but for the most part, the downhill slope is separate for each of the two derangement options.

MONICA: After I developed a metaplot, I decided to structure the paths in a way that initially affected the reader on a personal level. Then, as the story continued, the reader’s choices tie directly into the metaplot and how the Gangrel fit into that story. If you get the chance to read through it a few times, you may see a couple of references to earlier points on the Vampire: The Masquerade Revised timeline. Many of those references are intentionally subtle to provide the reader with an immersive experience since it’s written in the second person.

KELLEY: I’ve enjoyed playing Toreador in tabletop and LARP over the years and feel that most players approach this vampire archetype in one of two ways: reverently or tongue-in-cheek. I tried to touch on both with the idea of the embrace, the revelations of the Masquerade and the variety of endings taking place over the span of the same night. In pure soap opera format, how many bad things would you the reader have to endure in a few hours of unlife? One thing that did inspire me I while rewriting the first draft was reading the work of my fellow authors – specifically their use of signature characters for their paths. I altered some of my work to incorporate Victoria Ash, from the Toreador Clanbook revised because of their amazing contributions.

Can you tell us a little bit about how your path ends?

KELLEY: I got a little ‘ending happy’ I think. Each time I finished one route of Morgan’s story, another idea popped into my head. I even sent Eddy, Jess and Monica a flow chart of scenes for the Toreador path and in the end I included six possible resolutions, with the nicest one being eternal servitude to Victoria Ash. I hope that our fans think the other five endings for Toreador are appropriately angsty.

MONICA: Kelley’s flow chart should have been its own download. I was seriously impressed!

For the Gangrel path there are two endings; I could have easily written more, but I was running into the problem of: “But wait! I have more stories to tell and I’m out of time!” Since a few people have already mentioned it, one of the endings is a wrestling face-off between the reader and El Diablo Verde, the Nosferatu luchador. I took the phrase “No One Defeats El Diablo Verde!” and ran with it. The other ending ties back into the metaplot, but I’m not going to spoil it for you. Let’s just say I was inspired by something specific that happened a few centuries back. Given the choice, I’d take getting pummeled by El Diablo Verde over the other option. At least you know what you’re getting into when you step into the ring with that wrestling legend.

EDDY: I wrote the only “good” ending, the one that results in Golconda. Of course, none of the paths actually allow you to get to it. Partially this was designed as a way to sell the joke that this was a World of Darkness product (everything has a bad outcome), but it was also a nod to the book “Inside UFO 54-40,” which also had a false end that you couldn’t get to without cheating.

JESS: *chuckles* It’s Vampire – there’s no such thing as a completely happy ending! However, some of the ending options are, shall we say, more permanent than others. There’s actually one universal loop option available, which was something I really wanted to try to incorporate in. But, while some folks may be disappointed by the lack of sunshine and rainbows happy endings available, I think that each of the available endings acts as its own cautionary tale. In the World of Darkness, actions beget consequences, and sometimes you’ve got nothing but bad and worse options to choose from, meaning the consequences coming from those options are pretty bleak as well.

Still, I hope that they’re interesting and exciting fates, despite the horror. Isn’t that what the World of Darkness is all about?

- – -

If you haven’t picked up your copy of Paths of Storytelling, you can find multiple e-book formats for ninety-nine cents at DriveThruRPG.com or at the FlamesRising RPGNow Shop.

For more information about the twentieth edition of Vampire: the Masquerade, visit www.vampirethemasquerade.com.

Related posts:

1. Help Us Interview White Wolf for Strange, Dead Love
2. Paths of Storytelling: Character Stats for Sapphire GoldenClaw
3. Interview with Jess Hartley, Freelance Author & Editor

Flames Rising is pleased to present an in-depth interview with author and game designer Robin Laws. An industry veteran, Laws has published role-playing games, supplements, novels and fiction for several companies. His works range from The Esoterroists, produced by Pelgrane Press, to his upcoming Pathfinder novel, which will be released through Paizo this spring.

Today, we sit down with Robin to discuss horror in role-playing games, his work on the GUMSHOE system, and his endeavors as an editor and novelist.

How do you feel GUMSHOE fits into the horror genre?

Did you have specific elements you wanted to avoid in Gumshoe?

The Trail of Cthulhu game line also uses the GUMSHOE system. Can you elaborate?

What’s so horrifying about a game like Mutant City Blues?

Do you have any horror gaming experiences that stand out in your mind?

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Any other recent games stand out in your mind?

Besides your work as a game designer, you’re also a novelist and have penned short stories. Can you tell us about your works?

Earlier, you announced you’re the Creative Director for Stone Skin Press. Can you tell us about it?

You’ve also written screenplays and comics. Can you describe those experiences?

There’s a lot of talk these days about the future of gaming. Where do you think it will go?

Related posts:

1. Interview with Author Gabrielle Faust
2. Cthulhu Week: Inmates by Robin D. Laws
3. Interview with Joe R Lansdale

Matt Forbeck has been a staple in the RPG industry for many years. With stints working for Games Workshop, Pinnacle Entertainment and Human Head Studios, and with design credits from Deadlands and Brave New World to Mutant Chronicles and the Leverage tabletop role-playing game, Matt has enough experience that the title “veteran” hardly seems adequate. Matt and I sat down to hash out a few questions regarding his most recent novel, Amortals, from Angry Robot Books.

What inspired you to write a dystopian, futuristic novel?

The idea that I had for the novel required a dark future. I wanted to set up a mystery in which the hero had to solve his own murder given only a recording of his demise, a snuff film that had been released for anyone to see. To pull that off, I either needed to go with some spectacular magic or technology, and I chose to plunge into the future.

Besides that, I’ve always been a fan of dark, near-future science fiction — call it cyberpunk if you like, although it’s broader than that these days — but had never till that point had a chance to try my hand at writing a full sci-fi novel. The closest I’d come was the novelization of the Mutant Chronicles film, but that’s more “techno-fantasy,” as we called it. Many years before that, I’d written The Big Dance, a novel for Reaper’s CAV game, which pitted giant robots against each other. While that’s clearly science fiction, it’s about giant robots battling it out, which makes for an entirely different tone.

Fortunately, I got to scratch that itch. While I’d written 13 novels before Amortals, it was the first one I’d written that wasn’t a tie-in to a game or a film. I’m grateful that Angry Robot bought the novel from me on the basis of a painfully short pitch and set me free to write it.

Do you think calling Amortals “dystopian” is fair?

Not technically. It’s a dark future, but it has its better points too. It’s more like Blade Runner than 1984. There’s no all-pervasive government that oversees and controls every aspect of its citizen’s lives. It’s intrusive, sure, but in the same sense that our current government can be intrusive when it likes.

In fact, in many ways, the future of Amortals is no darker than the world we live in now. The metaphor of the future gives us the distance we need to be able to examine issues from a cooler perspective, but it doesn’t mean that the issues have changed much if at all over the years.

What qualities – both positive and negative – do you like to write into your characters?

I like to run the gamut and play with all sorts of characters. Most of them are fairly sensible sorts, if only because it’s easier to believe in a character that’s not a complete loon. I try to give even my so-called bad guys reasonable motivations. If you study them long enough, you might find yourself starting to agree with them. That doesn’t make them right, of course, just possessed of a powerful point of view that contradicts that of the protagonist.

I’ve noticed that I like to write about heroes though, people who are willing to stand up and do what they think is right, no matter how hard it is. They might be weary or reluctant or just plain pissed off at the world, but they never turn their back on it.

You’ve done a lot of writing for RPGs; how is writing a stand-alone novel different? Is it easier or harder (or about the same) than writing an RPG book?

It’s a whole different animal and uses different parts of the brain. With an RPG, you build an entire world and populate it with all sorts of reasons and opportunities for adventure. With a novel, you pick one story and follow it all the way through. It’s limiting in that way, but it also means you as the author have absolute control over the story, which frees you up at the same time.

In an RPG, the players control the story at least as much as the game’s designer. You cannot predict what they’re going to do, and the more you try the more frustrated you’re likely to become. With a novel, though, you get to handle it all. The responsibilities and rewards for each type of work have miles between them.

Do you intend to write a sequel to Amortals?

I’d love to. The novel comes to an abrupt end at what is the climactic part of Ronan’s story, but it also supplies a clear impetus for what could be at least a whole new novel’s worth of tales. I’m actually going to be suggesting this to Angry Robot soon, along with a raft of other ideas I’m pursuing.

I understand you have another new novel on the near horizon, Vegas Knights. Can you give us a thumbnail sketch of the premise?

A couple of college freshman pick up a little bit of magic and decide to head to Las Vegas over Spring Break to see if they can use their tricks to score big. Unfortunately for them, they discover that they’re far from the first people to come up with this idea. The magic mob catches on to them, and it all spirals out of control from there in spectacular and painful ways.

That’s the key phrase for a thriller, by the way: “spirals out of control from there.” If it’s a comedy instead, you use “hilarity ensues.”

Is Angry Robot publishing this novel as well? Are you slated to write more novels for AR?

This is another Angry Robot book, just like Amortals. They’re great people, and I’ve been thrilled with them so far. I don’t have any other novels under contract with them at the moment, but we’re in the middle of discussing plans for the future right now. I have high hopes that you’ll see many more of my books from them in the future.

I know publishers have cut way back on this sort of promotion, but is there a thought that you might do a book signing tour?

As an indie publisher, Angry Robot doesn’t send any of its authors on tour, and honestly I’m not sure how much good such things do these days for any but the bestselling authors. That said, I always enjoy meeting with people who enjoy my work. I’m going to be at a number of conventions this spring and a few more over the summer and fall. For updates on that, people should check my schedule on my website.

If book or game stores would like to have you in for a signing, how can they get in touch with you?

If a store would like to have me in for a signing — or if a convention would like to have me attend as a guest, or if a school would like to have me in as a speaker — all they have to do is ask. They can contact me at matt@forbeck.com with the dates, location, and any other details. I’ll check that against my schedule and see what we can work out. I’m always happy to do what I can to help people get my books into readers’ hands.

Interview by Bill Bodden

Related posts:

1. 12 for ’12 Interview with Matt Forbeck
2. Amortals Novel Review
3. Preview of Amortals by Matt Forbeck

The Limitlessness of Horror: Mark Allan Gunnells talks about Life in the Asylum

They are safe in a night club, doors closed and barred. The undead can’t get them. They are safe, right? Who will protect them from themselves? There may be chaos outside, but inside the “asylum” isn’t all that much better.

Mark Allan Gunnells recent novella, Asylum (The Zombie Feed/Apex Publications), takes Romero-style zombies and situations and populates them with complex (and deeply compelling) characters who, as Gunnells says below, happen to be gay.

“My focus isn’t on the zombies themselves—though there is flesh-eating goodness to be had, don’t get me wrong—but instead on the characters trying to survive,” said Gunnells. “In many ways, Asylum is a character study of this group of survivors.”

The resulting novella is simultaneously rich in tradition and fresh with contemporary relevance. Most importantly, of course, Asylum is a damn good story well told.

Gunnells is a horror writer living in the small South Carolina town he grew up in. He’s been writing horror fiction since he was a kid, publishing stories since he graduated from college.

“Horror is about limitlessness, about anything being possible,” said Gunnells, “and I embrace the freedom of that.

Elsewhere, Gunnells has joked about using fiction as a way to seek revenge on the bullies of his past, yet his stories are too layered, too richly textured to be simple wish-fulfillment.

Now he has three books out or forthcoming in the next few months. Ironically, he went almost a year without publishing a story and now the floodgates have opened. In addition to Asylum, Gunnells has Tales from the Midnight Shift, Volume 1 (Sideshow Press) and Whisonant (Sideshow Press) due out in early 2011.

So this interview finds you in the midst of three releases, one out in December 2010 and two more in early 2011. Has it sunk in yet?

No, I’m still very much in the mindset of “I can’t believe they are going to give me money for stuff I made up in my head.” And honestly, I hope I never lose that. This comes at the end of a very dry year. Last month I published my short story “Dancing in the Dark” with Darkside Digital, and it was the first thing I’d published all year. It’s nice to close out a dry year like this. Helps boost my confidence going into 2011.

What do you enjoy about writing? What do you not enjoy?

I guess what I enjoy most about writing is finding out what happens next. For me, writing is an act of discovery as much as it is creation. [I write] whatever comes to mind. I find inspiration for stories in many things—something that happens to me, a conversation I overhear, a song on the radio—and if it occurs to me, I write it.

I start the story, but when it’s really going right, the story takes over at some point and leads me. I love that. My least favorite part of the process is revision and editing. It’s a necessary part, vital even, and I accept that, but for me it just lacks the rush of actually being in the middle of the writing.

You’ve described yourself as a small town boy. In what ways, do you suppose the ethos of a small town permeates your fiction?

I’ve never really thought about it, but I rarely write stories set in big cities. Most of my stories take place in small towns. I think there’s something about small town life that lends itself to horror. Everyone seems to know everyone else’s business in a small town, but also small town folks can keep a secret better than anyone else.

I admire your use of gay characters. They appear naturally and function as characters first, gay second. Do you have advice for other writers on using gay characters in their stories?

I have actually been asked this by straight writers before, and I always say that a gay person and a straight person are not really all that different, at least no more so than two straight people or two gay people. Don’t go in thinking, “I’m writing a gay character.” Just write a character, build the foundation, and let the sexuality just be an aspect of that, like eye color or height. Nothing more or less important than that. I always say don’t write a “gay character” but write a character who happens to be gay.

How do you balance your day job as a security supervisor and an accelerating career?

Well, I don’t know how much acceleration there is, but I am actually very lucky in that I have a job that allows me time to write. I’m a security guard, and throughout the work day I have pockets of downtime in between my duties, and I use that time to sit down and write. It’s a very nice set-up and I am grateful for it.

When you write a horror tale, what comes first – character, setting, plot, image, sight, sound, or something else? And how does it grow from there? Is it the same for stories and novels?

For me, it usually starts with a general notion. Like, “What if a guy thought a certain song was cursed and would cause bad things to happen if played in his presence?” Or “What if someone got stuck in a traffic jam that never ended?” Once I get the notion, I start asking a lot of questions. Who is this happening to? How does he or she react? How does the situation resolve itself? What complications arise in the seeking of that resolution? As I answer these questions, the story starts to form itself in my mind, connections being made. I tend to work that way for both shorts and the few novels I’ve written.

The idea for Asylum came to me in college. Some friends had taken me to a gay club and I thought, “What if zombie attacked and we were trapped in this club?” It all initially came from that simple thought.

How has your understanding of the form changed since your first efforts?

My early fiction makes me cringe. You’ve heard “show, don’t tell.” Well, my early efforts were all telling. I like to think I’ve gotten better at it since then, allowing the story to be told through character action, dialogue, and not just a laundry list of “This happened, then that happened, then this happened, the end.”

“Jam”—which will appear in my collection Tales from the Midnight Shift, Volume 1—was the first story I ever sold, and it was a big deal for me, despite netting me very little actual cash. But the story that really feels like it changed things for me is “God Doesn’t Follow You into the Bathroom”, which is also in the collection. I sold that story to Black Ink Horror, run by Tom Moran, and that began my association with Sideshow Press.

I want to constantly improve at my craft, and I believe the only way to do that is by simply writing, writing, writing.

If you could see around corners and into the future, what do you think the literary landscape will look like in ten years?

It depresses me how little people seem to read these days. You occasionally have your phenomenons like Potter and Twilight, but by and large reading seems to be viewed as an antiquated past time by a lot of people. So in ten years I think there will probably be fewer people reading for recreation and enjoyment, but the base of hardcore readers will remain passionate about it. I think digital will play an even larger role in the publishing business but will never “replace” actual books.

Who are you reading these days?

Joe R. Lansdale is awe-inspiring. I read him with a mix of exhilaration and envy. I’m currently reading some Michael McBride, whom I only recently discovered but has greatly impressed me. James Newman and Brian Knight I think are two of the best and most underappreciated writers working today.

What’s next for you?

I have a few projects in the works with Sideshow Press for 2011, but it’s a little too early to give any details. I’m also working on a novella entitled “The Summer of Winters” that I will shop around when I’m done. After that another zombie novella, “Fort”, which isn’t a sequel to “Asylum” but is connected. Mostly I just plan to keep writing.

Related posts:

1. Interview with author Ray Wallace
2. From Zombie Celebrity to Author: An Interview with Amanda Feral
3. Zombie Week: Interview With Author David Moody

You’re all familiar with zombie celebutante Amanda Feral from my reviews of Happy Hour of the Damned, Road Trip of the Living Dead, and Battle of the Network Zombies. Hopefully you’re also familiar with her from reading about her adventures themselves. But what you may not know is that Mark Henry, whose name is on the cover of these novels, is actually the ghost writer for the real Amanda Feral. The snarky socialite is also an author in her own right, and her first e-book, Stocking Full of Coal, just released on December 16th. I had the chance to chat with Amanda before her premiere to get the skinny on where she’s at now (but not who she’s eating).

Alana Joli Abbott: You’re a celebrity and a socialite, as well as the owner of your own advertising firm and a former reality television show star. What made you decide to strike it out as a writer?

Amanda Feral: Is there anything I can’t do? The answer is bowling. Inevitably, I’d pick a ball that was too heavy for me and I’d lose an arm down the alley. But to answer your question, I started amassing all these little stories from observations. People I’d meet and figured I could turn them into some tidbits of hotness. Erotica was a natural fit because my first language is smut.

AJA: For your memoirs, you worked with ghostwriter Mark Henry, whose name ended up on the book covers. Was giving him credit a ploy to avoid paying a percentage of the profits to the Reapers? Or were you just hoping to protect your supernatural identity?

AF: Back then, I just didn’t have the time to write, so I’d call in these snippits from my life and let him worry about how to piece them together. I’m not saying there’s anything fictional in those books, just that he might have exaggerated…particularly about my promiscuity.

AJA: Your relationship with Mark seems combative, based on tweets that pass between the two of you. Can you tell us a little bit about working with him?

AF: He’s miserable and thinks he’s funny. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have a career at all.

AJA: The first book with your name on the cover, Stocking Full of Coal, launches this month. Congratulations! Can you tell your fans a little bit about the new story?

AF: It’s an erotic tale of bruisesluts and secret societies and what happens when you stop keeping secrets and open yourself up to possibilities. Superhot and disturbing, which I plan to be the tone of all my erotic work.

AJA: Any supernatural appearances in the book?

AF: This one is a contemporary erotic romance (but heavy on the erotic). So it’s not paranormal, but that doesn’t mean it’s not weird. I can’t get away from the “WEIRD”. I guarantee it’s not anything your readers have ever read before.

AJA: Spill. Was Mark involved at all in working on this title?

AF: You never can tell. He’s stalking me; that might have influenced the depravity in the pages.

AJA: I noticed on your new blog that you’re now living in Paris. What made you decide to leave Seattle?

AF: Seattle is a little soggy, as you can imagine. There’s nothing worse than bloating up simply from being outdoors. Normally a body has to be floating face down in a river for months to create the kind of damage a Pacific Northwest autumn and winter can do to a zombie. Paris isn’t a whole lot better, but damn if the flavor of meat and stuff (wink) isn’t enhanced by the French’s bitchy ways. I love ‘em.

AJA: There aren’t all that many zombie writers out there — as far as the general public is aware, anyway. What particular struggles have you faced that a non-zombie might not encounter?

AF: It’s not been easy. The vampire and werewolf authors steal the limelight and flood the marketplace with their anti-zombie propoganda. I’ve had it. So I’ve decided to take them out one at a time. First on my list is that snarky bitch Jaye Wells (Mage in Black). She is so dead.

AJA: Agents or editors: which taste better?

AF: I’ve sampled neither. I’ll tell you after the sales figures on this book come back.

AJA: Aside from following you on twitter, where can your fans get the latest updates on the life of Amanda Feral?

AF: I have a blog, which I update irregularly at feralsmut.blogspot.com. Also, I’m on Tumblr (amandaferal.tumblr.com).

Thanks to Amanda for joining us at Flames Rising. Check out her new book, Stocking Full of Coal, or go grab a copy of her memoirs, Happy Hour of the Damned,, Road Trip of the Living Dead, and Battle of the Network Zombies.

Related posts:

1. Interview with author Ray Wallace
2. Interview with Author Mark Allan Gunnells
3. Zombie Week: Interview With Author David Moody

GABRIELLE FAUST has pursued an eclectic career as an illustrator, technohorror writer, and leading industry entertainment critic. She is also currently the Chair of the Texas Chapter for Horror Writers of America.

In 2005 her poetry collection, Before Icarus, After Achilles, was published. Faust then partnered with Immanion Press in August of 2007 for her cross-genre technohorror trilogy Eternal Vigilance, a post-apocalyptic vampire saga of epic proportions. The first novel of this series, From Deep Within the Earth, was released in April, 2008. The second installment, The Death of Illusions was released in March of 2009 and the third, Bound in Blood was released in September of 2010.

In 2009 Ms. Faust’s second collection of poetry entitled Crossroads was published by Seraphemera Books. In addition to the release of the third Eternal Vigilance novel, Faust released a new novella entitled Regret with Dark Regions Press toward the end of this year.

Flames Rising is pleased to present an interview with Gabrielle Faust conducted by author Kenneth Mark Hoover.

Sparkly vampires, emo vampires, vampires full of angst…will vampires ever be evil again, or is that hoping for too much?

Oh, vampires will definitely always be evil in the eyes of many. In opposition to the domestication of the vampire I have noticed quite a few film makers and authors taking the genre in a very brutal, hardcore direction that strips every ounce of glamour from the mainstream’s version of the creature.

Do you like that change of direction?

For me, vampires will always be the natural predators of humanity. No matter how beautiful or seductive they might appear, like Lestat or Dracula, they will still kill you in the end.

What are you working on now?

Currently I am working on a few new projects including the fourth installment of the ETERNAL VIGILANCE vampire series, a new collection of poetry and the sequel to my novella REGRET. I’m also working on several new product additions to my cosmetics line “Gabrielle Faust by Overall Beauty”.

Given all that, what themes most often appear in your work about supernatural creatures?

Societal revolution, the rise and fall of civilizations, and humanity’s struggle to not repeat the mistakes of its ancestors are all themes I find myself wrestling with time and time again. I love working with the concepts of damnation and salvation and the definition or redefinition of what “sin” is as we evolve culturally as a society.

Could you name any specific examples where those themes appear in your writing?

The ETERNAL VIGILANCE vampire series works within all of those themes from a reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of a societal revolution against an oppressive force to a philosophical, and rather existential view, on the repetitive nature of humanity’s errors, especially with regards to the construction of empires. Every great empire rises and eventually falls once they reach the apex of their power, but why? What is it about those empires that seemed infallible at one point and then suddenly crumble either from within or without? As for the concepts of salvation and damnation, my new novella REGRET is a metaphysical, philosophical examination of the rather antiquated mortal concept of “sin” and its relevancy in a world that has evolved beyond the limited parameters of planes such as Heaven and Hell.

I must say I really like how you have coupled historical and philosophical elements with genre.

In a world of gray is there really a black and white definition of good and evil anymore?

If you don’t mind, let’s continue this a little further. Do you draw upon historical examples when you work and develop these themes, or do you try and come up with something new?

For anything dealing with themes of societal structure and civilizations one must always reflect back and draw from the past in order to contemplate the future. However, it is always nice to write something purely hypothetical such as was the case of REGRET and the upcoming sequel REVENGE, which I am co-authoring with philosopher Solomon Schneider.

This is what I like most, hearing writers expound upon the artistic and philosophical points of their stories. In that same vein, what do you feel are your definite strengths as a writer?

I think my strengths are definitely my capacity for creating poetic and vivid visual descriptions and solid, accessible characters for the worlds I envision. I always strive for the most original tale I can tell which I feel will make the reader look at the world, and themselves, in a way they never thought to do so before.

Gabrielle, writers today have to do a lot of self-marketing. It’s the nature of the beast, like it or not. I know you are actively engaged in doing this yourself and quite successful at it. What are some of the things you do to get your name out that you can share with readers?

Self-marketing is a crucial part of being an author these days!

I personally have a main website (gabriellefaust.com), a Facebook page, Facebook fan page, fan pages and groups for the ETERNAL VIGILANCE series, Twitter account, MySpace and a ReverbNation page, though I’m still trying to figure out how to best utilize that one.

Anything else?

I have a monthly newsletter and host two giveaways per month to encourage people to help me spread the word about my work. I also attend as many conventions as I can per year and travel extensively doing book signings. It’s all about establishing a solid, consistent and respected image in the public eye to show the world that you are dead serious about being completely committed to your craft. The world moves a million miles a nansecond these days, and if you don’t continually put yourself out there it’s extremely easy to vanish in the sea of writers.

You mentioned SF and fantasy cons. What do you bring back from these cons that help you as a writer?

For me cons are a chance to connect with fellow writers and hear all about their latest projects. It’s inspiring and hugely motivational to see their passion and commitment to their craft. It is also a wonderful chance to have face-to-face interaction with my readers and introduce my work to an audience who might otherwise have never heard of me. When you can establish that human connection it really does make the experience of selling or purchasing a book more profound and memorable.

All that does sound like it takes a lot of time out of the day. Don’t you have time for any personal hobbies?

I do make time for hobbies despite how busy I am. Everyone needs a timeout to keep them sane and I’m no exception. I play guitar and paint, two pastimes that I find are blissfully relaxing.

You mentioned you play the guitar. What kind of music and style do you play?

It’s hard to put my style into a single category. I play a lot of Patty Griffin, Kathleen Edwards, Shawn Mullins, Bob Dylan-eqsue tunes. I was in a punk band at one point in high school and then fronted a blues band for a while later on. However, I do always come back to the simpler tunes since
they just feel good to play.

Does this personal music relate to your fiction?

No, it really doesn’t relate to my fiction as much as it relates to my poetry. Very different styles and very different voices, but still all part of the strangely complex enigma that is “me”.

Okay, then. When you’re not writing, what genres, authors do you like to read most?

I typically read a lot of science fiction and horror, though I’m often prone to read whatever snares my attention. Generally anything from the Beat generation is golden as well such as Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs, Cohen or Ferlinghetti. I love nonfiction works on philosophy, metaphysics or Scottish history. Currently I’m completely obsessed with the science fiction novels of Dan Simmons.

Have you had any personal influences that shaped your growth as a writer?

This is a pretty broad question. Honestly, there are so many different experiences and influences that have touched me throughout my life and influenced my writing it’s hard to name just a few. When I’m crafting a character, or the story as a whole, I draw on my life experiences from the joyful to the downright horrific in order to make the tale as tangible and believable as humanly possible.

I am always interested in process and beginning points with writers and I think readers are, too. What influenced your desire to become a writer?

From an extremely early age I developed a passionate love affair with the art of storytelling. Writers, artists and musicians run rampant in my family so I was constantly surrounded by the craft. My grandparents on my father’s side were both poets and playwrights as were my aunts, great grand parents, etc. They encouraged me from the moment they noticed my interest in writing and urged me to work on skills. From elementary school through high school my friends and I would work together to craft collaborative novels in spiral notebooks, some of which were hundreds of handwritten pages long. I guess you could say it’s in my blood.

It certainly sounds so! What goals have you set for yourself as a writer?  Are you meeting them?

So far I have met all of the goals I have set for myself as a writer, where the writing itself is concerned, believe it or not! My current goals are to produce at least one to two books a year. I think it’s most authors’ desire to eventually become so widely read that they are referred to as a “household name”. This is definitely something I will always strive for.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

It’s also a goal of mine to reach as many people around the globe with my work as possible. (Pauses) Nothing thrills me more than getting emails from places like Romania or New Zealand and realizing that there are people throughout the globe reading my work.

Gabrielle Faust – 2010

About the Interviewer:
Kenneth Mark Hoover is a professional SF and fantasy writer who has sold over 50 short stories and articles. He is a member of SFWA and HWA. His first novel, Fevreblau, was published by Five Star Press in 2005. Mr. Hoover currently lives in Dallas, TX. You can read more about him and his work, or contact him, at his website: kennethmarkhoover.com.

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