travisheermann.com

I must admit that I hadn’t heard of Michael Mehas before we discussed doing an interview, but I had heard of the legal case in which he was involved–the story of Jesse James Hollywood, the youngest person ever to make the FBI’s Mpst Wanted list, who now sits on death row for his crimes.  The story of this young man formed the basis for Michael Mehas’s book Stolen Boy, and for the feature film Alpha Dog. It’s a story of suburban middle-class kids gone bad, descending into a world of drugs and sex and ultimately murder.

Michael made the transition from practicing attorney to full-time writer, and that kind of leap mystifies some and inspires others.  So without further ado…

TH: Can you give a brief arc of your career as a writer/author?

MM: I wrote a lot as a practicing attorney for years before making the transition into screenwriting and journalism. I started off doing a few celebrity interviews for magazines like Hello and Hola and Okay. I’ve rewritten other people’s messes in Hollywood. And I also worked with writer/director Nick Cassavetes in writing the screenplay for last year’s most controversial film, Alpha Dog, starring Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis, and Sharon Stone. And that led to my present novel, Stolen Boy, which is based on the youngest man ever on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, and has won several awards.

TH: What is The Story of Michael?  Is it a novel?  A short story?  A poem?  A limerick?

MM: I’m an incomplete novel. No, you know what? In fact, I’m actually in the process of a page one rewrite. I used to be this whole other person, completely different than I am now. I went through this crazy consciousness transformation while working on this book and film project. And then the craziness of my legal involvement regarding the kid who’s story we were doing. I had to become a different person because I needed to recreate the reality that I was experiencing. So I began anew. Which is what we need to do if we’re going to survive in this world. And the truth is I like this draft of me much better.

TH: When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?  How did you know?

MM: I was probably about seventeen when I first started giving it any real thought or effort. But back then I had more important things to consider. Like girls and partying. I was in Hollywood High School, and that’s what you did back then. And if anything, I thought myself more like the leading man in those days. So acting definitely stood out above writing. And so did athletics. I played baseball, football, basketball, and I ran track. The writing didn’t really sink in for me until I went to college and became slightly more serious about things.

I remember having a conversation one day with my buddy Nick Cassavetes. And he always talked about how the writer had so much more control of things in the business than the actor did. And it made a lot of sense. Since I was a terrible actor anyway, and I was inflicted with white-man’s disease on the basketball court, I launched myself into the intermittent obscurity of being a writer.

TH: A lot of established writers seem to have a stack of writing somewhere that will never see the light of day.  I’m talking about stuff that perhaps helped you learn and develop your craft, like the five novels the author had to write before he could get to the good one. Do you have anything like this?

MM: Oh, of course I do. I have stacks of boxes of it. I call in my “Inventory.” And you know what? I keep it in boxes and take it with me wherever I move. And I’ve done that for all these years, because, I think eventually I’ll get it produced. Or in the case of books, published. So hold on to those old writings. You just never know.

TH: What do you have hiding in your ‘Inventory’ that you would most like to see published or produced? Is there an unpublished work that you’re really proud of?

MM: My favorite closet piece is a delicious screenplay I wrote several years ago, called Twice Sacrificed. It’s an intense little ride through the misty world of family jealousy and sacrifice. It’s the story of a young man who is freed from prison with the opportunity to investigate who really killed the fifteen-year-old girlfriend he was convicted of murdering eighteen years earlier. This leads him to discover the dark secrets of his family’s past; secrets that could now cost him his freedom as well as his life.

TH: I enjoy writing screenplays because their abbreviated style makes it easier to tell the story faster. Twenty-thousand words as opposed to a hundred thousand. In which medium are you more comfortable working, screenplays or novels? Why?

MM: Novels. To me, screenplay writing is the most difficult kind of writing there is. It’s a very limited medium for the writer. First of all, you only have a hundred pages to tell an entire story in vivid living detail. And that’s not easy. Not for a medium that’s designed to tell a story through images. You have to be quick in moving the story through a screenplay, yet there needs to be the right balance of character development. And therein lies the major problem. Screenplays aren’t really designed to track the character’s inner workings as deeply as the novel allows you to do.

That’s what a novel is. A story told through the character’s interior thought processes. Where the movie relies on images to tell its story from. Same thing for a play, which is a dialogue driven medium. That’s why, generally speaking, you hear people, who’ve seen the movie and then read the book adapted from that movie, always say how the book was much better than the movie. And why is that? Because they really identified with one or more of the characters involved in the story’s telling. The book had the opportunity and the pages to take the reader deeper into the emotional experience of being human. Which is what characters in novels are supposed to do. That’s why the novel, in my humble opinion, is the greatest storytelling medium of all. If it’s done right, by the end of the story’s telling, you’ve laughed and you’ve cried. And you’ve learned enough about humanity to change as a human being. Great stories can do that. So can movies that are done well. But it all starts with the writing. The writer must understand what it is like to change, and then create a character who experiences the human drama of forced change so that the reader may identify with it.

TH: Of course, most writers want to have bestsellers or make some sort of artistic or literary impact. Is there some unrealized accomplishment that you’re striving for in the near future?

MM: I have to admit that I have three intense goals that still elude me. I want to see Stolen Boy on the New York Times, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble bestseller lists. When I reach those goals, I’ll consider myself a marketable author. Oh yeah, and I’d like to sell more copies than Grisham. That’s not asking for too much, is it?

TH: What are some of the things that inspire you?

MM: Rainy days at the cement factory. A mad bull right behind me. A beautiful, naked woman and a set of handcuffs. A politician who doesn’t lie. And a lot of beauty. Stories of beauty and the magic of kindness always inspire me. That’s what life really should be about. What can we do to inspire kindness from everyone at all times? Can you imagine what life would be like under those circumstances…?  Me either.

TH: What are the most successful ways you have used to promote yourself and your work? Are there any promising marketing avenues that you might yet explore?

MM: It is all a battle. The marketing aspect of the game was somewhat of a surprise to me once I got the book written. I knew there’d be plenty of buzz out there due to the movie and the nature of the true crime and my involvement with it. But I really had no idea of all the intense work I was going to have to put into it. But the key to me at this point is the Internet. Web coverage and news coverage on the Web pose permanent coverage of you and your work. And it expands. And the use of a Web site and Weblog can be critical to this exposure. I’ve gone on a Virtual Book Tour and a Video Book Trailer Tour and I’ve been blessed with my share of hard news coverage. So for my set of circumstances, the Web has more permanency than TV and radio as a general rule. Unless you wrote The Secret. Then you can be on Oprah and any TV show you want.

TH: Have you reached the point at which you realized that you had “made it” as a writer and author?  If so, can you describe the milestone or circumstances?  Do you recall how that felt?

MM: I’m not sure I’ll ever feel as though I “made it” because I’m always intensely striving for something new. But, there was a point to where I felt my book was going to be a success in the marketplace. Sales combined with media coverage and potential future media coverage went along with little stories of people who either knew my name or had heard of Stolen Boy. Someone on an airplane with a copy of my book. Or other people who’ve seen my story in the paper and others who heard me speak on the radio. I even recently received a letter from this sweet little sixth grader who had read my book and needed to contact the author as a school assignment. That was probably the coolest thing of all. Of the millions of books out there, she chose my book for her school project.

TH: I critique a lot of short fiction in a couple of online venues, and in your very last comment, you’ve hit upon something that a lot of beginning writers in any genre just haven’t gotten yet. Writing stories is all about the characters how and why they change, or don’t change as the case may be, not about the ‘cool idea.’ Was there a point where you had an epiphany, where suddenly some major cornerstone of publishable writing fell into place? Or has it been more of an ephemeral/incremental evolution?

MM: Writing is like life itself. People who don’t change will die. It’s that simple. Living is about changing according to our surroundings. We interact with the world around us. If we don’t, our surroundings will destroy us. And it’s the same with our characters. And this all became abundantly clear to me during the process of putting this life-changing story together.

I had to work on three different stories to begin with. The 239-page factual chronology I put together of the true crime itself based on my research, that both Alpha Dog and Stolen Boy were based upon. Then the story I helped Nick Cassavetes develop, and he told through his screenplay and his direction of the movie. And then the story I put together for my book. Three very different tellings based on the same set of facts. It was during this process that I finally discovered the true rhythmic essence of storytelling. Which gets us back to what we were talking about before: the give and take we experience in life. I like to call it the Yin and Yang of story. It’s like cause and effect in real life. It’s the character reacting to the stimuli around her. And in the novel, it’s the character falling back into deep reflection after being stunned by some major event in her story. That emotional and intellectual response she experiences while trying to decide what to do next toward accomplishing her story’s quest. Then, when she figures it out, she’s off again to another scene. And she’s changed as a person. And she goes after her new goal with a different kind of energy because, if drawn well, she’s a different person than she was before the last catastrophe struck her. And this will change again when she’s forced to respond to even more strenuous conflict, which she again will emotionally and analytically respond to. And she’ll be forced to make a decision. And she’ll come up with a new goal. And then something else will force her to act. And she’ll cause the forces around her to react to her actions. And it’s this back-and-forth rhythm that has to first be developed and then meticulously refined through the rewriting process. That’s what writing’s about. The character battles through conflict which forces her to experience change. Change in the state of the character’s affairs. And, with her internal reactions, hopefully, change in the character’s state of mind.

TH: Some say that professional writers have to look at themselves as a business, a branded commodity.  Do you take that approach?

MM: I try not to. To me, writing is a very intimate experience between the writer and those she wants to read her book. The reader doesn’t see a branded commodity on the jacket cover of your book. She sees you. Your name is on it. You have to build a certain trust and relationship with your reader before they’ll even buy your book. So I take more of a humanistic approach to what I do. I’m all about relationships that are mutually beneficial.

TH: What can readers expect to see from you in the near future?  What are you working on?

MM: I’m about to embark on a wild children’s spiritual adventure. Sort of a Harry Potter meets Raiders of the Lost Arc meets Celestine Prophecies. It’s a blockbuster. Unless, of course, somebody decides to pay me a lot of money to write a sequel to Stolen Boy maybe with a kind of a package deal for a television mini-series. I’d certainly have to listen to that.

TH: What is the most memorable moment (good, bad, or other) you have had in your life as an author?

MM: It was probably seeing my book in print for the first time. There was my name. And my picture. I was a published author. Now all I had to do was figure out how to sell a million copies.

TH: Is there anything else you would like to talk about that I haven’t mentioned?

MM: Nah. Maybe just the fact that we all could use to put more energy into spreading the joys from the heart to everyone around us. If we do that – we can change the world. We can change ourselves. We can change the reality that surrounds us. And we as writers sort of owe this to ourselves and to those who follow us. Besides, change is what makes characters so fascinating in story. We have to live it to be able to write about it.

This week in the author interview series we meet Daniel Arenson. Like many writers out there, he’s made that quantum jump to published novelist, but only very recently. With a number of poems and short fiction sales, his first novel Firefly Island has been released in library edition hardcover by Five Star Publishing. One of the things that I find most interesting about this interview series is how certain elements are held in common by all the authors, while at the same time varying in numerous ways. I’ll leave it to you to figure out what those are, but suffice it to say that writers are our own breed, but we come in a lot of shapes and colors. Perhaps this is precisely what I’m trying to get to the root of.

TH: Can you tell me a little bit about your writing career? Credits, general work, accomplishments, etc.

DA: I sold my first short story ten years ago, when I was eighteen years old. It was to an ezine called Exodus. They paid me $30. This is a huge moment when you’re eighteen. I’ve been occasionally selling stories and poems since. You can read most of them for free on my website, www.DanielArenson.com. Around the same time I sold that first story, I started to write my fantasy novel FIREFLY ISLAND. It took a few years to write, a few years to revise and sell, a year to see print. It was ten years from initial concept to publication. Moving from stories and poems to novels is a big change. When you write and sell a story, it’s done. Novels live on; you keep promoting and breathing them, trying to keep them in print for as long as possible. Luckily FIREFLY ISLAND is still out there doing its thing.

TH: What is The Story of Daniel? Is it a novel? A short story? A poem? A limerick?

DA: Vonnegut jokingly claimed that HOCUS POCUS was written on napkins, candy wrappers, business cards, and the like, all bundled up and numbered. I think the Story of Daniel would be something like that, a bunch of anecdotes and tidbits of life in a bundle.

TH: When did you know that you wanted to be a writer? How did you know?

DA: I still don’t know that I want to be a writer. Writing is hard. Novelists in particular work endless hours and get paid next to nothing. Few people, I think, want to be writers; writing is more of a compulsion. Novelists ultimately have a need to create something that can live independently of them, maybe even outlive them. Before I wrote, I painted. Painting and writing are just different ways of telling stories. But my name looks bigger on a book cover than my signature on a painting.

TH: How do you find that the creative process compares between writing and painting?

DA: In the past couple of years, I’ve been attempting abstract watercolours, which involve a lot of discovery throughout the process. I sometimes start with an idea, play around with it, see where it goes, and often develop new ideas along the way. Paintings are similar to poems, in that sense. Raw images and emotions, a glimpse that hints at a story beneath a surface. When it comes to novels, that’s less like an abstract painting, and more like a detailed portrait. When you paint something realistic and detailed, you’ll probably work with layers. You’ll start with a sketch, fill in some basic colours, paint a background, add more details, and keep adding layers across the canvas, gradually bringing it to life. With a novel, things are similar. I also start with a sketch–an outline. I then quickly hammer out a rough draft and go over it multiple times, with each “layer” adding more detail and polish.

TH: Do you have a stack of crap-writing stuck away somewhere? I’m talking about stuff that helped you learn and develop your craft, but will never see the light of day. Most established writers seem to have something like this, like the five novels he or she had to write before they could get to the good one. Describe yours.

DA: When I was fourteen, I started to write a story about castles. It was the first or second story I ever attempted. I kept typing, and it grew and grew, and soon hit five hundred pages. At that point, I was still introducing the characters and storyline, and ran out of steam. Seriously, it was horrible. An unintentional comedy. I think my grandmother had a copy buried in her basement at some point, but I’m hoping it got lost when she moved. I really do. I write better now. Honestly.

TH: Of course, most writers want to have a bestseller or make some sort of artistic or literary impact, but do you have an immediate close-range goal? Is there some accomplishment that you’re striving for in the near future?

DA: I’d like to have a novel published in paperback in the near future. FIREFLY ISLAND is currently available in hardcover. It’s a beautiful hardcover, nicely printed, nice cover art. It looks great on a bookshelf. If and when I can get a book out in paperback, that’ll be a new world; a book to take to the beach or cottage. I don’t have any crazy goals like to outsell Harry Potter, as nice as that would be. I’m taking baby steps. I have my first novel out and it’s been selling. Next step is moving to paperback. After that, I’m hoping to just keep writing and selling books. I have a million ideas and I’d like to keep writing so long as people keep reading.

TH: What are some of the things that most inspire you?

DA: Music, for emotion. History, for plots. Nature, for descriptions. Hot wings and cold beer on a summer patio, just because they’re good.

TH: I also plumb the history books for story ideas for my novels. Is there a particular era or place’s history that most attracts you?

DA: There’s some 1812 in FIREFLY ISLAND. When the main character leads a campaign of scorched earth across her kingdom, that was inspired by the Russians burning their countryside as the French invaded. I was born in Israel, so I’m also interested in the history of the ancient Middle East. When you live in Israel, you can drive around and see — within an hour — Crusader forts from around 1000 AD, Roman aqueducts from the year 0, and biblical ruins from 1000 BC. WW2 is another interesting era. My grandfather fought in the war and told me stories about the time. While not everything here made it into FIREFLY ISLAND (or other stories I’ve written), it’s given me an understanding of how history works, which is key if you’re writing epic fantasy about wars and nations.

TH: What kind of music do you typically listen to when you’re writing? Do you use music to guide you into a mood or make the music follow you?

DA: When I’m writing at home, I tend to turn on the classic rock radio station. I usually write the first draft at the coffee shop in a notebook. I don’t bring an MP3 player, so I let the ambiance serve as my music. It works.

TH: What are the most successful ways you have used to promote yourself and your work?

DA: With FIREFLY ISLAND, the best promotion was getting reviews in big places. Reviews in Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal probably sold more copies than anything else. I also promote my book on my website, www.DanielArenson.com. I make sure that my website, though, has lots of content beyond just FIREFLY ISLAND stuff. I want to give people a reason to visit and learn something, not just see ads for my book. The most popular section on my website is where I give writing tips to new writers.

TH: Do you have some promotional ideas or avenues in mind that you haven’t tried yet?

DA: When FIREFLY ISLAND was published, I printed thousands of promotional bookmarks. I still have a bunch. I keep having to think of creative ways to distribute them. Maybe I’ll rent a plane, drop a bunch from the sky, and hope that the wind doesn’t blow them all into a lake.

TH: What was your biggest personal hurdle in making the jump from unpublished writer to published author? How did you overcome it?

DA: The big challenge remains the same, ten years since I sold my first story: the crazy competition. Editors are flooded with towers of manuscripts every day. They can buy only a small fraction of a percent of these manuscripts. Granted, it gets a _bit_ easier once you have some credits, but not by much. You just have to keep at it: keep writing, keep improving, and keep submitting those manuscripts.

TH: Some say that professional writers have to look at themselves as a business, a branded commodity. Have you reached that point? How do you handle the financial side of writing?

DA: There’s that side to it, but creative writing is not strictly a business. When you treat something as a business, you’re doing it first and foremost for the money. I don’t see creative writing that way. Technical writing (which I’ve done), maybe. With fiction, things are different.

I don’t write fiction for financial reward. When you calculate how many hours it takes to write a novel, and look at an average advance a novelist earns, that works out to be far less than minimum wage — more like a quarter an hour. There’s only a handful of novelists who earn substantial amounts of money from their books. The rest support themselves with other methods. They teach on the side, or write non-fiction, or work in an office during the day.

Writing is more like a hobby (or addiction?), even if you’re successful and earning some money from it. Most novelists who write full time have a family member support them, or a sizeable inheritance, or they live on a farm and grow their own vegetables. There are those select few who make a living from writing novels, but then, there are also a select few people who win the lottery.

Of course, we also live in a world where rent, mortgage, and bills ask for money every month. When you’re a novelist, you never know when the next check is coming, or what size it would be. I treat writing and work as separate entities. While it’s a business in some ways, creative writing is first and foremost an art.

TH: What can readers expect to see from you in the near future? What are you working on?

DA: I’m working on a new fantasy novel. It’ll be a while before you see it. In the meantime, I have a new short story coming out in an anthology soon. The story is called “Return to Ravenworld”, and it’s a dark fantasy. I don’t have the date for when the anthology is being released, but I’ll post a notice on DanielArenson.com once I know.

TH: What is the most memorable moment (good, bad, or other) you have had in your writing life?

DA: Other than this interview? The best moments are when readers email me to say they like my book. When critics like your book, that’s nice, but they were paid to read it. When a family member or friend likes the book, that’s also nice, but they _have_ to like it. When a complete stranger takes the time to read my book and email me about it, that’s when I feel that I’ve done a good job.

TH: Is there anything else you would like to talk about that I haven’t mentioned?

DA: Buy FIREFLY ISLAND. Seriously, go now and buy it. Okay, you don’t have to. But if you’re curious about the book, you can read the first chapter at www.DanielArenson.com.

I first became aware of the name Jack Ketchum whilst reading On Writing Horror, a collection of essays and articles by everyone who’s anyone in the horror genre. (Previous interviewees Joe Lansdale and Richard Dansky also have essays in this book.) Jack’s essay, “Splat Goes the Hero: Visceral Horror” was one of those that opened my eyes to what good horror fiction is. It’s not just splattering viscera; it’s making the reader care whether a character’s viscera is about to be splattered. Writing good horror is about having the guts to look the blackness square in the face, and forcing the reader to go along with you. When I got around to reading his novel, The Girl Next Door, I finished it in a single day, and that’s a rare occurrence for me. It snatched me up and made me look. I would recommend both On Writing Horror and The Girl Next Door to any fan of horror fiction, reader, writer, or movie-goer. And I’m sure I’ll be picking other Jack Ketchum books in future. So without further introduction, let’s have a talk with Jack Ketchum.

TH: You’re perhaps best known for being a writer who pulls no punches, both among fans and among other horror writers. Speaking personally, I can count on two or three fingers the horror novels that were like a kick in the gut (and I’ve read a bunch), and The Girl Next Door ranks among those. You had a fairly long run in the publishing industry. Can you give a brief arc of your career as a novelist?

JK: My first novel, OFF SEASON, was published in 1981. Ballantine felt they had something sensational on their hands and took the almost unprecedented step of printing, binding and cover-designing a special edition just for their distributors, creating point-of-purchase displays and banners for a planned first edition of 400,000 copies — all of which went down the toilet when the distributors hated the book almost to a man for its extreme violence. Though the book pretty much sold out by word of mouth alone they really wanted no part of me after that and their second book, HIDE AND SEEK, went out in an edition one-tenth that size. I switched from them to Warner Books and then to Berkley and still couldn’t get out of 40,000-copy hell until Stephen King lent his name and blurb to JOYRIDE aka ROAD KILL (British title) and wrote the introduction to the first hardcover limited edition of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. That was when people really seemed to start noticing me on a wider scale even though Steve told me that horror writers and genre readers had been noticing me ever since the first book — that OFF SEASON and the subsequent novels had been pretty influential. From there on it’s been a slow but steady rise in sales in the small press, then with Leisure in mass-market paperback, and in Europe and Japan. As of this year every one of my major titles will be in print in some form here in the U.S. — with the single exception of THE CROSSINGS, which I hope soon to remedy. This from a guy who couldn’t keep his first half-dozen novels on the shelves for more than three months at a time. I’m pretty pleased.

TH: You quote Akira Kurosawa in your essay in the book On Writing Horror, “The role of the artist is to not look away.” Your novels explore some of the darkest corners of the human existence, so they tend to generate a certain amount of controversy. How do you handle that controversy?

JK: A certain amount of controversy is good — not just in terms of sales but in knowing you’ve stirred the pot, shaken something up, given somebody a dose of hard reality as you see it. I could do without the occasional death-threat. Those I just try to ignore.

TH: You have had death threats? Is it more common among writers who work in horror to have pen names, perhaps because of this?

JK: Most horror writers don’t use pen names. Edward Lee and I are the only ones I know of. Evan Hunter used Ed McBain but I doubt it had anything to do with death threats, and I picked my own before I knew of any hostility out there. And I know the same is true of Lee. Screw death-threats. Somebody shoots me, my books sell better. I win.

TH: When did you know that you wanted to be a writer? How did you know?

JK: Wow, really early on. I was making up stories with my toy soldiers and cowboys and knights and dinosaurs when I was just a little kid. Then I started writing poems and short stories when I was probably about ten or eleven. My mom was my first — and at that point, only — reader. Later I graduated to teachers and teenage girls and a piece in the local paper. By then I was permanently hooked.

TH: A lot of established writers seem to have a stack of writing somewhere that will never a see the light of day. I’m talking about stuff that perhaps helped you learn and develop your craft, like the five novels the author had to write before he could get to the good one. Do you have anything like this?

JK: I have a handful of one-act plays, essays and stories that I’ve held on to for some reason. And a longish children’s book called THE SANDCASTLE which got me my first agent and which I still may want to try to publish one day. The only novel I wrote before OFF SEASON was a long autobiographical thing I don’t even recall the name of, which I wrote just after college — I wanted to be Henry Miller but I wasn’t. I was me, but I didn’t know that yet. It deeply sucked. But I must have reworked the damn thing a dozen times. Finally all copies went into the fireplace at my parents’ house. I felt free as a bird.

TH: I review submissions and critique stories for a couple of online venues, and one of the biggest problems I see with inexperienced writers is a lack of understanding of basic drama. Stories have to be dramatic (or at least show an immediate conflict), and I have read dozens that just aren’t. Did you find that your background in theater arts gave you an immediate leg up when you started writing fiction and plays? Or was there an epiphany of some sort later on where everything came together? If so, what was the immediate benefit of theater training in making the jump?

JK: Everything you do in the arts feeds into everything else. You sing a song, you tell a story, there’s an arc to the character. You paint, you get a sense of figure and ground, nuance and shading. So that yes, doing theatre helped. Especially in the writing of dialogue. I’d been in plays by Pinter and Brecht and Peter Wiess and utter dogs by other writers. So I learned the difference between good drama and bad, between a voice that sings and one that just sits there.

TH: Of course, most writers want to have bestsellers or make some sort of artistic or literary impact, and you’ve certainly made a name for yourself over the years with a reputation for being on the gouging edge of horror fiction, with various awards and recent films appearing based on your work. Is there some unrealized accomplishment that you’re striving for in the near future?

JK: I’d like to write something that ends war, abolishes poverty, saves the planet, puts an end to organized religion and puts all the sociopathic killers, brokers, bankers, oilmen and crooked politicians behind bars. But I guess there’s not much hope of that.

TH: What are some of the things that have most inspired you recently?

JK: I’ve been reading about ancient Egypt and the Old West. I dare you to connect the two…

TH: A lot of genre writers might be hungry to know more about the process by which you built a readership. You’ve mentioned in the past that you learned everything you need to know about marketing whilst working at the Scott Meredith Agency. Presumably you have applied this knowledge toward marketing to fans, as well as publishers. What are the most successful ways you have used to promote yourself and your work? Are there any promising marketing avenues that you might yet explore ?

JK: I didn’t learn much about marketing to readers at Scott Meredith, only marketing to publishers and of course, learning to make a solid contract. I knew nothing about self-promotion when I started and it was only after I’d written three or four novels that at some point Edward Lee said to me, “Hey, there’s this thing called horror conventions out there, we should go to one!” Since then I’ve gone to many, meeting the readers, signing books, doing panel discussions or talks about the books or about writing in general. I think it helps a lot when you’ve got some visibility, when a reader in the New York or Boston or Toronto area or wherever can come see a favorite writer face-to-face. The same with readings — I’m actually doing one tonight as a matter of fact. Then, over the past few years I’ve had an official website at http://jackketchum.net which you can visit to get up to date info on what’s going on with me and my stuff. I comes complete with a message board which I visit about once a week to reply to questions and interact with folks — and over the past year or so I’ve had a MySpace page as well. I can get to over 2,000 “friends” instantly with an announcement. All this helps.

TH: Was there a point at which you realized that you had “made it” as a writer and author? If so, can you describe the milestone or circumstances? Do you recall how that felt?

JK: “Making it” for me has really only meant being able to earn a living as a full-time writer. As such it was a gradual thing, the money and recognition accruing slowly. But there are probably three milestones. Number one? When I sold my first piece of fiction — to Swank Magazine — back in 1976. That was a hallelujah moment for sure! I actually threw the check in the air! Second would be the sale of my first novel, OFF SEASON. That phone call from Judy-Lynn del Rey at Ballantine books was memorable as hell. I’d submitted the book as an ex-agent, not as the actual writer. “I have to confess, Judy, Jack Ketchum’s really me,” I said. She didn’t blink an eye. “Good,” she said. “We can make the deal that much easer.” Can you see me grinning at that one? Third — and maybe this is really when I knew I’d arrived — was reading Stephen King’s long introduction to the hardcover limited of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. I couldn’t believe he’d said such wonderful things about the book and about my work in general. When I called to thank him I said, “You know, you’ve made my little niche in history. Even if my own books disappear forever, somebody studying you a hundred years from now is going to say, who the hell is this Jack Ketchum guy? I better look him up.”

TH: How important is it for beginning writers to build a network of relationships with other authors, some possibly more established? Have you formed many close relationships with other authors in general?

JK: I’ve formed a number of close relationships with other writers, but only after doing a whole lot of writing. You want the respect of your peers, you’d better have something to offer. You can’t network your way into respect. So for beginning writers, my advice is to forget about other writers. Make yourself into a good one first. The rest is naturally going to follow.

TH: How long did it take from the first novel sale to self-sufficient writing career?

JK: I had a self-sufficient writing career even before the first novel, writing for the men’s mags and the rock ‘n roll magazines and whatnot. I was lucky. I knew a lot of editors. The money was small but I always got by.

TH: Some say that professional writers have to look at themselves as a business, a branded commodity. Do you take that approach?

JK: “Branded commodity.” Makes me think of cattle. If you don’t treat professional writing as a business to some degree you’re gonna find yourself constantly broke or near-broke, because money is in fact changing hands for your stuff and you need to keep an eye on it. On the other hand I don’t want people to run out and buy “another Ketchum book” because they’re expecting more of the same. Chances are they won’t get it. I’m all over the place as a writer and hope to continue same. RED, for instance, is a far cry from OFF SEASON. COVER’S a far cry from THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. And none of these would prepare you for THE TRANSFORMED MOUSE or my next book, a small collection of memoir called BOOK OF SOULS. I like to keep surprising myself with something fresh.

TH: What can readers expect to see from you in the near future? What are you working on?

JK: Well, as I said, BOOK OF SOULS will be out soon. Leisure’s next release from me, in June, will be a new longish novella called OLD FLAMES, paired with RIGHT TO LIFE — which has never been released in mass-market before. Right now I’m working on a screenplay and the background story for the launch of a graphic novel, neither of which I’m allowed to talk about yet. Such secrecy!

TH: What is the most memorable moment (good, bad, or other) you have had in your life as an author?

JK: Probably it was sitting at a table with Peter Straub and Evan Hunter, among others, at the 2003 National Book Awards — in my first tux since leaving high school — and hearing Stephen King say the following….”There’s another writer here tonight who writes under the name of Jack Ketchum and he has also written what may be the best book of his career, a long novella called The Crossings. Have you read it? Have any of the judges read it? And yet Jack Ketchum’s first novel, Off Season, published in 1980, set off a furor in my supposed field, that of horror, that was unequaled until the advent of Clive Barker. It is not too much to say that these two gentlemen remade the face of American popular fiction, and yet very few people here will have an idea of who I’m talking about or have read the work.”

There’s only one word for what I felt hearing that. Stunned. It’s always good to know you’re appreciated, especially by a colleague you respect wholeheartedly, especially if that colleague is someone who has brought you as many hours of reading pleasure as Stephen King has brought to me. I already knew he liked my stuff. But nothing could have prepared me for that sucker-punch! My girlfriend pointed out to me that my mouth was open. I closed it. Peter turned and smiled and said, “that’s Steve.”

I first became aware of Mur Lafferty via the podosphere. I ran across her I Should Be Writing and Geek-Fu Action Grip (sadly, now gone) podcasts on Itunes, and, like many thousands of other writers out there, enjoyed discovering that the worries, and the angst, the ups and downs that go along with writing are all pretty much universal, along with the personal pleasure of encountering another writer who enjoys the same kind of geeky pastimes. I heard one of her short stories “City Talkers” on Escape Pod, a podcast for science fiction short stories, and thought it was a cool idea. She’s one of those writers with the drive to make it work as a career, willing to try new avenues, such as podcasting, while realizing that the old ways of the publishing industry still hold most of the cards. Fledgling writers everywhere would do well to listen to her podcasts.

TH: Can you tell me a little bit about your writing career? Credits, general work, accomplishments, etc.

ML: I’ve written for over fifteen role playing books, including Dark Ages: Mage, World of Warcraft, Vampire, Mage, and Everquest. I’ve also written freelance for magazines, including Knights of the Dinner Table, Scrye, and Anime Insider. Since 2005 I’ve been publishing my fiction in publications like Escape Pod, Hub, and Murky Depths. I’ve written one novel (Playing For Keeps) and four novellas (Heaven, Hell, Earth, and Wasteland) that have been released via podcast to over 16,000 people.

TH: What is The Story of Mur? Is it a novel? A short story? A poem? A limerick?

ML: It’s a comedy with a twist ending (I hope!)

TH: When did you know that you wanted to be a writer? How did you know?

ML: I know when i was 12 and started writing a dreadful novel about unicorns. I knew because it was something that came naturally.

TH: Do you have a stack of crap-writing stuck away somewhere? I’m talking about stuff that helped you learn and develop your craft, but will never see the light of day. Most established writers seem to have something like this, like the five novels he or she had to write before they could get to the good one. Describe yours.

ML: I have a bunch of short stories, and beginnings of short stories on my hard drive. I try not to think about them, they had their place as stepping stones to get me where I am today, but no, they don’t need to see the light of day.

TH: Of course, most writers want to have a bestseller or make some sort of artistic or literary impact, but do you have an immediate close-range goal? Is there some accomplishment that you’re striving for in the near future?

ML: Yup, I’m trying to catch the attention of an agent. That’s my immediate focus, along with writing my next novel.

TH: Are you actively pursuing any non-fiction work for magazines, or are you focused on your fiction?

ML: Focused on the fiction right now. I find that other work is good, but always makes me push fiction to the side.

TH: What are some of the things that most inspire you?

ML: Other writers. There’s nothing that inspires me more than good fiction. Someone else’s good story makes me want to excel, makes me want to write as good as they do. Not copy, necessarily, or write pastiche, but it just makes me want to write better than I currently am.

TH: What’s the best fiction (long or short) you’ve read recently?

ML: Android’s Dream by John Scalzi

TH: What are the most successful ways you have used to promote yourself and your work?

ML: Including the listeners and the community in the projects is by far the best thing. I let them know this is their sandbox too, they are encouraged to make art, use the art from the site, write fanfic to submit to me, etc. Being accessible and open to the community is key. They will be your champion so much harder if they like your work AND you.

TH: Do find that fans seem to know who you are at cons? How much name recognition do you feel you have?

ML: At cons? Yeah, I’m getting recognized more and more. How much? well, i’m not neil gaiman, that’s for sure, but most podcast fans that come to cons nowadays know me.

TH: What is are the secrets to a successful podcast?

ML: Be consistent, address feedback (like answering emails on time… not always my best feature), and talk about what makes you passionate.

TH: Do you have some promotional ideas or avenues in mind that you haven’t tried yet?

ML: I haven’t yet gotten into Second Life. There are also some web tricks I’d like to play with (fake sites for stuff in the novel, etc).

TH: Do you think Second Life is a viable way to promote a writing career?

ML: I honestly don’t know. I haven’t spent much time there. The allure is obvious on an academic standpoint, but I don’t feel the pull personally.

TH: Some say that professional writers have to look at themselves as a business, a branded commodity. Have you reached that point? How do you handle the financial side of writing?

ML: If you want to go pro with this, want to be a novelist, you have to see it as a business. You have to look at your work on a more objective manner like a project from work. You need to treat agents, editors, and your readers/listeners with professional respect. finances? Well, I haven’t had much of a chance to make a ton, but the biggest issue is to make sure I put aside at least 30% of every check to go into taxes, as freelancers don’t have taxes withdrawn.

TH: What can readers expect to see from you in the near future? What are you working on?

ML: I am working on a new novel right now, and after that, I’ll be working on Heaven Season 5, which is a novel-length work.

TH: What is the most memorable moment (good, bad, or other) you have had in your writing life?

ML: Good- the first sale. it felt unreal.

Bad- Playing For Keeps launched with 4000 listeners, as well as receiving attention from BoingBoing.net the same day. That afternoon, an agent contacted me, interested in my success. I sent him my novel, and he rejected me. Having the agents seek me out to reject me was a new feeling.

I must admit that I first became aware of Melinda Snodgrass only recently, when one of my readers suggested her as a candidate for this interview series. When I had the opportunity to see the body of work she has produced and the acclaim she has garnered for her work in television and publishing, I didn’t waste any time approaching her for an interview. She was gracious enough to agree. What interested me most, at least initially, was that she wrote an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that ranks as one of the best in science fiction television. I also admit that I don’t currently have any of her books in my stack of Books To Be Read Soon, but I certainly will add one the next time I venture into a bookstore.

TH: Can you tell me a little bit about the arc of your writing career? What was the initial impetus or event that led you to leave the law profession and sit down to write for the first time? How did you go from that first work to writing full-time?

MS: My best friend, Victor Milan, was novelist at the time I was suffering in a law office. He knew I was a singer and a dancer, and he suggested that my artistic abilities might extend to writing. I hated that office and I hated being a lawyer, (thought I love the law as an intellectual exercise) so when my desperation reached critical levels I just quit. Vic gave me a lot of encouragement, and I began writing my first science fiction novel, CIRCUIT. But in the meantime I needed to pay the mortgage. Fortunately it was the height of the romance boom so I created a couple of pseudonyms and started writing. I wrote six romance novels while I was completing CIRCUIT. They served two purposes — they paid my bills, and they taught me how to finish a book. I’ve known a lot of people who have filing cabinets filled with great opening chapters, but they can never face the drudgery to get to the end.

TH: What is The Story of Melinda? Is it a novel? A short story? A poem? A limerick? An epic space opera? A scientific treatise? (You can do with this question whatever you like.)

MS: Oh, I’m definitely a novel. It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. I’ve studied Opera at the Conservatory of Vienna, I toyed with being an actress, I did the law thing. I thought about teaching, I enjoy it a great deal, and finally I found writing. It’s the best job in the world and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

TH: Some writers know from childhood that writing is what they want to do. Others sort of stumble across it, like it, and then succeed? Which are you?

MS: I wasn’t determined to be a writer. I was more interested in the dramatic arts. But after I sold my first novel, my mother reminded me that I used to write plays for the neighborhood kids to perform. When she said that I suddenly remembered one of the plays. Of course I gave myself the starring role.

TH: Most established writers seem to have a stack of bad writing stuck away somewhere, like the five novels he or she had to write before they could get to the good one. If you have this, can you describe it?

MS: My bad writing was in those six romance novels. I’ve managed to sell virtually everything I’ve written, but god, I wish I could go back and redo some of the those earlier books. I’ve learned a lot since those early days. Hollywood was a great help in honing my writing skills and my writer’s group, Critical Mass, has been invaluable. When you’re rubbing elbows with really great writers like Walter Jon Williams and Daniel Abraham and Ian Tregillis and George R.R. Martin, you try to figure out what they are doing, and learn to do it too. At base writing is about craft. I think you need a basic talent (the way a singer needs a voice), but anyone can be taught to write. It may not be wonderful and inspirational, but it will be correct. I do have a trunk book that doesn’t work because the structure is a mess. Structure is one of those craft issues. Good structure, the skeleton of a piece of writing, will carry you through even if your sentence structure and characterization isn’t of the best. I think the reverse isn’t necessarily true.

TH: Of course, most writers want to write bestsellers or make some sort of artistic or literary impact, but do you have an immediate close-range goal? Is there some accomplishment that you’re striving for in the near future?

MS: Yes, a bestseller would be wonderful, but I’ll settle for making enough money for my publishers that they’ll buy more books. I just want to keep writing. I would really like to get back into Hollywood work. It’s incredibly stressful, but very rewarding. I have a spec feature film, and a TV pilot with my manager right now. My fingers are crossed that they lead to something.

TH: I review submissions and critique stories for a couple of online venues, and one of the biggest problems I see with inexperienced writers is a lack of understanding of basic drama. Stories have to be dramatic (or at least have some sort of real conflict), and I have read dozens that just aren’t. Did you find that your background in theater arts gave you an immediate leg up when you started writing fiction and screenplays? Or was there an epiphany of some sort later on where everything came together? If so, what was the immediate benefit of theater training in making the jump?

MS: I suppose it’s the kind of fiction you read, and a writer’s goals. If you’re reading submissions from people who want to write a New Yorker story I don’t think they’re going to be very dramatic. I grew up reading and loving science fiction and mysteries, and those genre fields tend to be very dramatic. It never occurred to me to write about “a slice of life”. I’ve always wanted to write about the most important moment in a person’s life. I don’t think that came from my theater work so much as from my overall life experience.

TH: What are some of the things that most inspire you?

MS: Music. I was a singer, I performed in a lot of operas and musical comedies, and I played piano as well as singing. Most of my characters love music, many play instruments. The hero of my current novel is a singer and pianist, and music is a key element in the plot. Horses. I own a magnificent six year old Lusitano stallion named Vento. I ride Dressage and he’s going to be my new Grand Prix horse. In science fiction we write a lot about telepathy, but the bond between a highly trained horse and its rider is as close to telepathy as we’re ever going to experience. And finally New Mexico. It is one of the most beautiful and magical places in the world. I enjoy camping and hiking and New Mexico’s vistas and mountains give me ample opportunity to enjoy those activities.

TH: Do you indulge in karaoke to sate your urge to sing in front of an audience?

MS: No, I just sing for myself now. And I was a classically trained singer. You don’t hear many arias from The Marriage of Figaro, or The Magic Flute at your normal karaoke night.

TH: Do you listen to music as you write?

MS: Yes, I listen to music. It’s almost all classical. What I select depends on the character and story I’m writing at that moment.

TH: Your television work for Star Trek: TNG obviously promoted itself, but the fiction realm works differently. What are the most successful ways you have used to promote yourself and your fiction work? What has been your most powerful springboard to success?

MS: Oddly enough my website and blog have generated more traffic than I would have expected. I’m a writer so I’m a rather solitary soul, and setting up the site was difficult for me. I’d rather let my stories speak for me, but my terrific editor at Tor Books, Patrick Nielsen-Hayden, urged me set up the site and write in a blog, and he was spot on.

TH: Do you have some promotional ideas or avenues in mind that you haven’t tried yet?

MS: This is an area where I feel really ill equipped to answer. I know I need to do promotion, but I’m not a salesman. I can tell why my TV series idea or movie idea is the best ever when I’m in a room with a group of producers and executives, but it’s hard to figure out how to market on a larger scale. I think you have to have surrogates for that, and I’m told that the independent book sellers conferences work well for that. My publisher is planning on sending me to some of these conferences so I can connect directly with book sellers. I’ll continue attending science fiction conventions where you get a chance to talk to the fans, and become a real person to them. That’s also the function of the website and blog.

Which brings me to the internet. My publicist is going to be sending copies of my books to websites that might find the content interesting. One of the members of my writer’s group had his publisher send his book to a number of pagan websites and it measurably increased his sales. Clearly the new media is the way people are getting new and entertainment, and a writer needs to have a presence there.

TH: Some say that professional writers have to look at themselves as a business, a branded commodity. Have you reached that point? How do you handle the financial side of writing?

MS: I’m certainly a business. I’m an LLC. I have a business credit card. I travel to conventions to promote myself and my work. I’m no where near famous enough to brand myself or set myself up as a “sharecropper” which is a trend I actually dislike. Sharecropping is where a famous writer allows young, new writers to write in the famous writer’s universe. I think it degrades the original writer’s brand, and it doesn’t help the young writer establish their own career.

TH: What can readers expect to see from you in the near future? What are you working on?

MS: I just delivered the second novel in the EDGE series. The first book THE EDGE OF REASON will be published on May 13th 2008. I’m about to start writing a story for the next WILD CARD book, SUICIDE KINGS, and I’ll be writing a spec feature film with my friend Ian Tregillis.

TH: What is the most memorable moment (good, bad, or other) you have had in your writing life?

MS: I’ve had two such moments, and I’ll pick the good ones because I’m at heart an optimist. When I walked into a bookstore and saw my novel on the shelf. When I stood on the set of Star Trek and heard them delivering my lines when they started filming THE MEASURE OF A MAN.

TH: I recall seeing the ST:TNG episode The Measure of a Man when it first aired, and I remember thinking that it was one of those pivotal episodes where TNG really came into its own. This Star Trek episode showed that ST:TNG had something important to say. Do you recall what led to writing that episode? Where did it come from?

MS: As much as I hated law school and being a lawyer, it was my education as an attorney, particularly my interest in Constitutional law, that led to that episode. Basically, it’s the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision. It seemed to me that it would make sense for Star Fleet to make a lot of Data’s, and use them for hazardous missions. But in order to make more they had to break Data to find out how he worked. When Data refused Star Fleet sued to prove he was property rather than a person.

TH: Is there anything else you would like to talk about that I haven’t mentioned?

MS: I’d like to recommend writer’s groups and writer’s workshops to any aspiring writers. I’d would urge people to check out Taos Tool Box run by Walter Jon Williams, Clarion and Clarion West and Odyssey.

TH: I can vouch for the fact that writers conferences and workshops can have a profound impact on one’s writing career. Did you attend any of those writer’s workshops in the early days of your career as part of the learning process?

MS: Even though I’m recommending the workshops, I didn’t take that path. I didn’t really know what was available at the time I quit being a lawyer. Also, since I quit so abruptly I needed to start selling and making money pretty quickly. My friend was my guide. There are a number of Clarion graduates in my writers group, and I think the education they received was invaluable. I think it gives people a real leg up over where I started. So, if I had it to do over again, I’d attend Clarion.

As a kid, I had always had a love of the horror genre, be it movies, comics, or films, but it had lain dormant for a long, long time. I first heard of Edward Lee when I sensed a reawakening of my interest in horror, so I asked a friend (who is a HUGE horror geek) who she would recommend, and she recommended Joe Lansdale (whose interview you can find below), and she also mentioned Edward Lee, but then added (and I’m paraphrasing), “But only read Ed Lee if you’re really twisted.” That sounded like a throw-down to me, so my ears perked right up. Then she told me about his infamous work Header, which I have yet to lay my hands on, and I did some research. Most of the research pointed at Edward Lee as one of the most hard-core of the horror writers, and after reading some of his books, I have to say I agree. He certainly doesn’t pull any punches in his fiction, but he was kind enough to take some time out for an interview.

TH: You’re perhaps best known for your City Infernal series (and I have read all three, along with Flesh Gothic and Monstrosity). But you were writing for several years before City Infernal, with works like the infamous Header, which seems to be kind of like the Necronomicon (in original Arabic) of horror fiction, rare and cryptic. “Oh, you’ve actually seen a copy? Coool. I heard it’s nasty…” What were the early years of your career like?

EL: The first edition Header isn’t quite as rare as the Arabic Necronomicon, but may be more along the lines of Olaus Wormius’ Latin translation of 1228, A.D. And, yes, it’s a bit nasty. The only reason it hasn’t been reprinted is because when I sold the movie rights to Mpyreal I had to sell the print rights as well. If the movie ever gets distribution–and I trust it will–then there’ll be a reprint, for sure. My early years were a joy of wonder and discovery. I was 24 when I saw my first novel on the shelf at a Crown Books in Bowie, Maryland. The book sucked but that’s beside the point. My first “Edward Lee” novel, GHOULS, came out in 1988, and I think about that time, I’d learned enough to write a half decent horror novel (or at least I think I did!) The high point of creative joy back then was simply the learning process combined with the exhilaration of seeing things that I wrote appear in bookstores. It really was a wonderful time.

TH: What is The Story of Edward Lee? Is it a novel? A short story? A poem? A limerick? (You can do with this question whatever you like.) Does everybody suffer a horrible death? Or just a sense of creeping dread….

EL: It’s undoubtedly a novella, which seems to be the ideal length for me, and a Godsend because for a terribly long time, there was no market for them. Now, thanks to the small-press and limited-edition markets, they are. I have two Lovecraftian novellas that I’m writting between now and October that I’m hoping will be very good.

TH: When did you know that you wanted to be a writer? How did you know?

EL: In the late-70s I read several novels by Brian McNaughton (starting with Satan’s Lovechild) which were enliveningly gritty, grotesque, and sexual; and then, (early-80s) in rapid succession, Ketchum’s Off Season, Laymon’s The Cellar, and Shirley’s Cellars. These novels are consummate excursions into modern horror and very hardcore. Until then I’d been unaware that you could do things like that in mass-market novels (in the 70’s, you really couldn’t). These aforementioned books–primed by my late-teen years of exhaustively reading Lovecraft–were the catalyst that triggered my desire to be a writer.

TH: A lot of established writers seem to have a stack of writing somewhere that will never a see the light of day. I’m talking about stuff that perhaps helped you learn and develop your craft, like the five novels the author had to write before he could get to the good one. Do you have anything like this?

EL: Oh, sure! I have several “steamer-trunk” novels siting in a drawer somewhere. They were my farm-league, so to speak. They’re unpublishable but they taught me much. The best way to learn how to do something right is to first do it wrong a number of times.

TH: Of course, most writers want to have bestsellers or make some sort of artistic or literary impact, and you’ve certainly made a name for yourself over the years with a reputation for being on the gouging edge of horror fiction. Is there some unrealized accomplishment that you’re striving for in the near future?

EL: Actually, no, not in reality. Certainly it would be great to make a ton of money but that’s idealism. As long as I make a living, I’m very happy. The kind of books that I WANT to write could never be bestseller material. Down the road, if I’m fortunate, there may be several non-horror novels that might have that potential, but I’m not there yet. I’ve still got plenty more to say in the horror arena.

TH: Which of your books has been the biggest seller to date?

EL: GHOULS

TH: What are some of the things that most inspire you?

EL: Seriously? Women’s bellybuttons and abdomens. Hey, you asked. (And you should see my screensaver!) On a slightly MORE serious note, though, ideas inspire me more than anything, which sounds odd, especially since I don’t know where most of the ideas come from. Suddenly, they’re just there, and then my brain takes over and starts working on it. Sure, every now and then, like any writer, I’m inspired by news articles, or something banal that I may see on the street or out a bus window, or overhear. But it’s usually much more abstract than that.

TH: What kinds of things scare you?

EL: Rednecks. There’s a terrifying diversity amongst regional ‘necks, believe me. The scariest are either West Virginia ‘necks or Northwest ‘necks. Florida rednecks, however, seem to be the most deplorable.

TH: A lot of genre writers might be hungry to know more about the process by which you built a readership. What are the most successful ways you have used to promote yourself and your work?

EL: I’m piss-poor at self-promotion. I fear it was mostly luck which established my fan base in both the mass market and the small-press. The diversity of the market, more than anything, worked most in my favor. From the late-80s on, more and more TYPES of horror fiction seemed to emerge; publishers more understood the importance of “sub”-genres. I suppose sticking with the type of fiction your like to write will infuse you into a particular market more than anything, though this is really commonplace advise. Lots of writers seem to try to write many different things I the hopes of “striking it big,” but this is almost always a mistake. If your heart’s not in it, the readership’s heart won’t be either.

TH: Was there a point at which you realized that you had “made it” as a writer and author? If so, can you describe the milestone or circumstances? Do you recall how that felt?

EL: Yeah, I quit my security job in 1997 and up’n moved to Seattle with the goal of being a fulltime writer. It was make-or-break time (by then I’d been publishing novels actively for almost 10 years). I figured I owed it to myself to take the plunge. If I sink, I sink, if I float, then…THANK GOD! I’ve been very very lucky to have this opportunity.

TH: Some say that professional writers have to look at themselves as a business, a branded commodity. Do you take that approach?

EL: No, not at all. I’m just a guy who writes books and walks on the beach every day. (Lots of great bellybuttons on the beach, by the way…) My books are hardly commodities; they’re just ventures in escapism. All I’m trying to do is entertain people and, thus far, with a lot of luck, I’ve succeeded. A Three Musketeers bar is a commodity–they always taste the same. A book, on the other hand, has to taste a little different each time.

TH: What can readers expect to see from you in the near future? What are you working on?

EL: The two aforementioned Lovecraft novellas (their titles are THE INNWICH HORROR and THE HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD), are in progress now. Coming out in September is my first vampire novel, BRIDES OF THE IMPALER, which will be a mass-market paperback. Also in the mass-market, I just turned in GOLEMESQUE (which will likely have a different title upon release.) Down the road, there’ll be a full-length and probably hardcore Lovecraftian novella, a sequel to HEADER (that I’m hoping will be a BIG surprise), plus several short stories I’ve been promising for a while now: “Mr. Torso’s Daughter,” and “The Bighead’s Autopsy.” Additionally, I may semi-sequelize my hardcore novel MINOTAURESS, but the book will not have anything to do with the Minotauress or any other characters in it; instead, I will re-explore the “Crafter” house, because there’s still a lot more stuff that can be mined out of that house!

TH: What is the most memorable moment (good, bad, or other) you have had in your life as an author?

EL: Well, selling my first novel was wonderful, of course. I can’t really name one particular instance. I’ll tell ya, though, nothing will make a midlist novelist do a rebel yell faster than a surprise royalty check. I recently got one for THE BACKWOODS and, believe me, it made my day. Certainly there are disappointments in the field but I think a good deal of writers may take their status for granted. My view is simply having the opportunity to publish, be read, and get paid, is a far-reaching and insurmountable joy.

TH: What about the Header movie? It all seems as cryptic and hard to find as the book.

EL: The film is complete, very good, but just can’t find a distributor yet. I can say that the producers turned down several offers. Whether they’re being unrealistic or not, I’m not sure. They’re pretty sharp guys. I really want that movie out, simply because it’s a blast and I know people will like it. When it showed at several film festivals, the reviews were terrific. I’m confident it will be released one day–perhaps sooner than I think. (Everybody, PLEASE, knock on wood!)

TH: Is there anything else you would like to talk about that I haven’t mentioned?

EL: Oh, in case you’re wondering, the actual name of my women’s bellybutton/abdomen fetish is “alvinoaglia.” And since you were kind enough to ask the usual “staple” questions, I’ll answer a few anyway. My favorite modern horror writer is and has always been Ramsey Campbell. No one conjures nightmares with words more effectively than him. (Read “Loveman’s Comeback,” and “The Depths.”) My fave horror writer of all-time is–as if you couldn’t guess–Lovecraft. Fave HPL story: “Haunter of the Dark.” My favorite modern horror novel remains Fritz Leiber’s OUR LADY OF DARKNESS. Favorite horror movie: a 3-way tie between Polanski’s NINTH GATE, Naschy’s HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB, and Franco’s VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD. Favorite Edward Lee novel: either INFERNAL ANGEL or maybe MINOTAURESS or GAST. Last but not least, my favorite scream queen bellybutton belongs to Anne Libert.

TH: Gritty, obscure old horror films, such as Anne Libert’s films, can be a great source of “inspiration.” What’s your best source for those kinds of films?

EL: Two things: 1) a cringing wallet, and 2) Amazon.com. The best Libert films are: Virgin Among the Living Dead, Daughter of Dracula, Rites of Frankenstein, Demons, and Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein. Check ‘em out! I’m also a big Britt Nichols and Helga Line fan.

I first became aware of the name of Richard Dansky way back when I was playing Vampire: The Masquerade. His name was on a fair number of the supplement books that every gamer just has to have. Since those days, he’s moved on to other venues, but stayed primarily within the game industry. Writing for video games is generally more lucrative than writing for tabletop pen-and-paper games, just in case you potential writers out there didn’t know. However, I’m finding that there are a lot of writers out there who got their first paying gigs writing for roleplaying and/or video games. I may have some more to write on that subject in the future, but for now, let’s get into our talk with Richard Dansky.

TH: Can you tell me a little bit about your writing career? Credits, general work, accomplishments, etc.?

RD: I started out in tabletop RPGs as a writer and developer for White Wolf, working on (among others, Wraith and Vampire: The Dark Ages). In 1999, I moved into the video game industry as a game designer for Red Storm Entertainment, later part of Ubisoft, and I’ve been working there as a game writer and designer ever since. Some of the games I’ve written for or designed include Splinter Cell: Double Agent, the reboot of the Might & Magic universe, and the original Far Cry, as well as numerous titles in the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon franchises. At the same time, I’ve been working on various fiction projects, including four novels for White Wolf. My first original novel, Firefly Rain, came out in January as the lead title on WotC’s new Discoveries imprint.

TH: What is The Story of Richard? Is it a novel? A short story? A poem? A limerick?

RD: The story of Richard is, I think, the lost collaboration between Neil Simon (or George S. Kaufman, if you’re feeling old-school) and H.P. Lovecraft. In three acts, of course, with music and book by the Gershwins.

TH: When did you know that you wanted to be a writer? How did you know?

RD: I figured it out for good when I was in graduate school in Boston. After a fairly disastrous run-in with Annie Dillard during my college writing career, I’d given up on writing until Jen Hartshorn asked me to do some work for Wraith. I remember scribbling away on that first assignment (Haunts, if you’re curious) while theoretically proctoring a practice SAT in the basement of a church in suburban Boston and thinking, “Yeah, this is it. This is what I should be doing.” Then again, that may have been delirium brought on by the fact that it was 96 degrees in there and I was working at a table designed for six year olds. Either way, it seems to have worked out so far.

TH: Do you have a stack of crap-writing stuck away somewhere? I’m talking about stuff that helped you learn and develop your craft, but will never see the light of day. Most established writers seem to have something like this, like the five novels he or she had to write before they could get to the good one. Describe yours.

RD: I don’t have a titanic pile of Things Which Must Not Be Read. Instead, I have a lengthy and disjointed cut file that I’ve carefully tended for the past fifteen years or so. Everything I chop out of a project goes in there, and it keep it, along with all of the stories that don’t sell, the novels that don’t quite jell, and the one-line story ideas. Then, when I get stuck, I can go rummaging in there and dust something off that I’ve hopefully got new perspective on.

As for learning and developing my craft, working in tabletop RPGs was wonderful for that. The quantity of work that was demanded, not to mention the quality that the fans expected, made one hell of a pressure cooker. I consider myself lucky to have been able to hone my craft in that environment. It taught me a lot, and forced me to learn things that I probably never would have been willing to pick up on my own.

TH: Having done several hundred thousand words of roleplaying content myself, I can vouch for the fact that it really helps hone one’s craft as a writer. Meeting deadlines with the kind of quality that players demand can be tough, aside from the fact that it doesn’t pay all that much, but it is rewarding doing what you love. Do you ever see yourself transitioning away from the day job to focus on just your own projects?

RD: That would be hard to do as long as I keep on getting cool games to work on with the day job. Do I daydream about being able to do nothing but write my own stuff? Absolutely, but in the meantime I’m getting to work on other interesting things, and work takes me places and gives me experiences that ultimately fuel my writing.

TH: OK, confess. How many Lovecraftian short stories/pastiches/homages have you written? Any published?

RD: At the very first writing workshop I ever went to, George Scithers told me, and I quote, “Everyone has one good Lovecraft story in them.” Unspoken, I think, was the notion that many people write more than one. I confess I’ve done two, one of which appeared in the Astounding Hero Tales anthology that James Lowder edited. The other one, well, there are some stories Man Was Not Meant To Read…

TH: Of course, most writers want to have a bestseller or make some sort of artistic or literary impact, but do you have an immediate close-range goal? Is there some accomplishment that you’re striving for in the near future?

RD: Just to keep writing; everything else is details. Obviously, I’d love to keep selling novels, and I’d love for them to do well, but I’m in a great place where I get to work on all sorts of tremendously interesting projects. I enjoy writing games as well as writing fiction, so really I’ve got a lot of different things to look forward to working on.

If you twisted my arm and demanded just one answer, I’d say probably wrapping up the revisions on my novel Vaporware, which is a video game ghost story, and getting that one published. I guess you could call that the intersection of all of my professional interests, the place where everything comes together.

TH: What are some of the things that most inspire you?

RD: In no particular order: Ray Bradbury, empty landscapes, good movie soundtracks, recor