tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88657801123324319662024-03-05T07:16:05.114-08:00Views from Sunfall - The Blog of Peter GiglioAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-56447382056044998692013-02-06T11:14:00.000-08:002013-02-16T23:36:52.146-08:002012 AT THE MOVIES: PETER GIGLIO’S TOP TEN<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Movies. They’re a big part of my life. My personal DVD and
BluRay collection contains more than 2,000 titles. Very few of them, however,
were made in the last decade. This isn’t because I don’t want to love
everything I see. It’s because I can’t. Frankly, most of the films I’ve seen in
the last 10 years bore me to tears. There are always exceptions—six or seven
films that genuinely excite me each year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">2012 was different. The best year in cinema since 1999.
Some will undoubtedly disagree, and that’s cool. But I didn’t hallucinate
my enjoyment of the following films, and it’s my hope you’ll dig the spirit of this list.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Full disclosure: I am not, nor do I wish to be, a film critic.
I don’t discuss film by way of synopsis. Sometimes I have a lot to say and
other times I find it hard to articulate how and why art moves me. I’m not interested
in analyzing what I love. I just know it when I see it.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p> </o:p><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">#1 – CLOUD ATLAS</span> <o:p></o:p></h3>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I love creation, and that’s what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cloud Atlas</i> is. Though this film hasn’t received the wide acclaim it
deserves, I believe it will stand the test of time. Any blemish here is the product of ambition. This is art reaching far. And connecting!
Visually stunning. Emotionally moving. And transformative. The century’s best
film thus far.</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">#2 – ARGO<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ben Affleck. Damn, that man can direct! I saw <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Argo</i> on its second day at a small
theater in the Midwest. When it ended, people applauded. We’re not talking
about an audience of fanboys who'd just watched their favorite comic book
hero set to live action; rather, they came to see a film about the US
government’s odd (but true) mission to rescue six Americans from Iran in 1979.
Did I mention that everyone applauded?!? In my experience, that just doesn’t
happen as a matter of routine. But <em>Argo </em>isn't the norm. It's a masterpiece. In just about
any other year this would have been my favorite. In fact, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Argo </i>isn’t just my second favorite film
of 2012, it’s my second favorite of the last decade. It manages to be suspenseful
though we know what’s going to happen, and the Hollywood stuff is hilarious.</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">#3 – SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">My general distaste for romantic comedies isn’t rooted in cynicism.
I love to love and I love to laugh. But most rom-coms are lame as hell, neither
funny nor believable. Here we have David O. Russell’s brilliant <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silver Linings Playbook</i>, a film with a
rare internal awareness about mental illness and the hard fought road to a second
chance. What you won’t find are a series of pratfalls resulting inexplicably in
happily ever after, though you will find a film that’s incredibly cognizant when
it comes to clichés. Rather than avoid them, Russell does something more
interesting—he plows through them with unbelievable grace, placing the focus
where it belongs: the characters. You’ll hear everyone praise Jennifer Lawrence
for her performance, and for good reason, but Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Jacki
Weaver, Chris Tucker, and Anupam Kher are all outstanding. I truly loved every
frame of this perfect film.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">#4 – DJANGO UNCHAINED<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">It
could be said that Quentin Tarantino has been telling the same story since the
first <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Kill Bill</span></em>, trying
like hell to make the perfect revenge film. I, for one, hope he does something
new next time, but that doesn't mean I don't love <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Django Unchained</span></em>. <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Reservoir
Dogs</span></em> is QT's paciest film and <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Pulp
Fiction</span></em> is his coolest and <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jackie
Brown</span></em> is his most mature. But what we have here, in my humble
estimation, is his <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">best </span></em>film.
Some have knocked the violence, others have criticized the film's unflinching
and direct approach to exposing racism, and a few have cited problems with the
motivations of characters (particularly Dr. King Schultz, played by Christoph
Waltz). Go figure, QT didn't make this film in the vacuum of political correctness,
and he didn’t feel the need to spell out a complex character’s thought process
when he could show us the man’s odd internal logic through action. Why are some so shocked? Are they just now tuning in? Fact is, most people get it, and <em>Django Unchained</em> has done very well. Now QT can do something new? Again, hope so. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">#5 – ZERO DARK THIRTY<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zero Dark Thirty</i>
is a challenging and exhausting film. It’s also a major achievement, despite
the controversy surrounding its accuracy. Jessica Chastain’s performance is the
finest of the year, and it’s the best thing about an enterprise that clearly isn’t
seeking to entertain. That aside, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zero
Dark Thirty</i> is a compelling and indispensable government/military procedural
that examines obsessive determination in the face of bureaucratic incompetence
and indifference. Does the film justify torture? Not in my mind. Most of us
have no firsthand experience when it comes to the horrors and politics of war.
This is a glimpse into that dark abyss, and it’s also a mirror. This is who we
are, it says. This is what we do. Even if Bigelow (director) and Boal (screenwriter)
are guilty of connecting dots erroneously, they nailed the tone and mood. And
they made a great film.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">#6 – SKYFALL<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m a Bond nut. I grew up with 007 and have watched all of
the Bond films (with few exceptions) hundreds of times. I disliked 2008’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quantum of Solace</i> (one of the worst in
the series), but I love <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Skyfall</i>. ‘Nuff
said.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">#7 – LOOPER<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Simply put, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Looper</i>
is cool. But it has plot holes, you say. Fair enough. Now show me a time travel
thriller without a few plot problems and I’ll introduce you to Santa Claus. The
focus here is on the characters, which is probably why I didn’t see the logic
gaps on first viewing. That’s right, plot isn’t king in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Looper</i>. How utterly refreshing for a sci-fi thriller set in
a dystopian future where the mob uses time travel to dump bodies. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
and Bruce Willis turn in terrific performances, but child actor Pierce Gagnon,
who plays Cid, steals the show.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">#8 – MOONRISE KINGDOM<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes I love Wes Anderson’s films (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums</i>), other times not (<em>Bottle Rocket, The Life Aquatic with Steve
Zissou). Moonrise Kingdom</em> fits somewhere in the better half of Anderson’s oeuvre.
What we have here is a charming and funny fairytale that's beautifully rendered. I
loved it.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">#9 – KILLING THEM SOFTLY<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Killing Them Softly</i>
is a smart anti-thriller that explores the modern economic collapse through
the lens of organized crime. The snappy dialogue is worthy of William Goldman in
his prime. The film’s sole flaw is its heavy-handed use of radio and television
footage to clarify its point. That aside, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Killing
Them Softly</i> is a profound work of art.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">#10 – KILLER JOE</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Killer Joe</i> is a
sick, depraved flick. It’s also William Friedkin’s best since 1985’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Live and Die in L.A</i>. I’ll never look
at “K Fried C” the same way again. Or the song “Strokin’.”</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Honorable Mentions: <em>The Master</em>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seeking
a Friend for the End of the World</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Dark Knight Rises</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hunger Games</i>,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seven Psychopaths</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lincoln</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers</i></span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-6070764546437617602013-01-20T22:43:00.000-08:002013-01-20T22:43:41.221-08:002012 Bram Stoker Award ® Preliminary Ballot Announced <strong><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">NOVEL</span></strong><br /> <br />
Bodner, Hal - <em>The Trouble with Hairy</em> (Phantom Hollow Publishing)<br /> Clines, Peter - <em>14</em> (Permuted Press)<br /> Ethridge, Benjamin Kane - <em>Bottled Abyss</em> (Redrum Horror)<br /> Everson, John - <em>NightWhere</em> (Samhain Publishing)<br /> Faherty, JG - <em>Cemetery Club</em> (JournalStone)<br /> Jordan, Lee F. - <em>Coronation</em> (Black Rose Writing)<br /> Kiernan, Caitlin R. - <em>The Drowning Girl</em> (Roc)<br /> Little, Bentley - <em>The Haunted</em> (Signet)<br /> McKinney, Joe - <em>Inheritance</em> (Evil Jester Press)<br /> <br /> <strong><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">FIRST NOVEL</span></strong><br />
<strong><br /></strong>Boccacino, Michael - <em>Charlotte Markham and the House of Darklings</em> (William Morrow)<br /> Coates, Deborah - <em>Wide Open</em> (Tor Books)<br /> Day, Charles - <em>The Legend of the Pumpkin Thief</em> (Noble YA Publishers LLC)<br /> Dudar, Peter - <em>A Requiem for Dead Flies</em> (Nightscape Press)<br /> Gropp, Richard -<em> Bad Glass</em> (Ballantine/Del Rey)<br /> Hatchell, Dane - <em>Resurrection X: Zombie Evolution</em> (Post Mortem Press)<br /> Holm, Chris - <em>Dead Harvest</em> (Angry Robot)<br /> Jones, K. Trap - <em>The Sinner</em> (Blood Bound Books)<br /> Soares, L.L. - <em>Life Rage</em> (Nightscape Press)<br /> Sterbakov, Hugh - <em>City Under the Moon</em> (Ben & Derek Ink Inc.)<br /> <br /> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><strong>YA NOVEL</strong></span><br /> <br />
Bickle, Laura - <em>The Hallowed Ones</em> (Graphia)<br /> Bray, Libba - <em>The Diviners</em> (Little Brown)<br /> Burt, Steve -<em> FreeK Show</em> (Burt Creations)<br /> Collings, Michaelbrent - <em>Hooked: A True Faerie Tale</em> (Createspace/Amazon Digital Services, Inc.)<br /> Lyga, Barry - <em>I Hunt Killers</em> (Little Brown)<br /> Maberry, Jonathan - <em>Flesh & Bone</em> (Simon & Schuster)<br /> McCarty, Michael - <em>I Kissed A Ghoul</em> (Noble Romance Publishing)<br /> Stiefvater, Maggie - <em>The Raven Boys</em> (Scholastic Press)<br /> Strand, Jeff - <em>A Bad Day for Voodoo</em> (Sourcebooks)<br /> Waters, Daniel - <em>Break My Heart 1,000 Times</em> (Hyperion Book CH)<br /> Wilson, Connie Corcoran - <em>The Color of Evil</em> (Quad Cities Press)<br /> <br /> <strong><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">LONG FICTION</span></strong><br /> <br />
Burke, Kealan Patrick - <em>Thirty Miles South of Dry County</em> (Delirium Books)<br /> Faherty, JG - <em>The Cold Spot </em>(Delirium Books)<br /> Giglio, Peter - <em>Sunfall Manor</em> (Nightscape Press)<br /> Ketchum, Jack, and Lucky McGee - <em>I'm Not Sam </em>(Sinister Grin Press)<br /> Malfi, Ronald - <em>The Mourning House</em> (Delirium Books)<br /> McKinney, Joe, and Michael McCarty - <em>Lost Girl of the Lake</em> (Bad Moon Books)<br /> Miskowski, S.P. - <em>Delphine Dodd</em> (Omnium Gatherum Media)<br /> O'Neill, Gene - <em>The Blue Heron</em> (Dark Regions Press)<br /> Prentiss, Norman - <em>The Fleshless Man</em> (Delirium Books)<br /> Thompson, Lee - <em>When We Join Jesus in Hell</em> (Darkfuse)<br /> <br /> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><strong>SHORT FICTION</strong></span><br /> <br />
Bailey, Michael - "Bootstrap"<em> </em>(<em>Zippered Flesh: Tales of Body Enhancements Gone Bad</em>, Smart Rhino Publications)<br /> Boston, Bruce - "Surrounded by the Mutant Rain Forest" (Daily Science Fiction)<br /> Breaux, Kevin James - "The Journal of USS Indianapolis Survivor: Stefanos 'Stevie' Georgiou" (<em>Zombie Jesus & Other True Stories</em>, Dark Moon Books)<br /> Cushing, Nicole - "A Catechism for Aspiring Amnesiacs" (<em>Lovecraft eZine</em>, March 2012)<br /> Lake, Jay - "The Cancer Catechism" (<em>Dark Faith: Invocations</em>, Apex Book Company)<br /> McKinney, Joe - "Bury My Heart at Marvin Gardens" (<em>Best of Dark Moon Digest</em>, Dark Moon Books)<br /> Ochse, Weston - "Righteous" (<em>Psychos</em>, Black Dog and Leventhall Publication)<br /> Palisano, John - "Available Light" (<em>Lovecraft eZine</em>, March 2012)<br /> Snyder, Lucy - "Magdala Amygdala" (<em>Dark Faith: Invocations</em>, Apex Book Company)<br /> <br /> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><strong>SCREENPLAY</strong></span><br /> <br />
Hill, Susan, and Goldman, Jane - <em>The Woman in Black</em> (Cross Creek Pictures)<br /> Kim, San Kyu - <em>The Walking Dead</em>, "Killer Within" (AMC TV)<br /> Minear, Tim - <em>American Horror Story: Asylum</em>, "Dark Cousin" (Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision, Ryan Murphy Productions)<br /> Olynyk, Signe - <em>Below Zero</em> (Twilight Pictures)<br /> Ross, Gary, Suzanne Collins, and Billy Ray - <em>The Hunger Games</em> (Lionsgate, Color Force)<br /> Sanchez, Eduardo, and Jaime Nash - <em>Lovely Molly</em> (Amber Entertainment, Haxan Films)<br /> Whedon, Joss, and Drew Goddard - <em>The Cabin in the Woods</em> (Mutant Enemy Productions, Lionsgate)<br /> <br /> <strong><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">ANTHOLOGY</span></strong><br /> <br />
Beebe, Eric - <em>Fear the Abyss</em> (Post Mortem Press)<br /> Castle, Mort, and Sam Weller - <em>Shadow Show</em> (HarperCollins)<br /> Gallows Press - <em>Tales from the Yellow Rose Diner and Fill Station</em> (Gallows Press)<br /> Guignard, Eric J. - <em>Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations</em> (Dark Moon Books)<br /> Miller, Eric - <em>Hell Comes to Hollywood</em> (Big Time Books)<br /> Salter, Richard - <em>World's Collider</em> (Nightscape Press)<br /> Scalisi, Patrick - <em>The Ghost IS the Machine</em> (Port Mortem Press)<br /> Scioneaux, Mark C., R.J. Cavender, and Robert S. Wilson - <em>Horror for Good: A Charitable Anthology</em> (Cutting Block Press)<br /> Swanson, Stan -<em> Slices of Flesh</em> (Dark Moon Books)<br /> <br /> <strong><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">FICTION COLLECTION</span></strong><br /> <br />
Cain, Kenneth W. - <em>These Old Tales: The Complete Collection</em> (CreateSpace Distressed Press)<br /> Carroll, Jonathan - <em>Woman Who Married a Cloud: Collected Stories</em> (Subterranean Press)<br /> Castle, Mort - <em>New Moon on the Water</em> (Dark Regions)<br /> De Winter, Corrine - <em>Valentines for the Dead</em> (Shadowfall Publications)<br /> Hand, Elizabeth - <em>Errantry: Strange Stories</em> (Small Beer Press)<br /> Hirshberg, Glen - <em>The Janus Tree</em> (Subterranean Press)<br /> Lane, Joel - <em>Where Furnaces Burn</em> (PS Publishing)<br /> LaSart, C.W. - <em>Ad Nauseam</em> (Dark Moon Books)<br /> Oates, Joyce Carol - <em>Black Dahlia and White Rose: Stories</em> (Ecco)<br /> Onspaugh, Mark - <em>Christmas Ghost Stories</em> (Createspace)<br /> Yardley, Mercedes M. - <em>Beautiful Sorrows</em> (Shock Totem)<br /> <br /><strong><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> NON-FICTION</span></strong><br /> <br />
Aisenberg, Joe - <em>Carrie: Studies in the Horror Film</em> (Centipede Press)<br /> Amazing Kreskin, The, and Michael McCarty - <em>Conversations with Kreskin</em> (Team Kreskin Productions LLC)<br /> Collings, Michael - <em>Writing Darkness</em> (CreateSpace)<br /> Klinger, Les - <em>The Annotated Sandman, Volume 1</em> (Vertigo)<br /> Matthews, Araminta Star, Rachel Lee, and Stan Swanson - <em>Write of the Living Dead</em> (Dark Moon Books)<br /> Morton, Lisa - <em>Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween</em> (Reaktion Books)<br /> Paffenroth, Kim, and John W. Morehead - <em>The Undead and Theology</em> (Pickwick Publications)<br /> Perry, Dennis R., and Carl H. Sederholm - <em>Adapting Poe: Re-Imaginings in Popular Culture</em> (Palgrave MacMillan)<br /> Phillips, Kendall R. -<em> Dark Directions: Romero, Craven, Carpenter, and the Modern Horror Film</em> (Southern Illinois University Press)<br /> <br /><strong><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> POETRY</span></strong><br /> <br />
Addison, Linda, and Stephen M. Wilson - <em>Dark Duet</em> (NECON eBooks)<br /> Boston, Bruce, and Gary William Crawford - <em>Notes from the Shadow City</em> (Dark Regions Press)<br /> Collings, Michael - <em>A Verse to Horrors</em> (Amazon Digital Services)<br /> Dietrich, Bryan D. -<em> The Monstrance</em> (Needfire Poetry)<br /> Ong Muslim, Kristina - <em>Grim Series</em> (Popcorn Press)<br /> Simon, Marge, and Sandy DeLuca - <em>Vampires, Zombies & Wanton Souls</em> (Elektrik Milk Bath Press)<br /> Turzillo, Mary A. - <em>Lovers & Killers</em> (Dark Regions)<br /><br /> <br /> The following will not appear on the Preliminary Ballot. As there are only<br /> five works, they will proceed directly to the Final Ballot. <br /> <br /> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><strong>GRAPHIC NOVEL</strong></span><br /> <br />
Bunn, Cullen - <em>The Sixth Gun Volume 3: Bound</em> (Oni Press)<br /> Moore, Terry - <em>Rachel Rising Vol. 1: The Shadow of Death</em> (Abstract Studio)<br /> Thornton, Ravi - <em>The Tale of Brin and Bent and Minno Marylebone</em> (Jonathan Cape)<br /> Wacks, Peter J., and Guy Anthony De Marco - <em>Behind These Eyes</em> (Villainous Press)<br /> Wood, Rocky, and Lisa Morton - <em>Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times</em> (McFarland)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-20693177061380738412013-01-01T05:31:00.000-08:002013-01-01T05:31:02.720-08:00EVIL JESTER DIGEST VOL. 2: Behind the Stories, with Trent Zelazny, Gene O'Neill, Holly Newstein, Simon McCaffery, Mark Allan Gunnells, John Michael Kelley, Eric J. Guignard, and John Palisano<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I still can't get over what an amazing year 2012 has been for me. I'm extremely grateful to everyone who has purchased my work, and for all the kind words and encouragement I've received along the way. 2012 saw the publication of two of my novels, two novellas, and two anthologies I edited. I made 2 professional fiction sales and had the honor of working as the editor of three remarkable novels: <em>Inheritance</em> by Joe McKinney, <em>Seraphim</em> by Jon Michael Kelley, and <em>The Quarry</em> by Mark Allan Gunnells. I also oversaw the production of more than a dozen fine books from Evil Jester Press, with a range of duties, including graphic design, formatting, proof-reading, contract negotiations, slush pile warrior, etc. What a year! I don't know if I can match that pace in 2013, or even if I should try, but I do know I'm in a far better place than I was in 2011, and I'm grateful to so many people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I can think of no more fitting way to express that gratitude than to turn my blog over to 8 talented writers, all of whom have stories in <em>Evil Jester Digest, Vol. 2</em>, one of the projects I alluded to above. Working with these folks, and so many others, has been a special gift. So it is only fitting that I give a gift (courtesy of Evil Jester Press) to those of you reading my blog. Here it is...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Amazon link to download Evil Jester Digest, Vol. 2 is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Evil-Jester-Digest-2-ebook/dp/B00ADVLLGI/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356933973&sr=1-1&keywords=evil+jester+digest" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">here</span></a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Included are 12 dark tales from masters and rising stars of genre fiction. It is our hope that you enjoy the book. Of course, Amazon and Goodreads reviews are appreciated, as well as good old-fashioned word of mouth. But the most important thing is that <em>you</em> know how much we appreciate your consideration.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />Without further ado, I would now like to turn the stage over to eight of the anthology's esteemed contributors. They have a few words to share about their stories. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Eric J. Guignard…<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: white;">I try to write non-familiar monster trope
pieces, but occasionally I like to slip back into the warm comfort of my
favorite traditional horror genre: <i>Zombies</i>. The writing industry is
glutted with zombie fiction, and I didn’t want to put out another gore-filled
undead slasher. I wrote my story, “A Curse and a Kiss” with zombies taking more
of an incidental or background role. The story itself is a variation of the
fairytale “Beauty and the Beast,” told through the eyes of a servant. I have
always been a lifelong fan of Grimms' Fairy Tales and Aesop's Fables. The
original telling of “Beauty and the Beast” is much darker than the
“Disney-fied” version, and I wanted to bring the story back to its original
tone and message, though I changed the curse placed on the Prince to becoming
transformed into the “Living Dead” rather than an animalistic beast.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcPEsDdPB9SyKJ3RBTaUpWCSiHycUdysMTQxcgb_9dYFRm7nYzoDx1y2zZuY2aEbI2O1RoOOayz2XUhvPEbziD9xz9lWrbd2Erh9f6HIGiOOxbvzJ9cA_Bmw9Bc692CrgpTDDyE4J4HM/s1600/ericandgene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcPEsDdPB9SyKJ3RBTaUpWCSiHycUdysMTQxcgb_9dYFRm7nYzoDx1y2zZuY2aEbI2O1RoOOayz2XUhvPEbziD9xz9lWrbd2Erh9f6HIGiOOxbvzJ9cA_Bmw9Bc692CrgpTDDyE4J4HM/s320/ericandgene.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span style="color: white;">(above)</span> Eric J. Guignard and Gene O'Neill at KillerCon 2012</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Gene O’Neill…<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: white;">"Coyote Gambit" is the earliest of the Cal Wild stories. The series actually begins rolling with the introduction of the character, Karch, who is nicknamed the Armless Conductor. But this part of the series is actually quite along in time after The Collapse. So a novel down the road, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Confessions of St. Zach, </i>will begin right after The Collapse and develop the early part of the series. But "Coyote Gambit" is the only immediate short story. The series really took form after I decided that we needed a modern argument of the philosophy underlying McCarthy's fine novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Road</i>. I like the book but don't agree with the writer's view of human nature in crisis. Cal Wild books and stories support my view of human nature. But "Coyote Gambit," especially the gruesome implication of the ending, is closer the harder edged view of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Road</i> than my more humanistic beliefs. It's not a story for the faint hearted.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Mark Allan Gunnells...</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;">Let's face it, we're all addicted to technology. I certainly am. However, I also grew up in a time when no one had cell phones, there was no texting, no Facebook, no Instant Messaging. Therefore, as much as I love technology, I also feel I could live without it if I had to. However, when I look at young people today, kids that were born "plugged in" as it were, I wonder...could they survive if their technology was taken away? I decided I wanted to explore this in a story, and satire seemed the best way to go. Taking the idea and stretching it to an extreme and absurd to get my point across. I was happy with the result, hopefully readers will like it as well.<o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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(above) <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Mark Allan Gunnells, indulging his sweet tooth at any cost</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Trent Zelazny…<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Trent has two terrific stories in <em>Evil Jester Digest, Vol. 2</em>...</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"></span></b> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4TvATNZtp9AUU_TuTyP2CGpuV5jhiUOGpfQ1k9hANESsrXBYcwzJnjMUbTHuNE_Ke7fXo8Ci_uOIDwvkwmWWkWfF-oFQZPkAGWSc6QXsXCjlJBcAqvMM98Ru0-TwP7Bn7YFIw-BzU0SA/s1600/trentkitties.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4TvATNZtp9AUU_TuTyP2CGpuV5jhiUOGpfQ1k9hANESsrXBYcwzJnjMUbTHuNE_Ke7fXo8Ci_uOIDwvkwmWWkWfF-oFQZPkAGWSc6QXsXCjlJBcAqvMM98Ru0-TwP7Bn7YFIw-BzU0SA/s320/trentkitties.jpg" width="213" /></a><b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="color: white;">Slink:</span></span></b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="color: white;">
Though in a contemporary setting, this was an attempt to write a story that
might have hopefully been accepted and published by Black Mask, maybe in the
forties, at some point before its decline and eventual demise.<br />
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="color: white;"><b>Windows in the Wreckage:</b>
The story came to me after having a dream about being stranded in the woods. As
I’m not a big camper or hiker these days, I asked myself, “How in the world
would <i>I</i> get stranded in the woods? What would take me there, and what,
in my own reality, would be something horrible<i> </i>I'd be terrified I might have
to face?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">(left)</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">The great Trent <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Zelazny <span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ensconced</span> in kitties</span>!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Holly Newstein…<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: white;">"Kristall Tag" had its
genesis in what I learned about the fall of Berlin and the invading Russian
Army.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: white;">Berlin, when the Russians took it, was a city of women and children.
The Russian soldiers were capable of great kindness—and terrible savagery. All
Germans were tainted with Hitler's evil, even those who had no choice in the
matter. The Russians wanted revenge for what the Nazi Army did to their
countrymen. I wanted to explore the journey of one innocent in this maelstrom
of death and brutality, and how her actions reverberated across the rest of her
life. And because I am a horror writer as well as a history geek, there had to
be a touch of the supernatural involved...</span> </span></div>
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(above) <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Holly Newstein Hautala, Rick Hautala, and Peter Giglio</span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">at World Horror 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Jon Michael Kelley…</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span> </h3>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: white;">“The Tardy Hand of Miss Tangerine” was inspired by a tattoo proclaiming
an apocalyptic date that has, coincidentally enough, just passed. A few years
ago, I’d been dragged to my first metaphysical fair, and it was there that I
was introduced to the wearer of that prescient ink. She was a young woman,
strikingly plain, who looked more like Beatrix Potter </span></span></span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="color: white;"> </span>than she did</span> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: white;">Helena Blavatsky.</span> <span style="color: white;">That was, until I saw
that final Mayan calendar date running along the length of her lower right arm.
At first glance, I’d initially thought it was a Bible verse. Silly me. You see,
she was giving a rather expensive reading to my companion, so I had the
opportunity to look again—and I then realized what that proverb was actually
proclaiming. I passed on the Tarots, having by then decided that my money might
be best spent buying freeze dried food, bottled water, and the blueprints to a
bomb shelter made for two. Then a story started forming…</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzDKML_mFyQgLjhCqqbZm1gLkMQbw3rZTg_ZbTBn7eqNPUqHnce5eDWjp2TJoISubwApagAlBKfIcNxEWjUrub2w8GoZVM8suCXWrCN9DwnHRjsbPEDp4D4mRBMDoJilXSUfzz_KSITTQ/s1600/jonkelley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzDKML_mFyQgLjhCqqbZm1gLkMQbw3rZTg_ZbTBn7eqNPUqHnce5eDWjp2TJoISubwApagAlBKfIcNxEWjUrub2w8GoZVM8suCXWrCN9DwnHRjsbPEDp4D4mRBMDoJilXSUfzz_KSITTQ/s320/jonkelley.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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(above)<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> Jon Michael Kelley at AnthoCon 2012</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"></span></span></span> </h3>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #454545; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">John Palisano…<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: white;">What if there were a major outbreak happening
in our sister country Mexico? How would we guard our borders? With what? Would
we help, or just protect our own interests? <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
And if said outbreak had fangs, then what? <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
One young man discovers the illegal alien task force he's joined is just a
cover, and that the border fence being constructed is crucial rather than just
misguided patriotism. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
With "VAMPIRO," playing with themes of xenophobia and self-loathing
seemed interesting. Some have indicted the story as a simple comment that
illegals are vampires. Take a bigger bite. There's more under the thin,
translucent skin.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv-Ge-eZzkmo2qHc6QhzRsL8z3NnBgc7C5ZcJmDJJQa9hC-Wfd7fFOvr67hXXwBtPqnfNk3Hy7vwbiIOeSYzGXxKEB85CzElRHpPfFoVYEjFAj4DPuOk23HMTy2t3JnyBr01k8S75kMsI/s1600/palisanoandgang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv-Ge-eZzkmo2qHc6QhzRsL8z3NnBgc7C5ZcJmDJJQa9hC-Wfd7fFOvr67hXXwBtPqnfNk3Hy7vwbiIOeSYzGXxKEB85CzElRHpPfFoVYEjFAj4DPuOk23HMTy2t3JnyBr01k8S75kMsI/s320/palisanoandgang.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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(above) <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">John Palisano, Brad C. Hodson, Peter Giglio, and Eric Shapiro</span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, California. Should we start a band?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Simon McCaffery…<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: white;">The genesis of "Vanishing Act" was an article I read
in the mid-1990s about poor deluded Sarah Winchester and her bizarre Mystery
House. Writers are almost always voracious readers, and there's an unconscious
filter that is always sifting through everything for the kernel of a new tale,
like a whale sucking in thousands of gallons of seawater for specks of
zooplankton. (below)</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Simon McCaffery, working on his tan.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9pK6XXIoEus0Wp2gTr31LRnNRH2u6USo7QlpUsUsjs8tApptRrIO8QimOjZm22QxcZYNokqJQPRODhGfzhQpgW8WcU3CvfM574RE7RiablvSmxN_VKfa5i9G0VSC1EbD0hDo9h-KsU4/s1600/simontan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9pK6XXIoEus0Wp2gTr31LRnNRH2u6USo7QlpUsUsjs8tApptRrIO8QimOjZm22QxcZYNokqJQPRODhGfzhQpgW8WcU3CvfM574RE7RiablvSmxN_VKfa5i9G0VSC1EbD0hDo9h-KsU4/s320/simontan.jpg" width="276" /></a><span style="color: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I was fascinated by the true story of an educated, wealthy, devout
young woman whose mind is stripped and driven to such extremes by grief and a
fear of the afterlife. I knew I wanted to weave it into a story, and I made a
couple of poor attempts, but eventually set it aside. The vivid story of Sarah
and her mad, marvelous house of many doors remained in my imagination. I also
had toyed with a potential novella or novel about a desperate father searching
for a vanished son, and the idea of certain very rare individuals capable of
conjuring unseen doorways between worlds, driven by an intense desire to escape
from unhappy lives or relentless will to be reunited with the lost. And these
ideas finally collided, with the resulting story.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: white;">I'm thrilled that
it worked for Peter and the Evil Jester Press crew, and proud to appear among
so many talented writers I admire. The human heart is a funny thing, and fear
and obsession can lodge there and grow like dark cancers. And how many doors do
we open and pass</span><span style="color: white;"> through in a lifetime, without a second thought?</span></span><span style="color: white;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-79429423321730350262012-12-22T20:34:00.000-08:002012-12-22T20:56:59.869-08:00FINDING BALANCE -- My zombie novella gets a facelift<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAyMVLdR2w9FKR6XJyQmL2zpFCR3Gynt7MQdL7W8PeKo_aBs9WMNtiv41faJXvoBEFO2zcA9AWajEXmbGl_tTitEu_UzpplGtpt9MMRCThyphenhyphenKAU8FGzzPspUuJ33vUF28GyQqQ6m2XYpGE/s1600/NewBalcoverwrapprev-crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAyMVLdR2w9FKR6XJyQmL2zpFCR3Gynt7MQdL7W8PeKo_aBs9WMNtiv41faJXvoBEFO2zcA9AWajEXmbGl_tTitEu_UzpplGtpt9MMRCThyphenhyphenKAU8FGzzPspUuJ33vUF28GyQqQ6m2XYpGE/s400/NewBalcoverwrapprev-crop.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After selling my first story to a professional anthology, I said to myself, “Man, this
being-a-writer thing isn’t so tough!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was wrong. Oh, how I was wrong!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only did I have a hard time finding
inspiration in the ensuing months, I found it even harder to sell the few
stories I did write. I was frustrated. Having learned a few things about the
biz now I see what a baby I was being. But in that moment, I was sure my first
fiction sale had been a fluke and that I would never publish another word.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During this time I wrote a short story that I
liked—that I still like—about a strange creature who encounters a young girl
held captive in a cellar. It was called “Reaching for the Light.” And the title
expressed exactly how I felt.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It didn’t sell.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, for some reason, I couldn’t shake the image
of the girl in the cellar. I wanted to do something different with this cliché
and thought there was a deeper story to be told than the ones I’d read or seen
in movies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Sometime later I started writing a story aimed
at Robert Essig’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Through the Eyes of the
Undead II</i>. And I did something that I was pretty sure hadn’t been done
before; I made the girl in the cellar a zombie.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The story was called “Half Life” originally and,
for the most part, it's the finale of what would later become <em>Balance</em>.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">And, damn, I was proud of that story.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, I loved it!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I sent it off to every friend I could think of
who might want to read it. And many of them did. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It got a flurry of great responses, but with one
consistent bit of criticism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It needed to be longer. Everyone wanted to know
what The Blast was. And everyone wanted to know more about the human
relationships in the tale.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">I was just glad they liked the story, so I sent
it off to Robert. And he liked it, too. It looked like my short story might be accepted and my dry spell would come to an end.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But in the weeks that followed, the feedback I
had received from trusted friends rang through my head.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I pulled up the story. Reread it a dozen
times. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Damn it...</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They’d all been right.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">So I expanded “Half Life” into a novella called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Blast</i>, pulled my story from Robert’s
short-list, worried I’d lost my mind, and sent the new draft to Eric Shapiro,
the most trusted of my readers and the person who’d given “Half Life” the
biggest thumbs up. Eric was surely going to love this new, expanded version of
a story he’d praised. I was on my way to becoming the master of the macabre... Delusions bloomed eternal on that day, my friends. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few days later, I opened an email from Eric. I
was excited and couldn’t wait to hear how great I was. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I read his email and my jaw dropped.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He didn’t think <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Blast</i> was so hot. He didn’t hate it, but he didn’t think it
would resonate with readers or, for that matter, be published at all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though surprised, I made one of the best moves of
my life. And writers, whether you’re just starting out or have been doing this
for decades, this is what we all need to do in these situations. Every time!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I asked him what was wrong with it. I asked him
for details. I asked for <em>help</em>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And he gave me what I asked for. And then his
wonderful wife, Rhoda, read an improved version of the story and she gave me
even more feedback.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I fixed the story. And then I fixed it some
more. Then…Well, you get the idea. I just kept fixing it until everyone—and by
everyone I mean Eric and Rhoda (two of the most wonderful people on
the planet)—loved it!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then Eric gave me one last piece of advice. He
told me <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Blast</i> sucked as a title.
I asked him how bad it sucked, and he told me it sucked big. <em>Really big!<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love my honest friends. If you’re one of those
friends who tells me what I want to hear, stop now! Unless I look really
needy at the moment, if you want me to love you more, tell me what you really
think.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I came up with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Balance</i>. And the moment that title entered my mind, I knew I had
it. Why hadn’t I thought of it sooner? I now can’t imagine this story ever
being called anything else, but when you’re really close to something, it’s
easy to be blind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eric and Rhoda agreed with the title. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Balance
</i>was born.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Special thanks go to Eric Shapiro and Rhoda
Jordan. They’re busy people—making movies, writing books, building a family—and
they certainly didn’t have to take time out to help me. But they did. And I’m
forever in their debt.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I learned a lot working with them. I learned to
give a little more.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">I sold Balance to an epublisher in early 2011. The eBook is still with them, but they didn't buy print rights. In early 2012 the paperback edition was released with Evil Jester Press. Though the few people who have read this novella have given it its share of praise, the book has never found a wide audience. It is, in fact, my worst selling title. Though I'm not known as one who writes a lot of zombie fiction, I found that surprising for a long time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Then I took a look at the cover. Really looked at it. Hard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">And I remembered what Eric told me about my original title. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">That title sucked, and so did the cover on the paperback edition of <em>Balance</em>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">So <em>Balance</em> just got a facelift. At least the paperback did. Much as I'd like this cover to be on the eBook (I do love it), I have no control over that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">One more thing: The paperback contains an introduction by Eric Shapiro and "Reaching for the Light" is included as a bonus story. You won't find these things in the eBook.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFWVMJ7KaE_KfY24aGZyniDsFM1YyyHzDCq8b-1fd_FcdXr7gj_v_Qsjxa1j6xR7839KC0hupaaiR3Nl683-kV_3Cds5U7oIFWI-JygorXd3SjALiTskLVn6RvSStxU7l-2RjgJI1oRLI/s1600/NewBalcoverwrapprev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFWVMJ7KaE_KfY24aGZyniDsFM1YyyHzDCq8b-1fd_FcdXr7gj_v_Qsjxa1j6xR7839KC0hupaaiR3Nl683-kV_3Cds5U7oIFWI-JygorXd3SjALiTskLVn6RvSStxU7l-2RjgJI1oRLI/s320/NewBalcoverwrapprev.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can purchase the paperback of Balance at Amazon.com for only $8.95<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Balance-Peter-Giglio/dp/0615584284/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356236722&sr=1-1&keywords=peter+giglio+balance" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Praise for <em>Balance</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Balance is a grim and melancholy zombie story. Peter Giglio brings his A-game to this disturbing tale." - Jonathan Maberry, author of <em>Dead of Night</em> and <em>Dust & Decay</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"A harrowing new perspective on the apocalypse. Giglio goes for the heart as well as the jugular." - David Dunwoody, author of <em>Empire </em>and <em>The Harvest Cycle</em></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-59295517286658962052012-12-18T23:27:00.000-08:002012-12-19T00:02:35.844-08:00Joe McKinney, Peter N. Dudar, and Peter Giglio: The "Blogging the Ghost" Guys Return with Special Holiday Presents for You!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Joe McKinney, Peter N. Dudar, and Yours Truly mounted a successful series of blog posts back in September called "Blogging the Ghost." We talked about our new paranormal horror titles, shared free stories, gave away some prizes, and invited some pretty cool folks along for the ride. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now we're back, sharing essays about the writing life, wishing you all a safe and warm holiday season...<em>and we even brought some presents!</em> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you missed our previous posts, please check them out at the following links: </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Week 1: </span><a href="http://joemckinney.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/blogging-the-ghost/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click here</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Week 2: </span><a href="http://petergiglioauthor.blogspot.com/2012/09/blogging-ghost-week-2-joe-mckinney.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click here</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Week 3: </span><a href="http://peterndudar.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/blogging-the-ghost-week-3/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click here</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><em>Now for the presents!</em></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZbmI5t-yOc4rS8x_chn-vFzoPLh_CY1B6ywyKmbXE1ES7rbcgL6q3zFSgsdo053gYgUf6Wxk1-hRYE3wfEQS87gPn0CGs6tFyIlnly-sTyMEp1dlnCR_X3MXrJcvf82QWb5mUdb9ZDY4/s1600/FreeGhost.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZbmI5t-yOc4rS8x_chn-vFzoPLh_CY1B6ywyKmbXE1ES7rbcgL6q3zFSgsdo053gYgUf6Wxk1-hRYE3wfEQS87gPn0CGs6tFyIlnly-sTyMEp1dlnCR_X3MXrJcvf82QWb5mUdb9ZDY4/s640/FreeGhost.jpg" width="531" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Amazon links to these titles:</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Inheritance: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inheritance-ebook/dp/B009PN36Z4/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355719032&sr=1-1&keywords=inheritance+joe+mckinney" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click here</span></a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunfall Manor: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sunfall-Manor-ebook/dp/B009WVHYPW/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355719074&sr=1-1&keywords=sunfall+manor" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click here</span></a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Requiem for Dead Flies: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Requiem-Dead-Flies-Supernatural-ebook/dp/B008E6QX3U/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355719114&sr=1-1&keywords=a+requiem+for+dead+flies" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click here</span></a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: 22pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We hope you enjoy these titles. And for the many folks who supported our efforts in 2012, thank you. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why I Write the
Dark Stuff <o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Joe McKinney<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></o:p><br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
my day job I’m a patrol supervisor for the San Antonio Police Department,
working the west side of town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
police officers who make the calls, who make the arrests, who keep the peace in
the busiest part of the city, they work for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m the one they call when they have crime scenes that need managing, or
when something just doesn’t look right.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What
that means is that I have to see a lot of dead bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I mean a lot of them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like
last week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my officers called
because he had a decomp (police parlance for a body that’s been rotting in
place for a good long while) and he wasn’t sure if it was suicide or homicide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I showed up to the apartment and there was
the dead guy, seated on the floor (or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">almost</i>
on the floor; his butt was about two inches off the carpet).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had a noose around his neck, though you
could barely see it because his skin was so bloated and gummy with rot that it had
sort of oozed over the rope.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“So,
what do you think?” the officer asked.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Suicide,”
I told him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“But
he’s sitting down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wouldn’t he have
rolled over or something when he started to choke?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s like an instinct or something, isn’t
it?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“No,”
I said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What you’re looking at is an
act of will power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to do
something bad enough, you’ll see it through.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He
looked from me to the body and shook his head.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Besides,”
I added, “look at all that medication in there in his bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those drugs are for hepatitis and
cancer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did this because he was
hurting pretty bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And look up
there.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pointed to the ceiling where
our dead guy had nailed the rope to the rafter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“He did that because he didn’t want the rope to slip off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And look at where he chose to do this, here
in the bedroom, so his relatives coming in the front door wouldn’t have to see
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bet if you look around here
you’ll find a note.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably in the
other room, out of sight of the bedroom.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
officer nodded.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
both stood there, staring at the body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The apartment didn’t have air conditioning, and it felt like standing
inside an oven, even though it was the middle of the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The smell was really bad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
officer kind of chuckled and said, “So Sarge, I guess this is one for your next
book, huh?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
offered him a bland smile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cops develop
their gallows humor long before they learn that it’s actually a defense mechanism
against the horror of confronting your own mortality, and this officer was one
of the young ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He still had a lot to
learn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Go
look for the note,” I said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Yes,
sir.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When
he was gone I found myself looking into that suicide’s face and sighing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The suicides always get to me. Something
about standing in the presence of someone so desperate to take control of their
pain and their emotional devastation that they would resort to this makes me
feel numb.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
the other room, the young officer was clumsily knocking around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something fell over and broke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I almost called out to him to be careful, but
held my tongue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, my mind had
drifted from my day job to my night job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was thinking about what he’d said about my next book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So many people seem to have that opinion
about horror, and about zombie fiction in particular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To them, a book about shambling dead things
eating the living must be nothing but gratuitous violence and gore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What else could it be?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well,
I take exception to that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
started writing because I was scared of the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My wife and I had just gotten married.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we had a daughter, and the world
suddenly seemed so much more complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the wink of an eye, I went from a carefree young cop – a lot like the one in
the other room knocking stuff over – to a man with more responsibilities than
he could count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had obligations and
commitments coming at me from every angle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’d
been writing stories for a good long while at that point, starting sometime in
my early teens, but never with the intention of doing anything about them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would write them out on a yellow legal pad,
staple the finished pages together, and leave them on the corner of my desk
until the next idea came to me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Never
once did it occur to me to do something with what I’d written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just threw those stories away and forgot
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then came adulthood, and
parenthood, and I found myself groping to put the world in order, to regain
some of the control I felt I had lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
realized that writing could help me with that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I realized that I could focus my anxieties and make something useful of
them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And
so I started writing a science fiction novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was a big space opera epic, and it was pure trash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every word of it was awful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
reason?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, it wasn’t authentic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
real me, the kid who sat at his desk filling up yellow legal pads rather than
going out bike riding with his friends, was a horror junkie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was crazy for the stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Horror was my first literary love, and I
figured seeing as love was what drove me to return to writing that I should
write what I love. I was feeling like the world was rushing at me from every
side, so I wrote a zombie story about characters who had the living dead
rushing in at them from every side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s when things started to click.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s when it all made sense.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But
it wasn’t just that simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see, I
sincerely believe that fear is the most authentic, and the most useful, emotion
available to the storyteller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is as
vital as love, and indeed, gives love its profundity, for what makes love, and
family, and everything we treasure so valuable but the fear that it could all
be taken away in the blink of an eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
me, fear goes far beyond monsters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
the catalyst for my creative process, and without that creative process, I’m
afraid I would wither up inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not
saying I’d end up like that suicide I just told you about if I couldn’t write
anymore, nothing that melodramatic, but absence of that creative outlet would
be a hole that nothing else could fill.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So
that’s why I write the dark stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the Name of
Love<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Peter Giglio<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Why do you write horror?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s a valid question, and one I’ve answered more times than I care to
count. I’ve prattled on endlessly about how horror fiction lends itself to
socially relevant metaphors, how being in tune with darkness can put one more
in touch with light, how horror is the perfect canvas on which to paint
conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blah, blah, blah… <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I’d rather explore (briefly, I promise) is why I write, and I’d also
like to offer my perspective on the fine line between genre fiction and general
fiction, that lauded non-brand that tells potential readers, “Hey, this work isn’t
pulp; you can read this without guilt, and it will make you feel smarter.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, I’m probably projecting a bit. I don’t know if it really says all that,
but it often feels like it. After all, Stephen King and Anne Rice and Dean
Koontz, though they write great genre fiction, don’t have to languish in such
confines. Their tomes aren’t branded horror; rather, they’re shelved as fiction
despite the recognizable tropes within their worlds. People who routinely say,
“I don’t read horror,” will frequently admit to reading King. That’s my experience,
at least. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Writers like King are essentially their own brand, and there’s nothing
wrong with that. Most of the time, they’ve earned the stature. King often tries
to shake his literary credentials off, but he isn’t fooling me. He worked hard
for his reputation, and I love his work deeply. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Go, Steve! Go!<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I’m not here with sour grapes. In fact, I get pissed when people attack
success. Regardless of what you or I may think of work from James Patterson or
Stephanie Meyer, people read them, and any author who’s being honest will admit
to envying the audience these icons have captured<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. Captured?</i> Wow, that makes the whole thing sound nefarious. I like
that. I also like that there are still examples of success in a crumbling
market. Glimmers of hope. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That said, I can report with all honesty that I don’t write for fame. I
laugh at friends and family members who call me famous. I’m not. Not even
close. Most of my heroes, in fact—my mentors, the people I aspire to—aren’t
even famous.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strangers get this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I tell <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">them</i> I’m a writer,
the first question is usually, “What do you write?” If I reply, “Horror,”
they’ll often ask, “Like Stephen King?” and that just makes me want to test
them a little. “No,” I might say, “like Richard Laymon.” Or I’ll throw out some
other midlist name just to see if confusion sweeps their face. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it does.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fact is, midlist writers in any corner of genre fiction (though heroes to
devotees of that particular brand) don’t mean shit to the average person at
your local pub or bank or grocery store or…wherever you meet people. And if
you, like me, aspire to those midlist heroes who write from the heart and gut,
that realization can shatter your resolve.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite all that, I write because I respect the written word. I write
because I want to articulate my feelings through stories. I write because I
love the process of creation. I love what I learn about myself and the world
around me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, most importantly, I love good stories and storytellers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My advice: Aspire to be what you love.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you love money, go into banking. If you love stories, write. If you make
money writing, congratulations—you’re a professional. Just remember,
professionals in most fields aren’t wealthy or well-known. If you happen to
make big money doing it, you’re part of a rare and endangered breed: someone
who has their calls returned by Stephen King. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a reader, I don’t care if your story is horror or romance or a thriller
or a literary coming-of-age tale; if it hooks me in the first page, I’ll read
more. If it holds me in its grip, I’ll recommend it to anyone willing to pay
attention. I don’t care if you have a contract with a Big Six publisher, a
small press, or if you self-publish (as long as you hire a good editor!). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A good story is a good story, and I enjoy building them the same way, I
assume, a skilled carpenter enjoys building a fine deck.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Genre is essentially a way of keeping all the shelves at a bookstore (and
the Amazon website) organized. It’s also a way of marketing: “If you like this,
you’ll enjoy this!” The business side of me gets this and respects it. But
that’s only half of me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reader and writer in me browses every section of a bookstore and every
corner of a website that sells books, ‘cause he just respects a good story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s the side of me I love.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that’s why I write.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: FrankRuehl; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drinking from the
Poisoned Well<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By Peter N. Dudar<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A brief anecdote; one that I often like to
tell to illustrate the insanity of writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I began my writing career after I graduated
from college and moved to Maine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those
first few years were a period of great fecundity for me, regardless of the fact
that most of the short stories I was producing were amateur at best, and at
worst downright shoddy and formulaic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And when that productive period ran out, I went through a horrible
period of writer’s block, which left me all but crippled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As time dragged by and nothing came out of me
after countless hours of staring at a blank computer screen, I decided that I
needed to do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">something.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found a creative writing course through
Portland’s Adult Education program, and even though I’d graduated from college
a few years before with a bachelor’s degree, I felt that perhaps this would be
the skeleton key to unlock my chained and hidden muse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I signed myself up and, just like that, I
found myself in an elementary school classroom on Tuesday evenings with a bunch
of other writers whom also yearned to express themselves with the written
word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll never forget that first class for as
long as I live.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made my way in and examined the
room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the desks inside had been
rearranged to form this great big circle, with the teacher’s desk front-and-center
astride the blackboard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people had
arrived before me and a lot of the desks were already filled, so I glanced
about and found an empty spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I sat
down I noticed my neighbor to my immediate left; a woman with crazy hair
subdued with colorful scarfs, a pair of eyeglasses with thick rims and leopard
skin-colored tipples, and necklaces with beads and jewels that weighed her
frame down like an anchor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew even
before I set my pen down and opened my notebook that sitting next to this
person was a bad idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I was right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our teacher came in and introduced herself,
and then asked us to go around the room and introduce ourselves and talk a
little bit about why we enjoy writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can see where this is going, can’t
you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, you can!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I listen to all the people around the
circle introduce themselves, each giving some informal speech about their
craft; some telling of the joy of simple things like journaling for historical
purposes, others finding delight in poetry or prose, or what have you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One lady mentioned how she started writing by
first making up bedtime stories for her kids, and then deciding to write them
down so that her kids could one day share them with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">their</i> children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But all the while, I’m looking at
this psychotic broad beside me, who has been wriggling and itching and dying
for it to be her turn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m suddenly sure
that I don’t want to follow this lady, that maybe I’ll just excuse myself and
run to the bathroom…and maybe even NOT come back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I bide my time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then it’s the crazy lady’s turn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This woman <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">stands up</i> and introduces herself, and then embarks on this long
stream-of-consciousness tirade of how life has been so cruel to her, and that
she “writes herself sane” to keep her poor brain for revolting against
her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We get to hear every little misery
this woman has endured (who knows how many of them were fictitious?) and how
writing has saved her life, and blah-blah-blee-blah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By now half the class is wriggling and
itching with awkwardness and discomfort, and that’s including myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really don’t want to go next, and have to
follow up after crazy lady and how her five cats died in a fire and her twin
sister was raped by an orangutan in a freak zoo incident (okay, maybe I made
that last part up, but only because I’ve mentally blocked out her real stories
in my bid to rid her from my brain).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, crazy lady sits down, and it’s my
turn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“My name is Peter,” I begin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I write because I enjoy making shit
up.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The class chuckles) “I signed up
for this class mostly because I’m trying to work through writer’s block.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess I just don’t have a lot of
difficulties in my life, or inner demons I need to face, which is probably a
good thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to believe, though,
that if I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did</i> have a lot of problems,
I would be better suited if I went to the doctor and got some medication.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More laughter…except from crazy lady, who
looks absolutely flabbergasted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can
tell I’ve insulted her, but part of me really doesn’t care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve created conflict, and conflict is good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s inspiring. For both of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking back now, I can see where I was
wrong in my behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was young and
cocky back then, and I didn’t really know shit about having anxiety or coping
with the possibility of bad health or mental illness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, of course, I can see now where the
notion of “writing oneself sane,” is possibly one of the sanest things a writer
could do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, writers deal with
telling lies, but those lies spring forth from truths that we all know and
experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t write perfectly
about a loved one dying until you stood next to their coffin and gazed at the
waxy remains of them, and realizing that the lifeless thing you are saying
goodbye to looks <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nothing</i> like the
person you knew when they were still alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You can’t write perfectly about love until you’ve had your heart broken,
when you can still smell the scent of your lover on your pillow as you lay your
head down to sleep at night, and then wake up sobbing in the morning because
you know she isn’t coming back. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then,
when you put these experiences into words, someone who has also suffered can
read them and find empathy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can
make that connection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Writers are haunted people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re held prisoner by the voices of stories
that want to be written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re slaves to
an inner thirst for information and experience just so we can find the right
words to tell our stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for the
horror writer, this information and experience we thirst for is not glamorous
or pretty, and by no means is it safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The well we drink from has poisoned water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One needs to look no further than Edgar Allan
Poe to see how his mastery at storytelling is precluded by his own personal
miseries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And what of the “ghost writer?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What of those folks (present company
included) who long to pen the perfect ghost story?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are the experiences they seek out to
gain knowledge and find the right words?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think for each of us, it begins with the
notion of an afterlife; what awaits us when we die?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ghosts are the spiritual remnants of a human
being whose body is no longer alive and whose soul no longer has a vessel to
travel in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which begs next these three
logical questions:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1) Where is the soul <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">supposed</i> to go?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What is holding the soul captive, so that it can’t or won’t move
on?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And 3) How are we, the living, to
deal with the ghost when we encounter it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The spiritual part of us (at least in our
minds), looks to religion and philosophy to begin sorting these concepts out
and come to our own unique belief system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The rational part of us seeks books or articles or essays about the act
of dying and how the body shuts down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
the writer in us…how far are we willing to go?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s the Bucket List for the ghost
writer:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Attend a séance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be present at the death of a loved one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spend a night in a haunted house/hotel/mental
institution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take photographs in a
cemetery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take video/audio recordings of
supernatural activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave
flour/powder on the floor to capture ghost prints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Play with a(n) Ouija board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take mind-altering substances to try and
commune with the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dress in dead people’s
clothing or procure their personal belongings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Build a shrine or altar for the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Have a Tarot or psychic reading performed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Visit historical places where mass murders or
suicides occurred. Visit the graves of horror authors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Learn about local folklore and urban
legends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Place ourselves in instances of
mortal danger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, above all, read more
ghost stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I’ve said, the well we drink from is
poisoned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We seek to fill our minds with
dark thoughts and notions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think this
is probably why horror writers are also some of the nicest, friendliest people
you will ever meet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s because we know
how to value and celebrate life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
because we know how to “write ourselves sane.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-42802685307917952732012-11-21T09:03:00.001-08:002012-11-21T09:03:06.105-08:00THE NEXT BIG THING: STEALING NIGHT<span style="font-size: large;">Last week, Simon McCaffery tagged me in The Next Big Thing. He was tagged by Weston Ochse. This is a daisy-chain series of blog posts in which authors answer questions about their upcoming or latest works. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Check out past posts from <a href="http://simonmccafferyfiction.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Simon McCaffery</span></a>, <a href="http://johnskipp.livejournal.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">John Skipp</span></a>, and <a href="http://weston-ochse.blogspot.com/2012/11/42-days-of-666-next-big-thing.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Weston Ochse</span></a>. And check out next week's posts from those who accepted my invitation to participate: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/trent.zelazny.9?fref=ts" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Trent Zelazny</span></a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/K8jonez?fref=ts" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Kate Jonez</span></a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/JamesGrady7?fref=ts" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">James Grady</span></a>, and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/gwendolynlperkins?fref=ts" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Gwen Perkins</span></a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">What is the working title of your next book?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>Stealing Night</em></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Where did the idea come from for the book?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">One: I had a number of disquieting dreams following a bad car accident. They all involved oncoming headlights. Two: Having recently created the fictional town of Sunfall, Nebraska in my novella <em>Sunfall Manor</em>, I was dying to know more about the town and its people. Strangely, the book that came out of this marriage isn't a traditional horror tale. It's a thriller, and a damn good one, I think.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">What genre does your book fall under?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Crime Drama. Thriller. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">What actors would you chose to play the part of your characters in the movie rendition?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'd like to see Jack played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I'll catch some hell for this, but I think Bryce Dallas Howard would be perfect as Paige. I think William Petersen would make a terrific Chuck. In terms of Nora, I can't say; I'm not really up on child actors at the moment. I like Taylor Kitsch in the role of Lee. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">What is the one-sentence synopsis for your book?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">While seeking enlightenment in hope of providing a better life for his niece, a man becomes an unwitting accomplice to a tragic crime.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>Stealing Night</em> is under contract with Nightscape Press.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">6 weeks.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">What other books would you compare this book to?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>The Color of Light</em> by William Goldman. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Who or what inspired you to write this book?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My need to make the nightmares go away, and my desire to learn more about Sunfall.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">What else about this book might pique the reader's interest?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">One doesn't have to read <em>Sunfall Manor</em> to understand <em>Stealing Night</em>. Wanted to get that out of the way. It's a transformative work, and probably my most <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">sensitive</span>. Like all my stuff, it is dark. It's also a short novel of about 180 pages, so it respects your time, but it packs a punch. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This is what Rena Mason, one of my first readers, had to say about it:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">“<i>Stealing Night</i> masterfully weaves themes of humanity and sacrifice into a story of love, life, and redemption. Peter Giglio’s compelling thriller will keep you captivated until the very end!”<br />—<b>Rena Mason</b>, author of <i>The Evolutionist</i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 200%;"></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 200%;"><em><span style="font-size: large;"></span></em></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;">The novel will be released in eBook and print next April by Nightscape Press. Hope everyone checks it out.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;">Happy Holidays!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;">Peter Giglio</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-68538773529072602932012-11-21T09:01:00.000-08:002012-11-21T09:01:09.722-08:00THE NEXT BIG THING: BRADLEY & GIGLIO'S THE DARK<span style="font-size: large;">Last week, Simon McCaffery tagged me and Scott Bradley in The Next Big Thing. He was tagged by Weston Ochse. This is a daisy-chain series of blog posts in which authors answer questions about their upcoming or latest works. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Check out past posts from <a href="http://simonmccafferyfiction.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Simon McCaffery</span></a>, <a href="http://johnskipp.livejournal.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">John Skipp</span></a>, and <a href="http://weston-ochse.blogspot.com/2012/11/42-days-of-666-next-big-thing.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Weston Ochse</span></a>. And check out next week's posts from those who accepted our invitations to participate: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/trent.zelazny.9?fref=ts" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Trent Zelazny</span></a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/K8jonez?fref=ts" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Kate Jonez</span></a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/JamesGrady7?fref=ts" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">James Grady</span></a>, and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/gwendolynlperkins?fref=ts" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Gwen Perkins</span></a>. </span><br />
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<div 0.75in="0.75in" 0in="0in" 12pt="12pt" class="MsoNormal" normal="normal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">What is the working title
of your most recent book?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">THE DARK<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Where did the idea come
from for the book?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">It came from John Skipp.
But there’s more to it than that. Scott and I actually wrote a pair of
Afterwords on the subject, but neither of them made it into the book. Click <u><a href="http://petergiglioauthor.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-dark-stories-behind-story.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">here</span></a>
</u>to read them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">What genre does your book
fall under?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">Horror. But Skipp once
called it a “metaphysical thriller.” We like that. So can we say that? Yes,
that’s the ticket. It’s a metaphysical thriller! <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">What actors would you
choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">For the role of Ben we’d
like to offer the part to John Cusack. If you’re reading this, Mr. Cusack,
please call. And for the role of Claire, we’ll go with Anne Hathaway. Call us,
Anne. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">What is the one-sentence
synopsis of your book?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">One night in L.A., the
Dark becomes sentient.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Will your book be
self-published or represented by an agency?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">The book was published in
October by Ravenous Shadows Press, under executive editor John Skipp. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">How long did it take you
to write the first draft of the manuscript?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">2 months.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">What other books would
you compare this story to within your genre?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">First Blood</span></i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> by David Morrell, in
terms of the pacing and structure. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Light
at the End</i> by John Skipp and Craig Spector, in terms of tone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Who or what inspired you
to write this book?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">A lot of that was
answered in the pair of Afterwords we linked, buy we would like to talk a
little about what influenced us to write it the way we did. Knowing that this
novel would be heavy on action, we spent a couple weeks studying the works of
David Morrell and John Farris, particularly the shorter novels like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">First Blood</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Axman Cometh</i>. We also looked closely at films that moved the
way we wanted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i> to; most
notably Steve DeJarnatt’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Miracle Mile</i>.
Our good friend Eric Shapiro’s brilliant novella <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s Only Temporary</i> was also instructive, though the styles we
employed are very different. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">What else about the book
might pique the reader's interest?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">It’s packed with action
and raw emotion. It’s a “one-night-only apocalypse of the soul,” according to
John Skipp. Hell, we’d buy and read this book if we hadn’t written it. We hope
you will, too. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Happy Holidays!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Scott & Peter</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-61091517270185543232012-11-19T14:30:00.000-08:002012-11-19T14:34:37.213-08:00Release Updates<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is some information about my publications slated for release between now and spring of next year. I'm very excited about each of these projects.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <strong></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>EVIL JESTER DIGEST, VOLUME 2 (Evil Jester Press)</strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Release Date: 12/12/12</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is my third anthology as editor, and I've never been more excited about the results. Here is a look at the book's staggering table of contents. Can't wait to get these stories out to readers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Everyday Ghost","serif"; font-size: 28pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Table of Contents<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Everyday Ghost","serif"; font-size: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">A Note
from the Editor </span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">[7] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Peter
Giglio<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">No
More Shadows</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"> [11] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tim
Waggoner</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">A
Curse and a Kiss</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"> [37] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eric
J. Guignard</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">Depravation</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"> [59] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mark Allan Gunnells</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">The
Girl with the Thirsty Eyes</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"> [73] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Scott
Bradley</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">Slink </span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">[85] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Trent Zelazny</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">Vampiro
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">[105] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Palisano</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">Kristall
Tag</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"> [119] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Holly Newstein</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">The
Tardy Hand of Miss Tangerine</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"> [135] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jon
Michael Kelley</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">Vanishing
Act</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"> [165] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Simon McCaffery</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">Windows
in the Wreckage</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"> [181] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Trent
Zelazny</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">Coyote
Gambit</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"> [195] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene O’Neill<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;">Closing
Time</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"> [215] <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Amy Wallace</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p>"Game Changer" </o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p>in NIGHTSCAPES, VOL. 1 (Nightscape Press)</o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p>Release Date: 1/29/13</o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p>Cover Art: TBD</o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I'm thrilled to have a story featured in Nightscape Press' new anthology, the first in what I hope will be a very long series. Here's a look at the company I'll be keeping. Note: This is not the final TOC order.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A Dry Spell in Parnell County by Ed Kurtz<br />A Taste of Green Voodoo Healing by Peter N. Dudar<br />Angel Killer by Lisa Morton<br />Autumn’s Gifts by Jeremy Terry<br />Chopper by Bryan Hall<br />Corruption by Lisa Mannetti<br />Deviant Colors by Benjamin Kane Ethridge<br />Fly by Jonathan Templar<br />Game Changer by Peter Giglio<br />Guadalupe’s Tamales by Shane McKenzie<br />House Hunting by Ray Garton<br />How to Save a Life by Chris Marrs<br />In the Halls and on the Stairs by Brad C. Hodson<br />Mary Kelly’s Face by John Forth<br />Skins by Richard Wright<br />Still by Charles Colyott<br />Surprise Inside by Tonia Brown<br />The Big Dream by J.S. Reinhardt<br />The Rag-End of Dreams by Trent Zelazny<br />Village Green by Boyd E. Harris<br />Vision by Megan N. Moore<br />Wee Ones by C.W. LaSart<br />Whispers in the Trees, Screams in the Dark by Taylor Grant<br />Worldly Possessions by Richard Salter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p>"Cages"</o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p>in AFTER DEATH... (Dark Moon Books)</o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p>Edited by Eric J. Guignard</o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p>Release Date: March/April 2013</o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNQd7MlY_M1lRXAVsM9dylc1O5axJ0AIi28obMF1RhsdLGeq7GZmhNIt1-dNdVKnU-NtFlOh4fcJB9ypJft9gwNCemGAVAVwbs-sBfgtTzmebpCyKq7k6530oKi1bACKdZGJTX2zOxGQ/s1600/AFTERDEATHCOVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNQd7MlY_M1lRXAVsM9dylc1O5axJ0AIi28obMF1RhsdLGeq7GZmhNIt1-dNdVKnU-NtFlOh4fcJB9ypJft9gwNCemGAVAVwbs-sBfgtTzmebpCyKq7k6530oKi1bACKdZGJTX2zOxGQ/s320/AFTERDEATHCOVER.jpg" width="209" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">This is another anthology I'm beyond pleased to be part of. Here's a look at the TOC:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Andrew S.
Williams</strong> — <em>Someone to Remember</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>David
Tallerman</strong> — <em>Prisoner of Peace</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Steve
Rasnic Tem</strong> — <em>The Last Moments Before Bed</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Lisa
Morton</strong> — <em>The Resurrection Policy</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>John M.
Floyd</strong> — <em>High Places</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Kelda
Crich</strong> — <em>Circling the Stones at Fulcrum's Low</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>David
Steffen</strong> — <em>I Will Remain</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Aaron J.
French</strong> — <em>Tree of Life</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Sanford
Allen & Josh Rountree</strong> — <em>The Reckless
Alternative</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Brad C.
Hodson</strong> — <em>The Thousandth Hell</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>James S.
Dorr</strong> —<em> Mall Rats</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Ray
Cluley</strong> — <em>Afterword</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Jonathan
Shipley</strong> — <em>Like a Bat out of Hell</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Edward M.
Erdelac</strong> — <em>Sea of Trees</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Jacob
Edwards</strong> — <em>The Overlander</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Bentley
Little</strong> — <em>My Father Knew Douglas MacArthur</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Jamie
Lackey</strong> — <em>Robot Heaven</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>John
Palisano</strong> — <em>Forever</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Robert B.
Marcus, Jr.</strong> — <em>Beyond the Veil</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Alvaro
Rodriguez</strong> — <em>Boy, 7</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>William
Meikle</strong><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>— <em>Be Quiet At The
Back</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Christine
Morgan</strong> — <em>A Feast of Meat and Mead<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Simon
Clark</strong> — <em>Hammerhead</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Peter
Giglio</strong> — <em>Cages</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Kelly
Dunn</strong> — <em>Marvel at the Face of Forever</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Trevor
Denyer</strong> — <em>The Unfinished Lunch<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Steve
Cameron</strong> — <em>I Was The Walrus<o:p></o:p></em></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Larry
Hodges</strong> — <em>The Devil's Backbone<o:p></o:p></em></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Benjamin
Kane Ethridge</strong> — <em>The Death of E.
Coli<o:p></o:p></em></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Emily C.
Skaftun</strong> — <em>Final Testament of a Weapons
Engineer<o:p></o:p></em></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Joe
McKinney</strong> — <em>Acclimation Package<o:p></o:p></em></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Josh
Strnad</strong> — <em>Hellevator<o:p></o:p></em></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Allan
Izen</strong> — <em>In and Out the Window<o:p></o:p></em></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>John
Langan</strong> — <em>With Max Barry in the Nearer Precincts</em></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"></span></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong> </div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">STEALING NIGHT</span></strong></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Sunfall Novel</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Release Date: 4/1/2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Peter Giglio returns to the fictional town of Sunfall, Nebraska, this time with a rural crime thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The only thing Jack Lewis has ever been good at is taking care of his eleven-year-old niece, Nora, whose mother has gone off the rails with a series of bad decisions. The time has come for Jack to be a man, but just as a plan to get his family out of town takes shape, an old friend enters the picture, bringing with him a dark night of murder and betrayal.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Now Jack must stand firm for those he loves as he struggles between the promising new life in bloom and the dark secret of a dead girl from California.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Stealing Night</i> is a riveting exploration of our best and worst angels, of the familial ties that bend but never break, of the decisions we make, and the high cost of hesitation in the face of evil.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">“<i>Stealing Night</i> masterfully weaves themes of humanity and sacrifice into a story of love, life, and redemption. Peter Giglio’s compelling thriller will keep you captivated until the very end!”<br />—<strong>Rena Mason</strong>, author of <i>The Evolutionist</i></span></span></span></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Narkisim;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-90284846764954655452012-10-19T14:31:00.000-07:002012-11-19T14:35:09.349-08:00THE DARK -- STORIES BEHIND THE STORYWhen Scott Bradley and I finished writing <em>The Dark</em>, we were thrilled. We're even more thrilled now that the book has been published by Ravenous Shadows, but we were tickled nonetheless. For a couple of friends who met in the fourth grade and grew up reading horror novels, writing this one together was a dream come true. <br />
<br />
<em>The Dark</em> is a novel with an interesting backstory, both in terms of how it came into Scott Bradley's life and how it eventually came into mine. So Scott and I wrote <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">separate</span> Afterwords that told these stories behind the story. <br />
<br />
Sadly, the Afterwords didn't make it into the book. Thanks to my trusty blog, however, we're ready to share those stories with you here. <br />
<br />
Don't worry, these Afterwords contain no spoilers.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdC4vUyd-PBZtiI8xJI4_P419gV3tonNXPxnZmFLooIVXkd7ybTEF_ybGdcJIGC_DGGgVJrrImmmHOcdZwlYgsaPBqOhJYJM93iLJXU398Pm7E5TICSggkudQiplr6CceCfaCVBAoB1w/s1600/THEDARK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdC4vUyd-PBZtiI8xJI4_P419gV3tonNXPxnZmFLooIVXkd7ybTEF_ybGdcJIGC_DGGgVJrrImmmHOcdZwlYgsaPBqOhJYJM93iLJXU398Pm7E5TICSggkudQiplr6CceCfaCVBAoB1w/s320/THEDARK.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 24pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">AFTERWORDS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 24pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I’m
taking point here and gonna say that if we’ve done our job well—or even if we
haven’t—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i> isn’t the kind of
novel that would normally require an afterword, let alone <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">two</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Except,
this novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">does</i> require some
afterwords because there is a “story behind the story” that should be told of
how this novel came to be thanks to our editor at Ravenous Shadows, John Skipp,
and how Pete Giglio and I ended up writing it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">If
you’re even a casual fan of horror fiction, Skipp needs no introduction. From
splatterpunk poster boy in the eighties to beloved genre elder statesman today,
he does it all, solo and in collaboration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He’s
the kind of guy who has many, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">many</i>
ideas, creatively cross-breeding many genres. For instance, how many other
people do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i> know who have written
(A) several classic horror novels (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Light at the End</i> and many more.); (B) a butchered draft of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nightmare on Elm Street </i>movie (number
five, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dream Child</i>); <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> (C) the screenplay <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> songs for an award-winning musical
porn film (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Misty Beethoven:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Musical!</i>)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
actually have a brief dialogue role in that last one (fully clothed, mind
you!). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Skipp
has so many ideas that he just doesn’t get around to some of them, even with
his boundless enthusiasm, tireless work ethic, and various talented
collaborators.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Dark</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> was one of those ideas. And he
gave it to me. Here’s how it happened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One
night in the unbearably hot Los Angeles summer of 2007, Skipp and I were
hanging out and watching a lot of movies on DVD. One of them was a little item
from 1979 called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>, which
bears absolutely no relation to the novel you just read.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
can’t resist a small digression about this film. Apparently it started life as
your basic hulking-psycho-decapitating-people drive-in fodder. How great was
this movie seemingly destined to be? The fact that the killer’s first victim is
played by one Kathy Richards (these days better known as Paris Hilton’s mother)
should be all the answer you need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Tobe
Hooper, hot off the original <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Texas
Chainsaw Massacre</i>, was directing; the cast featured such seventies stalwarts
as William Devane, Cathy Lee Crosby, Richard Jaeckel, Keenan Wynn, and—I shit
you not—Casey Kasem as a police pathologist (no doubt cast because he was
buddies with the film’s producer—Dick Clark; yes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> Dick Clark). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How
could this go wrong? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Alas,
that’s when the clusterfuck began. First, Hooper departed the production
something like two days into shooting for reasons that remain obscure. He was
replaced by actor/stuntman/director John ‘Bud’ Cardos, who had previously
helmed the William Shatner-versus-arachnids epic, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kingdom of the Spiders</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In
myriad ways, this was not exactly Stanley Kubrick taking over from Anthony Mann
on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spartacus</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">And
it’s not a turn of events that usually bodes well for a movie. For recent
examples of this phenomenon, see John Frankenheimer replacing Richard Stanley
on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Island of Dr. Moreau</i> and Renny
Harlin replacing Paul Schrader on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Exorcist
</i>prequel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But
it gets better, ’cause someone involved in this debacle noticed that the
success of movies like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Close Encounters of the Third Kind</i> had
completely changed the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Science
fiction was hot. Very. Lasers and aliens and none of that artsy-fartsy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">2001: A Space Odyssey</i> kinda stuff to
confuse people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
have no idea how exactly what happened next transpired, even after listening to
the DVD commentary twice, but I picture it going something like this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 76.3pt 0pt 0.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">PRODUCER-TYPE
#1: Hey!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sci-Fi’s big, y’know, with the
kids! Why don’t we make it an alien killer instead of just a human killer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 76.3pt 0pt 0.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 76.3pt 0pt 0.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">PRODUCER-TYPE
#2: But we already got all this footage that’s not sci-fi. It’s just the killer
stalking and the cops trying to catch him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 76.3pt 0pt 0.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 76.3pt 0pt 0.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">PRODUCER-TYPE
#1: Let’s have the killer guy shoot lasers out of his eyes. That’s alien
enough. And we’ll put a crawl at the beginning of the movie, like in that “A
long time ago in a Galaxy Far-Far Away” thing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 76.3pt 0pt 0.75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
have a feeling the reality was even better than my speculations, possibly
featuring copious lines of cocaine, but I don’t want to be responsible for any
scurrilous rumors that substance abuse might have been involved in the making
of this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Anyway,
to end the digression and segue back to the point—and speaking of substance
abuse—Skipp and I were pretty hammered as we hooted and hollered and gawked at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>. A great time was had by all,
especially when one of us (can’t remember which) noted how completely generic
and unrelated the title <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i> was
to the film itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Like
one of the aforementioned Producer-Types suggested, “Let’s just call it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>! That sounds scary!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As we
considered that, Skipp said: “Did I ever tell you about the idea I had for a
story called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Well,
no, he hadn’t. I knew the shitty movie we had just watched, and I was aware
that there was a James Herbert novel called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Dark</i>, which I hadn’t read. But he’d never told me any idea of his using
that title.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So
Skipp told me. He sketched out the basic premise (the Dark becomes sentient and
malevolent) and a chunk of the narrative (single mom overseeing slumber party
as the shit hits the fan). Then we parted ways for the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">And
I went to bed. Sitting in the dark and thinking about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i> (the John Skipp version). The story, for lack of a better
word, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">haunted</i> me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What
a great idea, both viscerally <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and </i>metaphorically!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
found myself obsessing on it, so—a couple of days later over lunch—I flat out
asked Skipp: “That story you told me, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Dark</i>. You gonna write that?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Skipp
said no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had a new solo novel (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Long Last Call</i>) about to come out
and was brewing various other fiction and film projects, and just being
generally Skipptastically busy (as he usually is).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So
I admitted that I was kinda interested in taking a crack at the story, and,
hey, would he mind if…?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">No.
Skipp didn’t mind at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Then
he helped me plot out the whole thing on a few hundred note cards. When we
couldn’t figure something out – a plot point or a character or an idea - we’d
make a card for that too. This is the way Skipp works.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
was collaborating with one of the greatest horror writers of our time, except
he wasn’t plotting this out as my co-author. He was doing it as a friend and
mentor and the big brother I never had (I have two awesome sisters, but never
had a big brother to kick my ass when it needed kicking and cheer me on when I
needed cheering—Skipp has filled that role very ably on both counts).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We
got <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i> plotted. I started
making exploratory jabs at writing it. Then Fate stepped in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ironically,
not Fate in a bad way, but rather a good way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Because,
my girlfriend Amy Wallace (bestselling author of many books, fiction and
non-fiction) and our friend Del Howison (award-winning genre editor, esteemed
fiction writer, and proprietor of the great horror bookstore, Dark Delicacies,
in Burbank, California) had been discussing doing a horror-focused spin-off of
the bestselling <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Book of Lists</i> (a
series launched in 1977, originally conceived and executed by Amy, her brother
David Wallechinsky, and their father Irving Wallace).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Well,
you’re not gonna believe what happened next – it’s hard for me to believe – but
big time publishers HarperCollins bought our proposal for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Book of Lists Horror</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Naturally,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i> – and everything else - went
wayyyyyy on the back burner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Skipp
understood. He even threw in massive amounts of hard work and moral support on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Book of Lists Horror</i> as our “Fifth
Beatle.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Flash-forward
a couple of years. Skipp edited his fourth successful anthology of zombie
fiction. So successful that he was asked by its publisher to do a follow-up
called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Werewolves and Shapeshifters: Encounters
with the Beast Within</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Skipp
invited me to contribute. I was killing myself to conceive something, anything,
but the best I could come up with was “C.I.A. werewolves” (don’t ask).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Around
that time I was catching up with my friend Pete Giglio, with whom I went to
elementary, junior high, and high school. We’d gotten back in touch via the
magic of the Internet; Pete had been reading and writing and pursuing his own
creative endeavors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So
I said to Pete: “Should we take a crack at this shapeshifter thing for Skipp’s
anthology together?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Pete—always
up for a challenge (and ask anyone, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">especially</i>
Pete – working with me is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always</i> a
challenge)—was in. We worked out a story, inspired by the twisty-turny novels
of William Goldman (we even have Skipp to thank for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i>, when he asked me, “Wonder what a shapeshifter story by
Goldman would be like?”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Wrote
it. Sent it to Skipp. I didn’t think we had a chance of getting accepted, any
more than I thought Amy, Del, and I would sell <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Book of Lists Horror</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Needless
to say, I’ve learned the power of negative thinking, ‘cause our tale, “The
Better Half:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Love Story”, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i> accepted for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Werewolves and Shapeshifters</i> (I was in Hanoi, Vietnam, with my Dad
when I got the email that Skipp dug the story; how cool is THAT?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Call
it a life-changer or a game-changer or…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">…just
call it two dumbasses from Springfield, Missouri, ending up in an anthology
with the likes of H.P. Lovecraft and Angela Carter and Chuck Palahniuk and Joe
R. Lansdale and George R.R. Martin and the proverbial “many, many more.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Bottom
line: John Skipp pulled the trigger on our careers as fiction writers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So—one
more flash-forward (this is getting to be like a Nicolas Roeg movie or
something, isn’t it?)—in 2011 Skipp was named Editor Maximus of Ravenous
Shadows, the horror/suspense/mystery/thriller wing of Ravenous Romance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">After
delivering this news, Skipp asked, “So what are you thinking about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
knew he’d been disappointed with me on the project, though - bless him - he
never actually said it to me. Even with the extenuating circumstances of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Book of Lists Horror</i>, I’d done zero with
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>. As in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nothing</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Sometimes
the fat manila envelope marked “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>
Cards” would catch my eye; I’d turn away guiltily and start farting around on
the Internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But
now there was a new player in the game, and formidable one—Peter Giglio, who’s
that rare combination of prolific <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i>
talented. In addition to being my oldest and dearest friend, he’s also the
dream collaborator: Hard-working and dedicated to Getting It Right. Ready to
concede a point or ready to argue, whatever it takes. Always without anger or
ego; always in aid of solving the problem on any project he’s involved in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I was thinking about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>,” I said, “and wondering if I should do it with Pete.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
should <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">definitely</i> do it with Pete,”
Skipp replied with an excited grin. “That way you might actually write it!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">And
that’s how the novel you just read happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 8;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—Scott Bradley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Los
Angeles, CA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">December
22, 2011 (Winter Solstice)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In
2007, not long after Scott and Skipp’s initial plotting of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>, I had the pleasure of getting back in touch with Scott.
We’d met in the fourth grade, stayed friends through high school, and then gone
our separate ways, as people often do when the time comes for higher education.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We
reconnected on MySpace. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ah,
social media. Say what you will about it, but let me say this first: Without
it, I never would have been reunited with my dear friend. And the novel that
you just read or are getting ready to read…well…it might not exist at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Over
the last four years, Scott and I have had many conversations. In them, Scott
spoke of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i> from time to time.
He even laid out the plot a few times. And I listened to each telling like it
was the first, because I dug the story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">No.
I didn’t just dig it. I loved it! Still do!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But
I had no illusions that I’d ever be part of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Dark</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> was a sacred gift to Scott
Bradley from none other than horror legend John Skipp. I’m very fond of Skipp
and his work, and I’m proud to call him a friend. But he’s more than that to
Scott. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">To
Scott, he’s a brother, much the same way Scott’s a brother to me. And, as I’m
sure you can understand, Scott was very protective of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So,
in the summer of 2011, when Scott asked me to write <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i> with him, I asked, “Are you sure?” He said something to
the effect of, “If you’re sure you’re up it.” I was all-too-pleased to respond,
“Hell yes!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We
set up a work schedule, had a few discussions, wrote a proposal, and the deal
was set. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Dark</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> was going to be a novel by Scott
Bradley & Peter Giglio, edited by John Skipp. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
was thrilled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Scott,
before flying to Southeast Asia on one of his fantastic Father-Son trips, sent
me the note cards that he and Skipp had written four years earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">They
were out of order. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But
that wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, had they not been out of order, I might have
shuffled them anyway. Putting the cards in order, trying to make sense out of
them—for instance, a card would say “DARK D.J.,” the next card would say
“Minefield,” then the next would say “Claire struggles with her inner-Dark,”
and…you get the idea—was an important part of the process. It connected me to
that long-ago night in the summer of 2007. I even had a few beers as I worked
through the cards, just to get into the spirit of the whole thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
was part of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Once
the cards were in order—or as close to “in order” as I was going to get them—I
started filling in the blanks. I pieced together a pretty strong outline (5,000
words) and sent it off to Scott. He made changes, and we had discussions, but
that outline, for the most part, represents the structure of the novel we ended
up writing. Much of it came from the cards. Much of it came from me. Ain’t
collaboration a beautiful thing? I think so!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I’m
pretty damned proud of that outline. Proud that I got it. And happy that I
could be part of putting the story together. This wasn’t just going to be a
paint-by-numbers assignment where I got to take part in writing someone else’s
book. Trust me, I’d have been okay with that considering the story behind the
story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But
I was elated it was going to be more. Positively giddy that I got to take
chances, create characters and scenes, and have some fun. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
won’t bore you with a lot of stories from the writing process. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In
short… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We
had good days. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We
had bad days (Scott actually spent one day in the ER and two days in the ICU
due to complications from Type 1 Diabetes during the writing of this novel). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We
had arguments (No, Scott, you don’t land a joke right after a beloved character
dies).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">And
we, since we were never in the same room (or, for that matter, the same state)
during the writing of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>, gave
each other several virtual high-fives—again, thanks to the miracle of social
media (though we’ve both, happily, upgraded to Facebook).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">That’s
my story of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>. And I’m
sticking to it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">—Peter
Giglio<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Lincoln,
NE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">January
2, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-56330902879201306032012-09-10T20:28:00.000-07:002012-09-20T13:34:33.140-07:00RELEASE UPDATES<span style="color: white;">The next two months are very exciting for me. I will see the publication of several works I'm highly proud of, both long and short. Here's a linear update on all the happenings.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Friday, September 14th</span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: x-large;"><strong>TRUST (Short Story)</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Etopia Press</span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: white;">This title will be released as a standalone eBook, then it will see print in October's annual anthology of dark fiction from Etopia Press.</span> </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1uLYS1O2Wny1NkpNXXin_2hGHYoliH9r4HhI3eQB1FixhofH3mBF7tV2P-2KBResnVa1p-BZTK_npEGABzcS065BAGBTV1lF3qKyjAEMuG8nTPA0viplA3JpSlFGRji4Wx_uZhXFDH4Y/s1600/trustcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1uLYS1O2Wny1NkpNXXin_2hGHYoliH9r4HhI3eQB1FixhofH3mBF7tV2P-2KBResnVa1p-BZTK_npEGABzcS065BAGBTV1lF3qKyjAEMuG8nTPA0viplA3JpSlFGRji4Wx_uZhXFDH4Y/s640/trustcover.jpg" width="428" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Tuesday, September 25th</span></div>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZ7zlXllo0S7DVpmyCKAU2uDs1jvjCH8Vxrnhc2ncYl1HXkKSG2eBf3tplhX0PAKanUfBsSTaUq72T5CmHhxCFXHZYxrZVqH8pwRTClELfXRQj4APunPYesGT4jlH3Z882VXF4XB-OU4/s1600/psychos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZ7zlXllo0S7DVpmyCKAU2uDs1jvjCH8Vxrnhc2ncYl1HXkKSG2eBf3tplhX0PAKanUfBsSTaUq72T5CmHhxCFXHZYxrZVqH8pwRTClELfXRQj4APunPYesGT4jlH3Z882VXF4XB-OU4/s1600/psychos.jpg" /></a><strong><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">PSYCHOS: <span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Serial Killers, Depraved Madmen, and the Criminally Insane, edited by John Skipp</span></span></span></strong></div>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Black Dog and Leventhal </span></div>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white;">This is the latest installment in New York Times Bestselling author John Skipp's subgenre-specific mega-anthos. My first fiction sale was to an earlier entry in this series: Werewolves and Shapeshifters. Here I'm working with Scott Bradley once again, this time bringing you a sharp little number called "Straycation." Hope you'll check it out.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white;">How can you go wrong with this lineup?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Jim Shepard</div>
Edgar Allan Poe<br />
Joan Aiken<br />
Richard Connell<br />
Ray Bradbury<br />
Robert Bloch<br />
Ed Kurtz<br />
Laura Lee Bahr<br />
William Gay<br />
Thomas Harris<br />
Jack Ketchum<br />
Joe R. Lansdale<br />
Mercedes M. Yardley<br />
Steve Rasnic Tem<br />
Lawerence Block<br />
David J. Schow<br />
Neil Gaiman<br />
Leah Mann<br />
Kevin L. Donihe<br />
Leslianne Wilder<br />
Bentley Little<br />
Adam-Troy Castro <br />
John Gorumba<br />
Violet LeVoit<br />
Christopher Coake<br />
John Boden<br />
Scott Bradley and Peter Giglio<br />
Cody Goodfellow<br />
Weston Ochse<br />
Amelia Beamer<br />
Elizabeth Massie<br />
Nick Mamatas<br />
Simon McCaffery<br />
Mehitobel Wilson<br />
Brian Hodge<br />
Robert Devereaux<br />
Kathe Koja<br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Tuesday, October 16th</span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: x-large;"><strong>THE DARK</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Ravenous Shadows</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">This is the first of many collaborative novels from Scott Bradley and Peter Giglio.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">Here's the skinny:</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ben Pilot was a TV star, until some bad decisions cost him his career,<br />wife, and child. Now broke and alone, he manages a video store in the<br />shadows of Hollywood.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-cfWP-TyS-gxUFiL239qft-hXAzO05q6GETOO-9gUjxVR1PPsiZlhSwOewK9GHZKUjZhDdvGTL_C4bJjZlrUK_e39gIhEz5z9d_qyD7wuzVX26hWU2srvsTauTH3zMvnw-npUmmDQeM/s1600/darky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-cfWP-TyS-gxUFiL239qft-hXAzO05q6GETOO-9gUjxVR1PPsiZlhSwOewK9GHZKUjZhDdvGTL_C4bJjZlrUK_e39gIhEz5z9d_qyD7wuzVX26hWU2srvsTauTH3zMvnw-npUmmDQeM/s320/darky.jpg" width="207" /></span></a><br /><span style="color: white;">But tonight, the shadows just woke up, crawling across the face of Los Angeles. It’s a sentient Darkness that can shut down your power, tear you to pieces, or peer deep into your soul.<br /> <br />If Ben wants to save his family, he will have to move fast, across a blackened nightmare landscape of rampaging death and possession.<br /> <br />Where the light is the only safe place to hide. Too bad it’s dying fast…</span><br />
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<span style="color: white;">"An ass-kicking one-night-only L.A. apocalypse of the soul."</span><br />
<span style="color: white;">- John Skipp</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white;">"One hell of a writing team... read anything they produce."</span><br />
<span style="color: white;">- Joe R. Lansdale</span><br />
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<span style="color: white;">"This is the perfect example of why horror matters."</span><br />
<span style="color: white;">- Joe McKinney</span><br />
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"...<span style="color: white;">a unique, frighteningly potent force of evil and its impact on one man, his estranged wife, and their child."</span><br />
<span style="color: white;">- Mark Protosevich, screenwriter of The Cell and I Am Legend</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">October (Date TBD)</span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: x-large;">SUNFALL MANOR</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Nightscape Press</span></div>
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A novella by Peter Giglio with an introduction by Stoker-winning author, Joe McKinney...<br />
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Edgar is a ghost cursed to spend his nights at Sunfall Manor, an apartment complex that was once a farmhouse in the flatlands of Nebraska. Every night he must move through five different dwellings, haunted by the living–a drunken and paranoid writer, an abused housewife, a colder-than-ice web-mistress, a two-bit drug dealer, and a crazy old man who plays with puppets–trying to unlock the secrets of who he is. But tonight is different. The lost souls of Sunfall Manor are ready to give up the ghost, and the past is ready to open its cold, unforgiving arms.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMxzpsTg_ipZAD6CXnYrWTI3oMYa5iIfkhAlw5R5CQaBsaqHGRdMucT5p1lPyi8ueT6ZxniCAYA0Dx4qFl6nqRQAr6yA7-bItk0stvN3awfr7jopUDWFKnRxFk-yWZlMmZqlUSClNsxN4/s1600/sunfall2wrap-crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMxzpsTg_ipZAD6CXnYrWTI3oMYa5iIfkhAlw5R5CQaBsaqHGRdMucT5p1lPyi8ueT6ZxniCAYA0Dx4qFl6nqRQAr6yA7-bItk0stvN3awfr7jopUDWFKnRxFk-yWZlMmZqlUSClNsxN4/s320/sunfall2wrap-crop.jpg" width="209" /></a>"Sunfall Manor is a gem of a story that reminds me of Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio ... vignettes of lives lived and lost with touches of sadness, regret, and vengeance. A tale sure to send more than a few shivers up your spine ... and your soul."</div>
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—Rick Hautala, author of INDIAN SUMMER and LITTLE BROTHERS<br />
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“A lesser thinker might have been content with a haunted house story. A lesser storyteller might have been content with a tale of discovery, or perhaps one of ghostly revenge. But Peter Giglio has more up his sleeve than ghosts and creepy old houses. He’s even got more than mere philosophy.” <br />
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—Bram Stoker Award winner Joe McKinney, from his introduction<br />
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"Any horror fan who's properly awake has been following the crazily productive visionary exactitude of Peter Giglio. He slings plainsong toughness pressurized by pop-eyed mania. SUNFALL MANOR's not his debut, though it's his debut masterpiece: A cold-trance-inducing, five-click merry-go-round about a rundown dwelling in the flatlands that feels more like a schizoid colony in outer space. This thing should be a major film, though we'll have to wake up Kubrick to do it right. A work of art that you'll be judged for missing."<br />
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—Eric Shapiro, author of SHORT OF A PICNIC and STORIES FOR THE END OF THE WORLD<br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Late Summer</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3QtzbtrQcsQ7mhwc7qnYd181FbUeKV_pCUEp7g_Hkm_f96tR4TZgz35fB7L1uP49-Vfhl3C1xoUG2ofOxD1fZJFyD8T0P9JSgfdghSSO9-cX9wYQLBHBPbLbYO5eW7KK3UGGktaiHBg/s1600/border-noir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3QtzbtrQcsQ7mhwc7qnYd181FbUeKV_pCUEp7g_Hkm_f96tR4TZgz35fB7L1uP49-Vfhl3C1xoUG2ofOxD1fZJFyD8T0P9JSgfdghSSO9-cX9wYQLBHBPbLbYO5eW7KK3UGGktaiHBg/s320/border-noir.jpg" width="203" /></a><strong><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: x-large;">BORDER NOIR, Edited by Alvaro Rodriguez</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Vao Publishing</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">This anthology includes the short story "Eyeballs and Assholes in El Paso" by Scott Bradley and Peter Giglio.</span></div>
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I just ran across this information on the VAO Publishing website:</div>
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Due to production snags, VAO Publishing regrets the need to push the release of <em>Border Noir</em> to December 2012. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-66048399373655505352012-09-10T16:56:00.000-07:002012-11-19T14:35:49.396-08:00BLOGGING THE GHOST WEEK 2: JOE McKINNEY, PETER N. DUDAR, PETER GIGLIO<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Welcome to Part Two of Blogging the Ghost, our celebration of Ghost Month.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">If you missed Part One of Blogging the Ghost on Joe McKinney’s website, you can find it </span><a href="http://joemckinney.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/blogging-the-ghost/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">If you missed the BTG kickoff podcast at Dark Discussions with our brilliant host Philip Perron, you can still listen to it </span><a href="http://www.darkdiscussions.com/Pages/podcast_071.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Now it’s time for today’s offering, which I’m really excited about, and I’m sure you’ll share that excitement when you discover the two great pieces we have for you—a damn-near novelette-sized ghost story from Joe McKinney, and an essay from the talented Peter N. Dudar about his favorite ghost story.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHKAeMol8KKYbRutGWbau6O3bvmKGE4JPOg1j-zNqxfgNf8S3PgzQnpyulPwgMG4B0gS2UCPJJM9HtHENbJxmnrw_7iUXT3iuENL6G-h2gCq4cctTaA6HebvVe4Yc6WykY080KVk2YJmo/s1600/sunfall2wrap-crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHKAeMol8KKYbRutGWbau6O3bvmKGE4JPOg1j-zNqxfgNf8S3PgzQnpyulPwgMG4B0gS2UCPJJM9HtHENbJxmnrw_7iUXT3iuENL6G-h2gCq4cctTaA6HebvVe4Yc6WykY080KVk2YJmo/s320/sunfall2wrap-crop.jpg" width="209" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">If you haven’t read Mr. Dudar’s outstanding haunted house novel from </span><a href="http://www.nightscapepress.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Nightscape Press</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Requiem for Dead Flies</i>, you can pick it up </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Requiem-Dead-Flies-Peter-Dudar/dp/193864400X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347320192&sr=1-1&keywords=a+requiem+for+dead+flies" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">. Joe McKinney’s paranormal police procedural, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inheritance</i>, is coming in November from </span><a href="http://eviljesterpress.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Evil Jester Press</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">. And in October, my strange ghost novella, Sunfall Manor, will be released by Nightscape Press. If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to talk about that one for a bit…</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">EARNED TIME<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">When it comes time to work on a particular project, it’s usually because I’ve signed a contract to write it or it’s been on my schedule of spec projects for a long time. Commitments are important to me. I don’t miss deadlines, I stay busy, and I follow my plans. I’m a very goal oriented writer and editor, and I’m notoriously “tick-tock” in my clockwork ways.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">But<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sunfall</i> Manor is different. It never showed up on a schedule because it wasn’t planned. And yet it’s the piece of long fiction that I’m most proud of; the piece that I’d be the most willing to hand to family members and say, “Here, read this. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This</i> is what I do.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">I don’t want to talk about the influences associated with the novella. I talked about that stuff in detail on the Dark Discussions podcast, and I hope you will listen to it. I simply hate to repeat myself. I’m not saying I don’t frequently do it. I just hate it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">What I will talk about is time. Time has much to do with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sunfall Manor</i>, both in what allowed the work to live and in the themes the book explores. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Many see time as the enemy. And ultimately, they’re right. Entropy, regardless of your spiritual bent or worldview, is impossible to refute. Try. You’ll fail. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">But time can also be an ally. Yes, an ally. Sure, we fear the ticking clock. We dread the things we have to do, and our ultimate demise. But there’s something I like to call “Earned Time.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Earned Time is routinely when I watch movies, read books, and take vacations. It’s the window that comes at the end of a really long and dark hallway, a period in which I push myself hard to not only get things done on schedule but to get them done ahead of schedule. Sometimes I earn an extra week, sometimes two.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">This past June, after finishing my novel </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Anon-Peter-Giglio/dp/0615650163/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347320290&sr=1-1&keywords=beyond+anon" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">BeyondAnon</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> way ahead of schedule, I had a bunch of time on my hands. Tommy Shaw from the rock band Styx might have said, “Too Much Time on My Hands.” But I didn’t see it that way. I had a month before I needed to start my editing projects for Evil Jester Press. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">What to do, what to do? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">I’d been talking a little bit with Mark Scioneaux over at Nightscape, a new small press that I was really impressed with, about submitting something, but I didn’t have anything to send in…yet. So I’d just write something, right?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">It wasn’t that easy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Here’s the thing: I’m not a fast writer. I don’t rush anything. I just work extremely long days until I’m happy with a project. It’s an obsession, and once I get into a project, it consumes me entirely. I don’t want anyone to think I just dashed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sunfall Manor</i> off without a care in the world. In fact, I drove everyone around me crazy while I was writing it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Thank God it only took 4 days.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">That’s right. I wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sunfall Manor</i> in 4 days. 4 days in which I got about 5 hours of sleep. 4 days in which I drank a month’s worth of coffee. 4 days in which people were convinced I was killing myself. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Was I right to do this? Probably not. If I’m honest with myself, I was damned wrong on every level. But, in my humble estimation, the story is right as a result. This was the product of my Earned Time. How I chose to spend it. What I wanted to do with it. I’ve never worked harder in a shorter period. I might never do it again. But this is what I wanted to do...this time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">I spent the next week rewriting and editing and polishing and doing all the things that a serious writer must do, but I was able to sleep and breathe easily. I wasn’t yelling every third word. I wasn’t impossible. Hell, I was at peace. My baby was alive. She was healthy. She needed a little of this and a little of that, but that wasn’t a problem. She was going to be okay. And I loved her. Still do. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Nightscape bought the novella less than a week after I sent it in. Eric Shapiro (Director of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rule of Three</i> and Jack Ketchum’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mail Order</i>) and Darwin Green (Several projects in development) have already taken out a three year film option on the work, which has earned praise from HWA Lifetime Achievement Award-winning author Rick Hautala, Joe McKinney (who also penned the book’s introduction), Gene O’Neill, Jeremy C. Shipp, Tracy L. Carbone, Trent Zelazny, and David Bernstein.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Can you tell how proud I am? I hope so. But here's what I learned:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Time…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">The mind…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">A worn hardwood floor in an old house…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">The weathered face that speaks of a lifetime of hard work…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">What we find in the cracks are often the most valuable treasures.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6XFlCIUszH9zCQs84whZyFDZ8fsjeGX0IOMnvEp5Q-bl_MEjd5D6QYyHSP99UnN3zIDdxJWMuOB_Li-8OMR8o7-n_S8KvFzowo3tZLctTIC43ddWcLP4BgWccgCof3Amq4j1H69VXR4/s1600/13626304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6XFlCIUszH9zCQs84whZyFDZ8fsjeGX0IOMnvEp5Q-bl_MEjd5D6QYyHSP99UnN3zIDdxJWMuOB_Li-8OMR8o7-n_S8KvFzowo3tZLctTIC43ddWcLP4BgWccgCof3Amq4j1H69VXR4/s400/13626304.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">“THE ANTI-GHOST” OR “IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">A Perspective on Haunting<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Peter N. Dudar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">When I was a kid, we used to play a game called “Ghost in the Graveyard.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a variation on hide-and-seek, where one of the hiders would be christened “the Ghost”, and upon being discovered by the seeker would be charged with hunting down all the other unfound hiders and chasing them back to “safety” (or home-base, or what have you).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember being a child, and being absolutely frightened every time it was my turn to be the seeker, wondering just which other neighborhood kid would be the one to jump out and shout “Ghost in the Graveyard!” before chasing my chubby butt back to the front steps of my house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, it really elevated the game because it brought an edge of fear and suspense…even though I already knew that there WERE NO GHOSTS involved with the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was only hide-and-seek, after all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_N4nitqxyeaH_PueH-b95ZDRuTUnDTg1OwH10qiMeYsMEzMcihtyLrr-sGC_apEfZ3rw1kouLUk0ReOLyjTCTzvSlmSEthS9GSzNnEAdEZpUNEzXb8MODj3ULqfeNf8e3y2qYU1YFg9E/s1600/dudar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_N4nitqxyeaH_PueH-b95ZDRuTUnDTg1OwH10qiMeYsMEzMcihtyLrr-sGC_apEfZ3rw1kouLUk0ReOLyjTCTzvSlmSEthS9GSzNnEAdEZpUNEzXb8MODj3ULqfeNf8e3y2qYU1YFg9E/s1600/dudar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_N4nitqxyeaH_PueH-b95ZDRuTUnDTg1OwH10qiMeYsMEzMcihtyLrr-sGC_apEfZ3rw1kouLUk0ReOLyjTCTzvSlmSEthS9GSzNnEAdEZpUNEzXb8MODj3ULqfeNf8e3y2qYU1YFg9E/s320/dudar.jpg" width="240" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some of the best ghost stories I’ve read have no ghost whatsoever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two that stand out with distinction, in my opinion, and I think they deserve a bit of credit among ghost fans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These two tales fooled us all into thinking there are actual ghosts in them, and both have changed the course of supernatural literature enough to be considered cultural icons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">First published in 1820, Washington Irving’s THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW brandishes one of literature’s (and the horror genre’s) most beloved ghost:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Headless Horseman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Irving’s story centers around Ichabod Crane, a schoolteacher from Connecticut that travels to Tarry Town, New York to become a school teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crane is welcomed into the home of Baltus Van Tassel, one of the town’s more prominent citizens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Van Tassel has a lovely daughter named Katrina, and young Crane is smitten with her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem is that Sleepy Hollow’s town big-shot, Abraham (Brom Bones) Van Brunt, is also in love with her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The conflict between the two is not at all advantageous for Crane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Irving characterizes Crane to be tall, gangly, and a touch on the effeminate side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How easy it would be for Brom Bones to just bully the schoolteacher right back to New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, Brom chooses to share a bit of oral tradition by rehashing the tale of the Hessian soldier that was decapitated by a cannonball, and still roams the countryside nightly, looking for a new head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of bullying Crane, Brom chooses to make sport of him in front of the lovely Katrina.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Where Irving cunningly elevates the tale to something greater than just a story is by allowing the story’s dénouement open to interpretation:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was Crane indeed chased out of town by the Headless Horseman or was it Bram Bones in disguise?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re lead to believe it WAS Brom, but there’s that small part of us that want the legend to be true…we want there to be a ghostly horse-riding apparition, with his saber raised and ready to claim its next noggin (how he’d keep it attached, God only knows).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The great thing about LEGEND is that, in its nearly two hundred years of publication and being enjoyed by high school kids everywhere, it is STILL as popular and topical as ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the name SLEEPY HOLLOW sounds frightening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We see most of the letters of the word HALLOWEEN in there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Walt Disney’s cartoon version of the story, the Horseman hauls around a flaming Jack O’Lantern in place of his head, lending more to the whole Halloween vibe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in the Tim Burton remake of the story (with plot stretched wafer-thin, but still captivating), we’re FINALLY offered the real ghost we’ve been waiting for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The problem is we didn’t actually NEED the ghost to sell the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our minds did it all for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christopher Walken is delightful to watch, particularly for those who’ve never read the story, but it’s just more frightening that we never know for sure if Ichabod Crane (the schoolteacher, rather than Johnny Depp’s steam-punk investigator from NYC) escaped from Sleepy Hollow with his head still intact…or if he even survived at all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">On the other side of the coin is Shirley Jackson’s near-flawless 1959 novel, THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HAUNTING centers around a group of people commissioned to investigate some paranormal activity in the creepy old manse built by Hugh Crain (and you’ll please note the similarity between Crain and Crane).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luke Sanderson, the heir of Hill House, wants to be sure the house is safe, so he brings in Dr. Montague (a scientist), Theodora (a psychic), and Eleanor Vance (a sensitive character that may have had experienced paranormal activities in her youth).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In penning her opus, Ms. Jackson never tilts her hand as she deals out the cards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know there are supernatural phenomena going on within the walls of Hill House, but not once does she openly reveal that Crain’s ghost is, in fact, haunting the joint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">What we’re offered, instead, is an unparalleled supernatural experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For it seems as if Eleanor Vance is being singled out in terms of the haunting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the other characters experience minor occurrences, Eleanor is flat-out being almost possessed by the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jackson issues the line “Journeys end with lovers meeting,” which seems more a decree or an open invitation for Eleanor to find her completion by becoming a part of whatever is haunting her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">This leaves us wondering if the place was ever haunted at all, or if this is all taking place inside Eleanor’s head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By Jackson’s refusal to flat-out tell us that there IS a ghost, by her refusing to name the thing that inhabits Hill House, she’s forcing us to make our own interpretation, just as Irving did with his story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jackson is relying on tone and atmosphere to sell her story rather than confirming the presence of the ghost.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is the crux of the Anti-Ghost…if it IS indeed within the story, then WE are the author of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the key to the human brain; it will fill in the blanks for us when we don’t have all the information we need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We jump to conclusions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We seek to explain the inexplicable and justify the questionable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, for most of us fans of dark fiction, we know what we like.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Case in point:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re lying in bed and your bedroom door suddenly swings open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t see what caused it…you only experienced it through observation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your brain begins to draw its own conclusions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did a ghost just enter the room?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re afraid of the dark like I am, then your answer is probably, “Yes, and I’m scared.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chances are that it’s not paranormal activity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I see the bedroom door slip open, I know that either one of my cats just nudged it and came in to snuggle, or that I left the hall window open and a breeze came in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BUT…when you’re reading a horror novel (or watching a movie), and a door suddenly swings open, that’s a different story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the power of suggestion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s no different than feeling afraid of a ghost while playing a glorified version of hide-and-seek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s psychological.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The door swung open BECAUSE something unearthly, something dark and sinister just entered the room.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m sure there are many other great examples of the Anti-Ghost, some done better than others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here in our BLOGGING THE GHOST Tour, I felt that it did bear mentioning that there is a difference between ghosts and the supernatural, and that this topic does add a touch of illumination to the realm of ghostly hauntings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">After all…most of us are “seekers” at one time or another, and it really does help if we know what we’re after.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">P.N.D.</span></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">Exciting news!</span></strong> </div>
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Peter N. Dudar's debut novel will be a free eBook at Amazon.com this weekend (September 15 and 16). For more information about the book, click <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Requiem-Dead-Flies-Supernatural-ebook/dp/B008E6QX3U/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347319695&sr=1-1&keywords=a+requiem+for+dead+flies" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">here</span></a>. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Now it's time for a brand new piece of fiction from Joe McKinney, a near-novelette sized ghost story that was too big to fit into this post. Click <a href="http://petergiglioauthor.blogspot.com/2012/09/blogging-ghost-week-2-deep-nights-by.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">here </span></a>to read it now.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-41336841424939239022012-09-10T16:55:00.000-07:002012-09-10T18:36:07.128-07:00BLOGGING THE GHOST WEEK 2: DEEP NIGHTS by Joe McKinney<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: x-large;">DEEP NIGHTS</span></div>
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copyright (c) 2012 by Joe McKinney</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“52-40.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My call sign. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I slid my Diet Coke back into the cup holder and
keyed up the mic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“52-40, go ahead.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“52-40, make 1238 West Mulberry for a ringing 10-58.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1238 West Mulberry.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A ringing 10-58 is a residential burglar alarm, an
easy call.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“10-4,” I said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The dispatcher again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I got anybody that can go along with 52-40?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Silence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was a hot and humid Saturday night in early
June, less than a week after the Spurs took their fourth NBA title in less than
ten years, and we were getting hammered with calls, all the drunken idiots out
celebrating, the crackle of gun fire and car horns echoing over the houses of
San Antonio’s west side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t expect
anybody to answer up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“52-40,” she said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Sorry, Steve, I got nobody else available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Use caution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Next one to check in, I’ll send him your way.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“10-4, 52-40, on the way.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was smiling as I answered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These dispatchers on deep nights, the
overnight shift, they’re something else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A lot of them are trying to land cops for husbands, and since they’re
stuck downtown at the 911 dispatch center, and we’re out in our cars, their
voices are the only bait they’ve got to put out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Annabelle, our dispatcher for the West
Service Area, had a smoky, backroom voice that could make a call for a dead dog
in the road sound sexy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I hit the KEYCARD button on my patrol car’s laptop
computer and got the screen that told me everything dispatch knew about the
call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At a glance I had information on
who made the call, what time they called, a brief narrative telling me what
they’d told the dispatcher, and any special location notes, like if somebody at
that address was a known felon, or a mental case, or if they had AIDS, that
kind of thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This keycard, it told me
the call originated with the alarm company monitoring the property.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The location notes told me a San Antonio
Police Officer lived at the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
took in that piece of information and got out my map book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyNDM6KpajbMYvoSBcWM2UWr6hbiqKLbmseO1k_gZUJfo1SMqZdAcfo1md4O8IcAnmrtTaENJAGKAzYaSQsYQKyzdJBlhGrQBxZ8cA-UM_Hq86yavLFd2griKC8W42TZUFEPNiDwSIzN8/s1600/Inheritance+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyNDM6KpajbMYvoSBcWM2UWr6hbiqKLbmseO1k_gZUJfo1SMqZdAcfo1md4O8IcAnmrtTaENJAGKAzYaSQsYQKyzdJBlhGrQBxZ8cA-UM_Hq86yavLFd2griKC8W42TZUFEPNiDwSIzN8/s400/Inheritance+Cover.jpg" width="263" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I’d been in SAPD for twelve years at the time, but
most of that had been spent working the North Service Area on the daylight shift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A rough breakup with a psychopathic Hooters
waitress had me itching for an all around life change, and so I transferred to
deep nights, working 11 pm to 7 am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
knew it even then that you can’t fix what’s wrong on the inside of you by changing
the outside of you, but switching shifts still felt right, like it was just what
I needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, I had never worked on
the west side, and I didn’t know my way around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first couple of weeks, just about every call I made I had the map
book in one hand, the steering wheel in the other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The call turned out to be five blocks from where I
was sitting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made it in a little over
a minute and stopped two houses down from my call, but on the opposite side of
the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those are basic patrol
tactics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You never stop right in front
of where you’re going, just in case there’s something more going on than what
the dispatcher knows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe the call’s a
hoax and there’s a nutjob with a hunting rifle waiting in the bushes to take
out the first responding officer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who
knows?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s happened before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The house was a small, wood-framed one story built
on a pier and beam foundation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The walls had once been painted white, but the
weather had worn them as gray as a field mouse in places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The front yard was a weed patch that needed serious
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The house was surrounded by
scraggly chinaberry trees and a lone red oak swayed in the warm night breeze in
one corner of the front yard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
pretty much what I’d expect from a house bought on a cop’s salary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I got on the radio and said, “52-40, I’m 10-6 at
the location.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“10-4,” Annabelle said, “you want me to hold the
air?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Her question meant, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Do you want me tell everybody else to stay off the radio until you tell
us everything is okay?</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s
standard procedure when you pull up on a burglar alarm and you’ve got an open
door or a broken window.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I scanned the house and said, “Negative, 52-40.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll let you know.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“10-4,” she said, “standing by.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I crossed the street at a trot and got into the
shadows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had my flashlight at my side,
but turned off, and the top thumb snap on my holster open so I’d be ready to
pull my Glock should I happen to surprise a burglar climbing out a window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The night was warm and humid and the cloying
smell of magnolia trees in bloom was heavy on the air. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The clouds overhead were backlit by the moon,
turning them a milky gray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept to the
bushes, got up close to the house, and listened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Silence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Using the thumb switch on my flashlight, I lit up
the right side of the house with quick bursts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I kept moving the whole time to keep the light from giving away my
position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The side of the house looked
clear, and so did the front porch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
opened the screen door and jiggled the door knob just enough to see if it was
still locked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Satisfied, I went around back and checked the back
door, the windows, and even poked my flashlight beam around the roof.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I relaxed a little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Burglar alarms go off all the time, but rarely
because of a burglar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More often times
than not it’s the weather, or a faulty wire someplace, or even a cat jumping up
on an outside window sill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
beginning to think that’s what I had here, another tom cat out looking for some
tail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The only part of the house I hadn’t checked was a
narrow strip of grass near the fence on the left side of the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I lit that up with my flashlight, and it was
empty too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was nothing there but
the air conditioner chugging away with everything it had, trying to keep up
with the heat of a South Texas summer night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I didn’t bother with quick flashlight bursts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was another false alarm, and I was hungry,
my mind on where I was going to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
wiped the sweat from the back of my neck and walked up towards the front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a window about two-thirds of the
way up the length of the house, so I stopped to check that out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I figured, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hey, it’s a fellow cop’s house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Might as well be thorough, right?</i><u><o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The window was locked, but it looked new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It still had the price written on it in
yellow grease pencil - $79.95 - and a little white and green sticker in the
bottom right corner promised an energy-saver guarantee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">As I stood there looking at the price, I felt
somebody bump against my shoulder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It scared me so badly I nearly jumped out of my
boots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spun around, fumbling my gun
out of the holster, certain I was about to be in for the fight of my life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But I was all by myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“What the...?” I said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My heart was a wild bird banging against the walls
of my body armor, and the sweat that had been running down my back and flooding
my armpits turned cold against my skin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
turned the flashlight beam up and down the side of the house, but there was
nothing there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I stood still for a long moment, gun in one hand,
flashlight in the other, trying to make my heart slow down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That bump was real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the same as some guy in hurry forcing
his way past you to get off a crowded elevator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It wasn’t a malicious, knock-you-down kind of bump, but it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i> real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no mistaking that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I’ve got this inner voice that tries to keep me on
the straight and narrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It started
talking to me when I was a kid, right after I watched James Mason play Richard
Straker in the film version of Stephen King’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Salem’s Lot</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why that voice
should sound like a character that scared the piss out of me I’m sure I don’t
know, but whatever the reason, as I was standing there, I heard James Mason
say, “Now Steve, let’s not act foolish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Approach this rationally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do what
you have to do to figure this out.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I obeyed the voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always obey the voice, at least most of the
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I climbed up on the bottom rail of
the privacy fence and turned my light on the neighbor’s yard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I saw there was an orange and white cat
sleeping on a lawn chair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cat opened
one eye, decided I wasn’t worth the effort, and closed it again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I stepped down from the fence and turned my light
up and down the length of the house one more time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Still nothing there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But I had felt something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was certain of that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I remember once, working daylight up on North
Patrol, I stopped this beat to hell red pickup for rolling through a stop
sign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got up to the driver’s side
window and saw this skuzzy looking white guy in his early forties behind the
wheel, trash all over the floorboards, the ash tray overflowing with crushed
out cigarettes, and a cute looking Hispanic girl just a hair passed eighteen
sitting in the passenger seat beside him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The girl was nicely dressed in a tartan skirt and white blouse, expensive-looking
jewelry around her neck and on her fingers, well-cared for by somebody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And she looked so nervous, so frightened. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I swear to God I could see her shaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The picture didn’t add up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I got the guy’s driver’s license, ran it, and he
came back as a registered sex offender, out on parole for aggravated sexual
assault of a minor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The girl was
eighteen, but she didn’t look it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My first thought was, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh crap, the girl’s about to get raped and left for dead in a ditch
someplace.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I went up to the truck and told the guy to get
out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He said, “What for?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I said, “Because I fuckin’ told you to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now get your butt out of the truck before I yank
you out by your teeth.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I searched him, then put him in the backseat of my
patrol car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, I went up to the
girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got her out and we stepped around
to the front of the truck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I put her so
the cab of the truck was blocking the guy’s line of sight, and I asked her the
guy’s name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She didn’t know it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked her how she knew him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She didn’t answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked her if everything was okay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this guy taking you somewhere you don’t
want to go?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“If he’s up to something, tell me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I won’t let him hurt you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The girl didn’t answer me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was looking at the shine on the toes of
my boots, at the dirt on the ground, anywhere but at my eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“If you need help,” I told her, “this is your
chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tell me what’s going on, and
I’ll help you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can have another
officer come by here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He can take you
home, or to a friend’s house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anywhere
you want to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just tell me what this
guy is up to.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">When the girl answered, her voice was so quiet I
had to lean in to hear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“I just want to leave,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I said something else, but she turned away and
climbed back into the truck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t
believe it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just stood there, staring
at her profile through the passenger window, the girl wringing her hands in her
lap, her black, shampoo commercial hair falling around her face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But I had no choice in the matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was nothing I could use to justify
arresting this guy beyond my own James Mason voice yelling inside my head that
she was a lamb headed for the slaughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>James Mason said, “Steve, if she’s lucky, all he’s gonna do is rape her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If she isn’t, he’ll rape her, then <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kill</i> her, then dump her body in a
shallow grave someplace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do something.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But she was eighteen, free to do as she liked, and
I had no probable cause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No leg to stand
on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">To this day I think about that traffic stop and I
have a sinking, sick feeling in my gut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
missed something important that day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
didn’t something that I might have done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I know it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And I had that same feeling standing there by the
window with the $79.95 written in yellow grease pencil on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something was wrong, and I wasn’t seeing what
it was. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Annabelle’s voice on my radio brought me back to
the moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“52-40, everything all right?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“10-4,” I said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“The house looks secure.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“10-4. Just checking, Steve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got a family disturbance holding in your
square when you clear from there.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">No dinner break for me, I thought, and grumbled an
acknowledgement back at her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">She said, “Don’t be mad at me, Steve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m just the messenger.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">That caught me by surprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You never hear that kind of informal speak on
the radio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it took me several
moments after that to digest the hurt in her voice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I said, “52-40, I’m not mad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll be done here in a minute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just hold on to the call and I’ll be heading
that way.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Okay, Steve.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I paused, thinking about her voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wet my lips and said, “Thanks, Annabelle.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">That did it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">One of the other guys on the shift keyed up his
radio and whistled, the universal sign that you’ve just done something over the
radio that’s going to earn you a nickname - and that’s almost never good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I waited for the sergeant to get on the air and
tell us to knock off the chatter, but if he was listening, he evidently decided
to let it die down on its own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
grateful for that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being new to the
shift, I didn’t need the aggravation of pissing off the sergeant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The exchange with Annabelle helped me put some
distance on the sinking feeling in my gut, and I made my way back up to the
front of the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I checked behind the
chinaberry trees at the front, just in case, then turned and looked toward the
street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only thing that looked out
of place was my patrol car parked along the curb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I turned off my flashlight, shook my head,
and started towards my car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I knew an officer about six or seven years ago named
Bob Fields.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bob was round and bald and
kind of dopey, and he had a tumor a little bigger than golf ball growing in his
brain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tumor made his hands shake
something awful, and when he talked to you, he would start off a sentence like
normal, but forget what he was saying by the time he got to the period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One time, he parked his patrol car in a
convenience store parking lot, went in for a hot dog and a cup of coffee, and
when he came out again, couldn’t find his car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He got on the radio and called it in stolen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, a few of us got there before the
sergeant did, found him walking around in a circle less than twenty feet from
his where his car was still parked, and set things straight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sergeant never even had to get out of his
car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It was understood on my shift, Bob Fields did not
make calls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the dispatcher messed up
and gave him one anyway, somebody would answer up and take the call for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t matter whether you were close or
not, whether you were busy or not, Bob Fields did not make calls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, we covered for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I make no apologies for that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And don’t bother with any criticism, because
I’m not sorry about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not even a
little.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">See, Bob was nine months away from being able to
retire at full pension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All he had to do
was put in twenty years and six months of service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he didn’t make the twenty and six, he’d be
forced to take a medical retirement, and that only pays fifty percent of your
pension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all knew Bob would be dead
less than a year after retirement, but we also knew that, according to our
police contract with the city, his widow was guaranteed ten years of payments
on his pension, even if Bob was dead, and we wanted her to have that much at
least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so, Bob Fields did not make
calls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">One day, during one of his more lucid moments, Bob
told me how he found out about the tumor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He said he was driving down the road in his patrol car, and he saw this
bus bench floating about three feet off the ground in the middle of the
street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bob admitted that he was hardly
the smartest man who ever lived, but even he knew that wasn’t right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went to the doctor, they did an MRI, and
the next the thing you know, the rest of us are taking his calls and he’s
praying for twenty and six.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">For some reason, Bob’s description of that bus
bench floating in the air stuck with me, and as I walked to my patrol car, I
couldn’t help but wonder if there was a little golf ball-sized demon floating
around inside my brain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Maybe,” James Mason said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You do drink an awful lot of Diet Coke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s no telling what all that
phenylalanine is doing to your gray matter.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I made it about halfway across the street - then froze
in my tracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was somebody in the
backseat of my patrol car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was
hunched over with his head against the plexiglass prisoner cage, and he wasn’t
moving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I drew my gun again and moved up next to the car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Let me see your hands,” I said, using my cop
voice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He didn’t move.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Hey, look at me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Still no reaction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He was on the passenger side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was on the driver’s side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With my gun up and ready, I went around the
back of the car, inching closer to his door.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He had long, greasy black hair that fell over the
sides of his face and I couldn’t tell if he was white or Hispanic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I could tell for sure was that he looked
like something the Underwater Crime Scene Recovery Unit had pulled up from the
bottom of the San Antonio River.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Right away I thought, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Heroin junkie.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I tapped the window with the barrel of my Glock
and said, “Hey guy, look at me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">By that point my surprise and curiosity had given
way to anger at being ignored, and I threw the car door open, stepped back, and
pointed my gun at the backseat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Get your butt out of my car…” I started to say,
but trailed off into silence, the rest of it lost.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The backseat was empty, and I was standing there
talking to air.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It was the damnedest thing I’ve seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One minute he was right there, the next he
was gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t see any movement, and
there was no way he could have squeezed by me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was blocking the only way out of the car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He was just gone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I took another step back and looked around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I knelt down and looked under the
car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing there either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was nothing moving but the crickets in
the empty field of tall grass off to my right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I stood there, looking stupid and confused.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">James Mason had nothing to say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Gradually, I started to frown, and a thought
formed in my head that maybe this was a practical joke.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Yes, I think you’re right,” James Mason finally said,
though he didn’t sound totally convinced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“That makes sense.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And it did, kind of.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Nobody in the world knows how to pull practical
jokes like policemen, and the best of the best are the clowns who work the deep
nights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started to think that what I
had here was somebody messing with the new guy on the shift. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked around, half expecting to hear two or
three of them snickering behind a bush, watching me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Never get mad with a practical joker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the surest way to become the regular
recipient of every silly prank your jokester can think of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What you do is, you acknowledge the joke and
laugh at yourself, which is what I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I holstered my weapon and waved one hand in the air.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“You got me,” I said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Good one, guys.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I waited after that, but nobody jumped out and
said, “Boo!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I got back in my car and started it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as practical jokes went, I had to
admit that it was better than baby powder in the AC vents, or putting a grass
snake down the barrel of my shotgun, or somebody getting on my car’s computer when
I wasn’t around and sending an all route message to every policeman in the city
saying how proud I was to be coming out of the closet and that I hoped it
wouldn’t be awkward for any of them to work with me now that I was openly gay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This was certainly more original, anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">For a moment I thought of ways to retaliate, then
decided against it and settled down to write the report.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A burglar alarm report is a one-liner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saw nothing, did same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I quickly checked off the appropriate boxes on the
front of the incident report and turned it over to write the details.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“52-40, you ready for that family disturbance
yet?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh crap</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I keyed up the mic and said, “10-4,
Annabelle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sorry about that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go ahead and give it to me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Somebody whistled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">While Annabelle read off the details for my family
disturbance call, I saw another police car round the corner at the end of the
block, coming my way at top speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
acknowledged the call and rolled down the window, thinking I was about to meet
my practical joker.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He pulled up next to me and rolled down his
window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t recognize him, but
then, there was nothing unusual about that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are 2,500 patrolmen in the SAPD, and I had worked for a long time
on daylight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first night on deep
nights at the West Patrol Substation, I hardly recognized anybody.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This guy looked about my age, mid to late
thirties, with a sandy brown mustache, closely trimmed brown hair, and a lean,
almost gaunt face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had a Guns and
Roses song playing on his car stereo and he was chewing tobacco.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could see the edge of a tattoo poking out
from under his shirt sleeve, and I thought, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ex-military,
probably Air Force.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He glanced at my backseat, frowned, and then
turned to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, “Did you get a
call here?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I could tell from his car number that he was from South
Patrol, a long ways away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Yeah,” I said, and pointed with my chin at the
house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“A ringer over there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I already checked it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing to it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“You checked it real good?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Yeah,” I said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Under normal circumstances, a question like that would have offended
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there was a certain air of
preoccupation in his voice that made him sound worried, and he probably wasn’t
even aware he’d made an indictment of my competence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Then I reminded myself that this was my practical
joker, and it occurred to me that he had to be a pretty good actor to pull off
that worried tone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But no matter how
good an actor he was, I was determined not to give him the satisfaction of
seeing how freaked out his joke had made me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I decided to just play dumb, which, according to a certain psychopathic
Hooters waitress who lived with me for three years, is standard operating
procedure for me anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But he didn’t follow up on the joke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To my surprise, he relaxed noticeably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His chest looked like a tire going flat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It made me pause.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Sticking my neck out a little, I said, “Did they
send you on this too?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He looked back at the house, then at me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
work South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s my house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I came because the alarm company called me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">So he was from South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I whistled at that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where I came from, up on North, if the sergeants
caught you doing something like that, not just going out of your assigned
sector, but halfway across the city, they’d chew your ass to chowder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t look like it worried him though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was more preoccupied with his house than
matters of procedure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“I’m Steve Fisher,” I said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“What?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Oh.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A long pause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, “Alan Parker,” and turned back to
look at his house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“I just got assigned this district.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He was still looking at his house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought maybe he hadn’t heard me, and maybe
he didn’t, because when he turned back to me he said, “You checked it real
good?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Everything’s secure,” I said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You want, we can go back over it again.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He thought about that, then said, “No, that’s
cool.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I nodded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He went back to studying the house and I went back to writing my one
line report.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Out of nowhere he said, “My house got broken in to
last month.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Yeah?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“The guy broke out the window on this side of the
house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Made off with my stereo, my
laptop, bunch of other stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, I
was working that night and I had my gear with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can you imagine if he’d got my gun or my
radio or my body armor?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He shook his
head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Now every time the alarm company
calls, I come running.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“I can see that,” I said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was trying to sound friendly, but the truth
was I’d be scared to death to do what he was doing now, driving way across the
city just to check my house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can do
a lot of stupid stuff and still keep your job as a cop, but there is a line you
don’t want to cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He took one last look at his house and dropped his
car in gear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before he left he asked,
“Hey, you didn’t have anybody with you earlier, did you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I looked up from my report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Before I pulled up?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought I saw somebody sitting in the
back.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I almost smiled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">So you </i>are<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> my joker</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I waited for him to land the joke, but he
didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, “Probably just the
reflection off the windshield.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen,
I’m supposed to be making a minor accident way down on Reeves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just had to come by here first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You cool, brother?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Yeah,” I said, “I’m cool.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But as he drove off, I couldn’t help but sneak a
peek in my rearview mirror.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">***<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Much later in the evening, after the calls died down and the radio grew
quiet, I went to an all night taqueria, got a napkin, turned it sideways, and
drew a line down the middle of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On
the left I listed the reasons why what had happened to me had to be a
prank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the right, the
supernatural.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Silly, I know, but that’s
the way my mind works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to see
things side by side like that in order for my mind to weigh them properly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did the same thing when I was trying to
decide whether or not to break up with my psycho ex-girlfriend – mind blowing freaky
sex with a girl who looks unbelievably hot in her Hooters outfit on the “keep
her” side, everything else about her on the “dump her” side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great sex can only take you so far, after
all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">On the prank side of this list, I came up with
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First off, cops are born
jokesters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve said that already, but
it bears repeating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the natural way
to cope with the stress of working in a bureaucracy run by morons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, you go to a particularly nasty
scene where a dead body’s been rotting inside an apartment with no air
conditioning for a couple of weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
got flies everywhere, and the body’s swollen and the skin split open and oozing
in places and blackened in others from the bacteria and gases inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The smell is horrific.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’ve got a new guy with you, the first
thing you do when you leave the scene is take him to the greasiest, nastiest
restaurant you can find and watch him turn green over his food.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yeah, good
times.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The thing is most cop practical jokes are
admittedly juvenile and simplistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
had happened to me lacked the usual silliness you get from cop jokes, and it
was quite frankly much more elaborate than I would expect from even the best
practical jokers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The other half of that is that nobody but a cop
can get in and out of the backseat of a locked police car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The doors don’t open from the inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I arrested a car burglar one time, a little guy,
about five-six, a hundred and thirty pounds, who kept begging me to open the
window because he was roasting inside the backseat of my patrol car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m a humane guy, so I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cracked the window maybe six inches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next thing I know the guy has got his
handcuffed hands in front of him and he’s crawling out the open window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He hit the ground running and I had to chase
that little piece of crap for two blocks before I caught up with him again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But guys like that are the exception rather than
the rule. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the windows are up, and I’m
blocking the open door, there shouldn’t be any way to get out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, it can be done, but you have to know
how.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re trained to get out of the
backseat of a patrol car when we go through the Academy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s supposed to be in case you’re
overpowered by a prisoner and you’re locked inside your backseat, but truth be
told, it comes in handy more often when you and your girlfriend happen to get
locked in there while...well, you know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>More girls are into that kind of thing than you’d think.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But the thing was the guy I saw back there was
definitely not a cop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like I said, I
thought heroin junkie from the get go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
besides, it takes a good forty-five seconds to get out of the backseat of a
locked patrol car, even for a cop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The guy I saw disappeared in the blink of an eye.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">So I went to the other side of the napkin and
listed the reasons for a supernatural explanation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could come up with only one, actually, but
it was a mighty persuasive one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know
what I felt on that little strip of grass by the air conditioner and the $79.95
window with the energy saver guarantee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I felt somebody brush up against me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And I know what I felt when I saw that empty backseat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know what I saw, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was thoroughly freaked out, and when you
get that way, you find yourself willing to entertain the idea of the
supernatural, even if you think you don’t have a natural predisposition to lean
that way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And let me tell you this, the
idea that the supernatural really happens, especially when it’s supported by an
experience like mine, grows inside your head like weeds in your lawn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You might be able to beat it down for a
little while, but it keeps coming back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Finally, I tossed the napkin in the trash and left
the restaurant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t completely realize
it at the time, but my mind was pretty much made up about what I’d experienced
at that point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">***<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Later that morning, when I turned the car over to the daylight guy, I
took a chance and asked him if he’d ever felt anything weird in the car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Like what?” he asked, and looked at me
strangely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Something wrong with it?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“No, no,” I said quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It drives fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was just wondering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forget I mentioned it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">***<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The next night, at roll call, as the lieutenant called out our names and
read the latest intelligence bulletins, I searched the faces of the other
officers in the room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were maybe
seventy-five of us in all in that room, but I didn’t see a trace of a knowing
smile or hear any stray, smartass remarks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing to indicate that a joke had been played.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">That’s the other thing about cops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They gab and gossip like old women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If someone had gone to the trouble to play
that kind of joke on me, then they would have taken credit for it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And so, I was left with the same nagging
question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>practical joke or ghost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just didn’t know for sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both sides of the issue seemed equally possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">***<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I was working traffic around an overturned vehicle when the answer came
to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I needed to do was approach
the problem objectively, like a scientist, like those ghost hunters on the SyFy
Channel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I needed to do was to go
back to Alan Parker’s house and try to make it happen again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was the only way I could be sure of what
I was dealing with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I planned to retrace my steps exactly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I was dealing with a prankster, then he
wouldn’t be around to work the joke a second time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could walk through the yard and nothing
would happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">On the other hand, if something else was going
on...well, I’d be ready for that, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I went back to Alan Parker’s house, parked in the
same place, and made my circuit around the house in exactly the same way as I
had the night before, just like I planned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I got to the narrow strip of grass between the house and the fence,
I took a deep breath, lit it up with my flashlight, and started up it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got all the way to the window, stopped, and
waited.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Nothing but crickets singing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">James Mason said, “Now Steve, don’t you feel a
little foolish?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Shut up,” I said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“We’ll see who’s foolish in a second.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And then I felt the bump.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A sort of giddy nausea overtook me, and I felt a
little sick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stabbed my light in every
direction, looking for whoever had touched me, but just like the night before,
I was all alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I had planned up to that point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As soon as the bump came, I was going to run
out to the street and try to catch the guy from the night before as he was
getting into my car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you know what
they say about the best laid plans of mice and men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hadn’t counted on being scared out of my
socks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I figured that once I accepted
the possibility that this was something supernatural I’d be prepared to deal
with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the truth was I wasn’t
prepared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not even a little.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Eventually, I got my legs to move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I staggered out to the street and saw
somebody in the backseat of my patrol car, slumped over, head against the
plexiglass, nasty, stringy hair like a curtain over his face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I got to the car and stood there for a second,
chest heaving, and said, “Who are you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He didn’t answer, didn’t look up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I opened the door, the window caught the light
from the street lamp above, and for a fraction of a second, all I could see was
a starburst of reflected light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that
moment, the man disappeared, and I was standing alone in the street, looking at
an empty backseat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">More crickets singing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A hot, damp breeze carried the smell of
magnolia and cedar and dust into the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I stood there for a long time, holding the car door open, trying to make
sense of what I was feeling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The way I look at it, when you experience
something of that magnitude, what you need to do is talk about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it also seems to me there’s an order for
who you turn to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First off is family, I
guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My dad, he’s retired Air Force.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He lives about thirty minutes north of San
Antonio, only a phone call away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I
couldn’t call him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And not because he’s
some sort of ex-military hard ass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s
nothing like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He might actually be
the most dotting father alive, in fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
first year on Patrol, I used to have to call him every single afternoon when I
got off work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He always wanted to know
everything I did, no matter how gory it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He didn’t mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the thing was
I just couldn’t picture myself having a conversation about this with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dad would probably just say, “Well, that sure
sounds like a pickle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How about you come
out here and stay with me for a few weeks?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Things might seem clearer to you if we get some country air in you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Yeah, there was no way I was going to have that
conversation with him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The next step down on the list is a friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously I couldn’t call my psycho
ex-girlfriend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t have a terribly
active imagination, but I can sure imagine how she’d gloat over this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’d think, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh yeah, he’s ruined without me.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And I hadn’t worked deep nights long enough to
have any friends on my shift, so that idea was out too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Third step would be the Department’s psychologist,
and that definitely wasn’t going to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t care how important good mental health is, a man’s got to eat,
and you can’t do that if you don’t have a job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Crazy I can live with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hell, if I
can live with a psychopathic Hooters girl I can live with anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is, except for hunger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“So,” James Mason said, “where does that leave
you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever will you do?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“I could call Annabelle,” I said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I spend most of the night talking to her
anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why not just step back from this
plan of mine and get a day’s worth of perspective on the problem?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I envisioned how that would go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Me, standing at the doorway of the 911
dispatch center, asking Annabelle to join me for coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d talk for a while, then I’d tell her what
this was all about, and the next thing you know, news of how crazy I am is all
over the Department.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">James Mason didn’t even have to speak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">What I decided to do was to get the one person I
knew would come out with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went back
to the back of Alan Parker’s house and kicked his backdoor until I heard the
alarm go off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I wandered back out to the street, feeling like I
was walking through a fog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I wasn’t
surprised in the least to see the stringy haired heroin junkie sitting in my
backseat, slumped over, head against the plexiglass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I stood next to the door, looking at him through
the window, and I was still staring at him when a police car pulled up on me,
covering me with its headlights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Alan Parker ran up to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What’s going on?” he demanded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The alarm company called me again.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I didn’t say a word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I turned toward him slightly without really
bothering to see him, and then back at the man in my backseat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Who’s that?” Alan said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Still in a fog I said, “You see him too?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“What?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course I see him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, get out of the
way.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He pushed me to one side and opened the car door,
but when he reached for the man in the backseat, his hands went right through
him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">For the first time, the man in the backseat
moved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He lifted his head off the
plexiglass and looked at Alan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His face
was crushed and battered on one side, the eyeball nothing but a blood-clotted
pool of white jelly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">His expression was the most twisted, awful thing
I’ve ever seen, somewhere between blind rage and a desperate plea for
mercy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He opened his mouth to speak, but
it was Alan who screamed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Alan stumbled out of the backseat and into the
street.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Out of nowhere, I saw headlights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I heard brakes squealing and tires screaming
across the pavement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I heard the dull
thud of Alan Parker’s body colliding with the grill guard of an old pickup, and
then Alan was sprawled out on the pavement, staring up at something only he
could see, gulping air like a fish out of water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">***<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The man who ran over Alan Parker was blindingly drunk, a roofer on his
way home after a late night tailgate party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Traffic Investigations detectives came out and
did a reconstruction of the accident scene, then booked the roofer for
Intoxication Assault.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Alan hung on for four days in the hospital before
he finally died of the head injury he took that night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My shift sergeant called me into the office
to give me the news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stared at my
hands folded in my lap and nodded when he asked me if I was okay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Then he told me Internal Affairs wanted to talk to
me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The next morning I was in the conference room at
Internal Affairs, where a Police Association lawyer and three IA sergeants
offered me a chair, donuts, and hot coffee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">After the introductions, they asked me about Alan
Parker.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">For the first time since he started talking to me,
I heard James Mason use the phrase, “Oh shit.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“What do you want to know?” I asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I already told the Traffic guys everything I
knew about the accident.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Not that,” they said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">They wanted to know if Alan had ever told me
anything about a burglary at his house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I told them he had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told them what Alan told me about the
stereo and the laptop and the new window with the energy saver guarantee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">They looked at one another uncomfortably.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Finally, the lead sergeant spoke up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Officer Parker made a dying declaration at
the hospital,” she said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“In his
confession, he admitted to leaving his assigned area in order to investigate a
burglar alarm at his residence.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I nodded, not certain where this was going.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“While he was there, he surprised a burglar trying
to exit the house through that broken side window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He then beat the man to death with his
baton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said he didn’t mean to kill
the man, but when he realized what he’d done, he put the body in his patrol car,
and drove it down to Watson Road just south of the city limits where he dumped
it in a field.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My mouth fell open.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“That was my reaction too,” she said soberly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But it’s the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Homicide found the body this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was very badly decomposed, but exactly
where he said it would be.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She looked
to the others and they nodded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said,
“What we need from you, Officer Fisher, is a written statement saying something
to the effect that you had no knowledge of the incident with the burglar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That way, we can close out our investigation
and put all this unpleasantness behind us.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I had my hands in my lap, and I’m glad for
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder what they would have said
if they’d seen the way my hands were shaking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It was all I could do to keep from throwing up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Officer Fisher?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Vacantly, I said, “Sure,” and nodded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“You’d be willing to make that statement?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I took a deep breath, looked her right in the eye,
and said, “Absolutely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the first
I’ve heard of it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">THE END<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-49214776289421663032012-07-23T16:11:00.001-07:002012-07-24T22:12:55.439-07:0040 CANDLES: AN INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT BRADLEY<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">I met Scott</span><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"> Bradley in the fourth grade when he
transferred to my school, and we became fast friends, a relationship that lasted
until we graduated from high school and went our separate ways. In 2007, we
reconnected thanks to the boom of social networks, and we picked up where we’d
left off. Now we’re writing partners with our first collaborative novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>, coming out next month, and
we’ve got a bunch of short stories getting ready to hit some pretty fantastic
markets. All of this either makes me the person most qualified to interview
Scott Bradley, or it makes me the least qualified, depending on how you look at
it. But, what the hell, I’m going to do it anyway and let you be the judge.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Welcome to my blog, Mr. Bradley. Make yourself
comfortable. There’s plenty of club soda in the fridge, a pack of Marlboro
Ultra Lights on the table beside you, and you’ll see that I’m playing the
dinosaur sequence from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Tree of Life</i>
in a loop for you. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">All right, then, I
understand you turned 40 today. Give us your thoughts on that milestone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Mixed feelings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There seem to be two schools of thought on
“the Big Four-0” – (A) Mid-life crisis freakout, or (B) It’s no big deal. We’re
the same age, and I remember a few months ago around your birthday when I asked
you this question, you definitely fell into the latter category.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">While it would be
melodramatic to say I’m in category A, I can’t deny that it feels very
strange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Definitely a lot of taking
stock of what I’ve accomplished and what I haven’t; trying not to dwell on
regrets or missed opportunities, but also recognizing the mistakes I’ve made.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Also, there’s an even
greater awareness of my mortality; that, in all realistic terms, I definitely
have fewer years ahead of me now than behind me. Part of this is due to the
unfortunate fact that I suffer from a very bad and very complicated case of
Type 1 Diabetes. I have to check my blood sugar levels four times a day and
then inject myself with the appropriate amount of insulin to stay alive. That’s
heavy stuff at any age, but feels especially so hitting forty.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">On a brighter note, I
finally feel – as a writer – that I’m entering something close to the career
I’ve always wanted. I’ve worked, on and off, as a professional writer since my
early twenties, but it was always in journalism and film criticism, which was
most definitely valuable and fun, but never the kind of writer I wanted to be.
I wanted to be a creator, not a commentator (not in any way of diminish the
value of journalism and criticism). Now, due in no small part to working with
you, I’ve entered that stage of my career – first with our short stories; and
now with our screenwriting and our first novel together. That feels really
good.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">When did you move to Los Angeles? Tell us a little
about your first year in “Hollyweird.” What is your current opinion regarding
The City of Angels? What are a few of your favorite haunts?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I moved here in 1998, which seems almost as
mind-blowing to me as turning forty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve officially lived in Los Angeles longer than anyplace else other
than where we grew up in Southwest Missouri.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I feel like a real Angelino, for better or worse<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">My first year was not without its difficulties,
mostly in trying to find gainful employment as well as establish some kind of
support system of people I could rely on. But, thanks to enormous help from my
parents, as well as several close friends, I got through the financial and
emotional challenges.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m sure most people reading this have seen the
movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Swingers</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the characters in that had more of a
“scene” than I did my first year, that film really reflects my early L.A.
experiences. Right down to the fact that I literally live around the corner
from the Derby (which, sadly, is now a bank) right at the height of the swing
dancing craze that movie helped popularize. Some of my fondest memories of that
first year were going to the Thursday night swing dancing classes, trying to
learn the moves (I am, alas, a terrible dancer). I’ve always wanted to write
something about those days but – as of yet – haven’t been able to pin down the
story I’d want to tell since, as I said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Swingers</i>
really nails a lot of it for me.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As for favorite haunts – lately, they’re basically
my apartment and my girlfriend’s apartment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">When you suggested we adapt Joe R. Lansdale’s “The
Night They Missed the Horror Show,” I thought you’d completely lost your mind.
But I trusted you, and am very happy I did. Not a lot of people would have read
that story and clearly seen a movie, so kudos to you. Tell us about the moment
you wanted to take on this ambitious project. What are, in your estimation, the
chances of this screenplay ever becoming a movie? <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve always loved that story. Though I love pretty
much every word Joe Lansdale has written, I was especially fascinated by “The
Night They Missed the Horror Show” – how, as I think Joe himself has said, it’s
funny until it’s not funny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then
it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i> not funny. It’s also
staggeringly provocative in terms of its insights into issues of race and
racism; besides being a great entertainer, I firmly believe Joe is one of our
best and most important American fiction writers grappling with those issues. And
nowhere more bluntly than in this story. So I thought it would be a wonderful
challenge to try to pull off what Joe did in the story at feature length.</span><br />
<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">When I suggested it to you, I hadn’t made any
attempts at screenwriting for quite sometime. Screenwriting was what initially
drew me to L.A., and I just hadn’t had any success. I’d love to say it’s
because my genius wasn’t recognized, but that’s simply not true. While I’m
proud of certain things I wrote, 95% of my screenwriting from my first decade
in Los Angeles just wasn’t very good. And I moved here thinking I was going to
be the next Paul Schrader!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But, by the time we started working together, I felt
like I had gained a lot of chops as a writer, just from getting older and
living life. And of course you brought a whole new perspective and set of
skills to the table, even though screenwriting was new to you. So when our
first collaboration, on “The Better Half:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A Love Story”, went so spectacularly, it was suddenly like, okay, this
is going somewhere, and the partnership was taking shape. Part of that process
was deciding what we wanted to do next, and my immediate thought was to take a
shot at a screenplay rather than a novel, since you were already at work on
your first novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Anon</i>.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Why I thought our first screenplay together should
be an adaptation of an enormously controversial story that didn’t appear to
lend itself to feature film (and some would argue is totally unfilmable at any
length) I really don’t know, other than to say that, though Joe’s story is pure
Texas, a lot of it reminded me of where we grew up in Southwest Missouri –
especially the casual racism coupled with an obsession with high school sports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So then I set about inveigling you into the
notion; you signed on for the ride; we got in touch with Joe, he cut us an
amazing deal allowing us to take a crack at it, and the rest is history.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As to whether it will ever be a movie, I don’t
know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The material is so aggressive and
confrontational that it’s a hard sell, to say the least. But Joe loved our
script, so we know we did right by the story, and – as our friend Eric Shapiro
said – all it takes is one crazy SOB to pull the trigger and make it happen. And
just as adapting the story was a labor of love for us, I do believe that
getting the movie made could become a labor of love for a producer or director
who wants to make a splash, because, if nothing else, any film version of “The
Night They Missed the Horror Show” would get a hell of a lot attention.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">When you love a film, you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really </i>love a film! When did you first fall in love with movies?
What are your favorite films from this decade? What are your three favorite
films of all time? Why?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As for falling in love with movies, well – given our
age – we’re both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i> babies,
aren’t we? I’d loved movies before that, but seeing it with my Dad at the age
of four was The Big Moment. However much we all might hate how George Lucas
exploited and betrayed his creation, the importance of that film, as well as
the Steven Spielberg films of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Close
Encounters</i>/<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Raiders of the Lost Ark </i>era,
can’t be understated in terms of that initial childhood awe.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Then came Stanley Kubrick, and that changed
everything again. And then Coppola and Scorsese and Malick and Lynch and Oliver
Stone and then foreign films (Bergman, Godard, Tarkovsky, et al.)…well, the
list is endless.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Favorite films from this decade – I’m going to go
since 2000, which is just over a decade. In no particular order, totally off
the top of my head:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hurt Locker, Cache, Children of Men, Tell No One, Tinker Tailor
Soldier Spy, Family Portraits:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Trilogy
of America, The Tree of Life, Melancholia, Antichrist, </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zodiac</i>. I’ll probably think of a dozen
more as soon as I send this to you, but those movies give a pretty good
indication of where my head has been cinematically since the turn of the
century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Three favorite films of all time: This is so tough,
and I have to cheat slightly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since
there must be a Kubrick, either <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">2001: A
Space Odyssey</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Barry Lyndon</i>,
really a coin toss; then probably <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chinatown</i>,
because that was the movie that made me want to write movies; then…wow…today
I’m going to say <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Apocalypse Now</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, again, there are so many contenders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What was the first thing you read that made you want
to write?</span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Probably Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. I was reading
those at a relatively early age, because I loved the films. Even though I loved
children’s books when I was a very young (ie. – before I got to 007), I didn’t
think in terms of writing anything until I was maybe 10 or 11.</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What lights you up?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The people in my life I love and who love me. Writing.
Animals, particularly cats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cool books
and movies and music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Traveling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What shuts you down?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">My diabetes. Losing people and animals I love. Monstrous
events, whether it’s invading Iraq or what just happened in Aurora, Colorado. Willful
stupidity and ignorance. Gaspar Noe movies.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What are you working on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">right </i>now?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Well, of course, a few things are brewing with you,
including a new novel and a couple of screenplays. And I’m in research mode for
a secret solo project – a screenplay – that’s based on a true story that is
fantastically amazing and no one has ever written a book or made a movie
about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m also, in the spirit of turning forty, working on
getting health together, both physically (by taking better care of my diabetes)
and mentally (by dipping a tentative existential toe into the calming pool of
Buddhism).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">I realize, of course, that we’re going to release
the two Afterwords we wrote for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>
when the book comes out. These stories behind the story, sadly, didn’t make it
into the finished book. In the meantime, Scott, please share with us the broad
strokes of the story behind <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>.</span>
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Our dear friend, editor, and all-round legend John
Skipp and I were watching a spectacularly bad movie from 1978 called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>. And Skipp mentioned an idea he
had for a story using the same title. I was fascinated and haunted by the idea
he told me, which was about the night the dark becomes sentient and malevolent.
I asked Skipp if he was going to write it; he said, “No.” Then I asked if he’d
mind me taking a crack at it and he said, “Yes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Then he went above and beyond the call of duty by
helping me plot the story out on a couple of hundred notecards, which was an
incredible experience because I was getting to work with a master.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">However, just as I was getting ready to start to
work on it, my girlfriend Amy Wallace, our friend Del Howison, and I sold the
proposal for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Book of Lists Horror</i>
to HarperCollins, and suddenly everything went on the backburner. But, even
after we finished that book, I was finding it hard to get back to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was back in 2008.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Well, last year, when Skipp was hired as editor of
the Ravenous Shadows line, the first thing he asked me was “What are you
thinking about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d put in so much work on conceptualizing
it, and I knew he’d always been a little disappointed that I hadn’t done
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I answered that I thought I should do it with you.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Skipp grinned and said, “You guys write me a
proposal.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">We finished lunch and I picked up the phone to call
you. And here we are.</span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Tell everyone a little bit about “Straycation,” the
story we have in John Skipp’s forthcoming <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psychos</i>
anthology. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s such a cool story – I’m so proud of it, and it
really owes its existence to you. I had another idea for the anthology – a
notion that I’d had a long time ago and could never crack – that I threw out. You
gamely did a really solid draft, but couldn’t crack it either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just wasn’t firing for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then you sent me a story that you said
had just poured out of you with the awesome title of “Straycation.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read it and was blown away; it was an
incredible first draft, and I saw exactly what I could bring to it. But, man,
as far as the concept – which Skipp called “kind of genius” – that was all you,
amigo.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The happy ending postscript to this is that when we
nailed down “Straycation” and I told my girlfriend Amy that we weren’t going
with the other story, she asked why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
said that we just couldn’t crack it – that it would take someone like Patricia
Highsmith (author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strangers on a Train</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Talented Mr. Ripley</i>, among
numerous other classics) to pull it off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, Ms. Highsmith happens to be one of Amy’s idols, so that intrigued
her. She took it, in the best sense, as a little bit of a challenge, and asked
if I’d mind if she tried a version of the story (shades – no pun intended - of
me and Skipp and how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i> came to
be) and I said go for it.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">She wrote an amazing story, and submitted it to
Skipp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alas, it didn’t make the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psychos</i> book, though it came very close.
But then she submitted it to another market and got an instant acceptance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Just goes to show, for any writers out there, not to
give up, and just because something might get accepted in one market, it has
every chance of being perfect for the next one.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">You conceptualized “Angela & the Angel,” the
story we have in Trent Zelazny’s MIRAGES. Where did that story come from?</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Skipp’s anthology prior to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psychos</i> was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Demons</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, at an early point, the publisher was
apparently thinking about making it involve angels as well as demons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t come up with anything that wasn’t
obvious or cliché involving demons, so I started thinking angels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And somehow this dark fairy tale just popped
into my head during a drive out to Palm Springs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took the idea to you and we worked it.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The story, which as I said is very dark, has had an
appropriately tortured history since then, starting with the fact that Skipp’s
publishers decided to go solely with demons as the anthology’s theme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From there…well, let’s just say that the
story went through multiple iterations and mutations – one of them so extreme
that it resulted in an entirely separate story!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So I’m really happy that our odd, troubled little tale – about an odd
and troubled young woman named Angela – finally found a really cool home in
Trent’s anthology.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">How excited are you to be sharing a TOC with Thomas
Harris? What has his work meant to you on a personal level?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m excited beyond words, especially since Harris
doesn’t write short fiction, so one doesn’t see him in TOCs (the piece in Skipp’s
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psychos</i> is an amazing excerpt from
the classic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red Dragon</i>).</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">On a personal level, his novels – even the worst of
them (looking at you, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hannibal Rising</i>!)
– have always fascinated me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red Dragon</i> is one of my favorite books,
in any genre, period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And his writing is
really like no one else’s, in or out of the thriller and horror genres. There
are sentences, particularly in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red Dragon</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silence of the Lambs</i>, by Harris
that blow me away with their lyricism and complexity, even though he’s not, in
any way, a particularly difficult or dense writer on the surface.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">He’s simply one of the greats. It’s sharing a TOC
with the Godfather of the Modern Psychological Horror Story.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">You’ve taken some pretty amazing trips with your
father over the last couple years. How has this strengthened your relationship
with your dad? Of all the places the two of you have visited, what’s your
favorite? Why? What’s your least favorite? Why?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s brought my Dad and me together in ways I never
would have dreamed possible. And, believe me, it’s not like we were ever
estranged or anything like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It goes back to the fact that in early 2006 I lost
my Mom in a completely unexpected way. Literally, on New Year’s Day, 2006, she
and my Dad went to go see the movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Munich</i>;
on January 2nd she died. One of those one in a million things that
just ends the world for a whole family: my Dad, me, and my two sisters (not to
mention everyone who loved my Mom, who was much beloved by family and
friends).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">My Mom worked for the airlines the last few years of
her life, and because of that she and my Dad were able to take trips all over
the world that would’ve never been financially possible otherwise. They saw all
the great cities of the world; they would do things like spend a three-day
weekend in Argentina. Just amazing.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">After losing her, my Dad – and I completely
understand this – honestly felt like he could never get on an airplane or do
any traveling again; it was just too intimately connected to her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And it was hard between my Dad and me, because we
could barely get on the phone without just starting to grieve for my Mom. Again,
not at all an estrangement, just really rough emotional territory. We did a lot
of our communication via email.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">A couple of years passed, and while I don’t think
it’s at all true that time heals all wounds, I do believe it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can </i>be healing to some extent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">My Dad is a Vietnam veteran, and one of the things
he’d wanted to do all of his life was take a trip back to Vietnam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See with older eyes what he saw when he was
20. I should note, by the was, that my Dad – due to his astounding mind for
technical matters – did not serve in combat, so the notion of the trip, while
profound, wasn’t as emotionally loaded as it might be for some veterans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">He and my Mom never made that trip. So I suggested
that he and I make it. At first, he was – understandably – enormously
reluctant. But I planted the seeds, and he started looking into the logistics
of it: the financial viability and all that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Slowly, but surely, a trip began to take shape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the things I wanted to do was go during the
Tet Holiday, which is the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. It’s a huge deal there,
and probably the worst, most complicated time to go as a tourist. The reason I
wanted to do this is because one of my long-term projects is a book, with
comics writer Jason Aaron (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scalped</i>),
about the late Gustav Hasford, author of the novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Short-Timers</i>, which was the basis for Kubrick’s Vietnam film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Full Metal Jacket</i> (Jason, I might add,
happens be the cousin of Gus Hasford). As your readers probably remember, the
story of the book/film take place mostly during the 1968 Tet Offensive, with
particular focus on the brutal urban combat that took place in the city of Huế.
So I wanted to go during the holiday and I wanted to be in Huế on Tet
itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Well, my Dad moved heaven and earth to make this
happen. In February, 2010, we started in Saigon (it still just doesn’t feel
right to call it Ho Chi Minh City) and worked our way north, and on Tet we were
in Huế, having drinks and dinner at the DMZ Bar. If that’s not a profoundly
bonding father/son moment, I don’t know what is.</span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Since then, we’ve been to Thailand four times (and
let me assure your readers none of them were for the reason a lot of Western
men go to Thailand, though on our last trip we did make our way down to the
famous Soi Cowboy red light district to gawk at the spectacle); Laos; Cambodia;
and Myanmar (formerly Burma).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re
already starting to talk about a possible trip to Mongolia and maybe another
trip to Vietnam.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As to favorite, well – that Vietnam trip was just
magical, so that was my favorite trip. But actually, my favorite country in
Southeast Asia is Laos, which I like to refer to as the greatest place very few
people have ever been. My Dad and I even agree that it, in particular the
former capitol, Luang Prabang, is the place in SE Asia we’d want to live. Laos
is just…words fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s so beautiful;
the people are so gentle; it’s still largely unspoiled and un-Westernized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I should add, as well, that my Dad and I both just
love Bangkok, Thailand. It’s just such an amazing city; even the sleazier sex
trade aspects are surprisingly well-regulated and not depressing. And it’s got
the biggest, weirdest shopping mall I’ve ever been in, the MBK, which is sort
of like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blade Runner</i> inside an
enormous building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Least favorite? Alas, that would be Cambodia. That’s
not to say I regret in the least going there, particularly getting to see
Angkor Wat, one of the most extraordinary set of ruins on Earth (and the visual
basis for certain aspects of the Kurtz compound in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Apocalypse Now</i>). But after what that country went through under Pol
Pot – well, it’s amazing there’s any society at all. The whole country,
particularly the capitol, Phnom Penh, just reeks of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a sobering and instructive trip, but
an emotionally difficult one. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">In 2008, you co-edited <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Book of Lists: Horror</i> (HarperCollins), which was nominated for
a Bram Stoker Award. There are so many great lists in that book, and I know this
is kind of unfair, but tell us about 3 or 4 of the lists that excited you most.
<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh, I can’t answer this question. They <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i> excited me. But, of course, it was
staggering – and full credit for scoring this goes to Del Howison – to score a
list from Ray Bradbury, particularly since he passed so recently. But, no –
they’re all great lists and I love them all and thank our contributors for
giving them to us.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">At the risk of not having enough dinosaurs in this
interview, tell us why you love the dinosaur sequence in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Tree of Life</i>.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This has, of course, become something of a joke
amongst my friends, particularly on Facebook. But it’s true – that whole
Creation sequence, and in particular the dinosaurs, really moved me.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3keERgUg_z3OOpnyc_m67Ws9B_togytfdncEoG64uHkU-pgIVYB_PyjoDBnEvgp99feKI8L2wVClRB8MPssFnQK_pmC__i9BnMGzSrbaV8JGzgujzaJI7r4F3XCIB0XOJ_nXr5fEiGc/s1600/TOL_dinosaur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3keERgUg_z3OOpnyc_m67Ws9B_togytfdncEoG64uHkU-pgIVYB_PyjoDBnEvgp99feKI8L2wVClRB8MPssFnQK_pmC__i9BnMGzSrbaV8JGzgujzaJI7r4F3XCIB0XOJ_nXr5fEiGc/s320/TOL_dinosaur.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Part of it is, still being kind of a little boy at
heart, I love dinosaurs. And it was cool to see them in something about as far
from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jurassic Park</i> as you can get
(not that there’s anything wrong with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jurassic
Park</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m also really fascinated and moved by what that
sequence, to me, suggests: the birth of empathy. Besides, admiring the sheer <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">2001</i>-like ambition of it alone is
amazing. The fact that Malick, in the midst of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>what is essentially a domestic drama, chose to try to illustrate this –
and with dinosaurs, no less (not what we tend to think of as exemplars of
empathy), just blows me away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And I like the ambiguity of it. Maybe that one
dinosaur really did get distracted by something and that’s why it didn’t harm
the other dinosaur. I find that pretty hard to believe, given my reading of
Malick’s oeuvre, but it’s a great argument to have with people who think the
inclusion of that sequence is one of the dumbest decisions ever made by any
filmmaker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">You eat at House of Pies almost every day. What do
you order? Why House of Pies?</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s pretty much always breakfast and I go through
periods of ordering the same thing and then switch to something else. Right now
I’m doing scrambled eggs, corned beef hash, hash browns, and an English muffin,
sometimes with a side of extra-crispy bacon. They have amazing corned beef
hash, by the way.</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQtpQ5p1-I6mKBqjF4j5pA4R23vlZE5PNHW0dfbIwgH9P8QogilYvIXW2p00qmNv2OK8VfS7wp1l-kP9Jv2yEb9agWT5pAuE03GZG8aVIV-KqsVOP7wfJOnfkgJifKt3ovi-yY-JgUHyQ/s1600/76066843_cdfd4d44ac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQtpQ5p1-I6mKBqjF4j5pA4R23vlZE5PNHW0dfbIwgH9P8QogilYvIXW2p00qmNv2OK8VfS7wp1l-kP9Jv2yEb9agWT5pAuE03GZG8aVIV-KqsVOP7wfJOnfkgJifKt3ovi-yY-JgUHyQ/s320/76066843_cdfd4d44ac.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As to why House of Pies? Besides the fact I can walk
to it, the place is just such a cool environment. It’s like a David Lynch
movie. Interesting people eat there:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lots of cops; eccentric old people; frayed hipsters. I’ve heard (and
this is probably just a folktale, but if it isn’t true it ought to be) that
Tarantino used to eat and write there before he got famous. I know for a fact
that Forrest J. Ackerman did. One night around 1am a friend and I crossed paths
with David J. Schow there. Like I said, interesting people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And the staff is crackerjack. Career waitresses – no
25 year-old wannabe actresses; the ladies at House of Pies know their work and
do it exceedingly well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s just an awesome place and I recommend it to
anyone who loves a good diner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tell ‘em
Scott Bradley sent you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What is your greatest fear?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Dying is up there. Losing those I love. That Brett
Ratner will continue making movies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What is your greatest hope?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">There’s a line in the movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who’ll Stop the Rain</i> (based on the great novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dog Soldiers</i> by Robert Stone) where one of the characters says, in
the midst of a drug deal gone horribly awry, “I’ve waited all my life to fuck
up like this.” I dearly hope I never have to utter a similar sentiment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What’s on the horizon from Scott Bradley?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I don’t know. But whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll post
about it on Facebook.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What else would you like everyone to know?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Peter Giglio rocks.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Fantastic interview, Scott. Thank you for your time.</span><br />
<br />
BOOK TRAILER FOR THE DARK<br />
<br />
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<br />
MORE LINKS:<br />
<br />
Facebook page for THE DARK: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dark-A-Novel-by-Scott-Bradley-Peter-Giglio/332786220140890?ref=ts">http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dark-A-Novel-by-Scott-Bradley-Peter-Giglio/332786220140890?ref=ts</a><br />
<br />
Scott Bradley's Facebook page: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dark-A-Novel-by-Scott-Bradley-Peter-Giglio/332786220140890?ref=ts#!/scott.bradley.92">http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dark-A-Novel-by-Scott-Bradley-Peter-Giglio/332786220140890?ref=ts#!/scott.bradley.92</a><br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-17795879311663442072012-07-20T17:35:00.000-07:002012-07-20T17:35:27.696-07:00PRE-PUBLICATION MUSINGS ABOUT THE DARK<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="background-color: black;">In a few short weeks, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>, a novel I co-wrote with Scott Bradley (my dear friend and
frequent collaborator), enters the world. I always get nervous right before a book launches, but this one is a little different. Thing is, I’ve never wanted a book to succeed this much.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #9fc5e8; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why is this one so special to me? </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF08IvDkvfhVfJITNvtk5hDwiUSXazk81hQtgOxOtNawIv0tmS2ox6j4ng3OmiPs_UuJviH5J35d99Tn1l6mniRvZpdTSFVhv9m0uJBhJBerl0K1MtBbtGYr3xc0Hn0tO1CGeto9Uk0e0/s1600/darky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #9fc5e8;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF08IvDkvfhVfJITNvtk5hDwiUSXazk81hQtgOxOtNawIv0tmS2ox6j4ng3OmiPs_UuJviH5J35d99Tn1l6mniRvZpdTSFVhv9m0uJBhJBerl0K1MtBbtGYr3xc0Hn0tO1CGeto9Uk0e0/s320/darky.jpg" width="207" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #9fc5e8; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">First and foremost, I wrote it with Scott, who I’ve known
since the fourth grade. He’s my best friend; we’ve been through a lot together.
So this is a pretty big deal for me. And secondly, it was edited by John Skipp,
who’s a lot more than an editor on this project, but I won’t get into those
details now. When the book comes out, Scott and I will share the two Afterwords
for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i> (one by him, one by me)
that, sadly, didn’t make it into the finished book. These accounts will spell
out the stories behind the story. </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="background-color: black;">So I got to work with two of my favorite people in
the world. But there’s more.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #9fc5e8; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Scott and I had a few creative fights over <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark</i>. I won’t get into what those
scuffles were about or who won the arguments or who was right. And don’t worry,
we don’t offer up multiple endings in the book. My point is this: Those fights brought
us closer, they made the book better, and they caused us to care more about the
story than if either of us had written the book solo. Let me be clear, Scott
and I didn’t fight frequently. We also laughed a lot, congratulated each other
often, and had a shitload of fun! </span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ru7QNPa-hu4i9DyI08fjblmU21SzslPbMHXwiYX8DuRrctxTAFtV5KU66zpdDgoQd6zWplP-narvJQC0aPw6R_WHEPPqEqyahUm5I_1IU5cCm7eb2nl15lXqYfahH2txo9eTPApKQaQ/s1600/scottskippete2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #9fc5e8;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ru7QNPa-hu4i9DyI08fjblmU21SzslPbMHXwiYX8DuRrctxTAFtV5KU66zpdDgoQd6zWplP-narvJQC0aPw6R_WHEPPqEqyahUm5I_1IU5cCm7eb2nl15lXqYfahH2txo9eTPApKQaQ/s320/scottskippete2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #9fc5e8; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Bottom line: I built this one with my best
friend. Of course it means more to me! In fact, I’ll be interviewing Scott on
his birthday, which is next Wednesday; tune in for that, ‘cause
he’s going to have a lot to say on this subject. Oh, and he's turning 40.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: #9fc5e8; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In short, I hope you all read <em>The Dark</em>. It's a horror novel that's in love with being a horror novel, but for me it's so much more.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><em></em><o:p><span style="background-color: black; color: #9fc5e8;">BOOK TRAILER</span></o:p></span></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/A2rYOpF_BK8" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-81112281512946627192012-07-19T15:10:00.000-07:002012-07-19T15:10:12.260-07:00MoreHorror Exclusive: Eric Shapiro Interviews Writer Peter Giglio | MoreHorror.com - Horror News, Movie Reviews, Exclusive Interviews<a href="http://www.morehorror.com/Eric-Shapiro-Interviews-Writer-Peter-Giglio#.UAiFW64VGks.blogger">MoreHorror Exclusive: Eric Shapiro Interviews Writer Peter Giglio | MoreHorror.com - Horror News, Movie Reviews, Exclusive Interviews</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-18391192098202422762012-07-19T08:19:00.000-07:002012-07-19T08:19:01.364-07:00TRYING NOT TO INSULT THE DEMON'S MUSTACHE: AN INTERVIEW WITH JEREMY C. SHIPP<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">I’m honored to
welcome Jeremy C. Shipp to my blog today. I’m a huge fan of his work, and I
can’t wait to delve a little deeper into his mind. Won’t you join me?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b><br />
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmm0qxtWPNCmDLqA5nQ0YLBc3kpp_orAxurz6tKd88xqttrmuovo5sdeq4m3mJCbfITuYHVBnoFDPObLjnjxgFAtr6u9hf0ojBHIGtTTZKb75MLbdDjXM1eN4_6-eqtS2SGu5ws5AmwE/s1600/jeremy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmm0qxtWPNCmDLqA5nQ0YLBc3kpp_orAxurz6tKd88xqttrmuovo5sdeq4m3mJCbfITuYHVBnoFDPObLjnjxgFAtr6u9hf0ojBHIGtTTZKb75MLbdDjXM1eN4_6-eqtS2SGu5ws5AmwE/s320/jeremy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">I was delighted
when I opened up Issue #66 of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cemetery
Dance</i> and saw a story from you. Then I read the tale, “Inside,” and was
totally blown away. It’s one of the best pieces of fiction I’ve read in a long
time. Where did you find that story?</span></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First of
all, Peter, thank you for inviting me to your blog. I like what you've done
with the place. This e-chair is cozy, and the interweb tea is to die for.
Speaking of dying, my story "Inside" was born from various real world
nightmares, such as factory farms. I find it more than a little horrifying when
people treat other beings as if they are soulless. With these feelings swirling
around in my gut, eventually I came up with the idea of a vending machine full
of humans.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPn0aO-IvOMX9xVYeI5hZOhX1x2l1L_WYl5uGCWVWReNnAlFbNDZRemMoolUdirXafOFUwtQ9NtnxE4113R49xzKtlps9ScoGhi266w8tLBEUl5cVAvOBEJJijOzVSApxCJQwTIBlH34/s1600/jeremycd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPn0aO-IvOMX9xVYeI5hZOhX1x2l1L_WYl5uGCWVWReNnAlFbNDZRemMoolUdirXafOFUwtQ9NtnxE4113R49xzKtlps9ScoGhi266w8tLBEUl5cVAvOBEJJijOzVSApxCJQwTIBlH34/s320/jeremycd.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Tell us a little
about Bizarro fiction. Where do you see yourself in this movement? What
attracted you to Bizarro?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In a sense,
I see Bizarro as a genre for tales that defy genre. This is a bit paradoxical,
but that's OK, because Bizarro fiction eats paradoxes for breakfast (along with
Boo Berry cereal and spambled eggs). I see myself on the horror and dark
fantasy side of the Bizarro teeter-totter. I never think <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">today
I'm going to write a Bizarro story</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">today
I'm going to write a horror story</i>. I just write whatever comes to my mind,
and when I'm done I find a home for it where I can. I love the imagination and
freshness of Bizarro fiction. It's an honor to be associated with the movement.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYQbiVx_xPWwU6DrSWJZrg0FCiZyjbOB4WJiUvJogMGAUSb9UNRo3K8uEit9ed_QumJ8SWTOGMYKyet-QzGOXn6r40gaQ239npJnMloQHrVepTNLf5BB6Z6rlV1TsYboeFrg4fBiEteM/s1600/jeremybiz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYQbiVx_xPWwU6DrSWJZrg0FCiZyjbOB4WJiUvJogMGAUSb9UNRo3K8uEit9ed_QumJ8SWTOGMYKyet-QzGOXn6r40gaQ239npJnMloQHrVepTNLf5BB6Z6rlV1TsYboeFrg4fBiEteM/s320/jeremybiz.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">You have a
wonderful and wicked, dark yet lighthearted sense of humor. It’s a strange mix,
in my humble estimation, of deep meaning and utter ephemera. A brilliant
juxtaposition. Where does this come from?</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I'm a big
fan of humor. I believe humor helps people to not only cope with darkness, but
to defend themselves against it. Also, I like humor because it's funny. Humor's
probably one of the funniest things in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What is your
personal favorite among your works? Your least favorite? Why?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don't
think I could choose a favorite story or book, but I can choose a couple
favorite characters. Cicely from my novel CURSED and Globcow from my ATTIC
CLOWNS collection. Cicely's a strong, caring person with a unique sense of
humor. And Globcow: he's as evil as he is innocent, which is an interesting
combination. I would have a lot of fun hanging out with these two (I mean,
other than those moments when Globcow was eating my feet). My least favorite
story is probably a horror story I wrote when I was a teenager. This story was
never published (thankfully). There was way too much gore, and not nearly
enough talking animals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Why attic clowns?
Tell us about these creatures and why they interest you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It all
started years ago when I bought an antique mirror at a yard sale. When I
brought the mirror home, I realized that my reflection didn't look quite right
in the mirror. My face was too white and my nose was too red. It creeped me
out. So I put the mirror in the attic, and of course a demonic clown soon oozed
his way out of the looking glass. At this point, there are about 1400 demonic
clowns living up there. I'm not so much fascinated by them as I am tormented.
Not a day goes by without a clown tossing a flaming pie at my face. I can't
even count how many times I've been attacked by a giant rubber chicken. Anyway,
I write about attic clowns in order to process these horrible yet pretty funny
experiences.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq_4jw1RqmpNMJaRJAkw3yvbuCHXn1HEzu8F-LzmYg4ylnqiD2svrS21AE2sgg9sFEKUe6QsYHmxO2IFdcIGiMqTOzq3qgJkyB3cTgJivPZPuSMhGHq02kHzKWiFqjjdE-2jBvKK525Ng/s1600/attic_clowns_web_cover_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq_4jw1RqmpNMJaRJAkw3yvbuCHXn1HEzu8F-LzmYg4ylnqiD2svrS21AE2sgg9sFEKUe6QsYHmxO2IFdcIGiMqTOzq3qgJkyB3cTgJivPZPuSMhGHq02kHzKWiFqjjdE-2jBvKK525Ng/s320/attic_clowns_web_cover_400.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">That’s pretty much
what I thought, but I had to ask. So, what are you working on right now?</span>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I'm almost
done with a new story collection called MONSTROSITIES. I'm also working on a
novel, a screenplay, and a couple other projects.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What can we expect
to see from you in the future?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Other than
the projects that I already mentioned, there might be a movie eventually based
on my novel CURSED. Also, there's a good chance I'll start work on a graphic
novel in the near future.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_EXdwqlapXdg17D14mmXX7BJdAcK74hhoizyA3DD3oTeQ97i0oJ-EKGoDIJeTlBL-Wl3sDR-OYZV0xcA4B80PWuRKRsWbKxL8JqHqAbSId2foT6w90DWZXOu-idyES8ZIIMvyo7nY3g/s1600/jeremycursed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_EXdwqlapXdg17D14mmXX7BJdAcK74hhoizyA3DD3oTeQ97i0oJ-EKGoDIJeTlBL-Wl3sDR-OYZV0xcA4B80PWuRKRsWbKxL8JqHqAbSId2foT6w90DWZXOu-idyES8ZIIMvyo7nY3g/s1600/jeremycursed.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Who are your
literary influences? And what’s your all-time favorite book?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are
so many writers out there who influence and inspire me. I love Kurt Vonnegut,
Haruki Murakami, George Orwell, Amy Tan, Roald Dahl, Anthony Burgess. The list
could go on and on. My favorite book might be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The God of Small Things</i> by Arundhati Roy. I find her innovate use
of language to be brilliant.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">I had the pleasure
of working with you a little on your ATTIC TOYS anthology. It’s a remarkable
collection. Tell us a little bit about that book and the process involved with
putting it together.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had a
blast working with you and Charles Day on this anthology. The editing process
involved a lot of blood, sweat and tears (but mostly blood. Who knew that toys
could bleed so much?). I received so many marvelous submissions from amazing
writers around the world. I'm very happy with how the anthology turned out.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj152PgXiyJqF6V2VeyrmLm4akaA0b5cQKvTcoClde1YgkzpvXQUpo9Wj3AMs87NutMkk3rB4TDTY15iDj82rYupG1XsiOWMDywXUdkciKpy2ZAAvMHsr5r3qUbEzDLhIP2PolsZ4nFU-k/s1600/jeremyattictoys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj152PgXiyJqF6V2VeyrmLm4akaA0b5cQKvTcoClde1YgkzpvXQUpo9Wj3AMs87NutMkk3rB4TDTY15iDj82rYupG1XsiOWMDywXUdkciKpy2ZAAvMHsr5r3qUbEzDLhIP2PolsZ4nFU-k/s320/jeremyattictoys.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What lights you up?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Monsters,
animals, nice/creative people, cheesy horror movies, sporks, plushies, peanut
butter, forests, nerdy stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What shuts you
down?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Prejudices,
abuses of power, heights, parties that aren't nerdy enough, bad movies that
aren't cheesy, traffic cones.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">You seem to be
writing a lot of short fiction lately. Do you prefer short fiction?</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The thing I
like about short stories is that I can finish one in less than a year. But to
be honest, I love writing novels more than anything. It's a special experience,
sticking with the same group of characters for so long. They become my dear
friends and my dear enemies. I let my stories end when they will, and most of
my tales don't need to be novels in order to be told effectively.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">You’ve written
brilliant novels. Tell us a little about your process with long fiction? Do you
outline? How do you work?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I often
start a novel by brainstorming out ideas. I'll brainstorm again numerous times
as I'm working through the story. As I'm writing, I'll have an idea where I
want the novel to end up, but the story sometimes surprises me and takes me
somewhere I didn't expect. I like to write organically. Let the story go where
it needs to go, where the fun and the horror and the humor is.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB61P24ekhd7uWNhKdssWDANTGspc-FH82fOL3deHN2V9wJ2QUdLgOJJswh58O5GOrvMaUA0x41EHrQR2yY1bSe586_mIzf0ZOHDdMr0uvsld_m2kAosvlO_gdYkzfDNsQwyNCiLmMZBM/s1600/jeremyfungus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB61P24ekhd7uWNhKdssWDANTGspc-FH82fOL3deHN2V9wJ2QUdLgOJJswh58O5GOrvMaUA0x41EHrQR2yY1bSe586_mIzf0ZOHDdMr0uvsld_m2kAosvlO_gdYkzfDNsQwyNCiLmMZBM/s320/jeremyfungus.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What advice do you
have for aspiring writers?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b><br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Read and
write every day. Don't give up on your dreams, no matter what people might say
(even if they're wearing top hats and monocles). Connect with other writers.
Have fun. Write what you would enjoy reading.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What else would you
like everyone to know?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1. Never
insult a demon's mustache.<br />
2. Not all Care Bears actually care about you. I learned that the hard way.<br />
3. If an attic clown offers you a candy shaped like your head, don't eat it.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgskniP2JUue321w7I2cTqmtflovbcMB_cwd7IibSHgNP-tDM8prfzy5VNlF5uty0dQWx4nA7Ofv7ONyFFFUTZV6rzlbNOwBNDbdpZLLIE01T_11xCRswU7QPosr7Ui6etIoCNgFXSqU/s1600/tumblr_kzfsedEXTn1qz9tkeo1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgskniP2JUue321w7I2cTqmtflovbcMB_cwd7IibSHgNP-tDM8prfzy5VNlF5uty0dQWx4nA7Ofv7ONyFFFUTZV6rzlbNOwBNDbdpZLLIE01T_11xCRswU7QPosr7Ui6etIoCNgFXSqU/s320/tumblr_kzfsedEXTn1qz9tkeo1_400.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p>Thank you for being my guest today, Jeremy. Stay for a bit, and I'll make another pot of that interweb tea you like so much. </o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p>The rest of you, go out and buy some of Jeremy's books; he's got a bunch of 'em and they're all great. Here's a link to his Amazon Author Page where you can browse at your leisure: </o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jeremy-C.-Shipp/e/B002BM34KS/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1342675900&sr=1-2-ent">http://www.amazon.com/Jeremy-C.-Shipp/e/B002BM34KS/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1342675900&sr=1-2-ent</a></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p>Join my next week for more guests, more discussions, and more information. In the meantime, thank you for reading.</o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p>Cheers!</o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p>PG</o:p></span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-40785555426053805242012-07-17T06:36:00.000-07:002012-07-17T10:14:26.483-07:00BRITISH INVASION: AN INTERVIEW WITH CRAIG SAUNDERS<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Craig Saunders is a
terrific writer whose latest novel, THE LOVE OF THE DEAD, has just been
released by Evil Jester Press. It’s a privilege and an honor to welcome him to
my blog to discuss this pulse-pounding ghost story/detective tale.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">
</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Tarot cards play a
large role in your new book, and you seem to know what you’re talking about.
Tell us, was this due to research on your part, or do you have a background in
Tarot?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I did a ton of research, and I have a pack of tarot,
too...well, I don't, per se, but my wife does and she's a bona fide witch ;)
Don't tell her I said that! Hang on, this is public, isn't it? Erm...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">She's not really a witch, but she is a medium. There's a
small part of her in Beth Willis, although her experiences as a medium haven't
been anywhere near as traumatic. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That's the long and short of it, really – she sees dead
people! For real, and everything. I was never really a believer in any kind of
religion, and I'm still not what I'd call a devotee of religion or even the
dark arts, but I've seen enough to believe that some things you can't see,
can't touch, can still be real. She's a great inspiration for the character,
and some of her stories have led, in a roundabout way, to my stories...I'm
thinking in particular of A Stranger's Grave (published this year) and A Home
by the Sea (due 2013).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever seen one?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Haha - I'm going to sound like a right crackpot, but I write
horror fiction, so people kind of expect you to be a crackpot (Right, Peter?
Right...? Come on man, back me up here!). England's a largely secular country,
so people have all kind of beliefs and disbeliefs. Like I said before, I don't
necessarily believe in God or Christ or Buddha or the Jedi. I'm an agnostic, at
best. But I do see white birds when people die. I have seen the ghosts of cats
and dogs and shadow people from the corner of my eye, and once a bird saved my
life. Once my wife saved my life, too. She had a vision of three deer on the
road...I rounded a corner, looking out for deer (we live in the country) and
there were three deer – next bend, a blind corner, I narrowly avoided a head on
collision with an idiot on the wrong side of the road...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I guess the white birds thing boils down to a kind of
omen...well, hell, it is an omen... I hate seeing white birds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And I don't mean silly white birds, like a chicken or a
dove, that are white anyway, but like an albino version of a bird that isn't
ordinarily white...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Crackpot, right? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hey, I’m not here to
judge. </b>(Turns to bartender)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> I’ll
have what he’s having. </b>(Back to Craig) </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Moving
on: Paranormal stories seem to be making a big comeback in horror fiction. Why
do you think that is?</span> <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think people are a little tired of zombies and vampires
and werewolves (oh my!) to be honest. You can only reinvent the vampire so
often before it becomes drab. I know you've written a vampire novella (and a
cracker, too – I've read it!), and I've written a vampire novel...but I think
for me it was more a rite of passage as a horror writer. I figure you have to
have a vampire novel under your belt or your horror pants will fall
down...hmm...note to self: Delete that before sending...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, going old school is, in effect, the new school. Some of
my favorite tales have a paranormal element. The work of Bill Hussey, pre
William Hussey days, is really my favorite, my booky-bezzy-buddy, but also Tim
Lebbon's earlier work, and a novel I read recently, Heart-Shaped Box...you
might have heard of it ;)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hmm, how long is it socially acceptable to ramble on in an
interview? Let's find out...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Paranormal, frankly, rocks. Zombies sell, but I personally
find them cute, rather than intellectually challenging for the reader. Don't
get me wrong, zombies are fun, but limited – I feel. Ghosts and
superstitions...they play into the reader's fear of the dark, rather than the
reader's fear of the grotesque...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As you can tell, I haven't really thought this through, but
in conclusion – and hopefully in answer to your question – I think (and no
doubt stand to be corrected!) reader's gore buttons have been pushed so many
times that they've become desensitized to blood and guts. Maybe that's just me.
Hell, this whole answer is just me, right? As I can only answer for me, I think
it's time horror grew up. Again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What’s your favorite
ghost story?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Peter Straub's Ghost Story, right up there. Heart-Shaped Box
(Joe Hill) for sure. But like I said before, I love Bill Hussey, so either
Through a Glass, Darkly, or The Absence, both of which have strong paranormal
elements. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">The structure of THE
LOVE OF THE DEAD is very taught—not the slightest bit of extraneous material—and
it takes place over a very short period of time, which gives it a real sense of
urgency. What was your primary influence for this story?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think, structurally, in order to make it taut I stick to
short sentences, short chapters – someone (I think it was Elmore Leonard, but I
might be wrong!) said, “Cut out all the parts people don't read.” I try to do
that, and treat each book the same way— write fast, write for a fast
read...keep it simple! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Like I said before, my primary influence for the story was
my wife and her experience as a medium, but also through research into the
mythology behind the story – which I won't go into, because I don't want to
spoil it, but a small part of this was old stories about seagulls and
ravens...I go far and wide for a story. (Oh, alright, I look things up on
Wikipedia!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">According to the time
stamp in the back of THE LOVE OF THE DEAD, it looks like you wrote it between
August and September of 2010. Now here it is in print two years later. A lot of
aspiring authors don’t understand the timelines for writing vs. publication.
Tell us about the lifecycle of this particular novel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The timelines I add at the back of my novels are for the
first drafts – a first draft of a horror novel for me is usually somewhere
between 40 and 50K. The second draft will be a little beefier. I don't often do
more than two drafts, but sometimes I'll do a third, or, if an editor becomes
involved, however many it takes! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sometimes you might be asked for a rewrite, but usually it
will be fairly minor. But in my experience good editors aren't afraid of asking
an author to chop things up a bit, and good writers aren't afraid of editors,
either. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But, getting off my soapbox for a minute, The Love of the
Dead ran through my hands twice, and the second draft I submitted to Evil
Jester Press...after a period for it to be read, then it went to my editor, the
rather wonderful Gregory L. Norris, and through another period for
artwork...then publication has to be scheduled around other works to be
released by the press/publisher...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, yes, although writing a novel can be quite a quick
process, from pitch to publication can take considerably longer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">D.I. Coleridge is an
odd and fascinating character. A crass, lost man who we learn to love through
the course of the novel. Tell us about Coleridge. What was your inspiration for
him?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is the part where I shoot myself in the foot, because I
figure people want to know an interesting story behind him, but the truth is he
was all typing and telling lies :) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I tend to write broken characters – I find them more
interesting, more real, than the superhero kind of characters you get in many
books. I found him appealing because he's hard as nails, but insecure, hurt,
and a little wobbly in the morals department. That said, he's a kick-ass cop.
He's one of my favorite characters to date...I seriously thought about putting
him into other novels, but I think I'd feel like I was cheating him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">I also love the
character of Beth. A wounded soul, like Coleridge, but a sympathetic figure
nonetheless. Where did you find Beth?</span> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As before, Beth's a combination of me telling lies and my
wife. I quite often write female characters – I find them interesting. I really
felt for her, and she started out on the page as kind of a cliché, but as I
wrote her I warmed to her...she's a good character, I think. My wife's my
inspiration for many of my female characters. I don't know many other women. I
have to say that, just in case she's reading this...she'll kill me!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What’s your favorite
book? Why?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I've spoken about Bill Hussey, and he's one of my favorite
authors, though he only penned two horror novels that I know of. I love Stephen
King and pretty much all of his works (though, sorry Mr. King, I did prefer you
drunk). I like Peter Straub. But my favorite novel? It's an almost impossible
question, as I read within the genre and outside, but I'll have to plump for
two (sorry!) that I've read more than any other novels on my shelves: The Stand
(King) and The Lord of the Rings (Tolkein). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What lights you up?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That's a lovely question, and that lights me up :) I think
the one thing that lights me up over and above all else (I like bacon, coffee,
music, PC games, the rain, and so many other things) has got to be nice people.
Just a random act of kindness, or a smile, or a sweet word...not any one
specific thing that people do, just nice people. I like nice people. That's it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What shuts you down?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The news! I'm such a grumpy so-and-so when it comes to the
news. I figure if I want to be afraid, I can just walk down to the local pub on
a summer's eve and see a tattooed guy with no shirt walking his pitbull. If I
want to be scared I can listen to the weird noises in my house as I try to
sleep. I don't need to be afraid of current events. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If there ever is a real zombie outbreak, I'll be the last to
know, because I won't see it coming, and to be frank (can I be Frank? :P ) I'll
be all the happier for it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Your editor on THE
LOVE OF THE DEAD was the brilliant Gregory L. Norris. Tell us a little bit
about working with Gregory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I'm proud to count Gregory as one of my favorite people in
the whole world, and a friend, too. He was a friend before he came to edit The
Love of the Dead, and he's a pro; definitely someone I look up to
professionally. I was over the moon to find out that Gregory was to edit my
novel - truly honored. He's got more publications under his belt that many
people who have been writing for sixty years, and he's only a whippersnapper in
his (don't shoot me, Greg!) 40s...though he looks a lot younger ;) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It's a relief to be in the hands of such an accomplished
author and editor, and when the edits came back I was over the moon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It's easy to edit the voice out of a novel, impossible to
edit it back in. Thankfully, Gregory was sympathetic to my voice and preserved
it, while making the novel better than it would ever have been without his
steady hand. He's a good fella. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What’s on the horizon from Craig Saunders?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It may sound strange to readers of this blog, those
interested parties who've made it to this, the penultimate question, but I
haven't been a published novelist for a whole year yet! In that year I've had
four novels published traditionally, and have gone the indie route with
everything I've written in genres other than horror. I consider myself a horror
writer, and won't ever self-publish my horror. Traditional all the way for the
horror. Don't think I'm denigrating Indie authors – I'm one of those, too! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, I've published a total of 12 novels and 2 collections in
under a year. I think the future holds promotion, learning the ropes of
publishing and the industry, reading more, and hopefully the completion of
three non-horror projects. I also have a novella, The Walls of Madness, slated
for a Halloween release, and a novel, A Home by the Sea, due in 2013. Oh, I'll
also be signing at Cardiff Comic Con in March next year, when A Home by the Sea
is launched. That will be my first book signing, a little over a year after
publishing my first novel. I'm really stoked about that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Erm...there's more, but I think that will do for now, don't
you? </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">What else would you
like everyone to know?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Haha - I'd like people to know that what goes around comes
around, a little love goes a long way, and to take care of your teeth :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On a more personal note, I'd like people to know one more
thing: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you're an aspiring writer reading this, I may sound like
I'm a big shot. I'm not. I just really work hard. This is what I want to do,
what I love to do...a little advice, then, unsolicited, but valid nonetheless: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Writing is damn hard. Get on with it! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ha. Time to take my own advice and scoot. Lastly, big old
thank you, Peter, for this interview. I think this is the most I've “spoken”
about my writing in for<em>ever</em> and I have to say, I've really enjoyed having a
good ramble. Thank you for the opportunity. It's been a real pleasure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cheers!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Amazon.com links to buy THE LOVE OF THE DEAD:</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Paperback: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Love-Dead-Craig-Saunders/dp/0615668100/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342501557&sr=1-1&keywords=the+love+of+the+dead+craig+saunders">http://www.amazon.com/Love-Dead-Craig-Saunders/dp/0615668100/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342501557&sr=1-1&keywords=the+love+of+the+dead+craig+saunders</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kindle eBook: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Love-Dead-ebook/dp/B008IWWX48/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1342501557&sr=1-1">http://www.amazon.com/The-Love-Dead-ebook/dp/B008IWWX48/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1342501557&sr=1-1</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">And be sure to tune in Thursday, right here, for an interview with Jeremy C. Shipp.</span></strong> </span></div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-10058303490383282802012-07-14T11:26:00.000-07:002012-12-23T22:58:10.912-08:00INTERVIEW WITH TRENT ZELAZNY<strong>What I love most about Trent
Zelazny’s work is that it drips with honesty. He’s also a master craftsman who
knows how to get under one’s skin and make them think. I’d call him the small
press Poet Laureate if I wasn’t afraid that would minimize him in some way. So
you can imagine how thrilled I am to welcome him as my guest today. His latest
novella, BUTTERFLY POTION, has just been released in print and eBook by the
fine folks at Nightscape Press. Everyone should snag a copy, but
first…heeeeeere’s Trent!</strong><br />
<br />
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<strong>I still can’t get
FRACTAL DESPONDENCY out of my head, Trent. The week following my first reading
of that novella, I kept imagining the story as a film shot in black and white
and blue. I was actually scoring the thing in my mind, casting it, and, above
all else, loving it. So I was shocked to hear that it isn’t even close to your
favorite! What is your favorite of your stories? Why? </strong></div>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">It’s not that I dislike it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s really the piece of writing that got me
noticed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But to me it’s more of an
important piece in regards to my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Much of the story is autobiographical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not all, of course, but a lot of the things in Fractal Despondency
really happened to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A small one, for
example: waking up with my left ear filled with dried blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still have a scar at my ear that will never
go away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So some moments are directly
from my life, some are almost direct but shrouded in make believe, and, of
course, some parts I just completely made up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s special to me in that it was the first thing I wrote where I said,
“Okay, enough bullshit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop pulling
punches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sit down and tell people the
way you really see things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The way you
see them through your own uniquely prescribed lenses.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like it, but I think it could’ve been
better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I’m wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It certainly could’ve been worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could’ve been, and in all likelihood
should’ve been dead, so anything I write now is special to me, because I’m
still alive to do it.</span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">As for a favorite, I’m a moody motherfucker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Depends on the day, I guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m very pleased with how Butterfly Potion
came out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Shadowboxer, in all
honesty, I have a very soft spot for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
started writing it literally the next day after finishing Fractal Despondency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe even the same day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That poor character’s life is even worse, I think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe that’s why it doesn’t sell. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<br />
<strong>You’ve mentioned that
you’ve taken some criticism for how honest your work is. Share with us your
views on honesty in prose. What have you gotten out of baring your soul on the
page?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong><br />
<br />
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I get lots of emails from people who say this thing or
that was good, but it made them very uncomfortable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I dated a girl briefly who broke it off after
she read my stuff (it wasn’t working out anyway).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think one of the drawbacks to the whole
honesty thing in fiction is people tend to place themselves in the character,
and when you’re being as honest as you can be, you’re likely gonna strike some
sort of chord on some level, and some people take it personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m kind of talking out of my ass here, but
now I’m not, though it’ll sound more like I am.</div>
<br />
Our society has basically simplified literature by
breaking it into two basic categories: “Escapism” and “Literary”, the former
being exactly that, an escape, and the latter being, uh, well, “good”, which, I
guess, to whomever broke down the complex versatility and millions of doorways
that spans each and every type of fiction, means “important”, which is
apparently measured by someone (we don’t know who) who has made it a cultural
duty to find a way to still keep the classes separate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, there’s fiction for stupid
folks and fiction for smart folks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Few
people judge a book by its content; they really do judge them by their covers,
or by the name attached to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone
once told me how much she hated Stephen King, then admitted to never reading
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole thing is just lame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My work is not escapism, though I wouldn’t
call it important either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m just
saying the things I feel I’ve gotta say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If life had showered me with rainbows and unicorns, I’d be writing about
that, but it showered me with death and substance abuse, manipulation, suicide,
and so I write about that.<br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">For me, if I’m not telling the truth, truth the way
I see it on a given day, then there’s no point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Don’t get me wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read all
kinds of things, and I’ve written things with the sole purpose of having a good
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not a super serious
person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve got a big time goofy side,
and I’m a total geek, in my own ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I also have a lot of anger and regret and shame and guilt, and these
are the things I usually put words to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If I’m happy I strum the three chords I know on a guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a human therapist, a great therapist,
and then I have my keyboard therapist, or pen-and-paper therapist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The writer in me is my other therapist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<strong>Tell us about an author
who you don’t think people read nearly enough. What’s their best work? Why
should people start reading them right now?</strong><br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">People who know me, or who have followed me for a
while, know that my favorite writer is David Goodis, pulp master of the 40s and
50s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Joe Lansdale, contemporary
master.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve gushed enough about both of
them, so I’ll talk about somebody else for a change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A somebody else named Roger Zelazny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With only a couple of exceptions, I didn’t
read his work while he was alive, and that saddens me because I can’t call him
up and say, “Dude!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, Dad!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just read Creatures of Light and
Darkness!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holy shit, man!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You just rocked my face off!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t talk about my father a lot, and it’s
nothing against him, which, I’m sure, wherever he is, he knows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even writing in different genres, it’s tough
being a writer who is the son of a writer, not to mention being the son of a
great, great writer, whose work was so damn poetic, so thought-provoking, and
so damn entertaining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His work was my
first real experience with philosophy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first thing to really strike a chord inside me was “For a Breath I
Tarry”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A small and simple little scene,
which, through the magic of cut and paste, I can recite verbatim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>They came to
rest in the place once known as California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The time was near sunset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
distance, the surf struck steadily upon the rocky shoreline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frost released Mordel and considered his
surroundings.<br />
"Those
large plants...?"<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> "</span>Redwood
trees."<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span> "And the green
ones are...?"<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span> "Grass."<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> "</span>Yes, it is as I
thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why have we come here?"<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> "</span>Because it is a
place which once delighted Man."<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span> "In what
ways?"<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> "</span>It is scenic,
beautiful..."<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span> "Oh."<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">That’s the first bit I distinctly remember reading where
my heart pounded in my chest and I fell in love with my father’s words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some personal favorites would be A Night in
the Lonesome October, Lord of Light, My Name is Legion, Creatures of Light and
Darkness, Damnation Alley, and of course the Amber Series.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1f-X0YDinSMAIWAgOuOlErJN8LwFLJMRPGPCMoBvzCN_mb6mmsgTi3afhZ04ENRL390vWcJVe91-M5hHyNjR_vFVTa4J-hfNpADUGEK5cEeB1KjgkEnrn3XvMRtv-Nxkoh9A5WVnVsE/s1600/me+lord.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1f-X0YDinSMAIWAgOuOlErJN8LwFLJMRPGPCMoBvzCN_mb6mmsgTi3afhZ04ENRL390vWcJVe91-M5hHyNjR_vFVTa4J-hfNpADUGEK5cEeB1KjgkEnrn3XvMRtv-Nxkoh9A5WVnVsE/s320/me+lord.jpg" width="212" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7AsNa5TetpAknZIvwhzVi66MWsAxNc0kcurkHogsOxzow6epN3Fl6yK82FpvZaqNQK37katRGwz9i7CQcFQ8w8nLdZ7CDTfMKe9oTmKB8whu8u4WpJ0croqBKNjz84PcTRuYUcoQvlc/s1600/220px-Rogerzelazny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7AsNa5TetpAknZIvwhzVi66MWsAxNc0kcurkHogsOxzow6epN3Fl6yK82FpvZaqNQK37katRGwz9i7CQcFQ8w8nLdZ7CDTfMKe9oTmKB8whu8u4WpJ0croqBKNjz84PcTRuYUcoQvlc/s320/220px-Rogerzelazny.jpg" width="213" /></a><br />
<br />
<strong>BUTTERFLY POTION is a
very strong story. How does it differ from your previous outings?</strong><br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Thank you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’d put it in a similar vein as Fractal Despondency and Shadowboxer, but
having worked through so much stuff since writing those two, both mentally and
emotionally, I think it has a slightly clearer vision and, for want of a better
way to put it, a more fatherly outlook, as though Fractal Despondency and
Shadowboxer are hurt and crying children, and Butterfly Potion is telling them,
“Yes, it hurts and I bet it hurts bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact I know it hurts bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Real
fucking bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But look, you’ve survived
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve come out the other side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now let’s get a move on, let’s Keep on
truckin’.” – I was born in the 70s, so I can say “Keep on truckin’.”</span></div>
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<strong>Nightscape Press,
BUTTERFLY POTION’s publisher, looks to be doing some interesting things. How
was the experience of working with them?</strong><br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">They’re great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Really good folks who really care about what they’re doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as working with a publisher, my
experience with Nightscape was the most fun and rewarding I’ve had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looks like they have a good lineup
coming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m pleased and proud to be in
with such good company.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">What
lights you up?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Pretty girls, music, laughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A damn good movie or a damn good book or a
damn good basketball game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
philosophical discussion that doesn’t turn into a pointless argument.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Long walks on the beach… wait, forget that
one, that’s for my personals ad.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">What
shuts you down?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Negative people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t mean people having a negative day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all have those.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean people who are just negative, day in
and day out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People who never have
nothing nice to say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People who are
always right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People who would rather
say something shitty than say nothing at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think the Earth will implode by the weight of hatred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you wanna be negative, to quote my
father’s novella …And Call Me Conrad, “Love is a negative form of hatred,” so
that might be a more positive way to still be negative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Food poisoning can do it, too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">What
can you tell us about your forthcoming anthology?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">It’s
called Mirages: Tales From Authors of the Macabre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something illusory, without substance or
reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sticky threads that
communicate the meaningless in a thousand different ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was thrilled to get such a stellar lineup
of writers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a story in it called
“Angela & the Angel”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think you’d
really like that one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s written by
Scott Bradley and a guy you might know, Pete, goes by the name </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";">Peter Giglio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it’s a great collection and I think
folks will really like it a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So many
great authors, so many great stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Should be out in late August.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<strong>You’re a huge NBA fan.
How far back does this passion go? What is it about basketball that captures
your fascination?</strong><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">As to not have much crossover with another interview
I did, I’ll keep it brief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved
basketball as a kid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I was little
my favorite player was my big brother, then Larry Bird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In high school I set the interest aside so I
could do the whole disassociated artist thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then a few years ago it came back and saved my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been debating writing a non-fiction
piece on exactly how it did that.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">How did
childhood shape your love of reading and writing? <o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">We come back to the word “Escapism”, though not as
defined when I used it before, I don’t think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The escape part, yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretty much
everyone will admit it now, so I’ll say it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My family was fucked up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whatever, really, it happens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most families, in one way or another, are fucked up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were things in my childhood I hid from,
some things I had to hide from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Books
and movies were the safe places for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I could escape the shit and the fear and live in another world for a
while. Comedy/humor and horror were the big ones for me as a kid, both in books
and movies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And drama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked stories that could make me cry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only in hindsight do I think that was because
I needed to cry.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">What
else would you like people to know about you?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">I love my friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I haven’t always been the best friend to some, but I would die for them,
if I had to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Friends, please don’t pull
a Max von Sydow/Ming the Merciless thing on me for saying that.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Also, people often say I’m easy to read, and yet
they’re constantly confused by me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
could go off on a long tangent but won’t.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">I’m also willing to admit that I still really love
the band Jesus Jones.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br />
Amazon.com links to buy BUTTERFLY POTION:<br />
<br />
Paperback: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Potion-Trent-Zelazny/dp/1938644018/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342289186&sr=1-1&keywords=trent+zelazny+butterfly+potion">http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Potion-Trent-Zelazny/dp/1938644018/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342289186&sr=1-1&keywords=trent+zelazny+butterfly+potion</a><br />
<br />
eBook: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Potion-ebook/dp/B008GG1WU2/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1342289186&sr=1-1">http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Potion-ebook/dp/B008GG1WU2/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1342289186&sr=1-1</a><br />
<br />
And here's the BUTTERFLY POTION book trailer:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eH-obpGulXY" width="420"></iframe><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-58311595223531751612012-07-11T09:22:00.000-07:002012-07-14T11:51:13.355-07:00INTERVIEW WITH ERIC SHAPIRO<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eric Shapiro has been an ally since I started writing dark fiction, providing great
feedback and encouraging me when I needed it most. I’d read Eric’s brilliant
novella “It’s Only Temporary” prior to meeting him, so I’d already found
respect for his unique voice. The moment he showed genuine interest in my work
was the moment I knew I was doing something right. Let’s just say, my career
would look a lot different without him.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today,
it is my pleasure to interview Eric Shapiro – filmmaker, author, businessman,
family man. My mentor. Perhaps my peer. Eric enjoys breaking rules, so let’s
break some.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve read a number of your scripts, and I’m a
huge fan of “Rule of Three.” You have so much going on right now, in fact, that
I have a hard time keeping track of you. Tell us everything you can about the
film projects you’re working on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>You
know, creative people are always announcing this project or that on Facebook
and Twitter and elsewhere, and lately I’ve started to worry that I’m confusing
people with my workload. As of this day, it breaks down into six film projects,
three of which I don’t have full control over. I’m working on all of these with
my wife and co-producer, Rhoda Jordan. It’s a good thing we just had a kid,
because if we went out as much as we used to, we wouldn’t be able to keep up:<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>There’s
THE LAST POET, which we just co-wrote with an ace screenwriter named Dan
McKinnon. It’s a drama that’ll have people weeping, about a frustrated author
who starts writing poetry when he finds out he has cancer. Dan came up with a
really moving story line, and flattered Rhoda and I by hiring us as co-writers
while he was drafting it. It’s owned by Dan’s company, Aloris Entertainment,
and being co-produced by him and John Santilli.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Two
other screenplays Rhoda and I wrote – THE DEVOTED and GIRL ZERO – are under
option by two different producers, which means they’re not in production but
that outside producers have attained the rights to get them financed (in this
case producers whom we’re honored to work with). THE DEVOTED’s a suspense
thriller about the last day in the life of a suicide cult; last year I had the
opportunity to adapt it into a novel, which is out now from John Skipp’s
Ravenous Shadows line. GIRL ZERO is about an apocalyptic world where females are
being threatened. DEVOTED is under option by Richmond Riedel (writer-director
of TARGET PRACTICE) and GZ was optioned by Kimberley Kates (producer of too
many good films to name, and the champion and distributor of RULE OF THREE and
TARGET PRACTICE). We met Richmond through Kimberley, who’s opened doors for us.
All three of the above features are in script form; POET is in pre-production
though hasn’t been cast as of now.</strong></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmqKVFUZ7escj7dwabf95Qs2HkZm6ooCqmdE3rRAswJi3bXcjSfaa8dsEi3c8Jr0s5TWRthZ0aZAxiJ2-wxjzmja5ZLjrgGGGP6pPcmMEOGQj7kTV2-CttFHXaviAtRRSVw3ovmWH6-4/s1600/Ericimage+-+POSTER_RULE+of+THREE_Ben_V02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmqKVFUZ7escj7dwabf95Qs2HkZm6ooCqmdE3rRAswJi3bXcjSfaa8dsEi3c8Jr0s5TWRthZ0aZAxiJ2-wxjzmja5ZLjrgGGGP6pPcmMEOGQj7kTV2-CttFHXaviAtRRSVw3ovmWH6-4/s320/Ericimage+-+POSTER_RULE+of+THREE_Ben_V02.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>The
other three are more low-budget, and completely under our ownership and
control. There’s MAIL ORDER, which is a 16-minute adaptation of a Jack Ketchum
story about a snuff film addict; it’s finished and will be in release later
this year. Next is WHO YOU KNOW, which is a found footage horror film
(feature-length) about a struggling filmmaker who loses his mind; it’s financed
and aiming to shoot within six months. And also LIVING THINGS, which is a
raging passion for me right now: It’s an ultra-ultra-low-budget flick (also
feature-length) about a traditional older guy arguing over dinner with his
vegan daughter-in-law. It’s just dinner, but it turns into World War III. Like
MY DINNER WITH ANDRE on coke. We’ll be called crazy, but we may shoot that one
within six months, too. When it rains, it pours. Note, again, that MAIL ORDER’s
the only one of these that’s finished! We have some intense days ahead.</strong></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrlJaLnBrHwfXtAuhCetZSK-aWpMJX9HX_hx1qvkfBPOZUxWEBfJXX47uPfTehcD1EoVGpqAeWyHYwfaI0fF4bumU-UC_y_AErXAN-VEwcc3hA1B_3XcHk3lRrxya-7PmmF6QaWmpKDVc/s1600/Ericimage+-+mailorder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrlJaLnBrHwfXtAuhCetZSK-aWpMJX9HX_hx1qvkfBPOZUxWEBfJXX47uPfTehcD1EoVGpqAeWyHYwfaI0fF4bumU-UC_y_AErXAN-VEwcc3hA1B_3XcHk3lRrxya-7PmmF6QaWmpKDVc/s320/Ericimage+-+mailorder.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
“Living Things” is my favorite of your unproduced screenplays. I can personally
say that the script changed my life. It’s just that good. What were you hoping
to achieve with that piece of work?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Thank
you! We’ve been using the fact that it changed your life as a selling point for
investors! LIVING THINGS is a debate; it pits a meat-eater against a vegan.
I’ve been vegan since 2002, but both characters have me in them. The script
examines the whole debate – not in a scientific way; more in an ethical and
emotional way. It’ll drive some people nuts. My objective is just to get people
to think and talk about the issue. That’s all. I suspect that that kind of
thinking and talking tends to lead to increased sensitivity toward animals,
though reality will let me know if I’m right.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
Your most recent novel, “The Devoted,” is turning heads. Where did you find the
inspiration for the book? And how does the book differ from the screen
adaptation you’ve written?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>The
novel comes from a couple of places. On a deep subconscious level, it stems
from having struggled with obsessive-compulsive thoughts when I was in my late
teens, early 20s. I always got stuck on thoughts of suicide. I wasn’t suicidal,
mind you, but I had an anxiety disorder that got me stuck on the concept. It
was terrifying. So a book about a suicide cult, where the leader’s forcing
people to off themselves, dramatizes what I went through. The book’s also
inspired by some business situations I’ve been in where people have tried to
coerce me into doing unethical or illegal things. I ultimately spoke up and got
out, but it wasn’t easy; there was enormous pressure to conform and act like
everything was normal.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>The
book and screenplay are very close, though the book develops the characters
much more, and has many strands and sections that enlarge the cult’s world.
Whereas the script is enclosed in one location, the book zigzags around to
different places, points in time, and points of view. It’s more layered and
complex, even though the central thrust is the same as the script’s.</strong> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
I recently had the joy of ushering your first book, “Short of a Picnic,” back
into print through Evil Jester Press. You wrote that book in 2002. How has your
fiction changed in the last 10 years? How has your life changed?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Prior
to the re-release, I hadn’t read it in like nine years. I sat down and read the
whole thing when you and I were double-checking the formatting. There was a
very tangible Raymond Carver influence that I’ve since shed, not out of any
judgment on Carver, but just ‘cause I gravitated toward other states of mind.
Also, there was a lot of really bald emotion. I was swinging hard, which I
still tend to do. Though my writing probably has a less naïve and gentle
quality now than it did then; it’s more aggressive and gonzo. In contrast, my
life has changed to make me a happier, more clear-minded person. I still have
extreme thoughts and am questing and questioning, but I’m far less tortured and
brooding than I used to be. Knock on wood, I’m neither of those things anymore.</strong>
</span></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
Your novella “Days of Allison” is one of my favorite sci-fi stories from the
last 10 years, yet, oddly, it seems to be one of your most overlooked works.
Where did you find that story? Where do you view it in your oeuvre?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>That
was a case where the title and a single image came to me before anything else.
I was walking across a Ralph’s parking lot in Hollywood when I suddenly
thought, “Days of Allison.” And I pictured a gorgeous redhead girl dancing and
letting her hair wave around. It was random. My buddy, Seth Hirschman, knew I’d
been reading sci-fi, and turned me on to Asimov. Asimov is a writer of unique
patience, centeredness, and delicacy – all qualities I lack. So I decided to
write a punk rock robot story, about a suicidal robot. It’s my wife’s favorite
of my prose stories. I think it gets overlooked because the narrator’s not me.
The attitude in the IT’S ONLY TEMPORARY and THE DEVOTED narrators is closer to
my own, even though the guy in THE DEVOTED is out in orbit. DAYS OF ALLISON’s
narrator is total character acting on my part; he’s an inane rambler, and I
wrote it with a British accent in my head.</strong> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
What fiction projects do you have on the horizon?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>The
sole one due for release is a novella called LOVE AND ZOMBIES, which also goes
in the IT’S ONLY TEMPORARY/DEVOTED me-as-narrator category. It’s a perverted
Vegas zombie love story with eight or ten twists, under contract with Print Is
Dead, the new zombie line from Creeping Hemlock press. I hadn’t done a
full-length zombie tale, even though they’re all the rage in the horror genre,
because I wanted to do it my own way, which Julia and Ronnie [Sevin, owners of
Creeping Hemlock] totally encouraged. I’m waiting on a release date.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
Is it true that you and Darwin Green plan to write a screenplay together soon?
If so, what’s it about?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>It’s
true indeed! We’re pooling our minds and resources, hopefully sooner than
later. Goal number one is to adapt a masterpiece of a novella called SUNFALL
MANOR, which I believe was penned by the entity Peter Giglio, who lives inside
my interviewer’s skin. I’ll speak for you and say that you wrote the brilliant
book with the cinema in mind, and we’re gonna wave it around before the cinematic
gods.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
Tell us a little about your reading habits. Who are you reading now? 5 years
ago? 10 years ago? How do your reading habits impact your writing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>I
have the collected works of Shakespeare on my top shelf; I like to pull it down
at random and read a stanza or two, just to remind myself that I don’t know
anything about writing. I do that with MOBY-DICK and Dow Mossman’s STONES OF
SUMMER, too. Right now I’m going back to Bradbury, since he just passed. Five
years ago, it was a vicious Norman Mailer streak; he’s also humbling, but his
reputation as a maniac distracted people from his talent. Ten years ago there
was more reading in general: Palahniuk, Ballard, Aldiss, Denis Johnson, William
T. Vollmann. The last novel I read that I thought was excellent was Eric
Bogosian’s PERFORATED HEART. He’s a serious novelist, and completely
overlooked. I try to only read the news when I’m writing something, because if
I touch another author’s work I might start having doubts about what I’m doing,
and begin daydreaming in the wrong direction.</strong> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
You’re a relatively new father. Give us a glimpse into the life of Eric
Shapiro, family man. How has parenthood changed your outlook?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>I
can’t add anything new to the general sentiment that you’ll hear from most
parents: It’s the greatest joy in the world. No formations of language from 26
little letters can do it justice. My heart explodes when I see him, which is
like a million times a day. For me, it’s been great to have something so
primitive and mystifying going on in my life, because I tend to get ruled by
ambition, and I’d rather be ruled by awe over what’s right in front of me.
Being a dad, I see very clearly that I don’t care about fame, fortune, or being
remembered. I’m in a phase where I’m drilled down completely into the substance
of what I’m working on, and I hope to stay there.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGl4JwAjk5TaKv-AwyB8LvCDrzrur_JDyx5DoFzXebYF11C_YI_yGk5FIwBaoAJJM16pUHml83HJxxhLAgFWS6cZHEfP4cIA-b2o5HyVdAp7s-oTTl8aMf83tmjlasrZFrdhuo-GvyE9M/s1600/Ericimage+-+eandfam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGl4JwAjk5TaKv-AwyB8LvCDrzrur_JDyx5DoFzXebYF11C_YI_yGk5FIwBaoAJJM16pUHml83HJxxhLAgFWS6cZHEfP4cIA-b2o5HyVdAp7s-oTTl8aMf83tmjlasrZFrdhuo-GvyE9M/s320/Ericimage+-+eandfam.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
Besides family and career, what’s your favorite thing to do?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>I
really love walking. And meditating. And walking and meditating. I should use
this context to say that meditation gets the reputation of being this strange,
airy-fairy, New Age thing for people wearing white togas, but there’s no
shortage of profanity, sarcasm, flippancy, and extremism in my personality, and
I still love it.</strong> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
Name an author people don’t read nearly enough. What’s their best book? Why
should people read it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>I’ll
take this chance to get into Bogosian more. He’s an anomaly in our culture:
performance artist, actor, playwright, novelist. He never completely dominated
any field, though he came close as a playwright. His novels are lethal. MALL
and PERFORARTED HEART are addictive. Haven’t read WASTED BEAUTY yet; I’m saving
it up ‘cause when I’m done, I’ll have read all his books. PERFORATED HEART
should be read because it will remind people of how powerful and absorbing a
truly good novel can be.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
What lights you up?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Sudden
trust among people who just met.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
What shuts you down?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>People
getting tyrannized by their own opinions. It’s just your opinion!<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
What advice would you like to give aspiring authors and filmmakers?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>You
have to wake the muse; she doesn’t come and wake you. Every single day, it’s on
you to wake her.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
If you couldn’t be human, but you could be anything else (that exists), what
would you be? Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>We
can’t prove that aliens exist, so I’ll skip that one (laughs). I’d love to be a
dog. Pure affability and good-heartedness. It goes back to my answer about
sudden trust. We need more of that, I think. I’ve come to love cats as I’ve
gotten older, but I’m not one.</strong> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
Your wife, Rhoda Jordan, is a brilliant actress and screenwriter. And the two
of you collaborate frequently. Tell us about that process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>What’s
great about it is that we have so much openness: We can yell, scream, fight,
argue, debate. We can debate about where a comma belongs. And we both are good
about admitting when the other has made the better point and won. She
complements what I do by bringing patience, marinated elements, and incredible
narrative depth. I complement what she does by bringing urgency, tautness, and
mania.</strong> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peter:
What else would you like everyone to know? </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">More
and more, I’m loving artists who earn respect for their truth and insight
rather than their technique. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, of course;
truth and technique can go hand in hand. But an artist with something to share
is worth a million who just want attention.</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-37213146581668581412012-07-10T16:22:00.000-07:002012-07-10T16:35:53.167-07:00COVER AND TOC REVEALED FOR MIRAGES, EDITED BY TRENT ZELAZNY<br />
<br />
I'm a huge fan of Trent Zelazny's fiction, and I'm thrilled to be part of his forthcoming anthology, which will be released in August. Check it out.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwmklWziFeCITI8GLYPmS4eNCtwhHCRWPT7ae9ifPQajYQca4mOj6cT26TsUe7WcKsdLQPQ0DWI5EskRhjWv8XMnSBDdDL1jgBBbc_7fvZw79IBws1ipMzTJIW12amOSE16szuXNsogw/s1600/mirages.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwmklWziFeCITI8GLYPmS4eNCtwhHCRWPT7ae9ifPQajYQca4mOj6cT26TsUe7WcKsdLQPQ0DWI5EskRhjWv8XMnSBDdDL1jgBBbc_7fvZw79IBws1ipMzTJIW12amOSE16szuXNsogw/s320/mirages.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
Table of Contents:<br />
<br />
The Conclusion - Tom Piccirilli<br />
American Chinnamasta - Jeffrey Thomas<br />
Dumb Luck - Barb Lien-Cooper & Park Cooper<br />
Poor Old Soul - Lee Allen How<span class="text_exposed_show">ard<br /> No Name, No Voice - Tina Swain<br /> Repreive Eve No. 33 - Joseph S. Pulver, Jr.<br /> Switchbitch - Gerald Hausman<br /> Bastard - Billie Sue Mosiman<br /> Angela & The Angel - Scott Bradley & Peter Giglio<br /> Offline - Kealan Patrick Burke<br /> Fairy Tale - Lori R. Lopez<br /> The Sum of Spectacle - Jason S. Ridler<br /> The Descent Upstairs - Leigh M. Lane<br /> The Pit - Joe R. Lansdale<br /> Jagged Night - Curt Jarrell</span><br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8865780112332431966.post-81875433722240770902012-07-10T13:50:00.000-07:002012-07-10T13:50:39.538-07:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">When I mentioned that I was going to start a blog, one of
my friends chimed in with, “Welcome to 2004!” He’s right – I’m way behind the
times. I don’t own an iPod or a smart-phone or any number of gadgets that
others consider indispensible. And, frankly, I don’t care. My cell phone
takes and makes calls. My camera takes pictures. The stereo in my car and home,
as well as my computer, play music. I still like CDs instead of Mp3 files –
I like to look at the liner notes and the packaging. I have an iPad, which was
a gift, and I read eBooks, but I still buy real books ten times more frequently
than eBooks. If I love an eBook, I immediately buy the real book so it can sit
on my shelves. Hell, I still love vinyl records! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">But why not blog? I’m a writer, after all, and blogging
seems completely natural for a writer…right? For a long time my answer has been
no. I spend so much time writing fiction, editing fiction, and keeping up with
my connections on Facebook and Twitter, not to mention answering emails, that I
didn’t think my voice needed another outlet. I wasn’t even sure I could find
the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">But here I am. Here I am…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Why am I here?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Let me try to answer. I’ve made a lot of great
connections over the last year, and several of those people, who have been very
kind to me with blog features and guest posts, have asked me if they could be
on my blog. And I’ve always had to say no, not because I didn’t want to reciprocate
their kindness, but because I didn’t have a flippin’ blog. So here’s my long
overdue answer…my blog.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Will I fall in love with this blog? Maybe. Will I sell more books? I hope so.
Will I make more connections? Again, I hope so. Despite all those motivations, I want my blog to be something…worth reading. If I amplify the voices I love, I’ll keep blogging. If I get bored
or feel that my blog is no longer doing something interesting, I’ll nuke this
experiment in a heartbeat. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">So here are the ground rules. This is not a review site,
though I will occasionally post a review of something I love. This is not a
blind-feature site. I will feature authors and filmmakers and anyone else I
deem amazing, but I’m not going to feature authors and books I haven’t read.
You can offer me copies of your books for review, and I’ll take ‘em – I love
free books! – but I can’t promise that I’ll read them quickly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Now it’s time to whet your appetites. My first official
feature will be an interview with author and filmmaker Eric Shapiro. Eric is a
brilliant artist and a wonderful friend, and my interview with him will run
next week. We’ll break some news here, and we’ll have tons of fun. Hope you tune in,
dear friends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Cheers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Peter Giglio</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01062717230645255079noreply@blogger.com7