Would you like to briefly introduce yourself: what inspired your
writing and when you began, and – if possible – of all of your published work
could you tell me which your favourites are (and why)?
I suppose in a roundabout way my writing was inspired by
Earl Hamner, the creator of THE WALTONS –
I was heavily influenced at age seven or so by the fact that John-Boy wanted to
be a writer. And by the fact that my grandmother assured me that my writing was
as good as anything appearing on the kids’ page of the local paper … the
inference being that there was therefore money to be made (which there was).
I attempted to enter the world of writing full time in my
early twenties, and this is when I did the work of which I am most proud – on DC
Thomson’s STARBLAZER comic. One of my
STARBLAZER stories was illustrated by
the great maestro of Argentine comic artists Quiqué Alcatena – a true genius. I
had the pleasure of working with him on two further occasions; firstly on the
‘comics novella’ SHERWOOD JUNGLE which
starred that well known King Features character The Phantom, and also on a
one-off comic strip for Fortean Times called THE CRYPTID KID. This was obviously written in one of my more
egomaniacal moments since the strip is hosted Rod Serling-style by a younger
version of myself.
Do you have a favourite genre, or sub-genre? What exactly is it that
attracts you?
My favourite genre to read is fantasy: Moorcock or Robert E
Howard, with Lovecraftian horror running a close second. The attraction with
fantasy is, of course, entering a fully realised world.
Fantasy is also what I write most easily. However, I have
found that you don’t pick the genre, the genre picks you. I seem to have
written a lot of detective fiction in the last few years, including two
Sherlock Holmes stories.
Some say Pulp is a genre, others a style; which side do you come down
on?
It’s some sort of interlocking of both, I guess. The pulps of
the 1930s covered many different genres: sport, detective, western, fantasy and
SF. Pulp isn’t a comment or expectation on the quality of the writing – don’t
forget that Tennessee Williams wrote for WEIRD
TALES. When I think of Pulp now,
what first springs to mind are proto-super heroes like Doc Savage and The
Shadow. It’s possible to see the influence of those two characters on, say, the
Fantastic Four and the Jedi from Star Wars. So Pulp has also been a platform on
which other sub-genres (super-heroes and space opera) have been built. I
suppose what Pulp was in reality was a colossal market for writers, and what we
have now is just some vestigial temporal echo of that.
What was the inspiration for “The Sons of Crystal City”?
Well, it’s kind of an unabashed Green Hornet pastiche – I love
the old GREEN HORNET TV show and in
particular the performances of Van Williams and Bruce Lee. Sadly, there wasn’t
a big budget Green Hornet movie in the 60s like there was for Batman (the
fashion was for high camp and the Hornet was always played reasonably straight)
but if there had been perhaps it might’ve resembled this story. The serious
aspect to this tale is around the internment of Japanese Americans during the
Second World War. While my personal view is that internment was an utter
disgrace, it is, arguably, comprehensible as a reflex action in the context of
the attack on Pearl Harbor. Less understandable are the modern day apologists
who say what fine places the relocation camps were, whilst taking umbrage at
any suggestion that they were concentration camps.
Other inspirations include … the anti-Japanese sentiment in
one of the 1940s Batman movie serials, DR
STRANGELOVE (of course!) and The Spider – I think somebody once said that
in the world of the Spider, every day is like 9/11 – and that was certainly
part of what I was aiming for; you are ‘behind the scenes’ on what just might
turn out to be doomsday.
Do you have a particular favourite author, or authors? What is it about
their work which appeals to you?
My favourite authors are Roger Zelazny and Philip José
Farmer, in the sense that they are my writing heroes. I think the Amber series stands out as an
extraordinary work of imagination and originality. JACK OF SHADOWS is also excellent. Farmer’s fictional ‘biographies’
(DOC SAVAGE: HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE and
TARZAN ALIVE) works are another high
watermark for me. These are the books which inspired the whole Wold Newton
Family concept and sub-culture. Farmer was an incredibly daring writer and books
like A FEAST UNKNOWN and BLOWN still have the power to shock. Of
his more straightforward novels, TIME’S
LAST GIFT and THE GREEN ODYSSEY are
two of my favourites.
Outside writing, what else occupies your time (assuming you have any
free time left)?
My time is spent raising two children who seem to be far
more intelligent and better adjusted than I ever was … I wouldn’t be surprised
if they took over the World, or ruled the Galaxy as brother and sister, or
something.
Is there any particular style of music – or musicians – which appeals
to you?
Imagine the musical tastes of Alan Partridge, only slightly
worse. I’ll make it easier for you: Geoff Love’s album STAR WARS AND OTHER DISCO GALACTIC THEMES is on my iPod. The videos
I’ve most frequently posted to my FB page are probably I LOST MY HEART TO A STARSHIP TROOPER and the theme to the LOGAN’S RUN TV show (surely one of the
most sublime pieces of music ever composed). Earlier in the week I was
listening to some Perry Como.
When I am writing, I tend to listen to random movie
soundtracks: Ron Grainer’s OMEGA MAN,
Jerry Goldsmith, FIRST BLOOD, CAPRICORN
ONE; John William’s DRACULA and JAWS 2 – these latter two are
particularly good because I don’t know the movies that well, so there is no
visual interference from them (i.e. I’m not reminded of what’s happening in the
movie as I listen). The problem is that I can’t write in total silence, nor
with anyone singing, nor with purely classical music.
What are you currently working on?
There are a few things I’ve worked on this year which I’ve
mentally filed under ‘too good to be true’ so I won’t inadvertently curse them
by mentioning them now… But, officially I can tell you that I’m writing a novel
for Jean-Marc Lofficier’s Black Coat Press called THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA IN PERSIA. Jean-Marc also produces an
excellent anthology series called TALES
OF THE SHADOWMEN. I’ve had stories in the last couple of volumes and I’m
just finishing off my submission for Volume 10 which again features the French
public domain inspiration for Jonathan Creek: Joseph Rouletabille.
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