I provided a questionnaire, that was suitably HEROIC TIMES insane and some amazing writers and artists picked up the gauntlet and made time in their VERY busy schedules to provide you, lucky reader, with must-read responses!

I’ve read some of the responses. WoW. They are pretty darn great! As well as being intriguing looks at each creator, they also introduce you to their loves and influences and recommendations. It’s just fantastic stuff from some of the most exciting creators of pulp and weird fiction.

Here’s the schedule for the first two weekends:
MAURICE BROADDUS 9 MAR

LR GILES 11 MAR

DERRICK FERGUSON 13 MAR

RON FORTIER 17 MAR
WRATH JAMES WHITE 19 MAR
TBA 21 MAR

The other two weekends I’ll post as soon as they are ready.

Also the nest WEDNESDAY WORDS is 14 MAR.

So lots of great content coming up.

Mark the dates down, and come back and have some fun! Thanks!
]]> http://worldsf.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/maurice-broaddus-interviews-ekaterina-sedia/ Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:12:13 +0000 lavietidhar http://worldsf.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/maurice-broaddus-interviews-ekaterina-sedia/ Maurice Broaddus interviews Apex Book of World SF 2 contributor Ekaterina Sedia (author of the fantastic The Secret History of Moscow and the recent The House of Discarded Dreams):

2.  Is African folklore an interest of yours?  What made you decide to explore this for a fantasy novel?  With themes of the lingering effects of colonialism at play in your book, what sorts of concerns did you have about cultural appropriation as you wrote it?

Yes, it is of great interest, along with other non-Western narratives. In all my books, I try to break away with the traditional linear three-part arc, so embracing a different tradition certainly gave me a good template of doing so. As for imperialism: I don’t think one can honestly write about the world today without talking about it. I mean, we grow coffee and cocoa where we grow it because of it – imperialism shaped the world, and going about as if it was just that brief phase that ended without any long-lasting effects is disingenuous, to say the least.

As for cultural appropriation, it’s a several-fold answer. It’s always a concern, sure. First, I was reluctant to use existing myths, so I used them very sparingly and in close consultation with Tait, the aforementioned friend. The myths that characters tell each other are all made up but within bounds of existing folkloric tradition (such as characteristics of animals) or literary ones (man-fish is a Zimbabwean urban myth of sorts, explored by Marechera, and one of Vimbai’s stories is a riff on Tutuola.)  Europeans tend to be very liberal while “collecting” folklore and I tried not to do it – that is, I went by definition of creative transformation rather than mere copying as described in African customary laws folklore copyright protection  (summary document here: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001277/127784e.pdf).

Then, Vimbai herself is a cultural outsider to her parents’ tradition – that is, she is second generation and is culturally an American, with not as much insight into her parents’ culture as she would like. I would not be comfortable writing about Zimbabwean folklore from the insider perspective, because I am not an insider. I was careful to speak about the culture rather than for it, which I believe is a crucial distinction between talking about other cultures and appropriating them.

Finally, I do realize that my insight is limited, and the book is really much more about the immigrant experience – something I do know about first-hand. And this is something I spoke a lot to my friend about. He was very supportive of the book, but he also said, “You do realize that some Zimbabweans will not like this book because it was written by a white woman.” And yes, of course I do realize that, and you know what? It’s a valid position. I think it’s an important thing, to accept that you won’t have a unanimous approval, and to not be hurt about it. Westerners writing about other cultures either seek validation or just default to “haters gonna hate so screw them, I’ll write what I want” positions. So for me, I think it’s important to do one’s best, but not expect that everyone will love you for it. I mean, I myself am wary when Westerners write about my culture, so who am I to expect a different treatment? – read the full interview!

After an apparent suicide attempt, successful suburbanite Lorelei Davina’s husband Stefan manages to get her to the hospital before she bleeds to death.  Their marriage has lost its love, but the two continue on as Lorelei tries to understand why she can’t remember cutting her arms open.

Mario is a wanna-be dancer, now living a life of inner-city prostitution under a brutal pimp named The Pall.  Mario and Lorelei meet and learn their lives are criss-crossed in a way neither could have ever imagined.

Broaddus’ brief novella has a genuine sense of dread and a couple of protagonists you’ll truly care for, although it’s never quite explained just WHY they’re linked in such an unusual way.  This question aside, BLEED FOR ME is a quick read with flashes of extreme violence mingled between some deep thoughts.

- Nick Cato

PURCHASE A COPY HERE

Something about the absurd juxtaposition of a black male model (admittedly, my own assumption) stomping down an alleyway brandishing a broadsword and donning a goddamn crown; just seems silly to me.

In many ways, the Chuck Taylor’s are kind of the icing on the cake in terms of the silly little details of this cover.

The really weird part about this cover, is the fact that, from a purely technical standpoint; it’s actually not all that bad.

The coloring and blending of the various elements is done well enough, largely banking off of the oh-so-infamous Michael Bay technique of “oranges and blues.”

The model’s pose is striking and suits the layout well enough.

Really, it’s the core premise of the African American, sword and revolver wielding “Street King” that ruins what, in many ways; could have been a surprisingly decent cover.

Let that be a lesson to all you potential authors:

DON’T WRITE STUPID SHIT.

Oh… there is also that whole ‘nationally distributed by Diamond’ aspect that appeals to writers almost as much as the sound of coins falling into a purse. If there is one thing that writers care about as much as money, it is fame.

I want to give the followers of my blog a special treat–insider tips on writing a story to give you the best shot of making the book. No, I can’t (won’t) wave my magical wand and order Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon to give you a spot. But I know Maurice and Jerry. The three of us became good friends during the production of the first volume of Dark Faith. I know things about them that they would never want the public knowing.

Too bad. The public will know, now.

1) Maurice loves anthropomorphic animals. Particularly the kind that has animals talking to people. It doesn’t matter the setting. Place your story in the back of a smoky casino where a kitten, a donkey, and seal are playing high stakes poker with Vegas hustlers. He’ll love it. Have your animal be one of those Amazonian worms that crawls into your privates while you swim. As long as the worm is talking it up then Maurice will be sold.

2) Jerry likes it feisty. Not your story. I mean in the author-editor “give and take” way. If he rejects your story, he enjoys the pseudo-intellectual follow up email where the writer wonders openly about the editor’s taste. If you sell your story after receiving a rejection from Jerry, by all means write up a snarky communication to let him know that you sold your story to your favorite 4-the-Luv market, and that this proves, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Jerry was wrong in his assessment. OH, and his favorite… cornering him at parties to offer passive-aggressive discontent at his choice to pass on his story.

3) Don’t confuse Jerry with Maurice, or Maurice with Jerry. One is tall, pale-white, and handsome. The other is short, dark-skinned, and handsome. I know, it can get confusing. Names are hard. Distinct physical attributes can be confusing.

4) Here is the most important tip I can give you. Jerry loves beer. He is, I might say, a connoisseur. If you’re in a situation where you can buy Jerry a fancy beer, then grab that bull by the horn. Careful, though. Choose the wrong beer, and you’ve just made the biggest writing mistake of your life. Maurice loves wine. Cheap Riesling wine. If you’re in a situation where you can buy Maurice a glass of wine, then get that cork popped and pour. Careful, though. Choose wine that is too high class and you’ll not work the genre again unless it is for doing slush for the above mentioned 4-the-Luv market.

If you write a knock out story, follow the guidelines, and take advantage of my four insider tips, then your chances of being in Dark Faith 2 will skyrocket dramatically!

Another great trip to Gen Con this year.  I would have posted more but wifi continues to be a purchased commodity at the Indy convention center.  $14.99/day for internet access.  The opposite was true of the hotel.  Free, but connections maxed out.  I am betting the $14.99 pay internet was not maxed out.  So what is the right price for free internet?

So on to the highlights:

Elizabeth Vaughan was a treat.  She sat on a number of the panels I attended and though she writes a genre that I have never been interested in (romance) I found her engaging and interesting.  I met her afterward and thanked her for the enthusiasm and encouragement.  Just a real fun, nice, and energetic person.  The comment that she made that stuck with me (paraphrased): while writing you need to hear the things your pre-readers like as encouragement, when done with the draft, you need to hear all the things they don’t like.

I also enjoyed Maurice Broaddus.  He was on the Steampunk panel somewhat by accident from the sounds of it.  As it turned out, I think he had some of the most interesting commentary on the evolution of the Steampunk genre.  The overall opinion was that of an evolution of the genre to something of a Steampunk v2.0 that is more focused on the gadgets and less on the “punk” portion that emphasizes counter-cultural resistance and class warfare.  In that regard, I think my work on The West Wind holds more true to the original Steampunk genre definitions despite being a western mashup.  Overall, expansion of steampunk into other areas (aliens, magic, etc.) being the major trend.  His best story – an offhanded tweet on the needing to correct the racial bias of traditional steampunk by proposing to write “pimp my airship” followed by being forced to write it after hearing back from five editors that they wanted to buy it.

Rigormortis: A Zombie Love Story.  A romantic comedy musical about zombies.  It works and was a lot of fun.  Follow the link and watch for yourself.  I snuck in about half way through and found, after the movie, that I was sitting next to the director and his mom.  I love indie movie fests.

Unicorn City was the hit of the movies for me.  About a slacker gamer that organizes a LARP to prove he has leadership skills in order to get a management position at a game company.  It was superb.  Writing, acting, directing, camera and effects were all perfect for this level of a movie.  Hit al the right buttons for me with some extremely hilarious parts usually involving the centaur.  Check it out if you can at a local movie fest if you can while they are touring.  Their FB page is saying early 2012 for DVD/Blueray.  I’m in.

Aside from the traditional sleep deprivation, sore feet and legs, and too much junk food, it was a great trip as usual.

King Maker

The thing is, I think this book is too early on in the story to really determine if it’s well-done or not. Obviously some of the pieces have come together the way they are supposed to, and the people who show up are about who I expect them to be. But will they remain the same as the story progresses? I’m going to need to read the next book to find out.

I did like the way things, like magic and traditional urban fantasy elements such as zombies, melded into the street lore just as if they all belonged together. The story jumps from guns and drugs on the street to fey and trolls because in this story they just all belong together. I liked that. There’s a ton of urban fantasy out there which goes to great lengths to explain how the fey or vampires or whoever are hiding in our midst, and I enjoy some of those stories a lot. But in this story they’re just there. “Oh, she’s fey” or “here come those trolls” or whatever, as if it’s all known and yet still hidden because it’s not a big thing. They just deal with it.

I think I will pick up the next story. It’s an intriguing setup and there’s such a huge potential for tragedy but maybe it will end happier than all the other times.

Where I got the book: bought it

The MT Supplement is a free non-fiction genre (horror, SF and fantasy) magazine, available to read or download from the website: www.morpheustales.com

It will be filled with reviews, interviews, columns and loads more! It’s currently at 24 pages, but this is likely to rise to around 30 pages, depending on how many more books I can read in the next month and how many late reviews we get!

The contents page looks  a little like this:

DEATH’S DISCIPLES By J. Robert King
HARBINGER OF THE STORM By Aliette de Bodard
WHAT THEY HEAR IN THE DARK By Gary McMahon
POINT By Thomas Blackthorne
AS I EMBRACE MY JAGGED EDGES By Lee Thompson
THE SAMARITAN By Fred Venturini
Interview with Mathew Freyer
ETHEREAL TALES #10
DOCTOR WHO: THE COMPLETE GUIDE By Mark Campbell
The New Publishing Model: Benefits and Drawbacks: Author Advances and Royalties By Cyrus Wraith Walker
KING’S JUSTICE: THE KNIGHTS OF BRETON COURT II By Maurice Broaddus
ROMAN HELL: A Novel By Mark Mellon
Life Serial By Trevor Wright
ENGINES OF DESIRE By Livia Llewellyn
MOLD!
SEA OF DUST
BLACK SWAN
SEASON OF THE WITCH
The Next Big Thing In Horror? By Eric S Brown
GREEN HORNET
Guidance from the Dark Scribe: Agent or No Agent? By Ty Schwamberger
VAMPIRES SUCK
INFERNAL DEVICES By K. W. Jeter
DARK VALENTINE (Issue 2)
ESTRONOMICON (Hallowe’en 2010)
BENT STEEPLE By G. Wells-Taylor
THE FORT PROVIDENCE WATCH By Henry P Gravelle
THE NAMELESS ONE By Kathryn Meyer Griffith
THE GREEN MAN By Lee Mather
SERIAL KILLERS INCORPORATED By Andy Remic

We also have a scream queen teaser interview lined up and Jim Lesniak’s excellent From The Catacombs column! The only things I can guarantee are that this isn’t the actual order and that there will be more coming!

Go check out the website for free copies of the previous issues, and wait with baited breath for the April issue! It’s all good and it’s all free! What more could you ask for?

www.morpheustales.com/reviews.htm

King’s Justice by Maurice Broaddus – This is an ARC I received for the sequel of Broaddus’ King Maker. I haven’t read the first book, but I was assured that it’s not necessary to get the gist of the story and I should be alright jumping right into this book. It’s a continuation in what is a kind of urban fantasy with an Arthurian sensibility. It sounds very promising, and I’ve read plenty of praise for Broaddus’ work already for his writing and his editing of the anthology Dark Faith, of which I’ve read a couple really good stories.


The Haunted E-Book and Dark Tomorrows (collection) by J.L. Bryan (e-books) – I won these electronic copies from Book’d Out as part of J.L. Bryan’s blog tour. Hey, I’m a sucker for a haunting story, and the idea of a haunted e-book ain’t bad as far as trying something new goes.


The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (novella) – I won a copy of this classic tale from Aaron Polson, author of Loathsome, Dark, & Deep, a book inspired by Conrad’s classic work. I admittedly have never read this book, but I look forward to doing so now. I vaguely recall the film adaptation, but it’s been years and years since I saw that, so when I get around to reading this it’ll feel like a brand new story.


Dead Spell by Belinda Frisch - I received a Kindle edition of this new release from a debut author. A lot of people still shy away from independent authors, but I have been more and more open to the idea. I’m wary on what to read still, but I think this one deserves a chance.


Face of Evil (Dead Man #1) by Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin (e-book) - Lee Goldberg has come out with a new series of short action/adventure novels, akin to the bygone era of such novels from the 60s and 70s. In the series debut, he collaborates with Psych author, William Rabkin. Each subsequent novel will feature a new co-author. I’ve never read the work of Goldberg or Rabkin before, but the premise of a series that blends horror with adventure and other genre elements intrigues me.


Monstrous Affections by David Nickle (e-book) - As a Valentine’s Day gift to readers, Chizine Publications gave away a couple of e-books for free. The one I managed to snag was this collection of stories from David Nickle, which garnered a fair amount of buzz last year. I’m really into shorter fiction this year, so this was a very cool treat, and one more reminder that I need to keep an eye on Chizine’s catalog of titles.

52 Stitches by Aaron Polson (anthology) – Flash fiction is a bit of a hard sell with some folks, but I kind of dig it. Some stories can really pack a punch if they’re handled right, and Aaron Polson has a collection of stories from various authors that are bound to impress. Actually, I’ve likely read quite a few of these already as it’s a compilation of the best stories from the 52 Stitches website.

Apexology: Horror edited by Jason Sizemore - I like horror, that’s no lie. So when I spied this anthology from Apex Books, featuring a slew of authors whose work I’ve either read and enjoyed or wanted to read, it was an easy decision. The cheap price point at the Kindle store didn’t hurt either.

Devil Music by E.C. Stacy & Thia Myles Vincent (e-book) - A pulpy mix of horror and heavy metal, this book was one of two from the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers I had my eye on. I would have used my Barnes & Noble gift card to make a purchase, but–actually, the less I talk about B&N, the better. In any case, I have the e-book now, thanks to E.C. Stacy and RMFW.

From the Library:
Books:
Alien Tango by Gini Koch
Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning
Dark Dreams of A Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
Death Cloud by Andrew Lane
Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning
Faefever by Karen Marie Moning
Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry
Lucky Stiff by Deborah Coonts
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
So Shelly by Ty Roth
Touched by An Alien by Gini Koch

Graphic Novels:
Avengers vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis

King’s Justice follows King James White (son of Luther) as he attempts to end the war between the drug gangs in Indianapolis by calling a parlay. Most of the main characters in the novel are named for players in the Arthurian legend and often play similar roles, so Merlin is Merle, King’s advisor. In the novel, Merle has being having visions and is spurring King White on to fulfil his destiny.

I think that it is possible to read this novel without having read the first in the sequence, but it does help to know what has gone before. Most of the characters are all fairly well established as this novel begins. The pacing of the novel is helped a little, also, given that Broaddus doesn’t have to spend so much time introducing all his characters and giving them back-stories. Mind you, I have to confess that I did still find the climactic parts of the novel slightly jarring, and this is given that the author, though not peppering his prose with violent descriptive language and gratuitous swearing, certainly doesn’t shy from the more unpleasant aspects of life in his city. To be clear, I have absolutely nothing against swearing* or violence (the former in real life and art and the second in art only) but I think that they should always be deployed in a natural manner.

Actually, I think that part of the reason for this could be because it is mostly at these climactic points in the novel where the fantastic elements of the novel really come into play. I realise that “urban fantasy” is quite possibly more of a marketing description than it is anything else. But, well, this is a novel set very much in a city with some fantastical elements, so I’ll accept that on at least some levels the description is fairly accurate. This might, however, be what makes things jar slightly for me. And this could be an entirely personal thing, so don’t let it put you off. The fantastical aspects of the novel are, most of the time, in the background. Indeed, at times – for example police investigations – they pass unnoticed.

The police, it seems, are investigating and attempting to deal with (unfortunately) very real criminal and social problems, for example. I don’t know if I’m reading the intentions of Maurice Broaddus correctly here, but this is an aspect of the fantastical side of the story which I appreciated. The part of Indianapolis that the two policemen, Lee and Cantrell, is almost alien to them. They seem mostly unaware that there are supernatural forces at work.This would fit with the idea that people outside of communities, such as depicted here, fail entirely to understand them.

This further fits with ideas about the problems faced by communities, such as those depicted in King’s Justice. They are essentially invisible to the wider community, except when the authorities decide that they need to deal with criminal activity. Of course there is, further, a racial element to this as the communities that are suffering tend to be populated mainly by black people. Despite the fact that the people that live there are those most in need of help, the ones that will suffer the most, there is the slight tendency to regard the people as entirely homogeneous and to ignore that there is a wider social problem which needs to be tackled.

This is further explored in the relationship between Lee (a white policeman) and Cantrell (his partner, black). Lee isn’t exactly a bad person, but he tends not to see shades of grey in his morality. He is a little chippy about how he fits into the police department. Cantrell is his new partner at the start of the novel and he isn’t too keen on working with him as he regards Lee as a bit of a peckerwood (which probably isn’t totally unfair). There is, however, a nice scene where they work together extremely well in an interrogation.

“‘Where were you on September 3rd?’ Cantrell asked.

‘Man how am I supposed to remember,’ Mulysa said. A high pitch slipped into his tone. ‘Where were you?’

‘The man raises a good point,’ Lee said. ‘September was a long time ago.’

‘Maybe if something happened that day.’ Cantrell looked up toward Lee.

‘Something that might jog his memory.’

‘Let’s try something easier. What happened earlier tonight? Noticed one of your bitches…’

‘Your bottom bitch?’ Lee mused.

‘… had a little blood. What are the odds that it will be a match to someone in the system?’

‘I don’t know, detective.’ Lee casually ambled toward Cantrell as if to whisper conspiratorially with him. Though for Mulysa’s benefit. ‘Fine upstanding citizen like Mr Cheldric here, surely only associates with like-minded innocents.’

‘Some fine young thing.’

‘Maybe you were feelin’ your Wheaties tonight.’ Lee turned, fully entering Mulysa’s orbit, filling his field of vision.

‘On top of the world.’ Cantrell matched his stance, fully hammering at Mulysa now.”

This section comes at a point when the two detectives are really working well together; putting side personal differences to work towards the same ends.

As indicated, the novel is concerned with King White’s attempts to unite the warring gangs. We see the problems that he will have in doing this by following the main characters in the run up to the meeting that he is attempting to have. This demonstrates the huge task that he has ahead of him. All of those involved have their own problems and are often attempting to carve their own niche (or enhance their position). In this the story is (as has been suggested elsewhere) not dissimilar to the TV series The Wire handled drugs gangs, smuggling and policing. It’s perhaps not quite so accomplished, but then very little is. In fact, it’s worth noting that much of the novel is concerned with the day to day travails of the characters and some of their motivations. The fantastical elements do take a back seat in the narrative through most of the novel.

One thing that did niggle a little is that, because there is such a large cast and this is the second in a series, I did feel that some characters – who one feels are set up to be of no little importance (Merle springs to mind) – become slightly peripheral given that there are choices that have to be made by the author. Having said that, I’m not a huge fan of bloated novels, so I’ll not complain too much.

For the most part, I enjoyed King’s Justice. It’s faults are more to do with the ambition of the novels than anything else and Broaddus writes well, so they aren’t at all catastrophic. I look forward to the next in the series!

*If you’ve had the pleasure/misfortune to have met me, you’ll be able to confirm this.

Available from Amazon and The Book Depository

“an anti-fascist and anti-racist anthology, yet hasn’t managed to include stories by any prominent writers of color.”

When he asked the editors about it he was told that

“There are relatively few non-white writers of horror or supernatural fiction in the UK, and it happened that none of the writers whom we targeted on account of their fiction were non-white. Would you have preferred us to target and include writers on the basis of their skin colour, not their writing?”

The full thread and Nick’s reply can be found here. A discussion on Nick’s blog is here.

Writer and editor Maurice Broaddus, meanwhile, has dedicated a guest-post over at Jeff Vandermeer’s blog to the subject, remarking:

As editors, we don’t have the luxury of hiding behind this as a defense, because this is a straw one at best (and no amount of “my best friend is black” style waving is going to save you).  Not to mention that this is a fairly ignorant, or at least ill constructed, “defense” because it’s not like these two possibilities are mutually exclusive.

So what do you think? Comments, as always, welcome.

I came across Maurice’s name last year when I was trying to see how many African-American horror and science fictions there were. I already had books from Octavia Butler, Samuel Delaney and George Schuyler. But, I quickly delved into the newly discovered authors.

I contacted Maurice for an interview and he politely took time out from his busy schedule as writer, blogger and movie reviewer to answer a few questions.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Maurice Broaddus

Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, L.A. Banks. Though the numbers of black horror and science fiction writers is growing, they still remain painfully low. Why do you think there have been so few science fiction and horror writers of color?

The numbers are painfully low, but we’re making progress all the time.  I have to wonder how much of this is a social/spiritual pressure and how much of this is a matter of embracing our “geek culture”.  The only group of people I dread explaining that I’m a horror writer to more than church folk is my family.  There is the automatic stigma of writing “that demon stuff” or being in league with the occult.  And that’s assuming we get past the discussion that horror isn’t just blood and guts for their own sake.

But, oh, to be the black geek in a group.  To revel in the latest iteration of “Star Trek,” to proudly announce that my d10 goes up to 11 (and to be able to get that joke), to roll around naked on the latest issues of my comic book collection, these were not things that were nourished or even “safe” to do growing up.  Okay, it’s never all right to roll around naked on your comics.

But we also have a proud tradition as story tellers.  From the griots of  ancient  Africa to the modern day hip hop artists.  And embracing genre fiction is but the latest step.

Ah, yes, I am familiar with the “griot.” The Dallas/Fort Worth Association of Black Communicators’ annual awards are called the Griots.

And speaking of awards and honors, your work (such as “A House Is Not A Home” and Devil’s Marionette) has been praised by the likes of Vince Laguno and Bram Stoker & International Horror Guild Award winner Gary Braunbeck. Hopefully, this hasn’t given you a big head. Has it?

Child, please.  The laws of physics haven’t been written yet that can measure how big my head is.  Anyway, as a writer, I’m a black hole of neediness and insecurity, so every bit of praise is taken in and never let out.

Regarding your latest book King Maker, what made you want to bring King Arthur into a modern urban setting? And why Indianapolis?

I live in Indianapolis.  I’ve also spent many years doing volunteer work with the homeless population, so I end up being a part of a different side of Indianapolis than many people see.  The idea started as a joke between me and a few of the kids I was working with and I wrote the book as a lark.  It grew into something a lot more.

You list yourself as a traditionalist when it comes to horror writing. Why is that?

Traditionalists tend to be more character driven, letting the horror arise from or intrude on the mundane. They are often more atmospheric, and explore the eerie or weird with a moral code. Oh yeah, traditionalists lean towards being good vs. evil moralists.  Most times when I wake up, that’s the side of the bed I roll out from.

Angry Robot Books mentioned that your family had ties to “obeah,” which is akin to Jamaican Voodoo. Whenever I think of voodoo, I think of Zombies. What do you think of what they call zombies today as opposed to traditional zombies?

Well, I managed to include some zombies in King Maker, but they aren’t the voodoo brand of zombies.  They are somewhere between the shuffling and “fast” zombies.  I’m fine with zombies either way.  I think the power of zombies lies within their ability to be a metaphor for something else anyway (in the case of King Maker, the life of a drug addict).

You work as an environmental toxicologist. Has your work ever creeped into your stories?

I worked as an environmental toxicologist for twenty years.  I’ve been professionally writing for ten.  Not one story ever touched upon my work.

On second thought, that’s probably a good thing. So, who are some of the authors who inspired you to write horror, fantasy and science fiction?

Oh, let’s see.  (Edgar Allan) Poe was an early inspiration.  Then (Stephen) King

Octavia Butler (1947-2006)

and (Clive) Barker.  And then (Neil) Gaiman.  So, you know, the usual suspects.  These days I’m moved by Catherynne M. Valente, Octavia Butler, Walter Mosley, and George Pelecanos (I know, he’s a crime writer).

You’re also a movie critic. I’ve read your reviews on Blade: Trinity, I Am Legend and Elektra. What got you started as a reviewer?

My church had invited David Bruce, founder of the site HollywoodJesus.com out to talk about Christianity and pop culture.  Afterwards, we ended up hanging out and we got onto the topic of television.  I ranted about various shows and he pretty much drafted me on the spot.  I still write television, comic book, book, and movie reviews for the site.  Mostly though, the reviews serve 1) as my justification for how much time I spend in front of the television and 2) to allow me to write books, comics, and DVDs off my taxes.

If you had to recommend a book that could be made into a TV show to replace Lost or Heroes, which one(s) would it be?

If we’re going to go fantasy, let’s go high fantasy and go with N.K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. That would be cool. 

I was going to say The Morgaine Chronicles by C.J. Cherryh, but I’ll definitely have to check out Jemisin now.

* * * * * * * * * * *

I definitely want to thank Maurice again for agreeing to this interview. You can catch some of his stories such as the eerily creepy “Hootchie Cootchie Man,” “A House Is Not A Home,” “Closer Than They Appear” and “Family Business” (Weird Tales #338), at Mauricebroaddus.com.

King Maker is available at Angry Robot Books. Orgy of Souls and Dark Faith are available from Apex Books, while Devil’s Marionette can be found at Shroud Books.

Well, I’m excited to announce that my very first project for Bandersnatch Books’ “Dead West Anthology” has been completed and is in the mail to the publisher!  The “Dead West Anthology” is a collection of 13 short stories by an eclectic and talented bunch of authors in the Horror-Western genre.  Those who are smart enough to pre-order a copy ( http://bandersnatchbooks.com/banderblog/ hint, hint), will receive a special signature sheet featuring my artwork AND hand-signed signatures from all 13 authors, the publisher, and myself!!! Can’t wait to see what it will look like and who is featured in the anthology?  Wait no further!  Take a look:

Dead West Signature Sheet

Now I will begin work on 13 illustrations to correspond with the 13 stories to be featured in the anthology!  I’m really, REALLY excited to start drawing.  This will really give me a chance to spread my creative wings and I couldn’t be more pleased for this anthology to be the first to publish some of my work!  I won’t give too much away (in case the authors want to keep their stories a suprise), but look forward to seeing stories and illustrations featuring gunslingers, demons, ghosts, and even a succubus!!!

Stay tuned for details (and maybe even a preview or two!!!)

Lavie Tidhar

We actually had a guest-editorial scheduled this week, but we’re pushing it back a week to talk a little about book covers.

There’s been a lot of interest surrounding yesterday’s post about the Dragon and the Stars anthology cover (see responses in the comments thread, as well as from Jolantru, Janet Chui and Sean Wallace), but that merely ties into a larger discussion going on at the moment. And that, in turn goes back to the fact 2009 saw a first large-scale discussion on race in science fiction, which is still on-going.

Now, the World SF News Blog is dedicated to highlighting international SF, but that is not to say we can, or should, ignore what is going on within the American and UK world of publishing. A discussion on race is important. So are discussions on gender, and sexuality, all of which are going on still, and will continue for a good long while.

And so.

N.K. Jemisin discusses Why I Think RaceFail Was The Bestest Thing Evar for SFF:

it used to be very noticeable that I could at least broach the subject of race in every other aspect of my life — academia, the counseling psych field, political activism of course, literature/art in general — but not in SFF. The conversations would simply shut down, often thanks to respected personages/fans who would emphatically declare that there was no racism in the genre outside of a few unimportant loudmouths, and no need to discuss race since there was no racism, so let’s move on to something interesting like quantum physics.

Now, suddenly, everyone’s talking about race, and I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. – read the rest of the post.

Lots of comments in the thread above, as could be expected. And yet the current topic stirring people is that Bloomsbury had once again featured a white model on the cover of a book about a dark-skinned girl:

Prompting Ellen Datlow, amongst others, to write an open letter to Bloomsbury:

I was very aware of the controversy over Justine Larbalestier Liar last year (for one thing, she’s a friend of mine) and note that Bloomsbury backed off and changed the cover image from a young white woman to a (very light) African American woman. But it seems that your company still hasn’t learned that this kind of racism is no longer going to be ignored by the children’s lit community. You’ve done it again with Jaclyn Dolamore’s first novel Magic Under Glass about a dark-skinned young woman from the far east. Please stop assuming that 1) no one (black or white) notices and 2) that we don’t care.
I’ve been in publishing for over thirty five years so you don’t need to inform me about marketing, etc.

These things affect all writers. Just an an anecdotal instance, a South African friend of mine was asked to change his main character from South African to British because “the readers don’t want to buy stories featuring South African characters”. Which is reminiscent of John W. Campbell Jr. asking one of the writers for Astounding to change his name for the magazine because it was “too Jewish, and readers won’t pick up the magazine”. As Isaac Asimov pointed out in his memoirs, Campbell meant it was too Jewish for him.

You can always blame the readers, it seems to me. And so, it is nice to see at least one publisher who seems to have no problem with black people on the covers of their books, which happens to return back to proper WSNB territory: the recently-revealed cover for South African writer Lauren Beukes‘ second novel, Zoo City (art by John Picacio):

Who earlier also released the cover for Maurice Broaddus‘ first novel, King Maker (cover by Steve Stone):

And so we get discussion, which is a good thing – and we get to question some basic assumptions of the publishing world, and of the people who make decisions in it, which is a good thing, too. There’s a lot to talk about, a lot to question – and isn’t that the point of speculative fiction?

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Looks like a great anthology. Pre-order information and full list of contributors here.

Or, better still, take out a joint Black Static/Interzone subscription.

Dark Faith Table of Contents:

Poem: “The Story of Belief-Non” by Linda Addison
“Ghosts of New York” by Jennifer Pelland
“I Sing a New Psalm” by Brian Keene
“He Who Would Not Bow” by Wrath James White
“Zen and the Art of Gordon Dratch’s Damnation” by Douglas F. Warrick
“Go and Tell It on the Mountain” by Kyle S. Johnson
“Different from Other Nights” by Eliyanna Kaiser
Poem: “Lilith” by Rain Graves
“The Last Words of Dutch Schultz Jesus Christ” by Nick Mamatas
“To the Jerusalem Crater” by Lavie Tidhar
“Chimeras & Grotesqueries” by Matt Cardin
“You Dream” by Ekaterina Sedia
“Mother Urban’s Booke of Dayes” by Jay Lake
“The Mad Eyes of the Heron King” by Richard Dansky
“Paint Box, Puzzle Box” by DT Friedman
“A Loss For Words” by John C. Hay
“Scrawl” by Tom Piccirilli
Poem: “C{her}ry Carvings” by Jennifer Baumgartner
“Good Enough” by Kelli Dunlap
“First Communion” by Geoffrey Girard
“The God of Last Moments” by Alethea Kontis
“Ring Road” by Mary Robinette Kowal
“The Unremembered” by Chesya Burke
Poem: “Desperata” by Lon Prater
“The Choir” by Lucien Soulban
“Days of Flaming Motor Cycles” by Catherynne M. Valente
“Miz Ruthie Pays Her Respects” by Lucy A. Snyder
Poem: “Paranoia” by Kurt Dinan
“Hush” by Kelly Barnhill
“Sandboys” by Richard Wright
“In Abstentia” by Gary A. Braunbeck

Press Release
15th June 2009
For Immediate Release
Angry Robot is presented today by the letter “M”s

Maurice Broaddus is one of the real good guys, so why the hell his fiction is so terrifying is beyond our understanding. The three books of the KNIGHTS OF BRETON COURT series is a modern retelling of the King Arthur cycle, set among the drug gangs of inner city America. Told through the eyes of King, as he tries to unite the crack dealers and do the right thing, it’s a stunning, edgy work, genuinely unlike anything we’ve ever read. Cheap movie analogy for you: Gilliam’s Fisher King meets The Wire. The first volume will be published by Angry Robot in summer 2010, with the remaining parts at six month intervals. Extraordinary. Check out more about Maurice here.
(Sounds awesome!)

Matt Forbeck… well, where do you start? Multiple award-winning fantasy game designer, computer game creative, writer of so many novels and comicbooks across all the major genre properties… So it’s about damn time someone allowed him free reign with his own novels, no? And we have a pair of stunners. AMORTALS, to be published November 2009, is set just a few years in the future. After a cop is killed, his reincarnated clone must find out who did the deed. Double Indemnity meets Altered Carbon? Roxor!
That’ll be followed late spring 2010 by the equally fabulous VEGAS KNIGHTS. It’s Oceans Eleven meets Harry Potter as three student wizards use Spring Break in an attempt to break a Vegas casino using magic. Only… the casino has its own sorcerers, and they’re not going to hand over all the moolah to a bunch of twenty year-old wandwavers. Check out more info on Matt here.
(Another sure-fire winner!)

Mike Shevdon is the Brit in our pile, and our debut novelist. The immense SIXTY-ONE NAILS and its sequel THE ROAD TO BEDLAM follow Niall Petersen, everyday guy, from a suspected heart attack on the London Underground, into the hidden world of the Feyre, an uncanny place of legend that lurks just beyond the surface of everyday life. The Untainted, the darkest of the Seven Courts, have made their play for power, and unless Niall can recreate the ritual of the Sixty-One Nails, their dark dominion will enslave all of the Feyre, and all of humankind too. A massive rollercoaster ride from a stunning new talent, the first volume will be in stores worldwide from November 2009. Check out more info on Mike here.
(Gimme more books like A Madness of Angels and I’m a happy man!)

Also in (older) Angry Robot news, here’s the cover for J. Robert King’s Angel of Death!

All in all, great news from Angry Robot!

Be EPIC!